Grand Theft Auto 6 is sure to be a combination of classic features picked from various other entries and brand-new ones. That balance has yet to be determined, but Rockstar Games has talked about a couple features it has had to deliberate over. One such feature that went under heavy scrutiny was the iconic weapon wheel that has let players go on rampages for decades. And, thanks to Red Dead Redemption 2, it almost went away.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier spoke about this debacle in one of his personal YouTube videos that serves as a companion piece to his huge recent feature on the studio. The genesis for the debate surrounding the weapon wheel started with Rockstar internally trying to map out how realistic GTA 6 would be. The GTA series is much more arcadey, but the controversial slower speed and more deliberate nature of RDR 2 made Rockstar reassess.
The weapon wheel was a natural part of these discussions, as head of development Rob Nelson said the team went into GTA 6 with the idea it would have RDR 2‘s more limited weapon system. Players will have to select a loadout and be picky regarding what armaments they would take with them. The weapon wheel, in this case, would have had a lot of blank spaces on it, reminding people of what they were missing.
According to Schreier, months or years were spent experimenting with the weapon display system on the user interface, and the team tried various “trays” and “webs” to show players the guns and melee tools they had on them. After all that time trying to figure out an alternative, Rockstar just settled on a typical weapon wheel, as shown in the above image from the gameplay breakdown that debuted on Netflix in August.
Now, this doesn’t mean players can hold an entire arsenal at once. Rockstar has heavily implied as much, which has been backed up by other marketing materials and leaks. The weapon locker in the Ultimate Edition insinuates players will have to be choosy with what they bring along, as they can “customize [their] loadout for any occasion.” Various official blurbs have spoken about a weapon locker, too. Leaked gameplay also featured various bags and whatnot to carry weapons. And the non-playable characters will react to what kind of weapon the player is holding, meaning it might not be feasible to walk around with a rocket launcher at all times. As such, the game is going to have a weapon wheel, but it won’t be bottomless like it was in past GTA games.
As Nelson said, it is much closer to RDR 2 in this regard. In that open-world title set in the late 1800s, players could only hold onto two long firearms and two handheld ones at once. Other weapons could be stored on the player’s horse. Players will be able to do the same with their car in GTA 6 and store weapons in the trunk.
Do you think Rockstar Games should have ditched the weapon wheel? Or is it a core part of Grand Theft Auto? Tell us in the comments.
