GTA 6 Extended Look Confirms Character Swapping, Honor Track and Wanted System

Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look is out and it didn't take long for us to get a few things wrong, happily, if we might add, because, based on our free-roam coverage, Grand Theft Auto VI will have plenty of stuff for everyone to do. However, while we've already catalogued the open-world playground, we haven't taken the time to talk about the system that runs it yet.

Aside from showing off what players can do in Leonida, Rockstar Games gave us a look at the systems running it in real time, which, according to Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, is the backbone of the Grand Theft Auto experience.

The biggest and most welcome reveal is how you play as Jason and Lucia. You can swap between both on the fly and the footage showed how seamless it all works. One moment, you're playing as Lucia driving, then the next moment, you're switching to Jason, leaning out to shoot. You can even swap between them during the most mundane moments, like, for example, when one of them starts doom scrolling through their in-game phone from the passenger seat.

Based on that one particular sequence where Lucia jumps off a building, it's confirmed you can play either as a couple, or split off and run solo across the city. It's the same three-character swap from Grand Theft Auto V only fluid enough for so much to happen inside a single firefight and we're glad Rockstar took the time to show us this system in action in that particular light.

It also appears that both both Jason and Lucia can trigger a slow-motion mode, marked by a purple bar, that highlights weak points on the enemies and vehicles. It is Rockstar's spin on the Dead Eye ability where time crawls, and you can pick apart specific spots, disarm a target, or line up a cinematic kill. How freely you can call on it is not fully clear, since a few of the slow-mo beats looked scripted, but the ability itself is confirmed for both leads.

The reveal also sketched out how the in-game economy works. Your money splits into what you have banked, the cash on hand, and stolen goods that are only worth anything once you offload them. Jewelry, cars, and other valuables go to specialized fences, and a boosted car brings in less if you deliver it in less than pristine condition.

Speaking of the phone, it's more than just a feed for either of the protagonists to scroll through, too. The showcase treated it as a physical in-game object with a reworked interface, and it does the same thing that we do with it in real life. Text messages betwene Jason and Lucia actually matter and you can discover real-time world events by following certain influencers and some of the viral clips tie into what's happening around you.

Where there's actions though, there are consequences. The dog petting that became the reveal's meme triggered a positive honor icon, kind of like the honor meter in Red Dead Redemption 2 only more integrated into your day-to-day activities. It tracks how you operate over time, things like unnecessary violence and needless destruction, but also smaller habits, and unlike the Wanted level it does not wipe clean once you lose the cops.

Pull off crimes like a professional, just as Raul Bautista says, and your standing as a capable law offender climbs. The inverse is also true. If you leave a mess at the expense of Leonida's residents, expect them to remember. The good news is that if violence is absolutely needed for a particular mission, the game won't use it against you. It appears Rockstar designed the profile to reward control rather than punishing crime outright.

This is separate from how you treat Jason and Lucia's relationship, which brings us to our mayhem-loving couple. What Jason and Lucia eat change how they look, exercise builds their muscle, and skipping sleep or running from the cops for days wears on them. Rockstar detailed this to Dazed, and the showcase put it on screen, cellulite and all and that same worn-down or built-up body is the one you carry into missions and free roam alike.

Finally, going back to consequences, Rockstar North head of development Rob Nelson told Dazed the studio wanted players to shape these two "without losing the essence of the characters," and its narrative team described choices, including, and most especially, their relationship dynamic.

As it turns out, those memes about Lucia texting Jason mid-robbery if he'd still love her if she was a worm will actually happen.

Rounding everything out is the description-based wanted system, which tracks you by clothes, face, and vehicle instead of a plain star meter, so a change of outfit or car genuinely throws police off.

These confirmed systems are what govern the people at the center of the game and we're sure we'll find out more over the next couple of weeks. Until then, the official Dazed screenshots give you the look and style Rockstar is going for with GTA 6 while we've already detailed the many activities and fun you can have throughout the game, and if you want to see both in action, we suggest watching GTA VI: An Extended Look yourself.