Grand Theft Auto 6 is already going to have a tough time living up to its hype, and the success of Red Dead Redemption 2 isn't doing the game any favors. Red Dead Redemption 2 was a stunning achievement for Rockstar, and remains widely praised and highly respected. Although it may not be completely fair to compare GTA 6 to Red Dead Redemption 2, I still think it will be a bit difficult not to make mental comparisons between the two while playing.

If GTA 6 is to stand a chance at a similar reception to Red Dead Redemption 2's critical acclaim, it will need to learn from the best features from RDR2. While things won't necessarily translate one-to-one from Red Dead Redemption 2 to GTA 6, there are still valuable design lessons to be learned from Rockstar's last big game. However, GTA 6 will also need to make some intentional departures from Red Dead Redemption if it wants to outdo it.

10 The World Needs To Feel More Alive

GTA's World Can Feel A Little Empty

One of the best aspects of Red Dead Redemption 2 is that its world feels alive. Even in the empty stretches between populated areas, there are enough NPCs and wildlife that these sections of the world don't feel empty. Even though it definitely has more open space than GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 manages to feel more like a living world because of the way you can interact with it.

A big part of this was down to how NPCs act in Red Dead Redemption 2. In GTA games, average citizens seem to exist solely to scream and runaway. While Red Dead Redemption NPCs sometimes act similarly, they do more than just walk up and down the street waiting for something to terrify them. While GTA 5's NPCs aren't completely devoid of life, they are a far cry from RDR2's in of feeling like real people actually doing things. If GTA 6 wants to compete, it will need more business for NPCs to be doing in the background.

9 There Should Be More Interior Locations In GTA 6

Buildings Often Just Feel Like Facades In GTA 5

Part of what helps Red Dead Redemption 2 feel so immersive is that its buildings are more than pretty facades, or obstacles to dodge while driving. Many of the game's buildings have fully realized interiors, and this isn't limited to ones that are strictly tied to a specific mission. As beautiful as GTA 5's Los Santos is, the buildings start to fade into the background after a while, feeling more like nice-looking walls than anything else.

Now, Red Dead Redemption 2 does have a huge advantage over GTA 6 when it comes to being able to design interior locations. Apart from Saint Denis, most towns in Red Dead Redemption 2 have fewer than 15 or 20 buildings. In contrast, GTA 6's Vice City is a fully realized modern location with hundreds of buildings. While I therefore don't expect the same ratio of interior locations, it would still be nice if GTA 6 put in the effort to make its buildings feel more like real places you can go and not just barriers to crash into.

8 GTA 6 Needs Something Like RDR2's Camp

Red Dead Redemption 2's Camp Provides Great Character Moments

In Red Dead Redemption 2, you have a camp where the main NPCs in the game spend most of their time. They don't just sit around waiting for Arthur to come speak to them, rather they will be having conversations, doing jobs around camp, or even dancing or playing games. This makes them feel much more alive than your typical video game NPCs, and does a lot to humanize them, which is a huge benefit to the game's story.

When you want to interact with an NPC in GTA 5, you have to travel to their dedicated location, which triggers a scripted cutscene. They and you will also chat on the phone sometimes, or while riding in the car together during missions. However, outside these scripted moments, they essentially stop existing. GTA 6 would benefit a lot from having places where NPCs hang out and do things without needing the player to kick-start a scene or mission. This would help them feel more like real people as opposed to props for your story.

7 Characters In GTA 6 Should Be More Than Caricatures

Characters In GTA 5 Are Much More Shallow Than In RDR2

If GTA 6 wants to reach the same heights with its story as Red Dead Redemption 2, then it may also need to give its characters a bit more depth. Many of the characters in GTA 5 feel like shallow caricatures rather than actual people. While I am fond of some of these characters for what they are, it's hard to care about them on the same level as the characters from Red Dead Redemption 2. GTA 6 would benefit from humanizing its characters a bit more, even if they are still sillier and more exaggerated than RDR2 characters.

I could see this being a bit of a contentious point, as GTA's satirical tone is part of the appeal. I wouldn't want to see GTA 6 try to be as dramatic as Red Dead Redemption 2 overall in the interest of retaining its signature tone. Still, I would like to have a bit more of a reason to care about the main cast of GTA 6, even if that means dialing back some of the comedic elements from GTA 5.

6 GTA 6's Use Of Space Should Feel Intentional

Red Dead Redemption 2 Captured Its Setting's Feeling With Its Use Of Space

One thing Red Dead Redemption 2 does is make its unpopulated areas interesting to explore. Part of this is just because Red Dead Redemption 2 has beautiful locations, but it's also because the game's use of empty space feels intentional. It is used to evoke the feeling of the frontier still mostly being untamed land, a feeling that wouldn't be present if the game had placed all its main areas closer together on a smaller map.

My hope would be that GTA 6 will use its space as effectively as Red Dead Redemption 2 when it comes to creating a feeling for Vice City. This doesn't have to mean the city is overly large or spread out like Red Dead Redemption 2. If anything, I think less empty space and a smaller map would probably do a better job capturing the feeling of a lively urban area.

