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Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is False History

Review

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is false history

‘ Grove Street, home. At least it was before they f’d everything up’
Written by Lars Cornelis on

Conclusion

For two decades, the three GTA games from the PlayStation 2 era symbolized the rise of the open world genre. Their groundbreaking freedom and timeless music gave us memories for life. Now these historic games instantly symbolize what a remaster should absolutely not do.

4
Score
40

  • Improved controls and camera, plenty of quality-of-life improvements, if you squint and drift off to the music you can feel a touch of nostalgia
  • Cons
  • Framedrops, pop-in, have to choose between Fidelity and Performance modes, disfigured rain effects, loses a lot of atmosphere due to ‘clean’ look
  • The cultural significance of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas needs no explanation. Few game series ever managed to leave their mark on a genre like GTA at the time of the PlayStation 2. A reissue to make these classics easily playable on modern hardware is not a bad idea at all – if only with a view to the preserving cultural heritage. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, however, has nothing to do with preserving cultural heritage.
    We can be brief about the games themselves. In all honesty, in 2021 there is little fun to be had in GTA 3. The city looks bare, the missions mean nothing and cars don’t drive for a meter. Yet the first part in the trilogy is still intriguing. Especially in combination with Vice City and San Andreas.

    Evolution of the open world

    A new jacket

    For the re-release, the classic games have been rebuilt in a new engine. The original code has been partly reused, to give the games the original look and feel. Improved lighting and numerous small ‘quality-of-life’ adjustments also reduce the culture shock. For example, your minimap automatically shows how to drive and it is easier to switch weapons or radios, thanks to selection wheels that we know from GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, among others. The controls have also been modernized, including a freely moving camera. No idea if that was the deciding factor, but even infamous missions like Demolition Man (Vice City) and Wrong Side of the Tracks (San Andreas) weren’t nearly as frustrating as in our collective memories.

    Many fans feared the iconic music in this reissue. There are indeed a few songs missing. In fact, there are quite a few missing

    iconic songs, including Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ by Michael Jackson (Vice City), as well as 2Pac’s I Don’t Give a F*ck and Hellraiser by Ozzy Osbourne (San Andreas). That is of course a shame if you just like those few songs, but with so many songs and radio stations there is enough left to create nice 80s and 90s atmospheres. Moreover, the endless chatter of the disc jockeys and the countless commercials and jingles have been preserved. So much for some good news.
    Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition

    Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition

    Jacket doesn’t seem to fit
  • The cultural significance of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas needs no explanation. Few game series ever managed to leave their mark on a genre like GTA at the time of the PlayStation 2. A reissue to make these classics easily playable on modern hardware is not a bad idea at all – if only with a view to the preserving cultural heritage. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, however, has nothing to do with preserving cultural heritage.
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