They say if you want something done right, do it yourself. Well, after over three years, Rockstar has finally fixed GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition – a project originally outsourced to Grove Street Games.
In 2021, as GTA players anxiously awaited GTA VI news, Rockstar confirmed that the series’ original 3D trilogy would be coming back with updated visuals and gameplay in the form of a “Definitive” edition.
This trilogy was immediately panned by fans and critics for being a full-price mess filled with bugs, graphical issues, and other problems.
Now, in November 2024, a lot has been fixed, but you wouldn’t know that by Rockstar’s extremely vague patch notes for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. In fact, here’s the full patch notes:
- Numerous fixes and improvements
- Added Classic Lighting mode which restores the look and feel of the sky in the original games
3) Grove Street Games REMOVEDOriginal developers behind the remasters, Grove Street Games, have been completely removed from the studios list in the intro and main menu.Fun fact: GSG was originally known as Wardrum Studios and they were so proud of their work on porting GTA… pic.twitter.com/BHo2Kq01hd
— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) November 12, 2024
Luckily, X users have been documenting just some of the changes they’ve found and it seems like Rockstar was so upset with Grove Street Games’ handling of these remasters, that they’ve removed the studio from the start-up screen.
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Other changes include QoL improvements such as letting players use shotguns, assault rifles, and flamethrowers while running around in GTA 3 and Vice City.
You can actually run around GTA3 and Vice City DE with shotguns assault rifles and the flame throwers and shoot at the same time in the new GTA DE PatchBoth in the previous version and classic GTA3 and VC this wasn't possible. pic.twitter.com/RxNjP37PFv
— Besk (@BeskInfinity) November 12, 2024
The games’ fog has also returned, allowing these 2000s-era titles to feel much “bigger.” As X user SynthPotato explained, “This means that you can no longer see the entire map of GTA San Andreas by just standing in a high spot or see Mount Chilliad from Grove Street.”
2) FOG IS BACKThis has restored the gigantic feeling of these games' maps.GTA 3, Vice City and MOST IMPORTANTLY, SAN ANDREAS all now have volumetric fog effects making a return!This means that you can no longer see the entire map of GTA San Andreas by just standing in a… pic.twitter.com/fLm8QAWnKa
— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) November 12, 2024
Character animations, such as CJ looking weird while riding bikes or crouching have also been fixed, you can now pause during cutscenes and you can once again fly through clouds in San Andreas.
It’s still early days since this patch went live, so there will surely be even more changes that have gone unnoticed. Whether these updates end up salvaging the game all these years later remains to be seen. So far, though, this is a welcome, albeit late, attempt at salvaging the trilogy for Rockstar.
