GTA VI’s Realism Might Make It Hard To Kill People

This week Rockstar finally blew the proverbial lid off Grand Theft Auto VI, and when people beheld its contents, their faces melted like they’d gazed upon the Ark of the Covenant. While the particulars of the game’s making are very much worth discussing, the fact remains that it will soon be a real, tangible object. That in mind, what will it be like to rampage through a world full of NPCs that move and scramble and cry in manners uncannily akin to actual people? Is there a point at which wanton virtual violence stops being enjoyable? On the latest Aftermath Hours, we talk about that.

This time around, we recap the highs (read: mids) and lows of Geoff Keighley’s least consequential annual advertisement fest, Gamescom Opening Night Live. The new expansion for Witcher 3—yes, the one that originally came out in 2015—looks cool, as does an arguably even longer-awaited continuation of a beloved series: Pony Island 2. But otherwise, it was hard not to let our eyes glaze over as Geoff and co ladled out a slurry of same-y looking games that embraced AI, shamelessly cribbed notes from other series, or both (see: Hoyoverse, Krafton).

Then, a whole day later—which will pass to you like seconds thanks to editing magic—Kotaku’s resident GTA beat reporter Zack Zwiezen joins us to talk about the latest developments in GTA VI’s lengthy leak saga and, of course, the Netflix extended preview that Rockstar inconsiderately chose to air on Thursday, 24 hours after we typically record.

You can find this week's episode below and on Spotify, Apple, or wherever else you prefer to listen to podcasts. If you like what you hear, leave a review so that we can amass even more stars than a Grand Theft Auto character.

Zack: I’m really excited by this idea that the world’s gonna react to you a lot more in subtle ways. Those people [who saw Lucia approach a convenience store with a gun behind her back] didn’t call the cops. They were just like “Uhhh, I’m gonna get out of here.”

Nathan: Also, like, considering the level of verisimilitude in the world and how real it all looks—and maybe over time my mind will revert to how it normally is when I play video games—I wonder if I’ll be able to do the normal Grand Theft Auto thing of going on a rampage and killing a bunch of people. I don’t think I’d feel good about it. I think I’d be like “Oh… this sucks.”

Zack: Speaking of that leak with the nudist colony, I was watching it, and the part where he opened up fire on this crowd of people with a pistol, I was like “Oh man, yeah, we’re at a point where, Rockstar, you’ve done your job so well. These people look so real.” And it’s not just how they look. If you watch that clip when he starts shooting, people are grabbing onto each other.

Nathan: Yeah, the way they move is crazy.

Zack: You look at this, and you’re like “You did your job so well that I don’t know if I want to just shoot into a crowd.” I don’t know. It’s gonna be a really weird feeling. And you can tell in the [Netflix] extended look, the missions tend to involve criminals or armed guards. You’re not just out in the world shooting people.

Now maybe there will be missions like that, but I suspect that even Rockstar’s picked up on this, and there won’t be. I highly doubt there’ll be rampage icons in this game like there have been in past GTAs where you get the little icon and it’s like “Kill 500 of these people” or whatever. I don’t know if they’re gonna do that. I think Rockstar might realize “Oh, this doesn’t work for us anymore.”

Nathan: Again, I think that’d make me feel icky. And I’m sure some people will do it anyway. I bet there will be many, many YouTube videos of someone being like “I killed 40 billion people in Grand Theft Auto VI.”

But I think that normal players will probably approach it less recklessly. I think the thing that will happen to a lot of people is, they’ll be shocked at how much they’re following the rules in a game about crime. They’ll be like “Yep, I’m driving at the speed limit. I’m trying not to hit people.”

Zack: “I’m not taking corners too tight; that way I don’t hit people on the sidewalk. I’m being careful.”

Chris: “I’m being respectful.”