GTA 6 Fans Should Keep an Eye on The Precinct

GTA 6 Fans Should Keep an Eye on The Precinct

• The Precinct offers a unique spin on the crime game genre, satisfying players looking for a new open-world crime game experience.
• The game takes a different perspective from the traditional GTA games, allowing players to control a police officer and enforce law and order.
• The isometric perspective and visual style of The Precinct is reminiscent of classic GTA games, showcasing a mix of old-school gameplay elements with a focus on methodical law enforcement gameplay.

Ahead of the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, fans may want to check out The Precinct, an upcoming game from developer Fallen Tree Games Ltd. The wait for more open-world crime games continues to stretch on in the wake of releases like GTA 5 and Sleeping Dogs, and The Precinct could satisfy players looking for a unique spin on the genre.

Grand Theft Auto is a franchise that has been known to reinvent itself, moving from a top-down, arcade style to the more traditional, 3D sandbox game established with the release of GTA 3. Since then, the tone, gameplay conventions, and general style of each game have varied, introducing new regions, aspects of American culture, and memorable characters. This evolution is expected to continue with GTA 6, which will take players back to the Miami-inspired Vice City. Fans of the franchise will still have to wait until 2025 to get their hands on the upcoming game, though, so 2024 is the perfect time to scratch the crime game itch.

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The Precinct Looks Like Classic GTA Infused With L.A. Noire

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L.A. Noire fans have been hoping for a sequel for some time now, as the 2011 Rockstar game offered not only a unique setting, style, and cutting-edge character animations, but an alternate take on the crime storytelling the developer has become so famous for. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Rockstar has any firm plans to release a follow-up to the game, choosing instead to focus on the much more popular GTA series. However, that doesn’t mean that the cop-simulation subgenre is dead.

The Precinct: Old-School GTA From a Cop’s Point of View

GTA has always been about fighting the law, rebelling against the system, raging against the machine. This core aspect of the series was subverted in L.A. Noire, and it looks like The Precinct could be doing something similar. In The Precinct, players will take control of Nick Cordell Jr., a fresh-faced police officer in the fictional city of Alverno, as he tackles the seedy world of organized crime.

The Precinct’s striking isometric perspective gives players a birds-eye view of their environment, which could help facilitate cop-fantasy gameplay, but the visual style is notable for another reason: it’s highly reminiscent of classic Grand Theft Auto games, as well as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS. Gameplay in these older GTA games is intuitive, with an emphasis on ease of use and solid game-feel over realism. The Precinct may share some of these qualities, as combat, movement, and vehicle handling will all inevitably be influenced by the chosen perspective, but the law enforcement premise of the game suggests a greater focus on methodical, careful, and thoughtful gameplay. Mixing this design approach with the more old-school POV could yield some interesting results.

The Precinct Could Be an Interesting Companion Piece for GTA 6

It would be hard to argue that The Precinct is similar to GTA 6, or any GTA game, for that matter. Really, it’s the opposite sort of experience, wherein players are tasked with enforcing order and stability rather than fulfilling the dream of freedom and chaos. That said, The Precinct’s unique premise could be interesting to engage with ahead of GTA 6, as each game will explore opposite sides of the same coin: GTA 6 will tell the story of criminals, while The Precinct aims to weave a tale inspired by classic cop movies, as explained on the game’s Steam page.

Grand Theft Auto 6 comparisons aside, The Precinct looks interesting in its own right. The game will feature both air and land vehicles, melee combat and gunplay, and a stylish, impressively rendered urban environment. Players will be able to explore this gritty, neo-noir open-world when The Precinct releases in 2024.

Grand Theft Auto 6

Grand Theft Auto 6 is an open world crime game that takes fans back to the neon-soaked streets of Vice City.

FranchiseGrand Theft AutoPlatform(s)Xbox Series X|S, PS5Released2025-00-00Developer(s)Rockstar GamesPublisher(s)Rockstar GamesGenre(s)Action, Adventure