00:00I'm going to say something that I know is probably going to upset some Grand Theft Auto fans.
00:05After watching the Grand Theft Auto 6 extended look, I'm not impressed.
00:09In fact, I thought it was boring.
00:11And the more I thought about what Rockstar showed us,
00:14the more I started to wonder if Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be the safest Grand Theft Auto
00:19game we've ever gotten.
00:20Because this isn't just about the fact that I didn't see enough gameplay.
00:24It's about what Rockstar actually chose to show us.
00:26And one particular scene perfectly illustrates my problem.
00:31There's a sequence where Jason and Lucia are being chased by the police.
00:34Now this should be exactly the kind of situation where Grand Theft Auto goes completely insane.
00:39We're talking about two criminals being pursued by police.
00:43This is Grand Theft Auto.
00:44You would expect gunfire, wrecked vehicles, explosions, police cars crashing into each other, and absolute chaos.
00:52Instead, what did we get?
00:54Jason and Lucia shoot out the tires of the police cars.
00:57That's it.
00:58Every police car basically gets its real shot out, comes to a stop, and there's no massive explosion.
01:03No spectacular pileup.
01:05No vehicle getting launched through the air.
01:08No police crews are flipping over.
01:09No chaotic chain reaction.
01:11No holy crap did you see that moment.
01:14Just pop, pop, pop.
01:15There go the tires.
01:17And that's why I thought, are you kidding me?
01:20This is Grand Theft Auto we're talking about.
01:22A series where players have traditionally been encouraged to cause ridiculous amounts of destruction.
01:27Remember GTA 5?
01:29You could steal a tank, drive a car off a mountain, ram police vehicles, shoot up half the city,
01:35cause massive traffic accidents, turn a simple police chase into an absolutely ridiculous spectacle,
01:40and that's part of the fun.
01:42Grand Theft Auto has never been about realism for realism's sake.
01:45It's about giving the player a sandbox and saying, here's the world, now go completely nuts.
01:51But GTA 6 seems to be going in a different direction.
01:54Everything looks incredibly polished, cinematic, carefully choreographed, and that's exactly
02:00what worries me, because Grand Theft Auto isn't supposed to feel safe.
02:04And this brings me back to the extended look itself.
02:06I kept waiting for Rockstar to show me something that would make me excited to play this game.
02:11Instead, I felt like I was watching a movie, cutscene after cutscene, cinematic shot after
02:17cinematic shot, characters talking, interacting, getting themselves in trouble.
02:22And then when we finally get something that looks like gameplay, we're watching a police
02:26chase where the most exciting thing that happens is somebody shooting out some tires.
02:30Where's the gameplay?
02:32The chaos?
02:33The insanity?
02:34Where's the stuff that makes me think, I can't wait to get my hands on this?
02:37I didn't get that feeling.
02:39I got the feeling that Rockstar was showing me exactly what they wanted me to see.
02:43And that's not necessarily a bad marking strategy, but it doesn't work for me.
02:48The word I keep coming back to is safe.
02:51Grand Theft Auto 6 feels safe.
02:53The characters feel more grounded.
02:55The presentation feels more cinematic.
02:57The world looks incredibly polished.
02:59The humor we've seen so far doesn't seem to have the same bite.
03:03And even the action seems restrained.
03:05Again, I haven't played the game.
03:07I'm judging what Rockstar has shown us.
03:10And what Rockstar has shown me isn't making me think, this is going to be crazier than
03:14GTA 5.
03:15It's making me think, this is going to be a much more controlled version of GTA.
03:19And honestly, I'm not sure that's what I want.
03:22I'm also increasingly concerned about the humor.
03:25GTA 5 wasn't exactly subtle.
03:27And that's one of the things I loved about it.
03:29Rockstar was willing to make fun of basically everything.
03:32American culture, social media, celebrities, corporations, politics, television, consumerism,
03:40rich people, poor people.
03:42Pretty much everyone got mocked.
03:44And then you had characters like Trevor who were basically walking disasters.
03:48The game could go from a normal conversation to something completely insane in seconds.
03:53That's the Grand Theft Auto personality I remember.
03:55That's the Grand Theft Auto personality I want.
03:58And from what we've seen of GTA 6, I'm not convinced we're getting that same level
04:02of irreverence.
04:04Maybe Rockstar is saving the really crazy stuff for the full game.
04:07I hope so.
04:08But right now, I'm not seeing it.
04:11And here's the funny part.
04:12I don't even have a console capable of playing Grand Theft Auto 6.
04:16And you know what?
04:17I'm not disappointed about that.
04:19Normally if you're a gamer and a massive game is coming out that you can't play,
04:23that's frustrating.
04:24But after watching this extended look, I'm honestly okay with sitting this one out.
04:29I'm not sitting here thinking, man, I'm going to miss out on the greatest game ever made.
04:33I'm thinking, well, I guess I won't be playing it.
04:36And I'm surprisingly comfortable with that.
04:38Maybe GTA 6 will eventually prove me completely wrong.
04:41Maybe people will get their hands on it and discover that the game is absolutely incredible.
