Summary
The hype train for the nextGrand Theft Autois reaching an interminable speed as fans awaitGTA 6’s release in 2025.GTA 6will take players back to Vice City, the Miami-inspired metropolis once characterized by neon lights, white suits, and lavish drug-dealer lifestyles. It will certainly be interesting to see how Rockstar builds upon Vice City, leveraging modern hardware to create a more in-depth and expansive landscape, similar to howGTA 5iterated upon the Los Santos that players first saw inGTA San Andreas.
One of the most exciting parts of modernGrand Theft Autogames is the contemporary renditions of classic locations from the series.GTA 4showed players an HD version of Liberty City, for instance, which first appeared in 1997’sGrand Theft Auto. It’s worth wondering, then, why one classic setting hasn’t made its return to the franchise, especially given its unique and promising premise. When Rockstar finishesGTA 6and looks toward the franchise’s new horizons, it should consider taking a swing at this once-iconic city, punching it up for a modern audience.
Grand Theft Auto Ought to Return to GTA 2’s Anywhere City
Anywhere City Has a Great Deal of Potential for a Modern GTA Adaptation
Released in 1999,Grand Theft Auto 2is the first and only appearance of Anywhere City. Likethe firstGrand Theft Autotwo years prior,GTA 2assumes a top-down perspective, allowing players free access to the entirety of its decently sized world, though with notably less attention to detail than any of Rockstar’s modern titles. As such, Anywhere City is a setting with some fun ideas, but shackled by the hardware and genre conventions of its era.
As its name suggests, Anywhere City is something of an amalgamation of several real US cities, taking a markedly different approach from the directreal-world parody inherent in otherGTAsettings. Set in 2013,GTA 2takes on a quasi-futuristic aesthetic, with concept art for the game gesturing toward an even more overt cyberpunk theme. This melting pot of influences, both real and fictional, make Anywhere City a strong candidate for Rockstar’s most interesting setting, and it’s about time that it got the contemporary treatment.
There Are a Few Different Paths a Theoretical ‘GTA: Anywhere City’ Could Take
The prospect of acyberpunk-styleGTAgamemay seem tantalizing to many fans, especially those interested in seeing a more fantastical take on Rockstar’s influential open-world formula. Indeed, this would be an exciting and unexpected route to take, but it also runs the risk of adulteratingGrand Theft Auto’s more grounded, satirical identity. Luckily, Rockstar could take a lot of creative license here, asGTA 2’s comparatively barebones approach to world design leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Since Anywhere City is meant to be a combination of many US cities, a modern game using it as a backdrop could lean into the ‘Anytown, USA’ concept that many Americans are no doubt familiar with. There’s a notion that countless smaller towns in middle America lack a distinct identity or culture, characterized by strip malls, chain retailers, and urban sprawl. Drawing from this element of the zeitgeist,Rockstar could use its satirical powersto create a biting criticism of featureless, bland US cities—a refreshing approach after the faux glamor of Los Santos and Vice City.
At the same time, a newGTAgame set in Anywhere City could realizeGTA 2’s vision of a stylized megalopolis akin to the cities ofAkiraorBatman Beyond. It would be a tough balance to strike, certainly, but the early promise of Anywhere City as an apocalyptic, crime-ridden town that is emblematic of the entire US instead of a single city, could present a bevy of design andnarrative opportunities in a futureGTAtitle.
Grand Theft Auto 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Grand Theft Auto VI heads to the state of Leonida, home to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City and beyond in the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet.Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.
