GTA 6 Extended Look: Combat, Focus, Gunplay & Melee Explained
Part of our Extended Look coverage and scene-by-scene guide. Combat is the biggest upgrade over GTA 5's arcade shooting — closer to Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Reticle and body-part targeting
GTA 6 uses a proper reticle, not GTA 5's simple dot. You can aim at specific body parts — shoot legs for non-lethal takedowns, disarm enemies, or go for lethal headshots.
Focus meter (Dead Eye-style)
A purple eye icon below the health bar powers Focus — slow-motion aiming like RDR2's Dead Eye (Michael also had bullet time in GTA 5). During the final Extended Look firefight, Focus highlights:
- Red zones — lethal kill points
- Yellow zones — disarm or incapacitate without killing
Fridge items and consumables can refill Focus (eye icon on food labels).
Cover and weapon pickup
Jason and Lucia use cover in shootouts. Weapons can be picked up from the ground and swapped mid-fight — RDR2-style flexibility.
Lucia melee
Lucia uses boxing training in close combat — agile strikes without a gun. Contextual prompts include using a stiletto heel as an improvised weapon.
Encumbered reload animation
Lucia reloads a shotgun one-handed while carrying a loot bag — separate animation sets for encumbered states, a small detail that shows animation depth.
Cinematic headshots
Especially clean headshots trigger RDR2-style cinematic camera angles — reward shots without leaving gameplay.
Vehicle combat
Drive-by shooting from moving cars; target pursuing police vehicles; swap driver/shooter roles with Jason, Lucia, and Raul during chases. Shooting tires causes multi-car rollovers.
Destructibility
At least some environments break — a man slammed through drywall in the drug lab sequence. Scope of full-world destructibility is unknown.
Identified weapons in footage
- Moreland 850 — shotgun
- Duke 556 — assault rifle (Duke Arms from Red Dead Online)
More in our weapons & brands guide.
Shooting range
A dedicated gun training facility appears in the side-activity montage — practice outside missions.