One complaint I've always had with GTA 5's map is that a lot of the places north of Los Santos feel empty and tacked-on. I would hope that GTA 6 doesn't feel the need to include boring sections of the map just so it can boast having a large map. I'd much rather its space was used effectively in a way that captures the tone that the game is trying to create.

5 GTA 6's Combat Should Feel More High-Stakes

Red Dead Redemption 2's Combat Feels More Impactful Than Previous GTA Games

Combat in Rockstar's main game series rarely feels difficult. It largely boils down to snapping between enemies with the generous auto-lock feature, tilting the right stick up slightly to land a headshot, then repeating. While Red Dead Redemption 2's combat isn't necessarily much more difficult than GTA 5's, it still does a better job creating a sense of danger.

This is partially due to the limitations of the guns used in Red Dead Redemption 2. More frequent reloads and slower fire rates create more moments of tension in gun battles, because there is just enough time between shots for you to feel anxious. However, reload speeds aren't so slow that you get bored while waiting.

Although it may be hard for GTA 6 to fully recreate this feeling with modern weapons, I still hope that the game has some way of making its fights feel more interesting than GTA 5's. Whether it's smaller magazine sizes, or even quicker fire rates which necessitate more frequent reloads, it would be nice to have a way to create similar moments of tension during firefights. That way, combat can be a bit more exciting, as opposed to being too quick to be satisfying.

4 GTA 6's Characters Should Have A Good Reason For Living A Life Of Crime

Good Character Motivation Can Make GTA 6's Story Stronger

One of Red Dead Redemption 2's greatest strengths is its characters. Whether or not I agree with their actions, I can always understand why characters are taking certain actions because they all have proper motivation. Here is a group of people who feel their way of life is under threat, and who have likely done too many bad things to seamlessly integrate into the rigid way of life quickly encroaching on the frontier. This makes them both more understandable and more complex than a character like GTA 5's Trevor, who simply seems to revel in violence.

I think a satirical game like GTA has a lot of good ways to show why a character living in modern-day America might feel tempted to turn to crime, similar to how Red Dead Redemption 2 captures the motivations of its outlaws. GTA 6's trailer already did a good job setting this up by showing Lucia getting out of prison. Ex-convicts can have a pretty hard time finding work in the United States, which often incentivizes them to return to criminal activity as a way to pay for the cost of living.

GTA 6 could set itself up for a hard-hitting satire if it tackles modern issues like this. By being set in the current day, its story could feel even more relevant and impactful than Red Dead Redemption 2's. It would be a bit of a shame if the game backslid into the entertaining, but ultimately shallow critiques GTA 5 levied at Hollywood and celebrity culture.

3 GTA 6 Should Lean Into Its Setting

GTA 6's Setting Should Feel As Authentic As RDR2's

Red Dead Redemption 2 does a great job leaning into its distinct setting, both in of the time period and the locations. Even within the game, its settings each have a distinctly different feel to them and are rooted in the culture of the real-life setting they are meant to emulate. A good example would be how Red Dead Redemption 2's KKK meetings are found in areas that represented the American South, where the Klan was more prevalent at the time the game takes place.

It would be nice to see GTA 6 taking the same level of care to capture its unique setting. Vice City hopefully won't just feel like a re-skinned Los Santos from GTA 5. I'm hoping that the game doesn't just look more like Miami than LA, but also captures the cultural elements that make the city feel so different.

2 GTA 6's Online Content Needs To Be More Interesting

Red Dead Online Isn't A Good Example Of How To Do Online Content

For all of Red Dead Redemption 2's successes, one big failure is its online mode. I've seen complaints about it being buggy, and low-level players being easily targeted by more powerful ones. Honestly, I never got far enough into it to experience any of these issues myself, because I found Red Dead Online to be too dull to stick with.

GTA 6 could easily upstage Red Dead Redemption 2 in the online department by having more engaging gameplay. Luckily, GTA 6 already has a pretty strong model for online content in GTA 5, whose online aspects are still going strong all these years after the game's original release. While it may be hard for some long-time fans to leave behind their GTA Online progress for the new game, I'm sure many (myself included) will be excited to experience a new setting for it.

1 GTA 6 Needs To Embrace Its Differences From RDR2

GTA 6 Should Learn From RDR2, But Still Feel Different

Although there are plenty of things that I think GTA 6 should take from Red Dead Redemption 2, it should always do so while keeping the differences between the games in mind. While taking ideas like the camp from RDR2, GTA 6 would obviously need to find a way to adapt it for the new setting. Maybe it's an apartment complex where characters live, or a bar where they all hang out. However Rockstar chooses to update the RDR2 concepts, they should feel authentic to the GTA setting.

It's also important that, while GTA 6 should emulate Red Dead Redemption 2 in certain ways, it shouldn't feel like Red Dead Redemption 2. Grand Theft Auto 6 still needs to have a distinctly lighthearted GTA tone, and focus on more contemporary issues. Hopefully Rockstar can find a good balance between taking what worked and making new features.