Alongside the major reveals showcased in the Grand Theft Auto 6 Netflix trailer earlier today, a brand-new mechanic for the franchise has been confirmed in an interview with the developers. Suppressive fire will make its series debut in the upcoming sequel, allowing players an option to try to avoid killing police and civilians in tight situations, such as when robbing stores, if the player chooses to do so.
According to Rob Nelson, head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar Games, in a new interview with Famitsu magazine in Japan, a number of new mechanics have been introduced to increase the dynamic nature of robberies and your criminal pursuits in the studio’s latest open-world game. During a question asking if there were methods other than stealing and flipping cars for cash to make money in the new game, Rob responded that you can also make money by robbing stores. However, if you’re seen entering the store with a visible gun on you, it’s possible an NPC may choose to call the police even before you commit your act.
After the police come to meet you, there are numerous ways to make your getaway, not all of which require you to go on a murder spree. “We have a new mechanic where you can control the direction of your gunfire,” explains Nelson. “Instead of shooting directly at the police, you can deliberately miss and fire your shots near to them instead, which may confuse or startle the opponent and allow you time to make your escape.
“We wanted to give players the choice not to kill police or civilians while trying to get away. In other words, you can force them to remain in place while you escape, but it also sits in line with the story of how Jason and Lucia are trying to get away from the law,” Nelson continued. “It would be unnatural to have the pair stay there and get involved in a long gunfight when they aren’t cornered or left with no other choice but to shoot. You can shoot, of course, but it will impact your reputation, and the police are tough opponents this time round!”
The latest 26-minute trailer and other recent previews have suggested it might be possible to stop enemies by knocking them out or wounding them as well. GTA 6 features a criminal profile system that is meant to track the player’s actions over the course of the game and have the way the world treats them–as a psycho killer to refined thief–change as a result. The developers pointed to a moment in the trailer where protagonist Jason shoots the tires out on a police truck to escape as one example of taking a less lethal route.
“There are quite a few moments where you can make progress without killing anyone,” Nelson added. “[In that scene from the trailer] they were able to overturn the police car by shooting the tyres, but none of the police involved in that chase died. If Jason aimed directly at the policeman he could have killed him, but instead he chose not to do so.”