After 23 years away from Vice City, I'm glad that 80s music still runs this town – and it sets the scene for GTA 6 perfectly

To nobody's surprise, the GTA 6 soundtrack is shaping up to be a banger already. Following on from Tom Petty's distinct CSI Miami vibes underscoring 2023's Trailer 1, GTA 6 Trailer 2 is hard proof that the 80s throwback is more than a cursory GTA Vice City nod – it's the continuation of a legacy.

It looks like Rockstar Games' fictional Floridian metropolis is just as fixated on the decade as it was back in 2002. Vice City carved an identity for itself out of the unserious, neon-warped marble of the 80s, with peppy disco beats, soaring pop-rock ballads, and cheesy radio shows framing the world outside Tommy Vercetti's car window as a caricature of hedonism. Flash FM might not have been mentioned in Trailer 2 or any other GTA 6 promotional materials – yet, dare I hope? – but even without whacky ads describing doughnuts in disturbing anatomical detail, the new Grand Theft Auto game's heart still beats for one era alone and riffs off those wild vibes to a T.

But it's not just an aesthetic. Much like how Tommy's world was textured by the gaudy hues of the 80s, GTA 6's two current trailers turn that music into a tool – not only to remind us of that shared setting, but to hint at how our new GTA 6 characters might elevate Vice City through their own unique story.

Steaming up

If Trailer 2's purpose could be encapsulated as one single thing, I'd consider it a GTA 6 character study. With loved-up GTA 6 protagonists Lucia Caminos and Jason Duval sharing the spotlight, The Pointer Sisters' searing 80s jam "Hot Together" has never felt more apt.

The duo's whirlwind Bonnie and Clyde romance seems to be at the heart of GTA 6's narrative journey, which will itself break new ground for the Rockstar series. For the first time in franchise history, love (or lust) is the driving force behind our protagonists, more so than money, clout chasing, or scaling the rungs of criminality as seen in past entries. The character information supplied by Rockstar on its website illuminates that further – fresh out of prison, Lucia wants to clean up her act and give her mother the "good life" she's long dreamed of, while Jason sees Lucia as the first good reason he's ever had to turn over a new leaf.

Not only does "Hot Together" evoke the sense of a fiery, tempestuous, addictive love between the two in a lyrical sense – "we could dance this dance forever" – it speaks to the crushing heat of Vice City as a place. As a city in the Florida Keys, it's hot temperature-wise. But it's also hot on the crime map – and Jason and Lucia seem to play no small part in that particular sweat-fest.

Growing up and glowing up

We also learn a lot about GTA 6's modern day take on Vice City from the snippets of radio music peppered throughout. Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" can be heard on the car radio at one point, a throwback to the bands' presence on the GTA Vice City soundtrack, along with Tammy Wynette's country ballad "Talkin' To Myself" and even a little Joan Jett crackling in the background of a TV advert. To me, this speaks to how GTA 6 is a thoroughly modern game whose world still finds representation in the diverse cultural cacophony of the 1980s – but Rockstar's comment on whether that's a good thing could be very different this time around.

True enough, the developer seems to be staying true to the identity of Vice City. It's a sleazy, sun kissed slice of the American South, and much like 23 years ago, Rockstar uses music to complicate that personality further in its two GTA 6 trailers. The 80s was a great time for pop culture and a weird time for most everything else, perfectly laying out Tommy's view of Vice City as a world of idealized potential, but GTA 6's romantic core is a game changer.

Here, the hyperbolic elements of a thriving city so stuck in the past are contrasted by the very real, very human story being told about Jason and Lucia. How much room for kitsch is there in what is, essentially, a game about a love story? And how far will those more humanized elements take on a little levity to keep it all from getting too heavy?

There's only so much I can glean from the trailers about that so far, but suffice it to say, I'm feeling good about the direction Rockstar is driving in. GTA 6 could be the most mature Grand Theft Auto game ever if it stays on brand while tapping its toe to a brand new melody – and if it has to forgo some of the silliness to make that point, I'd be more than happy to see it sing.

GTA 6 is one of the most exciting upcoming PS5 games on the way in 2026