There's no doubt in any gamer's mind that Rockstar is one of the best AAA developers out there (not that its competition is anything spectacular, to be honest). The studio has constantly released a slew of impressive titles that have pushed the boundaries of gaming, particularly the open-world genre. They've constantly tried to innovate their games time and time again — one need only look at the evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series in order to gauge the progress that the studio has made over time. Arguably their most recognizable series, each iteration of the Grand Theft Auto series has improved pretty much every tangible element. Everything from the graphics all the way to the gameplay (Grand Theft Auto V even had the option to play the entire game in first-person when the game was re-released for the PC, PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One).
However, having a game series that your company is constantly associated with time and time again must have its fair share of issues and annoyances that we simply cannot comprehend from a buyer's point-of-view. It must be quite irritating when each game you make is compared to the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole — regardless of whether it's a part of the series or not. This bottleneck can lead to a large number of problems that the studio might be experiencing simply due to the overwhelming popularity of their most recognizable series. Here are 15 biggest regrets Rockstar has about Grand Theft Auto.
15 They Can't Craft A Decent Melee Combat System
Grand Theft Auto has always featured tight, satisfying gunplay that has always provided some admittedly awesome set pieces in pretty much every game in the series. Pretty much every gamer associates gun combat — among other things — with the Grand Theft Auto series, and for good reason... since the melee combat is not that great.
Take a game like Sleeping Dogs, a GTA clone that has amazing hand-to-hand combat — so much so that most gamers prefer to ignore firearms altogether since the melee combat in the game is just so much fun. Maybe Rockstar should try and take a page out of Sleeping Dogs and rehaul their melee combat system.
14 The Side Content In Each Game Is Pretty Boring
The main mission content of any Grand Theft Auto is smooth, fleshed out, and impressive in pretty much every game in the established franchise. However, it's the development of the side content in these games that need a lot of work in order to even be considered acceptable, let alone worthy of completion.
Towing cars, collecting a crapload of uninteresting collectibles, beating up petty criminals and becoming a cab driver are just some of the many mundane things a player can perform in the Grand Theft Auto series. While Rockstar deserves some credit for adding so much content, it's unfortunate that so much of this content is pretty much garbage. If they're going to increase the detail of their games, maybe it's time to reduce the scale of them.
13 The Franchise Itself Has Become A Cliché
There's no doubt that the Grand Theft Auto series is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. It has constantly pushed the boundaries of the series and the open-world genre with each successive release, making it simply one of the best franchises to have ever existed in gaming history.
However, it's unfortunate that the Grand Theft Auto series has itself become a massive cliché in terms of what the game is, who's it for, and what it's about. There are times when this might get quite a bit irritating, since there are some many things in each game that make the franchise much more than just a clichéd title.
This brings us to our next point...
12 Being The Biggest Influence On The Open-World Genre Is Both A Gift And A Curse
There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the open-world design of Grand Theft Auto has become a template for various modern games that have strived time and time again to emulate the fleshed-out nature of Rockstar's brilliant open-world design. While this might be quite flattering for the developer, this also has its fair share of downsides that should not be ignored.
There's constant pressure on Rockstar to develop as a series, and constantly trying to innovate and improve their open-world design is one such aspect that can be quite grating over time. Sure, it's always great to experience brilliant open-worlds with things rarely seen before, but it should not come at the cost of someone's sanity.
11 They Have God-Awful Stereotyping
For a series that is well-known for having a large number of great main and side characters that have provided tons of memorable moments that gamers will remember fondly, the Grand Theft Auto series has also featured a ton of blatant stereotyping in their character design that is questionable at best and downright offensive at its very worst.
Rockstar has pretty much stereotyped everything that is considered inappropriate in today's culture. From gender to skin colour, all the way to a person's nationality — nothing is safe in the Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstar should probably try and prevent this stereotyping in the later games. Worst of all they don't do it with a wink and a nod, like The Simpsons or any other prime-time show. Rockstar is abrasive and nasty with their generalizations.
10 Can't Handle The Pressure To Improve
With each successive title that has released in the Grand Theft Auto series, the pressure to considerably improve each and every one of these titles shows no signs of abating. If anything, this pressure just keeps on increasing every single time due to the majority of gamers who will simply not expect anything less than absolute perfection. Anything less than it would be sacrilege of the highest order.
This kind of pressure is not healthy for developers to be under while they're trying to develop the best game possible. Kudos to Rockstar for managing to satiate the majority of the fans with their high-quality games, but it's only a matter of time before these gaming behemoths crack under this relentless pressure.
9 They Only Portray Women In A Questionable Manner
The portrayal of women in pretty much every Grand Theft Auto game is pretty controversial, with the majority of the fairer gender being portrayed as unflattering stereotypes that undermine this entire section of society as a whole.
Rockstar needs to understand that women are more than just ultra-feminists, "women of the night," cheaters, and pretty much any other negative stereotype that has been associated with the gender for ages. Some of them are — and this might come as a massive shock — normal people who live normal lives with nothing particularly extreme about them. It's shocking that in 2017 Rockstar still has an issue with this, when the rest of the industry has largely moved towards being more inclusive.
