While many open-world games tend to borrow from Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto 6 could learn a thing or two from a 2012 sleeper hit. Rockstar Games is arguably the best developer when it comes to the open-world genre. Despite being a decade old, GTA 5 still hasn't been topped in many areas by other open-world franchises like Watch Dogs, Saints Row, or Mafia.

Red Dead Redemption 2 pushed things much further and created a rich universe with so much interactivity, depth, and content that it's hard to imagine another studio will be able to rival it directly anytime soon. However, Rockstar Games will likely make its best effort to top itself with GTA 6 in 2025. As of right now, not much is officially known about the gameplay of GTA 6, but there are quite a few leaks that suggest it will build on Red Dead Redemption 2's more immersive gameplay and have an emphasis on realism.

GTA 6 Should Borrow A Key Sleeping Dogs Mechanic

Players Should Take Hostages In GTA 6

However, Rockstar Games should take a close look at some of its competitors to see how it can shake up the Grand Theft Auto formula. Sleeping Dogs is a cult-classic open-world crime game set in Hong Kong. While it was deemed a commercial failure by Square Enix due to underwhelming sales, the game was received well by fans and critics alike and still gets looked back on fondly by players. Many hoped a sequel would materialize, but those hopes were vanquished when developer United Front Games was shuttered in 2016.

While it can be directly compared to games like Grand Theft Auto, it found a way to be very different by placing you in the shoes of an undercover cop. It also had an emphasis on melee combat in addition to typical gunplay, allowing players to grapple enemies, throw them into environmental hazards, beat them with weapons, and so on. Sleeping Dogs was heavily inspired by Hong Kong action flicks like Hard Boiled, making it an action-packed extravaganza

One of the key mechanics in Sleeping Dogs allows players to take NPCs hostage and use them as a human shield or straight up kidnap them. While the human shield is useful for combat, players can put NPCs in the trunk of their car and drive them around. ittedly, there's not really any reason to do this other than it's sadistically fun. However, this mechanic would make perfect sense in a game like GTA 6 and Rockstar Games has the resources to really expand upon it.

Based on the first trailer and even some leaks for GTA 6, it looks like players will be embarking on smaller-scale robberies as opposed to the grand heists of Grand Theft Auto 5. Things like crowd control will likely play a role in these kinds of missions, and it wouldn't be surprising if police close in on the player as they're trying to wrap up their robbery or make their escape. Naturally, it only makes sense for a career criminal to take a hostage to try and better their odds.

Players could exit the scene of the crime with a hostage at gun point to prevent cops from opening fire at the player. The player could then load them up in the escape vehicle, which would add another layer to GTA 6. It presents more choice and ensures that not every robbery will end in the same chaotic firefight. This could also make police chases more interesting than trying to get away from the red and blue circle on the mini-map and instead make it so that police back off of the player, since they know there's a hostage in the vehicle.

GTA 6 Should Use RDR2's Hogtie Mechanic

GTA 6 Gameplay Could Learn A Lot

While Sleeping Dogs has already shown how kidnapping can work in a modern open-world game, Rockstar Games can also look to one of its own games for inspiration in this area. Red Dead Redemption 2 lets players lasso and hogtie anyone they want, but they can't be used as any kind of human shield or defense against enemies. However, GTA 6 could build upon this system and utilize zip ties, handcuffs, or some other form of modern restraint to tie up NPCs.

There are all kinds of ways to deepen this system from there as well. There could be a random chance of a kidnapped NPC escaping from the player's grasp/restraints and leaving the player vulnerable to attacks or even alerting police if they're not already in pursuit. Grand Theft Auto also doesn't have much purpose for NPCs beyond something to shoot or plow into. They populate the world, but don't do much and can't be interacted with in many interesting ways. This kind of system gives them a bit more purpose in the world, however.

Players could exit the scene of the crime with a hostage at gun point to prevent cops from opening fire at the player.

Whether or not Grand Theft Auto 6 will include anything like this remains to be seen, but it would make it so there's more to interactions with police than a shootout or a chase. Either way, it'll be fun to see what new ways Rockstar Games comes up with to advance the gameplay of its most respected franchise.

Source: Rockstar Games/YouTube