For a game heading closer to its tenth anniversary of release, it’s amazing to think that its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. GTA 5 was released in 2013 and has stood the test of time and adapted with it too.
Following its introduction to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, just ahead of the release of the updated consoles, Rockstar gave it a new coat of paint to take GTA into the new generation of Xbox One and PS4. Since then, the consoles have moved forward again, with Sony and Microsoft releasing their most recent gaming devices in late 2020. As technology is moving forward at pace, the desire for Rockstar’s controversial, but popular game to head in a similar direction rumbles on.
Rumours continue to persist that Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton and co, will be arriving onto the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 sooner rather than later too.
But this time, it can’t just be a polish up; it needs to be full of substance and style. There’s no point wasting all that new, shiny tech. GTA is all about the experience of being in what feels like a living and breathing environment. So, we are going to take a look at what could be welcome additions to the world of Los Santos.
Cross play
Surely this has to come to GTA, after all there’s so many games now which use this functionality. All the latest titles welcome players from across the platforms to play together and this has to come to Los Santos. But not only that, the number of online players in a game has to increase too. As things stand only 30 players are in the city at one time. Battlefield 2042 which is releasing soon, has 128 players in online games AND it’s cross play compatible. It would be fantastic to see over four times the number of online adversaries than we’ve been used to in GTA too. It would give Los Santos even more of an unpredictable real city feel.
Interior design
Adding to the impression of it being a living, thriving city would be the option to go into more properties on the game. Whilst there are a decent handful that players can explore, it would be better if more immersion was added with more properties to enter. Instead of just heading by those houses in the game, can’t you go and look around them? Are the mansions all like Michael’s? What’s inside the Los Santo’s supermarkets?
Mini games
One of the arguably unexpected highlights in GTA has been the inclusion of the mini games. Being able to tee off on the golf course, rack up a game of pool or heading into the casino. Although ‘The Vinewood Casino’ is well stacked with games, there are two additions which would add to the realism. Texas Hold’em is the most popular form of poker by a wide margin. It seems odd to have ignored its attraction, for the three card poker variant that players currently play. Although there is the ‘Inside Track’ available to bet on the horseracing, imagine being able to place a wager on the Boars Baseball Club or the Los Santos Corkers. GTA is known for its excellent cutscenes, it would be fantastic to see the moment your bet on a grand slam winning hit come off. In adding Texas Hold’em and a sportsbook, it would arguably add so much more to the game. And if you consider that the foundations of both of these above options are already in place, it would be a less labor intensive addition. Thus allowing developers to concentrate on arguably the most notable inclusion…
Bigger world
With the boost in processing power now that’s available, there has to be scope for a bigger map to play on. After all, the Xbox One was said to be three times more powerful than the 360 which GTA V first released on. Now the Xbox Series X is twice as powerful as the Xbox One and there’s a similar leap on the PlayStation too. It would be great to utilize that extra processing power to experience the larger area of San Andreas. Bringing together the vibrant cities of San Fierro, Las Venturas and Los Santos in one larger map would be fantastic. In turn that would open up so many new possibilities for cross city story arcs too, making the game bigger and better for single players and multiplaying gamers alike.
