24 Things You Missed in the GTA 6 Extended Look

Unfortunately, I did not go to Edinburgh’s Rockstar North to see hands-off gameplay of GTA 6 — or ask co-studio head Rob Nelson any questions. You’ll have to rely on IGN, The New York Times, TroisCouleurs and Famitsu for proper hands-off preview coverage of the next Grand Theft Auto.

So why are you here? Well, I have written about Rockstar Games for over a decade now, for The BBC, NME, The Washington Post, and more. I was part of the review program for Red Dead Redemption 2, and as they evolved, I covered GTA Online & Red Dead Online extensively. It’s how I ended up interviewing Julian Casablancas that one time…

With all that in mind, I figured I would pilfer through the now-widely available gameplay footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 and try to pull out some small but important details, the things you might have missed, perchance. Here goes!

The L2 Interaction System is back

In Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar introduced a mechanic where you could focus on a target and use Greet, Antagonize, Defuse & Rob to have emergent conversations with NPCs. It’s back and expanded in GTA 6, as evidenced by this early encounter with a member of the SAN4SAN gang, who is wearing a T-Shirt with a logo for Righteous Slaughter: Hood Ops, a satirical nod towards Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Animal Interactions may affect your Criminal Profile

Still on the Interaction System, later in the same clip, Jason interacts with a dog and can Scold, Pet, or Study it by holding R1. He pets it, and you can see a little angel icon appear in the middle right of the screen, indicating that this has affected a background statistic. It’s unclear whether this is connected to the Honor-forerunning Criminal Profile morality system talked about in previews, which tracks how professional or violent you are. It also might be affecting Jason’s standing with Lucia in the relationship, which is another background system we’ll get to later.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, studying animals was part of filling out the Compendium. Once you studied an animal, you’d get an info card with its star rating, pelt quality, and you could track it, too. Given all the animals shown in The Extended Look, I wonder if there’s a Compendium in GTA 6 too?

In-Game Brand Satire & a GTA V Easter Egg

When Jason meets Raymond, we get a shot of the table where his crew are cooking up some crack cocaine. The fun riffs on real-world brands begin here. Palm & Flute is Arm & Hammer Baking Soda; Grünewald Instant Dry Milk looks a bit like Carnation, and in the back we can see some Bugstars Ratout Rat Poison. The Bugstars Pest Control brand is central to the first heist in GTA V, The Jewel Store Job, where the gang don fumigator outfits, roll up in a Bugstars van and gas the store. Beyond that, one of Raymond’s lieutenants is wearing a Sound4Sound shirt, which is the S4S gang’s record label — and we see a backpack with a logo for Crevis, a brand from GTA V.

Méndez is an antagonist who knows Jason & Lucia

When it all goes south, we see extremely grisly wounds as a rogue police force led by a guy called Méndez (who has a history with Jason & Lucia) shoots the gang members on sight. They don’t want to be noticed by him, which is interesting. Méndez has appeared in previous trailers, particularly at another point in the interrogation scene which is shown later in this Extended Look. He looked menacing there too, and talked about cops protecting each other — though in this trailer, the cops seem to battle it out and that’s how Jason & Lucia escape. Hmm…

New Gunplay & Incapacitating Shots

Soon after, an S4S member tackles an officer through a wall, sending particles into the air and exposing the drywall. Clearly, Rockstar has spent a lot of time upgrading the VFX & Gore mechanics from GTA V. Most interesting is what happens next, though. From the first shot, it’s clear the gunplay is quite different in GTA 6, and a bit more like a levelled-up Max Payne 3.

Particularly, you can see there’s now a yellow hitmarker to indicate you have incapacitated an enemy, rather than an outright kill, which is indicated by a red hitmarker. You can see the officer writhing on the floor as Jason walks past. Jason also nets a Max Payne-evoking Bullet Cam on the final enemy of the encounter — and blows the poor guy’s glasses off.

