Grand Theft Auto 6has placed a lot of faith in its sole trailer, with 500 days recently passing since the grand reveal of the game premiered on YouTube. Setting aside early teasers for long-gestating projects likeCyberpunk 2077orThe Elder Scrolls 6, that’s an unusually long period to let a trailer sit, significantly outpacing the way Rockstar has followed up marketing material in the past. In all 500 of those days, not so much as a single additional screenshot has been revealed, allowing the 90 seconds of cinematic footage to continually define the game.
Even asfrustration with this waitgrows, the overall buzz aroundGTA 6is still positive, and that wouldn’t be easy to manage if the trailer was even slightly underwhelming. While it doesn’t offer any real insight as to the actual gameplay, it does reveal the updated world of Leonida and set the tone for a Bonnie and Clyde adventure that swings from robbing gas stations to embracing a wild nightlife.It’s a fantastically well-engineered trailerin general, but every time I revisit it, it’s the music that really sells the whole affair.
The GTA 6 Trailer Makes The Music Count
A Perfect Song Choice Goes A Long Way
Despite the franchise’s continual focus onsatirizing contemporary society, theGTA 6trailer doesn’t opt for a modern radio hit. Instead,it sequences its shots to the beat of Tom Petty’s “Love is a Long Road,“the excellent but lesser-known b-side to “Free Fallin'.” It’s a choice that’s really resonated, skyrocketing the song back to a seventh place position onBillboard’s digital rock charts that matched its original 1989 peak.
There’s a lot about the use of “Love is a Long Road” that makes sense.Grand Theft Auto: San Andreasfeatured Tom Petty’s “Runnin' Down a Dream,“andGTA 6’s selection of “Love is a Long Road” honors both that inclusion and Tom Petty’s status as a Florida native. The right song deployed in the wrong way could still prove underwhelming, though, andthe nature of its usage in theGTA 6trailer is even more important to me than the usage itself.
GTA 6 Doesn’t Trample On Tom Petty
No Over-Dramatization Necessary
Trailer needle drops of pop and rock hits are all the rage these days, and if you’ve gone to the movies much over the past couple of decades, you’ve probably noticed the gradual shift from frequent orchestral scoring in trailers to more familiar tracks. You’ve also probably noticed that these tracks are rarely left intact. Across both films and games, the go-to method of soundtracking trailers relies onchopping up bits of songs to syncopate with loud BRAAAMs— and yes, that’s more or less the official term, with aWikipediapage of its own to boot.
Lucia kicking open a door to the drum beat is a fantastic moment, and it’s helped all the more by the freewheeling feel of the track.
The sound is famously associated withInception, where the film’s focus on sonic cues to break characters in and out of various layers of reality made sense. 15 years later, the constant presence of BRAAAMs and various bass rumbles in trailers is just exhausting.No great song has ever been improved by this unending desire to punch it up, andGTA 6’s trailer is perfect proof of that.
AsGTA 6plays out its reel of fast cars, social media stunts, and intrusive alligators,“Love is a Long Road” is allowed to do the talking, with the bounce of the original percussion serving as a more-than-sufficient way to give the trailer oomph. Lucia kicking open a door to the drum beat is a fantastic moment, and it’s helped all the more by the freewheeling feel of the track. Not everything has to outfit itself with the sonic booms of world-ending stakes, a lesson that many other games have seemingly never learned.
More Game Trailers Should Let The Music Do The Talking
GTA 6 Should Serve As A Lesson
GTA 6certainly isn’t the only game to get this right, and theFallout 76traileris another fantastic example of how much can be gained by letting music speak for itself. While the game had its own problems after release,I’ve never heard a bad word about the cover of “Country Roads” featured in the trailer, which also managed to chart despite its lack of dramatic emphasis.
Stripped-down soundscapes aren’t the right choice for every trailer, and there are certainly times when the over-dramatic approach does suit the material. There are also plenty of other options, from focusing on the game’s original score to skipping music altogether. TheGrand Theft Auto 6trailer really does feel special, though, and now that it’s dominated 500 days of discourse, I’d like to see more games showcase a similar level of sonic reverence.
