I know exactly what everyone will be thinking with this title: “just another person trying to go against the popular opinion for attention.” I get it; I would be the same. But it is something that has bothered me for a while: why is Grand Theft Auto VI so desired?

Don’t get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto is a fine series, but it is just that. Let’s skip over GTA 1 and 2, like the whole world seems to. They were fun, but GTA 3 is when the series went supernova. And I understand that. It was new. Fun. You got to terrorise a city with a rocket launcher. All was right in the world. For the player, anyway, the NPCs’ world was on fire.

Then came Vice City, which was remarkable, bringing the chaos to the 80s. Neither of them can lay a finger on San Andreas, however. That is when the series peaked for me. What a game, despite that whole remake business. CJ’s story from nothing to everything to nothing again and back to everything, the betrayals, the gang takeover interrupting you every five minutes. Superb, one of the best games on PS2.

Grand Theft Auto peaked on PS2

That, to me, has always been Grand Theft Auto’s pinnacle. The PS2 era. San Andreas captivated so much of my time, and I remember desperately wanting to find someone else with Liberty City Stories on PSP for some untethered multiplayer mayhem. Unfortunately, then came GTA 4, which was terrible, I am sorry to say. How can you name yourself after car theft, and then have awful driving mechanics? People don’t play GTA for a realistic sim; we want explosions and fast car chases.

When GTA 5 came along, I was already feeling a bit apathetic about the series. I didn’t rush to buy it, despite all the rave reviews. And when I did eventually pick it up, I just felt disappointed more than anything. For want of a better word, it just feels generic. Yes, it was pretty cool flipping between three characters with their special skills and side quests, but it felt boring.

I do derive some fun from getting in a muscle car and ripping across the city at high speeds, but that’s where it ends, really. The combat is pretty basic, the story didn’t grab me, and the world just felt like another game world. And then we get to GTA Online, a sandbox for all the feral goblins out there.

GTA Online shows how the chaos can get boring

One step in there and you will be exploded before you know what’s happening. And I get it; that’s the whole point. It is a place where you can be your most chaotic self. But I think that loses its appeal when everyone is a chaos gremlin. Rockstar kept adding new things like the bunkers and nightclubs, but it never felt like it added enough in-depth gameplay to feel worth coming back.

That was back in 2013, which brings me to perhaps the most baffling part: why care this much after 13 years? GTA 6 is projected to probably make all the money in the world, but I just can’t fathom why. It is not a massively interesting series. It is fun, sure, in small doses, but it is a generic open world where you can shoot people and steal cars.

I am finding it hard to develop any form of excitement for it myself. I have seen the trailers; I have read what is being added, but nothing is making me go wow. I could not give a single damn that the characters might get naked. I would genuinely love to understand why people are so hyped.

The series hasn’t fundamentally evolved

My main issue is that GTA as a whole doesn’t seem to have evolved. GTA 3 was a revolution; it spawned the whole open-world crime genre. There weren’t many games, if any, that let you roam a 3D city and do practically anything. Carjacking, gunning down pedestrians, and anything else your deviant heart desired all felt so new and interesting.

GTA 6 taking us to Vice City feels like Rockstar is trying to trade off the eponymous game’s success, but I think they have missed the point a little. Vice City came out when Rockstar was still adding new, core mechanics. You could buy businesses and ride motorbikes, which brings me to perhaps the best part: the music.

Vice City had a fantastic soundtrack, stuffed full of the best 80s music. It was a perfect soundtrack for the time. Now, fast-forward to GTA 6 in the current day, Vice City as a location does not feel that specific if it’s going to be another modern city. I think the whole concept is just getting stale.

We will get a good story on top of the same core gameplay

We are at the point where Rockstar has added everything they can whilst sticking to a mostly realistic setting, hoverbikes and space lasers aside. We aren’t getting anything that feels groundbreaking; more, they are polishing what they have. I will say, however, that the partner commands sound fun. Ordering the other protagonist to lay down fire or take the wheel is a nice touch.

Beyond that, it is things like more realistic car handling, better gun handling, and weather affecting combat. They sound like good things, but nothing that really transforms the old loop of GTA. Enter the world, grab a car, shoot some people, follow a story about some crime or another. It will be an interesting story; Rockstar is good at the narratives. However, is that enough to make up for monotony? Do we really want another Assassin’s Creed situation?

I am more annoyed than anything that it took Rockstar this long to make it; it surely can’t live up to the hype, can it? 13 years of hopes, and we are going to get a shinier GTA 5 with a few upgrades. What else can they add that wasn’t in GTA Online, without going to Saints Row levels of mania? I can’t see Lucia throwing out a Galick Gun at pursuing police.

I imagine it will sell hundreds of millions of copies, and I will just look like a hater, which is fine. I just can’t understand why, after 13 years, people are still so worked up. It is endearing to see this gaming community I love be this excited; don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t understand why.