This is the single biggest gameplay change in the Extended Look, and the one most likely to divide people. Classic GTA lock-on auto-aim is gone. The result plays like a much more modern cover-based third-person shooter, built around free aim.
Aim assist and weapon bloom still exist — this is not a hardcore milsim. But the habit of tapping a trigger to snap onto a torso and holding it there does not carry over.
Focus — the replacement for lock-on
Focus is a slow-motion state, in the lineage of Dead Eye from Red Dead. It has its own bar sitting alongside health.
- Slows time during gunfights.
- Highlights weak points on enemies.
- Works on vehicles too, marking weak points on cars during chases.
- Doubles as a detection tool: with police off the minimap, Focus is how you find them.
That last point is easy to miss and changes how the ability is spent. Focus is not purely an offensive burst; it is also your situational awareness.
Hit markers
- A normal hit landed.
- White
- Enemy incapacitated — no longer a threat, but not dead.
- Yellow
- Kill.
- Red
The yellow state is the interesting one. A system that distinguishes “out of the fight” from “dead” gives you a way to end an encounter without escalating it — which is exactly the behaviour the Criminal Profile is watching.
Health, consumables and the gym
Health and Focus both have bars, and both can be pushed beyond their normal ceiling temporarily by eating and drinking.
- Consumables give temporary boosts to health, stamina and focus. Some hit more than one stat — a green smoothie was shown boosting stamina and focus together.
- Overhealth decays back to your cap. If a consumable pushes you above your normal maximum, dropping below that ceiling means you only heal back to the ceiling — not to the boosted value — unless you take another.
- Permanent increases come from activities, principally the gym. A full gym system was shown, with memberships, protein shakes and a fitness app tracking progress.
So your effective survivability is not fixed at the start of the game. It is something you invest in outside missions.
Everything else that changed
- Cover system returns.
- Shoulder switch carries over from Red Dead Redemption 2.
- Crouching is confirmed.
- Pistol fire rate is uncapped. GTA V limited how fast pistols could fire regardless of input; here they fire as fast as you pull the trigger.
- Kill cams and crash cams exist and can both be turned off in settings.
- Lucia and Jason play differently — distinct combat styles and different health-bar behaviour.