Rockstar Games has confirmed a change to police in GTA 6 from previous Grand Theft Auto games that is proving to be a welcome change, according to fan reaction. While GTA 6 is poised to bring back features from the series’ past, such as a GTA 4 feature, it’s also introducing even more new features to the series. Meanwhile, in the past, we reported the huge changes to the game’s wanted system and police compared to GTA 5. That said, apparently Rockstar Games was still withholding information about the new changes to the police.
In a recent preview, Rockstar Games confirmed that police in Grand Theft Auto VI will have K-9 Units, a first for the series. And these K-9 Units won’t just be for show, but will actually assist the police. How extensive and robust this system will be remains to be seen, but we know they will be used against players, at times, in on-foot pursuits.
In previous games, sometimes players can just outrun the cops even on foot, which isn’t very realistic. Grand Theft Auto VI is hyper-focused on realism, so obviously this wasn’t going to suffice. And this addition just highlights the game’s commitment to realism, as not only will it make on-foot getaways harder, but it’s more realistic in general. That said, what the percentage of K-9 Units will be in relation to the broader police force, we don’t know. They could be rare for all we know. They could also be limited to specific parts of the game, and maybe even limited to missions, excluded from free roam. We don’t have all the details right now, but we know K-9 Units are in the game, and dogs can chase down, tackle, and pin players.
Now, most video games frown upon violence against dogs. Presumably players will be able to shoot these dogs, run them over, and do everything else they can to other NPCs in the game. Whether they will be able to melee them, though, is less clear. It’s possible if they get close enough, they will just lock into a takedown or bite hold animation. Whatever the case, it’s going to shake up chase sequences.
We know there are other dogs in the games, with NPCs having pets, and presumably players as well. And if you can kill police dogs, then it’s probably going to be fair game to kill all dogs. And this isn’t too surprising because Red Dead Redemption 2 lets you do this, though it discourages it. Notably, GTA 5 doesn’t, but GTA Online does.
Everyone is going to want to want to ride the massive waves the launch of GTA 6 is going to bring, and if players are able to turn police dogs into road meat or whatever they want, this is certainly going to draw outrage from PETA.
Grand Theft Auto VI is set to release worldwide on November 19 via the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.
