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GTA 6 Overhauls Wanted System With Six-Star Levels and Police Awareness Icons
ReGTA 6 Overhauls Wanted System With Six-Star Levels and Police Awareness Icons
Grand Theft Auto 6 is reworking its crime and police response systems, bringing back six-star wanted levels and adding icons that show exactly what law enforcement knows about you.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is overhauling its Wanted and police response systems in ways that could make crime in Leonida far more complicated than in previous entries. The six-star wanted level is returning after being absent in GTA 5, and the police will cast a much wider net when searching for players. Instead of focusing on a specific area for a short time, law enforcement will remain on alert across the entire state of Leonida, meaning players cannot simply lay low in one spot to escape.
The star system now includes icons underneath the stars that reveal what the police are looking for. A CCTV camera icon means you were spotted on surveillance and must destroy the evidence to remove it. A symbol with two characters indicates police have seen Jason and Lucia together, so splitting up can help avoid recognition. A hanger icon means your clothing has been identified, making a change of outfit necessary. The face icon signals that your facial features are recognized, so wearing a mask or, for Jason, changing facial hair may help. A weapon icon means police have seen you carrying a specific weapon, and a vehicle icon means your car has been identified. Each icon represents a different way police can track you, and players will need to address each one to reduce their wanted level.
The wanted stars themselves change color and pattern to communicate your status. Solid white stars mean police have a direct line of sight on you. Flashing stars indicate you have broken that line of sight. Solid red stars mean you are still near the crime scene and police are searching, but they do not know exactly where you are. Hollow stars mean police have no idea who they are looking for. In the extended gameplay, Lucia drives past police with hollow stars and flips them off without consequence.
Unlike previous games, police no longer appear on the mini-map. This removes the ability to plan routes around their vision cones, but it also pushes players to focus on the action on screen rather than the map. Focus Mode can be used to see through walls and spot police positions, which helps when turning corners or checking for nearby officers. Masks and sunglasses may become essential disguises for avoiding identification.
NPCs are also more dynamic. Walking around with a weapon is acceptable in Leonida due to open carry laws, and NPCs will not report you unless you aim the weapon at them. If you do threaten people, they may run away or call the police. Crimes are only pursued if they are reported, either by witnesses or triggered alarms. This means players must consider their getaway vehicle, outfit, weapons, and potential CCTV cameras before committing a crime. Destroying a vehicle might be one way to evade police, and wiping CCTV footage may require spending extra time inside a building to find and destroy the evidence.
These changes force players to think more carefully about how they break the law. In GTA 5, reckless behavior like firing a weapon in the street would immediately draw police attention. In GTA 6, players may need to masquerade as normal citizens until the right moment to commit a crime. The system appears designed to keep players engaged during police chases by making them consider multiple factors at once. The wanted system is not the only overhaul, as GTA 6 also changes how car theft works and how fishing and hunting function. More details are expected as the game approaches its release.
