It’s Going to be Way Harder to Lose the Cops in GTA 6, Explained

From all we’ve seen in the previews, the cops are going to be way smarter in GTA 6, and that’s genuinely a good thing. In previous entries, all we had to do was hide for a minute, and we’d be in the clear. Straight after you lose your Wanted Level, you could just waltz out, and the very cops that were just shooting at you would simply ignore you.

Those days are gone, come 19 November.

So, here’s how it all works based on what we’ve seen in the previews.

How the Wanted Level Works in GTA 6

TGG got to see a whole lot of playtime at Rockstar North and made a great video on the police, giving us plenty of information about how the police and wanted system will operate.

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There are four different levels of wanted stars:

• Solid white stars: The police are actively searching for you.
• Flashing white stars: You’ve broken line of sight, but cops are still actively looking for you.
• Red stars: You’ve lost your wanted level, but you’re still in the area where the crime was committed, and police may recognize you.
• Hollow stars: You’ve committed a crime, but the cops have no information on you and don’t know who they’re looking for.

In addition to stars, you’ll also have a variety of indicators on the top right of your screen, representing all the information that cops have on you. You may have been caught on CCTV, a description of you was given, they may know what car you’re driving, whether you’re a couple or a single person, your clothing, etc.

You’ll have to take care of these indicators, since even after losing your wanted level, cops could still recognize you as the culprit. This isn’t confirmed in any of the previews I’ve seen so far, but it tracks that when you remove all the indicators, the stars are likely to turn hollow and you’re free to move around.

You take care of these indicators by changing your outfit, wearing a mask during the crime, changing vehicles, destroying CCTV footage, etc.

We also see the return of the six-star Wanted Level. After you lose your initial Wanted Level, cops will be on the lookout for you in an area that’ll be marked on the map. The size of the area depends on the severity of your crime – the number of Wanted Stars you acquire. TGG asked Rob Nelson about six stars, and apparently that triggers a map-wide search.

Can’t wait to see that in action.

Finally, we also have the fact that police won’t show on your minimap anymore. So you can’t simply stare at your minimap and avoid the cops until your wanted level drops. You’ll need to be aware of your surroundings and take care of the indicators as quickly as possible.

You can, however, use focus to see cops, even through walls, so that will be a very handy tool when you’re trying to lose a high Wanted Level.

Crimes Must Be Reported

In RDR 2, your crimes had to be reported in order to alert police. If there’s no one to report the crime, the lawmen didn’t come looking for you.

This system returns for GTA 6, where you’ll be able to commit crimes and not worry about police – as long as you aren’t seen, of course. This feature wasn’t perfect in RDR 2. From memory, I remember committing a crime with no witnesses around, but then someone saw the evidence of my crime. Passing me by, they automatically assume I must’ve been the one to do it, and they run off to the lawmen.

It’s far more likely that someone would question you first in that scenario. So I do hope that gets ironed out, but for the most part, the wanted system is looking really good.

Losing Your Wanted Level in GTA 6 Could Go Both Ways

Losing your Wanted Level in GTA 6 will clearly be more complicated than in previous entries and, by extension, more difficult. However, I do wonder whether it’s going to be like in the Extended Look, where Jason just shoots out tires until the cops stop chasing them.

I get that we don’t see the whole chase and can’t be completely sure how they escaped the cops, but it’s one of those game logic moments that could turn out to be simply formulaic. Step 1, make sure you’ve got an assault rifle in the car. Step 2, shoot out all the tires of the cops chasing you. Step 3, once they stop coming, switch vehicles and make your smooth escape.

This hasn’t been confirmed so far, but I sure hope the cops are a little more dynamic than that. Perhaps they realize they’re chasing a madman, and back off a bit. They get air support to track your movements and then set up roadblocks and spikes. And not simple spikes like in 5, but more like a nondescript individual on the side of the road with an expandable spike strip, like you see in real chases.

That’d certainly complicate getting away even more, and we’ll have to plan our robberies super carefully.

Overall, I think we’re in for a healthy change to the GTA formula. I’m sure we’ll still be able to cause plenty of chaos, but during normal gameplay, we’ll have to be just a little bit smarter. What do you think about the changes?