Perhaps the worst way in which Rockstar has portrayed women in their series is...
8 They Made "Women Of The Night" An Iconic Part Of The Series
Ever since their introduction in the third entry of the series, these "health packs" have become a staple of the franchise. Featuring in pretty much every Grand Theft Auto game, these women have become a source of amusement — and in some instances, health — which is the worst possible thing one can think about when it comes to prostitution.
In the latest entry of the series, they have been fleshed out so much it's downright creepy (especially in first-person... *shudder*). One might wonder if Rockstar might be contemplating their removal from the games altogether, although they might be refraining from doing so since there will obviously be a section of gamers who'll complain about the game diluting its content or something else along the same lines.
7 Everything Rockstar Makes Will Inevitably Be Compared To GTA
The Grand Theft Auto series is probably the most recognizable modern video game series of all time. While this is obviously a great positive for Rockstar, there's also a certain dynamic brought upon by this change that will surely annoy this developer to no end — the fact that pretty much every other game they make will be compared to Grand Theft Auto by critics and fans alike.
This can get pretty tiresome for any developer, and Rockstar is no exception — it would be highly irritating if your new IPs and games end up getting compared to the same old. Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3 are great in their own right, and there's no need to compare these titles to something completely different like Grand Theft Auto.
6 There's No Room For Major Experimentation
The Grand Theft Auto series has been built on a solid foundation with great core elements that just need a bit of tweaking and changes in order to keep up with modern technology and developments. While there's nothing wrong with sticking with something that's already tried-and-tested, there's no doubt that Rockstar is somewhat limited creatively when it comes to Grand Theft Auto.
There are a ton of things in Grand Theft Auto that have pretty much become a staple of the series, and it would be pretty hard to try and introduce new elements or take away existing ones without angering and/or alienating their core audience. While the idea of freshening things up might seem like the right move for Rockstar, executing something like this would be extremely risky, and totally not worth it.
5 Most Casuals Will Only Associate Rockstar With Grand Theft Auto Only
Rockstar Games is probably one of the best developers out there, forging masterpieces and releasing them to guaranteed critical appraisal. Their attention to detail and ability to innovate their titles with each successive release are qualities that are rare among most AAA developers... and yet, most casuals will simply ignore all these values and label them as 'the ones who made GTA.'
It is absolutely wrong to make this assumption when it comes to Rockstar, and yet the majority of the casual fanbase will simply not budge from this simplistic train of thought. This applies to other people clueless about gaming as well, who'll simply label Rockstar as a company that can only craft violent and controversial games — an assumption that's downright insulting.
4 They Only Care About GTA
This is a bitter pill to swallow for fans of Rockstar Games, but it's a truth that gamers must accept — since Grand Theft Auto is their most profitable franchise by a sizeable margin, there's no doubt that no matter what games they might be working on, the majority of the time and effort will be put into Grand Theft Auto and its releases.
From a business standpoint, this makes the most sense — after all, no business should try and focus on other products at the cost of affecting the quality of their most profitable product. However, at the same time, this is not the most ideal thing from a creative standpoint, since Rockstar's other titles will always play second fiddle to Grand Theft Auto.
3 Adding Controversial Scenes Just For The Hell Of It
Grand Theft Auto is known for a ton of things that have pretty much become a staple of the franchise. From a brilliant open-world, to memorable characters, all the way to the mission structure — these are just a few of the many things that gamers associate with the franchise. Unfortunately, when it comes to mainstream knowledge, there's another element of Grand Theft Auto games that Rockstar have constantly included time and time again — controversy.
For a series like Grand Theft Auto, pretty much any news coverage is good coverage since it simply won't discourage people from buying the game — if anything, it'll convince people to see just what the fuss is about by buying the game. Nevertheless, it's not exactly the best way to market any product, no matter whatitss nature may be.
Speaking of controversy...
2 Integrating Online Gameplay Into The Franchise
Grand Theft Auto V is one of the best games to have ever been made in the history of video gaming. In order to capitalize on this success, Rockstar announced that the game would have more single-player content available in the form of DLC, which enticed hardcore fans to no end. However, these developments were halted when GTA Online was launched.
Rockstar underestimated the time and resources it would take to maintain their ambitious open-world project, and while the end result has been nothing short of spectacular, the constant need to maintain and improve this world has caused a lot of plans to be halted, which is a damn shame. Hopefully, the integration of online multiplayer won't end up destroying the essence of what made the Grand Theft Auto series truly great.
1 An Inability To Craft A Good Story
Rockstar might be pretty good at crafting interesting characters (well, for the most part), and designing a fleshed-out open world with impressive attention to detail, but it's the stories in these games that have constantly been either mediocre, uninteresting, or both.
This has been a consistent problem in most Grand Theft Auto games — their games on a whole are great, but for some reason, their stories are always lacking in multiple departments. More often than not, plot points are rushed out or forced into the story in order to provide an excuse for the various action set pieces that the games are well-known for. Part of this is linked to the woes of building a plot inside of an open-world, but they are also riddled with plot holes.