The Worst Missions in the Grand Theft Auto Series Have a Common Denominator, and I’m Dreading GTA 6’s Version

Throughout gaming history, the Grand Theft Auto series has been at the forefront of innovative open-world gameplay, and this is largely the reason the franchise has grown to the popularity it has today. Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely going to continue to push the envelope with its gameplay and open-world mechanics, but not every new feature may be for the better. There’s one recurring gameplay mechanic that always frustrates me in the GTA entries it appears in, and I’m really hoping GTA 6 doesn’t follow this series trend.

As the name implies, vehicles are a core part of the Grand Theft Auto series, and the different types of vehicles that are available for players to steal have evolved alongside the franchise. Helicopters have been around in the series since GTA 3, but didn’t become playable until GTA: Vice City. As iconic as helicopters have become as a mode of air transportation, I’ve always found that the missions that require helicopters are some of the most annoying in all of Grand Theft Auto, and GTA 6 could just as easily fix my issues with them as it could make them far more tedious.

Returning GTA 6 Feature Leaves Gamers Divided

Rumors of a returning Grand Theft Auto 6 feature leaves fans split over why Rockstar Games omitted it from both GTA 4 and GTA 5.

Helicopter Missions are Always the Worst Missions in Grand Theft Auto

GTA: Vice City — Demolition Man
GTA: San Andreas — Learning to Fly
GTA: San Andreas — Up, Up, and Away!
GTA 4 — Paper Trail

One of the earliest examples of a helicopter mission in a GTA game comes in the form of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City‘s Demolition Man mission, where players have to use an RC helicopter to plant explosives on a construction site. While this isn’t a full-sized chopper, it functions very similarly in terms of control, allowing players to dip their toes into the series’s early helicopter mechanics.

Helicopter missions didn’t really become a mainstay of the franchise until GTA: San Andreas, where players have to complete a series of flight tutorials in the Learning to Fly mission, considered to be one of the hardest missions in the GTA series. This mission includes tutorials for both planes and helicopters, but the helicopter segments are the most frustrating, with players required to fire rockets from the chopper and hit ground targets. Later in San Andreas, players can complete the optional Up, Up, and Away! mission as part of the casino heist questline in Las Venturas. The mission also requires precise helicopter flight, as players must use a giant magnet dangling from the chopper to steal a van.

GTA 4‘s helicopter missions are much more prominent than in the series’s past, with multiple missions requiring players to navigate Liberty City by air. By far the worst helicopter mission in GTA 4 is Paper Trail, where players have to follow and shoot down Eduard Borodin’s helicopter in a chopper of their own. Although Little Jacob is the one actually taking the shot, keeping the helicopter stable enough so that he can get a shot can be a headache in itself. This mission is particularly difficult on the PC version of GTA 4, since mouse-and-keyboard controls for the helicopter are definitely not optimal.

Why I Always Get Stuck on Helicopter Missions

My gripe with helicopter missions in Grand Theft Auto is really twofold: the finicky controls and the health of the helicopter. Most of the time, GTA‘s helicopter physics are really unintuitive and make maneuvering the vehicle the way I want to feel like I’m fighting against the controls. I understand that this is an attempt to make it as accurate to real-life as possible, but I would almost rather sacrifice realism in a series like Grand Theft Auto for a simplified helicopter control scheme and flight mechanics.

Balance the critic averages

Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)

What makes the frustrating controls of helicopters in GTA even more annoying is the fact that the vehicle has such low health and can easily crash. For example, the Paper Trail mission in GTA 4 is all the more challenging because I have to weave between the skyscrapers of Algonquin in Liberty City as I desperately try to keep up with Borodin’s chopper. With how difficult it is to correct course in a helicopter, I would also end up hitting buildings and crashing because of how quickly a chopper can get destroyed.

GTA 4 has one of the more tanky helicopters, too. Compared to GTA 4‘s helicopter, GTA 5 makes them feel like they’re made of glass.

GTA 6 Stands at a Crossroads with Helicopter Missions

Despite making helicopters much more fragile, GTA 5 also improved the vehicle controls immensely. Now, GTA 6 has the chance to improve helicopters even more, but could end up making them worse if not balanced carefully. If GTA 6 keeps the controls of GTA 5 while making the helicopter’s health more like GTA 4, then it could result in the ideal version of the vehicle. The variety of helicopters available in GTA 5 should also carry over into GTA 6 in order to make it the most robust version of the vehicle to date.

The helicopters confirmed for GTA 6 so far include the Buzzard Attack Chopper, Maverick, Police Maverick, Sea Sparrow, and SuperVolito.

However, GTA 6 will walk a fine line with its helicopter mechanics that could end up making them more cumbersome to use than GTA 5‘s version if their controls are not properly implemented. With access to the PS5’s DualSense controller and its touchpad, Rockstar could cook up some unique controls for GTA 6‘s vehicles that require players to use the touchpad. However, this could be a mistake for the game’s helicopter controls, since it could overcomplicate one of the franchise’s most finicky control schemes already. GTA 6 is likely to feature at least a few helicopter missions, but trying to get too creative with the vehicle’s controls could just add to the trend of GTA‘s most frustrating missions.