I received the Rockstar announcement with skepticism about the release of a remastered version of the three GTA games, and after playing several hours of each title I can say that the launch was hasty and I don’t even understand the exact purpose of this remaster.
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When GTA 3 appeared I was 12 years old, Vice City followed the following year, and when San Andreas appeared on consoles I was 15 years old. For me, and probably for many of the same generation, these three Games they were a point of reference in our childhood / adolescence. GTA 3 and Vice City know that we played them in the game rooms in Craiova. The time being short (I paid an hour) I entered the game and I didn’t necessarily do missions, but rather I “fooled” in the classic Grand Theft Auto style.
San Andreas caught me with a PC capable of running it, so I played it a lot and well. That’s why it’s my favorite in the whole series. I made this introduction to exemplify the position from which I approached this new release: The Definitive Edition.
An important mention is that the games have been remastered. We’re not talking about a remake. Basically, the games received a “facelift” and a modernization of character control, although it does not seem, in my opinion.
„Here we go again”
First of all, we need to talk about the graphics and the fact that these games have changed their face and received a more cartoonish, cartoon look. I’m not a fan of this change and I would have preferred a more sober style. The most obvious is at GTA III. The original had a more realistic, gritty look, like a noir film. Now it looks like Fortnite with gray blocks. However, in terms of clarity, animations, character models and details, the new game is far beyond the original. Now a slap looks like a slap, not like a big triangle. However, not all elements of the remaster were successful. The effects of the weather, especially the rain, look very bad. It’s too thick, too brightly lit, so you don’t always see where you’re going. The second annoying thing in the rain is the fact that you have the impression that he is following you and that a cloud is above you. A dynamic lighting system has also been introduced for this game, which may look good, but often does graphics too dark, and in some scenes, between blocks it can be hard to see around.
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Another thing I noticed now at GTA III that I didn’t remember – I haven’t played it since I was 12-13 – is how simplistic its narrative structure and main character are, which, on top of that, he doesn’t even speak. The game was designed as a sandbox where you can come and get your head around car racing, street shooting and so on. At the narrative level, after about 4-5 hours of play, it’s incredibly simple. The main character escapes from prison and then enters the service of an Italian mobster, and all the missions are lacking in depth, with a fragile narrative skeleton. I did not expect a novel by Dostoevsky, but at least a more cohesive story, such as those in modern GTA titles, I still hoped.
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Despite the fact that Rockstar claimed that they modernized the control of the game, it still seemed difficult and strange to me. I’m not the most skilled with a controller, but I do very well in third person action games. However, in the games in this collection it was difficult for me to aim.
I moved to Vice City and things got better. We have a talking protagonist, a clinking story and eccentric characters. We also see a greater variety of mission types from the beginning than GTA III.
The cartoony graphic style seems to fit better here in Miami, and we’re starting to see a NowAnd bigger and more complex, more graphic details and a more cohesive look. After three or four hours of Vice City, I moved to Los Santos and seemed to teleport when I was 15-16. I played it so much that I still remember missions, characters or, if I forgot, this remaster reminded me of them.
Here we found the least dramatic changes and the game closest to the current titles. It’s normal, it’s the latest of the three titles.
I played the three GTAs on the Playstation 5 and they should run at 30 fps in Quality mode and at 60 fps in Performance mode. I say it should because games, especially GTA III, “hang” on next-gen hardware. Both in Quality mode, but especially in Performance mode, I noticed drops in the game.
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After about 10 hours spent with the three games in this remastered edition, I can say that it would have needed more time “in the oven”, as they say. Games still need work to optimize and eliminate bugs, but they may be fixed in the future through patches.
Returning to the title, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition seems to me a targetless remaster. I don’t really understand who he’s talking to. Gamers like me who have memories of these games? But I don’t know if the cartoony style was right for that. Also, why would we want to play them again? Now there are better open world titles, eventually Rockstar wrote history with these games and influenced the entire industry.
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If not for us, then for the young generation that did not play them at launch? Here the cartoony style is understandable, but the problems of gameplay (cumbersome control) and optimization could remove them. At the same time, accustomed to modern gaming experiences, these old games with new clothes could raise an eyebrow.
I understand the attraction of remastering. An old product is brought up to date with less effort than the one involved in creating a new game. Then take advantage of nostalgia. If the idea that the GTA series of games were brought up to date had come up, I would have wanted a remake like Final Fantasy VII, not a change of graphics and that’s about it.
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