GTA VI reinvents the wanted system: colored stars and the Heat meter

The wanted system is one of GTA VI’s biggest new features, according to Red Bull’s roundup of what was seen in the Extended Look and the preview sessions. Committing a crime no longer automatically triggers a wanted level: the police only show up if someone spots you, an alarm goes off or a stolen car’s tracker is activated. Once alerted, they search the area… and the search can stay active even after you have left, so you may need to keep a low profile until they call it off.

The big addition is the Heat meter, which runs alongside the classic stars and shows exactly what the police know about Jason and Lucia: whether CCTV footage exists, whether your appearance and clothing have been identified, whether they know which weapons you carry, or whether your getaway vehicle has been tagged. Every clue can be erased: destroy footage, change clothes, stash your weapons, switch vehicles or split up from your partner, something that in some situations can remove an entire star.

Stars now have colors with meaning: solid white (direct visual contact), flashing white (you just broke line of sight), hollow (a reported crime with no description of the perpetrator) and red (you escaped, but you are still inside the active search zone). At the highest alert level the police sweep the whole map; a new haircut or a mask helps throw them off. The classic six stars are back, and even three are said to be surprisingly hard to shake without a fast getaway vehicle; what exactly happens at six is not official yet.