9 Ways Rockstar Could Easily Ruin GTA VI

7. A Lack Of Direction & Identity

GTA IV was an attempt to tell a different kind of tale that fell flat. Coming off the back of Bully and Manhunt, Rockstar had the potential to write a truly memorable story (which we know they have the ability to do, just play Red Dead Redemption), but they were hamstrung by having it be 'a GTA game'. That meant for all the talk of Niko wanting to break away from a life of violence and the option to branch the narrative in key places to create more positive outcomes, you could still ruin the whole thing by shooting a few thousand people in between.

This formed a huge disconnect on the part of the player - birthing the term 'ludonarrative dissonance' in the process, where a character in cutscenes behaves differently to how we play - and ultimately forced Rockstar to re-embrace the ludicrousness they tried to leave behind.

What GTA returned to being with its fifth instalment was already what Saints Row was nailing better than ever; a thoroughly fun and self-aware ridiculous take on the open-world genre, replete with hilarious writing and gameplay possibilities that reinforced that tonality. Ironically, as Saints Row started out as a straight-faced GTA clone, now the innovator had to 'outdo' the madness of its copycat - luckily Saints went off the deep end with IV and Gat Out of Hell, but Rockstar are still struggling to truly restore GTA's identity as it was across the early 2000s.