Grand Theft Auto 5 is showing no signs of slowing down, and who knows how many years we’ll have to wait for GTA 6, but for those who’re on the lookout for some more GTA content, conveniently enough, there’s some interesting stuff coming up. After having announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition recently, Rockstar has now also shown off what the remasters will look like and provided details on various improvements, enhancements, and changes. Brought over into Unreal Engine by Grove Street Games (who’ve been responsible for a number of GTA mobile ports), the three remasters are clearly making some notable changes, and there’s quite a bit to talk about here. As such, here, we’re going to go over a few key details they’ve revealed about it so far.
UPDATED VISUALS
The whole point of the GTA trilogy is not only to bring together three PS2-era classics, but actually modernize them in a meaningful way, most noticeably with their visuals. Rockstar says it’s made “across-the-board enhancements” to the three games, which entails “new lighting and environmental upgrades, with high-resolution textures, increased draw distances” and more. What we got to see in the trilogy’s debut trailer definitely shows noticeable improvements. Environments, characters, and vehicles are much more detailed, the visuals are sharper, and the lighting has seen significant upgrades, but the overall aesthetic of the original three games has very much been preserved.
VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS
Over on its website, Rockstar has also provided some more details on exactly what visual enhancements can be found in the remastered trilogy. For starters, everything from characters and weapons to vehicles and roads now sports higher resolution textures, while you can also expect greater detail in foliage and vegetation, all of which will help environments in general look much more detailed. The lightning system, as previously mentioned, has been completely rebuilt, with enhanced reflections and shadows. Water and weather effects have also seen improvements, as have draw distances.
GUNPLAY CHANGES
GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are all pretty old games at this point, and honestly, it shows in the way they control. All three of those games happened before aiming and shooting with the left and right triggers was the industry-wide standard, for instance, which means going back to that kind of gunplay will feel a little clunky now. Thankfully, the GTA trilogy is well aware of that fact. Rockstar confirms that the remasters will have GTA 5-style controls. Where combat in particular is concerned, you can expect updated controls for shooting and targeting. GTA: San Andreas will also feature revamped drive-by controls.
QOL IMPROVEMENTS
GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is making some pretty neat quality-of-life changes outside of gunplay and the controls as well. The highlight here is being able to immediately retry a failed mission, which was a major source of annoyance in all three of those games (especially for a few particularly frustrating missions). Meanwhile, there will be updated support for Trophies and Achievements, players can now also set waypoints on the minimap, and the remastered trilogy will also have updated weapon and radio station selection wheels. We can probably expect something similar to GTA 5 here as well. Meanwhile, speaking of radio stations, Rockstar hasn’t yet talked about what changes (if any) we can expect in the lineups of licensed songs in the three originals. There will probably be at least a few though.
PS5, XBOX SERIES X/S, AND PC
GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is going to launch on PC and all consoles on the market soon enough, and of course, given the different capabilities of these platforms, some of them will have a leg up over the years. On the PS5 and Xbox Series X, for instance, the remastered trilogy will run at 4K and 60 FPS (though there’s no word yet on what resolution and framerate the game will target on the Xbox Series S). Meanwhile, on PC, on top of that, the trilogy will also feature DLSS support.
NINTENDO SWITCH
The GTA trilogy is also going to launch on the Nintendo Switch, making it the first time mainline GTA games will appear on a Nintendo console (though we did get some handheld outings). Of course, that means Switch players will be sacrificing visual fidelity for the convenience of being able to play GTA on the go, which is a pretty neat bonus in and of itself. On top of that, the trilogy’s Switch version will also support touch screen controls for menus, pans, and camera zooming. There will also be gyro aiming, which quite a few people will be quite happy about.
LAUNCH AND PRICE
Thankfully, there isn’t going to be too much of a gap between the GTA trilogy’s announcement and its launch. Rockstar gas announced that the remasters will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (exclusively via the Rockstar Launcher) on November 11. While some reports previously suggested that the trilogy cost $70 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Rockstar has confirmed that it will cost $60 on all platforms. Meanwhile, one third of the remastered trilogy, GTA: San Andreas Definitive Edition, will also be available day and date via Xbox Game Pass. On the PlayStation side of things, GTA 3 Definitive Edition will come to PlayStation Now on December 7.
PHYSICAL RELEASE
If you’re planning on getting Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition physically at retail, you’re going to have a to wait a bit longer past is November 11 launch, which will be a digital launch only. A little less than a month later on December 6, the game will also see a physical release for PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Interestingly enough, Rockstar’s website doesn’t mention a physical launch for the PS5 version. Meanwhile, the trilogy is also confirmed for the iOS and Android, and will be launching for mobile devices sometime in 2022.
FILE SIZES
The file sizes for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition across various platforms have also been revealed. On Nintendo Switch, it’ll require 25.4 GB of space, which does raise some questions about whether Rockstar will end up including a download code in the game’s physical release on the platform. Meanwhile, on Xbox consoles, its size is listed as approximately 49 GB, with the PC version requiring 45 GB. The PlayStation versions’ sizes haven’t been revealed yet, but we can probably expect them to be in that same range.
PC REQUIREMENTS
As you’d expect, if you’re planning on playing the GTA trilogy on a PC, you won’t need a special rig by any means. These are pretty old games, at the end of the day. On minimum settings, you’ll need either an i5-6600K or an FX-6300, alongside either a GTX 760 2GB or a Radeon R9 280 3GB, and 8 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, you’ll need either an i7-2700K or a Ryzen 5 2600, along with either a GTX 970 4GB or a Radeon RX 570 4GB, and 8 GB of RAM.
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