How the Slim Jim Mechanic Works

In the next scene, Jason & Lucia are in the Town of Ambrosia, where the iguanas roam, apparently. Here, finally, we get some Grand Theft Auto. Beyond simply smashing the window, Jason can use a Slim Jim to bypass the locking mechanism without damaging the muscle car, which seems important given that you can scan & boost vehicles in GTA 6 and need to meet financial criteria to progress the story.

To ‘Slim Jim’ a car, you press Triangle to start the minigame, then move the right stick from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock in a clean motion to get inside. There’s also a key cloning mechanic for contemporary cars shown later in the video — this is just for old-school vehicles.

Will GTA 6 Parody Walt Disney World Resort?

In Jason & Lucia’s apartment, we get a quick glimpse of some tacky haute couture wall art featuring a character clearly lampooning Minnie Mouse. Nothing in the footage suggests we’ll visit the HD Universe’s version of Disney World, but it would make sense given the game’s Florida setting. The so-called happiest place on earth is ripe for satire.

Elsewhere in the apartment, we see more HD Universe brands like Didier Sachs and Sahara Mirage, which is a rip on Amazon Prime. There are also nods to Lombank & Fleeca on the fridge — players will remember the latter from GTA Online’s The Fleeca Job.

Food & Drink Affect Survival-like Stat Cores

When Jason opens the fridge, we learn that GTA 6 will feature an evolution of Red Dead Redemption 2’s Cores. The Blitz Smoothies provide him with Stamina and Focus, whereas the Protein Shake offers Health alongside Stamina. I imagine there’ll be various decaying buffs you can pick up from engaging with the right consumables. Whenever Jason aims, the Focus bar appears, and at the end of the Extended Look, he activates some kind of Deadeye-like ability that exposes enemy weak spots.

3D iFruit SatNav and the Gloriana License Plate

When Jason and Lucia get into their Ubermacht Sentinel Classic, we see the updated mirror tech in GTA 6. You can catch Lucia’s dress in the window as Jason opens the door. There’s also a new in-game satnav with 3D topology that seems much cleaner to follow. Furthermore, the car they’re currently driving is from Gloriana, not Leonida, per the license plate.

Gloriana is most likely referencing Georgia, the state that neighbours Florida. It’s safe to assume that lots of cars with Gloriana license plates would be in Leonida, but there’s a chance we could visit it too in the full game, kind of like Yankton in GTA V. When they pull out to the street, there’s also a truck with an Apollo Aggregates logo, which is a brand featured in GTA Online, and later, an ad on a phone box for Vice City FM. Returning radio station confirmed!

Depeche Mode, Backyard Wrestling & The Hammer Lady

Rockstar’s inimitable music taste is felt throughout the Extended Look, where we hear everything from Depeche Mode’s 1984 synth-pop gem People Are People to the 808 banger Pound Town by Sexyy Red & Tay Keith. Then there’s a quick sequence of clips where Jason & Lucia seem to head out to the game’s redneck county, meeting up with the Hammer Lady NPC, who feels like a Stranger from Red Dead, and Jason partakes in a backyard wrestling initiative called ‘Something’ American Mania.

The Story So Far

The narrative core of the trailer is that Jason & Lucia are going to meet a guy named Brian and his wife, Lori, for an introduction to Brian’s former cellmate, who Cal, Jason’s friend, says is a former Dominican intelligence agent. The older couple seem concerned about the duo and what they have got themselves into. Flashback to a scene where the pair are in hiding after doing something illicit, but get caught by the fuzz — until a secondary police force comes in and wipes out the interrogation crew. Is this Méndez and his boys again, the rogue, tatted-up officers from the S4S mission? Or another force entirely? Who knows, but it’s safe to say there’s going to be some corrupt coppers in GTA 6.

New Wanted Level mechanics & the return of Pay ‘n’ Spray?

