The GTA 6 Police Are What I’ve Always Wanted in a GTA Game

The police have always been a sticking point for me in every GTA game ever, basically. They’ve never been very capable until you reach a high wanted level. The system we knew is now gone, however, as GTA 6 is set to completely overhaul all we knew about escaping the police.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to go off on a little tangent just before we get stuck in, to frame things nicely.

Immersion in Video Games

We all play games for different reasons. Some just want to turn their brains off and have some fun. Others, like me, are especially attracted to deep, intricate stories that stir the emotions. But even I have those days when I just want to play something light and easy.

But this attraction to deep stories is what made San Andreas so mind-blowing at the time. It was a fairly complex story when compared with GTA 3 and Vice City. But then GTA 4 happened, and I loved every moment of that game. Following that, GTA 5 was just a disappointment, not quite giving any one character enough story time to really care about their journey.

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Story aside, GTA 5’s police will shoot at you, actively trying to kill you, but hide around a corner for a few seconds, and they’ll just carry on with their day. You don’t have to change cars or appearance; just hide for a bit. They’ll walk straight past you, and all is simply forgiven.

This mechanic, while classically GTA, has always been a huge immersion-breaker for me. And finally, GTA 6 is set to correct that.

The New Police System is Mouthwatering

Jason leans out of a car and shoots at police cars in the GTA 6 Extended Look. — Image via Rockstar Games

The police in GTA 6 will remember who you are, depending on several factors. Firstly, a crime must be reported by a witness, an alarm system, or a tracking system in the car you’ve just stolen. Depending on the situation, the cops will know which car you’re in, what you’re wearing, your appearance if you’re not wearing a mask, etc.

If you do end up losing the cops, they’ll keep looking for you, so you have to change everything they know about you to successfully escape, or leave the area they’re searching in entirely and lie low until the heat dies down. We also won’t be able to see cops on the minimap anymore, to duck and dodge them until the wanted level goes away.

This obviously complicates things a fair bit, but we will now have to think twice before just going crazy in GTA 6. The world will react to what you do, and things are about to be way more immersive than ever before. And I can’t wait.

Don’t Expect Full Immersion

There’s still a lot we don’t know here, even from all the previews and the extended look. For example, will the severity of the crime have consequences similar to the real world? So, if you murder someone in full view of the police, will the hunt last for the next 20 in-game years?

I don’t think so. And while we don’t know if simple traffic violations will be a thing yet, I do highly doubt it. It’s still just a game, after all. But still, this is set to be the most challenging GTA game when it comes to escaping the cops, and I’m really excited for that.

My Only Worry from the Extended Look

There is one thing I worry about, which stems from the extended look. From around the 14-minute mark, we see Jason lean out of the car and shoot at cop cars. Once he pops a tire, they flip and roll. I’m fairly sure that this section of the video is a scripted event, with new police cars popping out of almost every side street they pass.

So, what if we only have one or two police cars chasing us? Can we just switch and pop the tires every time, and make our getaway? How many cars will respond if we’re outside of a scripted event? Will the police actually pose a challenge at all if we just stick to this sort of strategy? How will the police react to getting shot at? In the real world, you’ll instantly pull a six-star wanted level for that.

We’ll have to wait and see. I’m basing most of my info here off of TGG’s videos, since I have been watching his channel for a long time. And just like many other sources, he doesn’t have all the info we crave just yet. I feel like only the game will answer every question.

But you know what? We have just 76 days left to wait. The hype is real.