Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Remastered
Rockstar’s announcement on an upcoming release, Grand Theft Auto: The trilogy — The Definitive Edition
Rockstar’s legendary trilogy has been announced to be released on November 11 2021, in its new and remastered form. This “Definitive Edition” will now be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and the Rockstar Games Launcher.
For those who are unaware of the trilogy, it includes the three classic stories of the game; Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In this article, we will discuss the news and our thoughts on this new edition. Although HD visuals are usually the exciting part, not everything needs to look good when focusing on the gameplay.
So, let’s talk about it.
On 22nd October last week, Rockstar Games tweeted an announcement of the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition, along with a trailer of what is expected from the newly remastered version. However, it is not exactly what fans expected at all.
Many GTA fans retweeted and replied to the announcement, commenting on the fact that the trilogy is a classic for a reason and shouldn’t need to focus on advanced visuals. From what we can see from the trailer, the visual settings were mainly focused on the environment and lighting. Rockstar’s description of the edition from their store (link from the image) states that the trilogy was upgraded for a “new generation”, with better lighting, enhancements and high-textures to the environment, new environmental upgrades and now upgraded to Grand Theft Auto V’s style of controls and targeting.
Again, advanced and high visuals are usually what attracts gamers, but it doesn’t complete the standards and expectations if even the characters still have the classic and original features. A gamer and game reviewer, @NextworkBSG, compared the edition to Hanger 13’s 2020 action-adventure game, Mafia: Definitive Edtion, and how it delivered fans’ expectations of realistic visuals and gameplay. Since the stories of the GTA trilogy have been going on for many years, fans waited for better upgrades and gameplay to arrive but then was still disappointed.
The reviewer continues on and compares the edition to the existing GTA mods, as the mods already delivered retextured upgrades and edits in both of the original games, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas. Since the mods still used the original version of the games, there are no excuses as to why the definitive edition failed to meet expectations.
Some fans that replied to the announcement commented on their expectations of more easter eggs in the game and new additions to the gameplay or missions. This certain topic was mainly targeted at GTA: San Andreas, as San Andreas is considered to be one of the most popular classics in the whole franchise. The fact that San Andreas involved more mods, creative content and easter eggs, fans expected an upgrade to also focus on the gameplay itself, as well as the visuals. Fans reply to the announcement in disappointment, as they would have preferred these updates instead.
On the other hand, some fans supported Rockstar’s announcement and replied back to the negative comments about the new edition. Two Twitter accounts tweeted a similar statement that there is a difference between a “remake” and a “remaster” of a video game. Since the new edition is considered to be “remastered”, it only applies to new bug fixes, advanced visuals and some control settings, whereas a “remake” is considered as changing or adding new additions to the gameplay and story.
Personally for someone who is a fan of GTA: San Andreas, half of me is excited but also still satisfied with the original classic version. Since the stories in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy are based on the 1980s/90s, the stories still capture that period of time and therefore shouldn’t focus on high and advanced visuals. So if you’re a GTA fan, keep November 11th free for updates and see if the new edition is as bad as everyone thinks.
Until next time!
By Lawrie Sabado
27/10/2021
Image Reference:
Rockstar Games’ Tweet & Fan comments — https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/1451526713767305232
Rockstar Games Store description — rsg.ms/6c7ba44