As Brian tells Jason his allegorical carousel metaphor, we see Jason & Lucia rob a Hank’s Waffles, then take their car to a garage to have it modified to throw the police off their tail, which could be a modern evolution of the classic Pay ‘n’ Spray system.

As part of IGN’s preview coverage, writer Matt Purslow mentions three new icons that sit under the Wanted Level in the user interface: a silhouette of a person, a clothes hanger, and a camera. The silhouette denotes a physical description has been filed, the hanger indicates that your clothing is tracked, and the camera indicates that you’ve been seen on CCTV.

There are even more in the Extended Look, bringing the total to six, including a silhouette of a duo, a car icon, and a weapon icon. Looks like it’s going to be a lot more complicated to get rid of your notoriety than in GTA V.

Fanta physics, yucky Pringles and Leonida’s mascot

In the convenience stores Jason & Lucia rob next, there are some more fun in-universe brands: Juul-parodying vapes called DRIIP; a non-alcoholic beer called Pißwasser NEIN; Pilok Vodka, a parody of Ciroc; and Blarney’s Stout, a parody of Guinness. The bit that stood out to me, though, was this scene shown above where a store owner shoots at Jason, misses, and hits the Fanta ripoff, Fizzazz, which sprays red liquid everywhere. A cutscene, it seems, but regardless, this kind of fluid simulation on PS5 is seriously impressive. We can also see the Manatee on Jason’s shirt, which seems to be Leonida’s symbolic animal. It’s the mascot of the sports team, per a cap Lucia wears, and some physically appear in the water later in the trailer.

Also, here we have Jesters, Rockstar’s version of Pringles — highlighted flavours include Ketchup & Blue Cheese, Spicy BBQ Oyster, and Classic Durian. I’ve tried Durian, and let’s just say it’s an acquired taste…

The SeaWorld & Shamu send-up

During the chase sequence where we meet Raul, Jason & Lucia pass an advertisement for GTA 6’s analogue for SeaWorld Orlando and the Florida penchant for marine parks. In Leonida, the sign reads ‘We Saved Makenzi From The Ocean’, which is so on the (bottle)nose, and I can make out the word ‘key’ in the bottom left, but not much more. Again, like the Minnie Mouse reference from earlier, it’s not clear whether we’ll get to go to any theme parks in GTA 6, but that would be pretty cool.

Big Smoke from San Andreas gets a nod

In the same chase scene, the car passes a shop called Big Smoke Cigar Co, which is clearly a nod to Mr. “All we had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!” himself, from 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The Weapon Wheel, Revealed

After the chase, Lucia gets out of the car to pull out a Molotov and get rid of the escape car. Here we can see GTA 6’s weapon wheel, and the main stats we touched on earlier with the evolved Cores system. You can see there are bars for Health, Stamina, and Focus, a Weapons and Items tab, and two quick slots for restoring your health, mapped to Square and Triangle.

There’s also two sets of currency being tracked in the top right. I imagine the top option is how much clean money Lucia has in her bank account, and the lower option is her walking-around, unlaundered cash. The TroisCouleurs preview mentions that you have to go to an ATM in GTA 6, or you can lose your money. Oh, and on the Declasse Burrito they get into next, a bumper sticker reads ‘My Other Car Is A Purple Helmet’. Never change, Rockstar.

Brian’s Boat Works & Marina and ProLaps

When Jason turns around to hit a three-point jumper, we see the back of his cap, which reads Brian’s Boat Works & Marina. I think we can assume this is Brian’s business (potentially connected to drug running) and that Jason has some connection to it, given that this spot appears heavily in Trailer 2. Also, the basketball bears the logo of ProLaps, GTA’s version of Nike. You can see the logo all throughout the Extended Look on shoes that look like Air Forces and Air Jordans, especially at the start in the S4S trap house.

