Rockstar has always managed to surprise and intrigue us with amazing content in their infamously popular “Grand Theft Auto” series. However, not every feature they have added to the game is something that all gamers felt were necessary. For instance, having to go on social calls and constantly being pestered on the cell phone in “Grand Theft Auto IV” left a lot of people annoyed and frustrated. However, the offset of using NaturalMotion’s Euphoria engine attached to Rockstar’s own proprietary Rage engine helped to quell some of the anger about the annoying cell phone feature with amazing animations, NPC AI behavior and advanced character motions.
While little is known about Grand Theft Auto V at this point, what we do know is that the world will be much larger than “Grand Theft Auto IV” and it will bring back a lot of the features gamers loved in the widely acclaimed “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” But here are a few extra features that Rockstar might want to consider adding if they want GTA V to properly evolve over its predecessors.
No 1. Recruiting NPCs
In “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” it was possible to recruit gang members to come along with you on some missions. During brief periods of the game these members could ride shotgun with you on missions, while you were just cruising town or while trying to level up your character.
While you could call along a few NPCs for backup during some missions in “The Lost and Damned” DLC in “Grand Theft Auto IV,” you couldn’t actually recruit anyone to tag along for any long periods of time. One of the things GTA V needs is to recruit and keep NPCs if you want to, a little like Vivendi Universal’s “Scarface: The World Is Yours,” which allowed gamers to hire bodyguards, drivers and hitmen. A feature like this in GTA V could really help extend the playability and evolve the franchise.
No 2. Shooting Mechanics Like APB Reloaded
One of the worst aspects of the “Grand Theft Auto” games has always been the shooting mechanics, that was until GTA IV. While the over-the-shoulder aiming mechanics have been much improved over previous iterations in the series there’s still some fixing to be done.
For instance, running-and-gunning wasn’t much of an option in GTA IV because once the trigger was pressed the camera would go back into the over-the-shoulder view instead of letting gamers fire from the hip. This made it especially difficult to shoot while running, even if for the sake of trying to get someone to stop running or to at least attempt to slow them down, whether you were doing the chasing or being chased.
One of the ways they could improve the shooting is making it more streamlined like GamersFirst and Reloaded Productions’ “APB: Reloaded.” When you’re not aiming in the over-the-shoulder mode the game lets you run and gun rather conveniently in any direction. That’s how it should be in GTA V, this way while chasing someone down an alley or across the street, it will be easy to clip them in the leg without losing your stride.
No 3. Destructibility
This was implemented lightly in “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Boxes, crates, barrels, windows and cars were all destructible in the latest GTA outing but it just wasn’t enough. Essentially, all the destructibility in GTA IV was mostly borrowed from EA’s open-world franchise, “The Godfather.”
What GTA V needs is some intense destruction that includes more than just cars and crates. High powered rifles should be able to penetrate thin walls. Wooden doors should be able to shred under shotgun fire. Things need to topple over and physics need to hurt more. The vehicle destruction in GTA IV was perfectly done but it’s time they evolve it and take things to the next level.
No 4. Less Death, More Wounding
On the topic of destruction let’s talk about a very important topic of “Grand Theft Auto”: death. In all the games before GTA IV killing was an easy-peasy effort that was more comical than anything else. In “Grand Theft Auto IV” there was an air of realism to shootouts where it wasn’t always about killing, and it was possible to incapacitate some NPCs during battle however they need to take it a step further in GTA V. Wounding certain body parts should have different effects on an NPC, such as shooting them in the leg and having them hobble off instead of staying and fighting, or making a shot to the gut an HP draining effect that slowly kills during the battle. What’s more, some wounds should render characters unable to fight as opposed to them constantly fighting to the death.
Being able to knock someone unconscious should become an option for those who don’t always want to run and gun, and the AI needs to become sophisticated enough to try to avoid being shot as much as possible. This kind of feature would give the game a more tension-ridden atmosphere than in previous GTA titles.
No 5. Stealth
Seems simple enough but being stealthy was never much of an option in GTA games. Coinciding with No. 4, having the option to sneak around behind someone and knock them out would give the game a much more diverse set of play options as opposed to always confronting enemies head-on. This kind of feature was very slightly brushed upon in “GTA: San Andreas” where Carl could sneak into people’s homes to steal objects or when he had to raid a rap music mogul’s mansion, but other than that stealth did not play a big part in the game.
More optional stealth elements could easily increase the replay-ability and the fun-factors for “Grand Theft Auto V.” Imagine robbing a bank at night and waiting for the guards to change shifts before robbing it or storming a location with a silencer and taking out the men before they know what hit them. Hopefully its something Rockstar considers adding to the latest game in the series.