GTA 6 Edge Cover Story: Every New Detail Revealed
Edge's GTA 6 cover story reveals a Professional-to-Irredeemable morality scale, K9 police, a relationship meter, real weather and a map nearly three games big.
Edge magazine got the biggest look at GTA 6 yet, and the full cover story is free to read online. Edge visited Rockstar North in Edinburgh, where co-studio head Rob Nelson played the game for 90 minutes without a script, and spoke to Aaron Garbut and Phil Hooker, two of the game's heads of development. It's packed with new details, from a morality scale to K9 police dogs. Here's everything we learned.
The Edge GTA 6 issue
- Issue: Edge 430, on sale October 29, with the feature also free online.
- Size: a 16-page feature with a gatefold cover of Jason and Lucia.
- Screenshots: new official images, including Grassrivers and Ambrosia.
The world: bigger and denser
- Map size: Edge describes the map as roughly twice the size of GTA 5's. Rockstar says Leonida's total landmass is nearly as large as GTA 4, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2's maps combined. Our map size comparison has every other estimate.
- Interiors: Garbut says there are an "order of magnitude" more interiors than in previous games.
- Smaller roads: GTA 5's wide roads have been narrowed to a more believable size.
- Slower days: the day-night cycle is much longer. With GTA 5's timings, Nelson says, everything felt too fast.
- Real weather: clouds react to wind, humidity, fog, time of day and season. Surfaces dry at different speeds, storms can knock aircraft around, and people run for shelter.
- Public transport: buses and trains run on full routes. The rail network is reportedly called AmLoco.
- Open from the start: the whole map is reportedly open to explore soon after the prologue.
- Smarter crowds: every pedestrian has traits like temperament and aggression, and remembers what they've seen and how you've treated them. Rockstar built around 600,000 animations for them.
How you play: the new systems
Criminal Profile
A new scale runs from "Professional" to "Irredeemable", shown with angel and devil icons. Killing pushes you toward the violent end, while knocking people out or intimidating them doesn't. Rockstar says your profile will influence how Jason and Lucia's story unfolds. But the choice has limits: Edge says you choose what kind of criminal you are, not whether you are one.
Jason and Lucia's relationship
Their relationship has a four-step closeness scale. You raise it by doing things together, like beach walks, cycling, the gym and driving. Nelson says the relationship is yours to keep or to lose, and wouldn't say whether they can get married. More on the couple in Jason and Lucia explained.
Police and the heat system
- What the police know: icons at the top of the screen show whether police have your description, your clothes, your weapon, CCTV footage and whether you were alone. Change clothes, split up or drop the weapon to lose them. Our wanted level guide explains how this works.
- Pursuits: in Edge's demo, police laid a stinger strip ahead of Jason and Lucia's motorbike, and a K9 dog pinned Jason down.
- Weapons in public: people react differently depending on how you carry a gun, and you have a little time to drop it before getting a wanted level.
Cars, money and everyday life
- Car theft is riskier: some drivers fight back, newer cars can have trackers, and owners may report the theft.
- Your car on demand: the Scooter Bros app delivers your car in seconds for a fee. Your weapons are stored in the trunk, and every car has a fuel gauge and engine health.
- Food and drink: coffee boosts stamina and a protein shake boosts health.
- Money matters: sometimes you'll need to raise cash before the next story mission, by robbing stores or stealing cars to order through the WAINK app. See how heists and money work.
- Random encounters: a shopper might play hero during a robbery, and a group of youths challenged Nelson to a street race.
The story: getting out
Edge says quitting crime is a core theme: what if Jason and Lucia want something else? Nelson points to Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2 as an influence.
GTA 6 is out on November 19. For everything you need before then, see our launch guide.
Sources
Based on 10 videos and articles. Here are the main ones, with credit to their creators.
- ArticleGrand Theft Auto VI exclusive – The state that never sleepsgamesradar.com (Edge)
- VideoMassive GTA 6 Info Drop: Police Dogs, Seasons, Buses & Trains & More!TmarTn2
- VideoRockstar Finally Showed Us The North in GTA 6Jeff Favignano
- VideoGTA 6 Just Revealed Some INSANE New Gameplay Details...Hazard
- ArticleGTA 6 is getting the full Edge magazine treatment before November 19gtaboom.com
Show all 10 sources +Show fewer −
- ArticleGTA 6 map sizeinsider-gaming.com
- ArticleEdge Interview Breaks Down How the GTA 6 Romance Worksgtaboom.com
- ArticleGTA 6's souped-up Red Dead Redemption 2-style morality system will scale from 'Professional' to 'Irredeemable'PC Gamer via Yahoo
- Article12 new GTA 6 gameplay screenshots releasedinsider-gaming.com
- ArticleGTA 6's Police Will Have K9 Unitsbeebom.com
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