The joy of bad driving

I haven’t played Grand Theft Auto in years, although I remember enjoying the older games on my consoles.

I can barely remember the missions now, but I enjoyed getting into almost any car and driving around the city, sometimes for hours without bothering to complete a single mission.

That old temptation may return on Thursday, 19 November, when Rockstar Games releases Grand Theft Auto VI, nearly 13 years after GTA V.

The new game takes players back to Vice City, its fictional version of Miami, and the surrounding state of Leonida. This time, the story follows Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval, a couple caught up in a life of crime.

GTA VI’s first trailer drew more than 90 million views on YouTube within 24 hours, setting a Guinness World Record. Its predecessor, GTA V, has sold more than 230 million copies since its release in 2013.

Some gamers are reportedly planning to take leave from work when GTA VI comes out, much like what happened here in the Philippines when the original Metal Gear Solid was released on the first PlayStation in 1998.

It was one of my favorites, too, and I spent countless hours sneaking Solid Snake past enemy guards, and after finishing the game, I’d start all over again.

Back in GTA, my casual drives sometimes ended with the police chasing me. It’s the kind of driving I wouldn’t dream of attempting in real life, but knowing it was just a game probably made it somehow enjoyable.

If someone drove that way and disregarded traffic rules, there is a word we use for that. It starts with a “k.” I think quite a few of us would qualify once we pick up a game controller.

Fortunately, the consequences stay in the game. You can wreck a car, get into another one and carry on without the IRL (in real life) troubles.

I haven’t decided whether I’ll return to Vice City, but the thought is tempting. One of the pleasures of a virtual city is that when the traffic or the general road situation becomes too much, you can switch the whole place off.