Binoculars & a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 reference

Binoculars are a new idea for mainline GTA and will probably play a part in scoping out heist-like missions, but you can also use them to spy on the inhabitants of Leonida. Here, one of our protagonists is watching a gamer engage in some VR porn. More interesting are the posters behind him. The one on the right could be taking the piss out of Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts, but given that Tenebrae Lux means Dark Light in Latin, and Clair Obscur means Light Dark in French, I’m going with that. It gets cut off, but it also looks like it says ‘…nes Zuch Presents’, providing a distinctly European flair.

NASCAR at Ambrosia Raceway Park

Looks like there will be some fairly substantial racing minigames in GTA 6. There’s the Motorstorm-like Dirt Bike tracks, the Midnight Club street racing, and this NASCAR-style event at Ambrosia Raceway Park (the sign is in the next scene with the folks throwing the CRT off the highway). Peep the Raptorade sponsor on the car besides too, which is clearly a riff on Monster Energy.

Disguise is modular with multiple styles

Later on, we see the second screen of the weapon wheel, Items, which shows you can set up different types of disguises for Lucia and Jason and activate each part at will. The Face Wrap is in the Masks category, whereas Rod’s Racing Cap is in Headwear, and there seems to be a shades category too.

A closer look at instant character-switching

There’s a short clip where Jason is driving in the city, and the player pulls up the Character Wheel to switch to Lucia. There’s no Google Earth zoom-out here, though, just a rapid swap to Lucia’s perspective, so she can shoot while he drives. No doubt this will create some new gameplay opportunities in tense missions. You can also see the heart symbol between them, which may represent their dynamic bond. There was an option to Hold Hands as Lucia & Jason walked towards Brian & Lori, for example, and maybe if you ignore doing stuff like that, it affects their relationship. Similarly, you can also see the Criminal Profile ratings for the pair below their pictures. Lucia is regarded as slightly more evil at the moment, as indicated by the emoji’s angrier tone.

Valentina from GTA Online is in GTA 6

In GTA Online, Valentina is a minor character introduced in the Money Fronts update. She’s connected to Mr Faber, a money launderer with his fingers in several crime organisations. In GTA 6, she’s the connect for Jason & Lucia’s job to babysit Andrés de León, who works for a Spanish-language media conglomerate called Megamundo. As part of the mission, we are also introduced to Megamundo COO Petra Navarro, and Lucia later texts Jason, saying the armed guards are ‘After Czr’, suggesting the company head’s name might be Cesar Navarro?

Megamundo has a news arm called Mega Noticias, which was featured in Trailer 1, as shown in the screenshot above. Clearly the company is quite important to the story of GTA 6, or at least to the fabric of Leonida.

Video games inside your video game

One of the final shots of the Extended Look shows the home screen of a video game console and three separate games: The Wizard’s Ruin, Space Monkey 3 & Righteous Slaughter: Hood Ops, the game from the shirt the S4S gang member was wearing at the beginning of the trailer. Full circle moment! You can actually play a version of The Wizard’s Ruin in GTA Online if you own an Agency or an Arcade, and Space Monkey is a long-held in-universe media brand. Will you be able to game inside of your game in GTA 6? Only time will tell…

Wait, who is this guy?

The trailer ends with a shot that hangs, quite inquisitively, on this fellow, who has clearly been in some sort of bloody shootout, and is standing on the wing of a seaplane. I have no idea how he might connect to the rest of the cast, but by the detail on his face, he’s clearly an ensemble NPC, not just a punter.

There’s a section in Lucia’s biography on the website that says “Lucia’s father taught her to fight as soon as she could walk,” and “Fighting for her family landed her in the Leonida Penitentiary.” Maybe this is Lucia’s dad? That’s all I’ve got, though, and it’s weak. Either way, I don’t think Rockstar would end the trailer on him without any good reason, anyway. Theories in the comments!

And finally, here are a few lists I was making while watching the Extended Look to wrap things up. If you enjoyed this article, consider sharing it or supporting me with the links below.

