so wanted levels are back to six stars in gta 6, and heat icons show what the cops know

GamesRadar just put out a quick explainer on the wanted system and there's a couple details worth chewing on. Wanted levels go up to six stars, which is a return to the GTA IV setup. GTA V capped it at five, which always felt like a step back to me. Six stars gives them room for a proper military response or whatever the Leonida equivalent ends up being.

The more interesting bit is the heat icons. The article says they indicate what information the cops have on you. That's not something we've seen spelled out before. In older games the wanted level just went up and you got more aggressive cops. This sounds like the game might track whether they know your face, your plates, your last known location, that kind of thing. Maybe the heat icon changes depending on how much they've pieced together.

It reminds me a little of RDR2's witness system, where you could interrupt someone before they ran to the law. If GTA 6 is doing something similar but with a visual indicator of what the cops actually know, that could make chases feel way less binary. Instead of just driving out of a circle you might need to switch cars or change clothes to shake them properly.

The article doesn't go into specifics beyond that one line, so I'm mostly filling in gaps here. But the idea that the cops have different statuses tied to the wanted level is promising. Like one star might be a beat cop who just saw you, six stars might be every agency in the state with a full description. The heat icons would let you see that progression without pausing to check a map.

I'm just glad six stars is back. Five always felt like Rockstar was holding back. If the heat system adds some actual detective work to losing the cops, that's a bonus. We'll see how it plays in November.

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Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.