Almost every single gamer knows and loves the Grand Theft Auto series. This extremely successful series by Rockstar Games has been around since 1997, and it is still strong today thanks to GTA V selling millions of copies worldwide. While fans are desperately waiting to play GTA VI, it seems that Rockstar Games has still not decided to give us the next GTA game. Instead, on November 11th, 2021, GTA released a definitive edition of their GTA Trilogy that contains GTA III, GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City.
Today, I’m going to give you guys my honest review of the new definitive edition of the GTA trilogy and help you decide whether or not these new games are worth your time and money.
What’s New?
Let’s go over all the different aspects of these games as we take a closer look at all the new changes.
Story & Characters:
As these releases are not complete remakes, there are no changes in the stories at all. We get the same old classic tales with their own strengths and flaws. I would like to point out that these updated versions of the games actually do a better job at telling the same stories thanks to better visuals, lip-syncing and camera movement.
Since the stories are the same, of course, we get the same old memorable and classic characters too. The models of these characters have not been completely reworked, but they have been slightly upgraded to look more visually appealing. Rockstar Games decided to maintain the somewhat cartoonish look of the characters in the early GTA games, and I think that is awesome.
Gameplay:
Gameplay is one of the two major things that fans of the franchise were expecting to see huge changes in. However, surprisingly, the gameplay mechanics are actually pretty similar to the original releases. Some fans might not like the fact that Rockstar Games did not really make many changes to this aspect of the game, but I personally think that deciding to not make any major changes to the gameplay mechanics was actually a good choice. If the game development company had made too many changes to modernize these games, then they would’ve completely lost their nostalgic value.
Two small changes in the gameplay mechanics that I appreciate are the new weapon wheel which is somewhat similar to the weapon wheel from GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, and the new lock-on feature while shooting your weapon, which makes it easier to aim.
Visuals:
Visual appeal is the one aspect of these reworked versions that Rockstar Games had the most freedom with. While retaining the original look and feel of all the games, Rockstar Games has tried its best to update every single thing that they could. The lighting, camera angles, character models, and texture quality look way better than the original games.
Of course, the games don’t really look as good as today’s games, but compared to their original versions, they still look amazing. All three separate games have been updated in their own special ways in terms of visuals. I’d have to say that the GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition seems to have gotten the best treatment in terms of visuals. On the other hand, GTA III is the least updated game and even has a few bugs that might affect your experience.
Better than the Original Releases?
Yup! All three of these games are superior compared to the original releases. All of these games have comparatively better visuals, thanks to the amazing lighting and textures. The cutscenes are also smoother and look more appealing. The one thing that really sets these games apart from the originals is the fact that you get a smoother gameplay experience overall, as they have been optimized to run well on all the latest hardware.
The games run on the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. You can also play them if you are using the older generation consoles or a Nintendo Switch. Oh, and of course, you can also play the trilogy on a PC for the best experience.
Conclusion
Personally, I’d have to say that you should only purchase this trilogy for the nostalgic value if you’ve already played the original versions in the past. These games are definitely not as good as the games that get released today and will feel a bit bland to someone expecting a completely modern game jam-packed with features and stuff to do.
If you just want to re-experience the GTA games from your childhood in the best way possible, then you should definitely go ahead and purchase this trilogy as soon as possible.