All Vehicles

• Albany Emperor
• BMX
• Vapid Bobcat
• Willard Sedan
• Ubermacht Sentinel Classic
• Bravado Gauntlet
• Imponte Ruiner
• Benefactor Schafter
• Declasse Burrito
• Gallivanter Baller

All Weapons

• Moreland 850 Shotgun
• Duke 556 Assault Rifle
• Molotov

All Named NPCs

• Jason Duval
• Lucia Caminos
• Boobie Ike
• Raymond
• SAN4SAN Gang Members
• Ernesto
• Méndez
• Brian Heder
• Cal Hampton
• Lori Heder
• Jimmy Canto
• Raul Batista
• Dre’Quan Priest
• Andrés de León
• Valentina
• Petra Navarro
• Elonzo
• Gustavo
• Czr (sic) Navarro
• Enrique ‘The Enigma’ Romero (from a poster in the Megamundo office)

In-Game Brands & Real-World Counterparts

• Righteous Slaughter: Hood Ops | Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Palm & Flute | Arm & Hammer
• Grünewald Instant Dry Milk
• Bugstars Pest Control Los Santos
• Sound4Sound
• Crevis
• Tucker’s Citrus Farm
• Azteca Gold
• eCola
• Lombank
• Fleeca
• Didier Sachs
• Sahara Mirage | Amazon Prime
• Perseus | Versace / Hermes
• Lustre Shampoo
• Le Foutre Sunscreen
• Softy
• Tenshun | Samsung
• Sprunk | Sprite
• Logger Beer
• Lavazas Beer | Corona
• DRIIP
• Pilok Vodka
• Bugstars Ratout
• Blitz Smoothie
• Angstipan
• Brownstein’s Root Beer
• Chaco’s | Arby’s
• Mastodon USA
• Apollo Aggregates
• Navitrak
• MIO
• EasyGoing
• Leonida Power & Light
• Vice City FM
• DTH
• Fizzazz
• Sessanta Nove
• Bigness
• Gruppe Sechs
• Big Smoke Cigar Co
• Megamundo
• Brian’s Boat Works & Marina
• Maibatsu Electronics
• iFruit | Apple
• Hank’s Waffles
• Schlott Construction
• Replicolor
• TILTZ
• Xero Gas
• Atomic tires
• Quadz
• Pißwasser
• Stronzo
• Pißwasser NEIN
• Pindayho Cerveza
• Phat Chips
• Gorge Condiments
• Mallo Beer
• Helles Beer
• Dreich Pilsner
• Salty Squid Rum | Kraken Rum
• Mystaspot
• Cyclops Condoms
• Flacibo
• Ragga Rum
• Benedict Light Beer | Sierra Nevada
• Captain’s Log
• Golden Clumps
• Cerveza Barracho
• Blarney’s Stout | Guinness
• Redwood Cigarettes
• Go Postal
• Bambams Honey Zipzaps
• Zesta
• Jesters | Pringles
• Scoop
• Alpha Sports
• Tiny Frank
• Frills & Fancy Costume Shop
• Lucré | Nestlé
• Mezzasega
• Homeslice
• Third Eye
• Lickety Split Ice Cream Parlor
• Juxta Gallery
• Paperclips
• Ocean Beach Pharmacy
• Vice Museum of Art
• Edgy Veggie
• Pharaoh
• Sandeep Plaza
• Juicy Joes
• Saber Cargo
• Perkins Deli
• Josefina Perfect Image
• Ambrosia Raceway Park
• Jack of Hearts
• Nine 1 Nine
• Lärss & Elbö
• Hobbs Milford
• Diamond Dawgs
• Patriot Beer
• Raptorade | Monster Energy
• Eye & Dry
• Banner Hotel & Spa
• Glazin’ Glory
• Wow That’s Fowl | Impossible / Beyond Burger
• The Grain of Truth | Whole Foods Market
• Mason Ridge
• LU-83 | WD-40
• Tenebrae Lux
• The Wizard’s Ruin
• Space Monkey 3