GTA: Vice City – The Definitive Edition looks better than GTA 3 and Vice City from the remaster trilogy, but that’s not saying much.
Based on aesthetics and performance, tech experts have judged that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’s remaster is the best game in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, but it isn’t far ahead of the collection’s other titles. GTA 3 – The Definitive Edition was previously tested on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and last-gen consoles and how different performance settings affect how the game looks and performs, with mixed results.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding the current hardware remasters of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, GTA: Trilogy – Definitive Edition was met with scepticism upon release due to its visual modifications and faults. The PC version of GTA: The Trilogy drew the most significant criticism and media attention, prompting Rockstar Games to remove it from the Rockstar Launcher just days after its release. The remasters have since been repaired and upgraded. As a public gesture of goodwill, Rockstar is allowing anybody who purchased GTA: The Trilogy to download classic versions of the GTA games for free.
Digital Foundry’s technical analysis of Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy – Definitive Edition concludes with a review of the Vice City and San Andreas remasters on Eurogamer. The Digital Foundry video analyses how the remasters perform on the PS5, Xbox One X/S, and Nintendo Switch and how they compare to GTA 3: Definitive Edition. Experts determined that GTA: Vice City made the most OK transition to modern technology, with the original game’s art style matching more closely with the Definitive Edition’s upgraded visuals. However, Vice City – Definitive Edition wins by a razor-thin margin since Digital Foundry points out that the same technological faults that plagued the GTA 3 and San Andreas remasters are present in Vice City – Definitive Edition.
In addition to reviewing the remasters of Vice City and San Andreas included in GTA: The Trilogy, Digital Foundry also took a look at the collections’ upgrades that have come out in the two weeks since their release. Unfortunately, none of the technical concerns highlighted in the GTA 3 comparison video appear to have been fixed thus far, despite the fact that these patches were in the works prior to the remasters’ release and subsequent reaction. Although the latest GTA: San Andreas – Definitive Edition patch notes suggest a repair for the game’s infamous rain, Digital Foundry claims that the weather effect appears to work as it did before the update.
Rockstar recently confessed that GTA: The Trilogy falls short of its expectations, promising to address user criticism with future updates. While an official release date for these patches has yet to be announced, Rockstar and developer Grove Street Games will most likely prioritize fixing the various issues ailing Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy – Definitive Edition for the time being.
Grand Theft Auto: The Definitive Edition is now available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, with iOS and Android versions coming in H1 2022.
Sources: Eurogamer, Digital Foundry/YouTube