04:46Maybe the humor is much better than Rockstar has shown us.
04:49Maybe the gameplay is much crazier than these presentations suggest.
04:53And if that happens, great.
04:55I'll happily admit it.
04:56But I'm not going to pretend I'm excited just because the words Grand Theft Auto are attached to it.
05:03Here's the difference between hype and actually being impressed.
05:06Rockstar doesn't need to convince me that GTA 6 is technically impressive.
05:10I already know that.
05:11The graphics are incredible.
05:13The world looks huge.
05:14The character models are ridiculously detailed.
05:17The animations look fantastic.
05:19None of that is the problem.
05:20I need Rockstar to convince me that it's fun.
05:23I need to see gameplay.
05:25Chaos.
05:26Ridiculousness.
05:27Humor.
05:28I need to see the things that make Grand Theft Auto feel like Grand Theft Auto.
05:31Because if Rockstar gave us a beautifully technically impressive cinematic open world crime game that feels overly controlled,
05:38then what exactly makes it better than GTA 5?
05:41And this is where I think Rockstar needs to be careful.
05:44There's nothing wrong with realism.
05:46But realism should never come at the expense of fun.
05:49I don't want Grand Theft Auto to become a serious crime simulator.
05:52I don't want to spend 20 minutes carefully following traffic laws.
05:56I don't want every police chase to end with everyone politely pulling over because the action would otherwise be too
06:01chaotic.
06:01I want to screw around, steal ridiculous vehicles, cause ridiculous accidents, police chases to escalate into absolute madness.
06:09I want to accidentally turn a 5-star wanted level into the most ridiculous situation I've ever seen.
06:15That's Grand Theft Auto.
06:16And that's why that police chase bothered me so much.
06:19I'm not saying every police chase needs to end with a dozen explosions.
06:22But when Rockstar is specifically showing us an extended look at the game and wants us to be excited,
06:28why show us the safest possible version of the action?
06:31Why not show us something completely insane?
06:34Why not show us Jason and Lucia tearing through Vice City while police cars crash into each other?
06:39Why not show us helicopters getting involved?
06:41Why not showing us a massive pileup?
06:44Why not show us the kind of chaos that makes people immediately start talking about the game?
06:48Instead, we got, shoot the tires, police cars stop, scene over.
06:53That's not what I want from Grand Theft Auto 6.
06:56Now, before somebody accuses me of saying GTA 6 is going to be terrible, I'm not.
07:01I haven't played it, you haven't played it, most people haven't played it, and Rockstar could still surprise us.
07:07This is simply my reaction to what we've been shown.
07:10And my reaction is, I'm bored.
07:13I'm not impressed by another cinematic sequence, or another beautiful shot of Vice City,
07:18or another character conversation.
07:20Show me the game.
07:21Show me why I should care.
07:23Why this couldn't simply have been an expansion for GTA 5.
07:27Show me what makes GTA 6 special beyond having better graphics.
07:31Because right now, I'm not seeing enough of that.
07:34Grand Theft Auto 6 might end up being an amazing game.
07:37I genuinely hope it is.
07:38But based on the extended look, I'm worried Rockstar is playing things way too safe.
07:43The lack of chaos in that police chase is a perfect example.
07:47Jason and Lusa are being chased by the police, they shoot at the tires of the police cars, and that's
07:51basically it.
07:52No explosions, no spectacular crashes, no ridiculous destruction, no insanity.
07:58Just controlled action that feels like it was designed to look good in a trailer.
08:02And that's my biggest problem with GTA 6 so far.
08:05It looks like a game designed to impress us, rather than a game designed to let us go absolutely insane.
08:11And maybe I'm wrong.
08:13Maybe Rockstar has been hiding the good stuff.
08:15Maybe the full game will be completely ridiculous.
08:18But if this is representative of the direction Rockstar is taking Grand Theft Auto,
08:22I'm not sure GTA 6 is going to hold a candle to GTA 5 for me.
08:26And the ironic thing is, I don't even have a console that can play GTA 6.
08:30But after watching this, I'm not exactly rushing out to buy one.
08:35I'd rather Rockstar prove to me that GTA 6 is worth getting excited about,
08:39before I worry about finding a way to play it.
08:41Because I'm not impressed by hype, I'm not impressed by graphics alone,
08:45and I'm certainly not impressed by a bunch of cutscenes pretending to be a gameplay showcase.
08:50Show me the game, Rockstar.
08:52Then maybe I'll care.
08:53But until then, I'll happily keep playing the Grand Theft Auto games
08:57that actually gave me the chaos, humor, and insanity I expect from this franchise.
09:02What do you think?
09:03Did the Grand Theft Auto 6 extended look get you excited?
09:06Or did you find yourself asking where the actual gameplay was?
09:09And do you think GTA 6 is playing things too safe compared to GTA 5?
09:14Let me know in the comments.
09:16If you enjoyed the video, make sure to give it a thumbs up,
09:19subscribe to the channel,
09:20and check out my Patreon for exclusive content you won't find on the main channel.
09:27Game on!
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