In GTA 6 You’re Not Just Wanted, You’re Hunted
There are dozens of mechanics, ideas, and quirks that are considered core to Grand Theft Auto’s identity. The wide variety of vehicles; a cast of oddball criminals; radio stations playing hit after hit after hit; toilet humour packed into every billboard, product brand, and TV ad. But there’s one thing arguably more foundational than all those ideas, something that the entire concept of GTA was built upon: car chases. Since the very beginning, the series’ central hook has been committing crimes and getting away with it. The “getting away” part has, more often than not, been literal – tearing through the city streets as cops do everything in their power to put you behind bars.
Those chases, inspired by cinema’s best getaways, are manifested by Grand Theft Auto’s wanted system – an escalating state of emergency that sees the city’s police force deploy fiercer and fiercer measures as the severity of your crimes increases. Originally represented by four pixelated police heads, it evolved into the trademark star system – a single star causing just a couple of beat cops to investigate a pedestrian collision or break up an unarmed assault, and racking up a full six stars summoning a battalion of militarised law enforcement with the goal of putting an end to your unstoppable murder spree. The system has changed and advanced with each new game, and that evolution does not stop with GTA 6.