Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition is an upgraded collection of the PlayStation 2-era GTA games. Many fans have shown extreme displeasure with the changes made to GTA San Andreas remastered. We will be reviewing which modifications have been implemented in this long-awaited remaster!
When did the original GTA San Andreas come out?
The original GTA San Andreas came out October 26, 2004. Later on, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition, an improved collection of the PlayStation 2-era GTA games, on November 11, 2021. The game’s Windows PC version has a huge issue. Due to difficulties with the Rockstar Games Launcher, players who possessed the PC version of the GTA Remaster were unable to play the re-releases. It’s unclear what prompted the need for maintenance, and Rockstar hasn’t confirmed that the game has been taken off the market as a result of the outage. As you might guess, the reaction has been negative, with players furious that a fault with a separate program has rendered their new collection of single-player games unplayable.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – A quick overview
Rockstar established itself as a major force to be reckoned with by releasing the original GTA Trilogy. and more crucially, developed a style of game design that is still prevalent in the industry today. After all, the open-world mania owes its existence to GTA three more than anything else since its release. Rockstar went on to solidify both itself and Grand Theft Auto as household names over the next few years with fantastic sequels in the form of Vice City and San Andreas, each of which built upon the foundations laid by GTA 3 in excellent ways.
On paper, packaging these three games together in a collection that brings them to modern hardware with significant visual and gameplay improvements shouldn’t have been a slam dunk for Rockstar, but it sounds like an excellent idea, one that is sure to be yet another remarkable victory for a series that continues to grow. Nonetheless, in Grand Theft Auto: The Complete Trilogy Definitive Edition, Rockstar and developer Grove Street Games have created an uneven experience that fails to live up to its name and the heritage of the three all-time classics it repackages. However, many fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the remaster.
Vice City remastered
To begin with, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Definitive Edition, like Grand Theft Auto 3: Definitive Edition, does not include any new cut content, side-stories, or objectives. In all its (neon) glamor, it’s the same old Vice City story. The character models in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Definitive Edition managed to appear worse than their counterparts in the other two definitive editions. Developers remastered Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Final Edition for the environment, just like the other definitive edition releases. This game’s lighting and the neon-lit regions look stunning at night.
Similarly, developers reworked the grass vegetation, palm trees, houses, and item textures to reflect the games’ more modern aesthetic. But, once again, the developers strayed from the games’ intended aesthetic style and art direction by making everything appear too realistic. Vice City in particular suffers because the original game resembled an 80s crime drama television show or film. Even the game’s previous distant fog effects have vanished, allowing elements in the area that should not be visible from afar to be viewed. Developers enhanced the impact by increasing the draw distance.
GTA 3 remastered
When you realize that the new Grand Theft Auto 3 remaster is a rebuilt version of a mobile port, the flaws start to make sense. Following that, Digital Foundry walks players through a series of character model and art direction modifications. In the Definitive Edition, there’s a fascinating section discussing the rain system, and how it affects much of the gameplay compared to the original version. While there are some aesthetic improvements, Digital Foundry claims that the remake of Grand Theft Auto 3 has lost the majority of its sense of design.
GTA San Andreas Remastered – how much has changed?
Some of the changes made to GTA San Andreas Remastered include:
- Now you use the triggers for driving.
- Money counter in the style of GTAIV (shows “$550” instead of “$0000000550”)
- At restaurants, you can choose your food from a menu.
- Due to expired licensing, Rockstar removed certain tracks.
- You can enable the auto-save feature for missions.
- You can use L3 to activate hydraulics.
- The Hydraulics dance-off list now glides from left to right instead of left to right.
- Checkpoints in the middle of the mission
- Achievements
- Clothing and barbershops feature little icons that show you how each item looks so you don’t have to waste time trying everything on.
Original VS Remastered Graphics
The lighting scheme in the original Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas appears to be the same as in the first two games. Although, there are some immediate and subtle improvements: shadows appear to have more resolution and are cast with a reasonable amount of accuracy. Baked-in reflections are used often, with one example being how the lights throw themselves around the bottoms of the palm trees. The same technique appears to have been used for most buildings and other environmental objects. Vehicle surfaces are non-reflective, giving the game a rather dull look as if it were made with pastel colors. It may have been an aesthetic design choice from Rockstar, but it looks rather unappealing today.
Improved features from the original GTA SA
The gang war system in GTA San Andreas remastered is possibly the best unique feature in the game. Three gangs fight for control of San Andreas: Ballas, Grove Street Families, and Los Santos Vagos. This is a fun gameplay feature in which players can attack and claim a section of the city. Taking control of an opponent gang’s territory increases the player’s respect and money.
The jetpack is undoubtedly the best mode of transportation in San Andreas. While employing their weapons to rain death from above, players do not have to worry about traffic. In GTA SA, players can spawn the Jetpack-using cheats or by finishing the task ‘Black Project.’
Swimming is a new element that was first introduced in GTA San Andreas remastered. The aquatic life, on the other hand, is barren and uninteresting in the original edition. This is most likely owing to the system’s low capabilities at the time. Players may now swim and explore the game’s many water bodies.
Girlfriend is a function that first appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas remastered. Carl Johnson has six possible girlfriends throughout the game. Two of them, Denise Robinson and Millie Perkins, become girlfriends as the tale progresses. This is one of the few features missing from both the original and GTA 5. Characters in the original 2004 visuals are a mess, with face details that are fuzzy and imprecise.
Which Consoles does GTA SA support?
GTA SA supports the Xbox (Xbox One, Series X, and Series S), Playstation (4 and 5), and even the Nintendo Switch. You can enjoy this game on almost all gaming platforms!
The GTA San Andreas Remastered edition, as well as the whole trilogy, is also available on PC, and there are announcements of an iOS and Android version coming this year, as well.
