Game Informer reveals hurricanes, fast travel and 170 animals in GTA VI

Game Informer has published its large preview of Grand Theft Auto VI. In it, Rockstar Games shares new details on the weather, the animals and people of Leonida, and the size of the map. Below are the main points.

Hurricanes are confirmed

Hurricanes are in the game, Rockstar confirms to Game Informer. Fans had hoped for them, but wondered whether they were technically possible. How often they hit and whether they affect the story, the studio does not say yet.

The story describes heavy clouds, strong wind, a threatening atmosphere and rain that soaks everything. Water runs off roof edges and street lamps, thunder rolls and lightning lights up the clouds.

A rebuilt weather system, with rainbows

Owen Shepherd, in charge of lighting and rendering at Rockstar, says the studio rebuilt the weather system. Weather can now be local, lasting and dynamic. Players can stand in the sun while a shower hangs in the distance.

There are rainbows and puddles. Players can drive through an area and see that it has just rained there, even if they missed the shower. Wind causes ripples on the water and blows hair around.

Twice the size of GTA V

Aaron Garbut, co-studio head of Rockstar North, confirms that the map is twice the size of the one in GTA V. The emphasis is on how much the world holds. The game is set in Leonida, a fictional version of Florida.

According to Garbut, the team worked on every part of the world: rooftops, alleys, interiors and everything in between. At one point there were so many interiors that buildings started to feel real inside and out. He calls the world one coherent whole, full of content and handmade down to the details.

Six regions

The map has six regions. The best known is Vice City, from GTA: Vice City of 2002. The others are Leonida Keys, Grassrivers, Port Gellhorn, Ambrosia and Mount Kalaga National Park.

Ambrosia is a more rural area with factories and refineries, run by a motorcycle gang. That appears to be a different gang from the Lost MC of GTA IV and GTA V.

A story that travels

Rockstar uses the story to lead players through the world and show its areas. It does not reach every corner, but it shows the contrast between the richer and poorer parts of Leonida.

Fast travel by shared ride

Earlier GTA games let players take a taxi across the map. Red Dead Redemption 2 was more limited: travel went from place to place, not to any point on the map.

In GTA VI, players can book a ride and be driven through the city. It can be a shared ride, with other passengers in the car and conversations with them.

Snapmatic, but no posting

Players who do not want to talk can scroll through Snapmatic, the parody of Instagram in the game. Posting is not possible. Jason and Lucia are on the run and would put themselves at risk by being active on social media.

Activities

Game Informer names a series of activities:

• Base jumping
• Billiards
• Working out in gyms
• Kayaking
• Minigolf
• Diving
• Street and offroad races
• Visiting zoos
• Airboat rides
• Jet skiing

More than 170 animal species

Players can meet and interact with more than 170 animal species. They include more than 60 kinds of birds, over 30 land mammals and various fish and reptiles. The gameplay reveal of August already showed that dogs can be petted. Whether that goes for other animals, such as cats, is not known.

Michael Kane, vice president of dynamic art at Rockstar, says the team wanted to bring the varied wildlife of Florida to the habitats of Leonida as faithfully as possible. That runs from the city and the countryside to inland waters, the ocean, the swamps and the Everglades. According to Kane, the teams research every animal in detail, for its look and its movement.

Sea life with its own behaviour

Several kinds of sharks, jellyfish, whales, turtles and rays live in the sea, Rockstar confirms. Each has its own way of moving, and players can meet them while diving.

Hunting appears to return

One screenshot in the story shows Jason with a rifle on his back, near a group of deer. That suggests hunting returns in some form, writes IGN Benelux. In GTA V it was a small part of the game. In Red Dead Redemption 2 it was a much larger system.

Players can track animals by following their tracks, as in Red Dead Redemption 2. There are rare species as well, but Rockstar does not say which.

Heists and the police

Heists play a central role, with a lot of freedom in how to approach them. Players choose between together or alone, and loud or quiet. Those choices decide how hard the police respond.

Jason and Lucia can shake off the police together or split up, with one of them drawing most of the chase. If the police overpower one of the two, the game is over.

Stealing cars

More expensive cars need special tools to steal. Even then, trackers and security systems can cause trouble. An app called WAiNK shows what a car is worth on resale, what security it has and what it costs to keep it. Selling a car means a visit to a fence.

Romance and choices

Whether the relationship between Jason and Lucia goes beyond friendship is up to the player. Dates, attention to calls and messages, and small gestures such as holding a door or holding hands move it forward.

Big and small choices affect both their relationship and the story as a whole, Rockstar confirms. That should give reasons to play the game more than once, with other storylines on a second run.

Beyond the expectations

Garbut says the pressure on the project is enormous. Normally a studio gives up scale for detail, or detail for interaction. For GTA VI everything went up, he says: detail, size, variety, scale, interaction and density.

People and clothing

The NPCs vary in height, weight, skin type and more, according to Rockstar. Characters can tan in the sun and have moles, and body shapes differ per person.

GTA VI has the largest collection of clothing and accessories Rockstar has made. What NPCs wear depends on where they are. In poorer areas, worn or dirty clothing is more common.

According to Kane, colours, patterns and brands match the environment and the social situation of each character. That includes shoes, sneakers, watches, sunglasses and caps with a cultural meaning.

Grand Theft Auto VI appears on 19 November for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.