The launch of Rockstar’sGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Editionhas not been a smooth experience, to say the least. A primary focus, for those that can even play the game they purchased, is theGTA Trilogy’s remastered graphics. Rockstar chose to go with a cartoonish style, rather than a more typical remaster style of higher fidelity. Amid growing criticism of the decision, manyGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Editionplayers are starting to compare its visuals to mods they believe did a better job.
Several videos have been made and published over the past several days comparingGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive EditiontoGrand Theft Autovisual mods released over the past several years. Obviously, they’re not fair comparisons, since mods require a PC that can deliver much higher performance and visual fidelity while the trilogy remaster has been designed to scale down visuals to what theNintendo Switchis able to run. Still, it’s a compelling comparison.
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The results of these comparisons are surprising in many ways. It’s true that mods are better able to add visual features like improved lighting and reflections, but theDefinitive Editionmakes up for it in polish. For example, inSan Andreas' cinematics, a mod may have uneven lighting, where theDefinitive Edition’s developers paid closer attention to these sequences. Also, while the remaster’s visuals have been described as cartoonish, compared to the original game they still stand out as a marked improvement. At least on PC, theGTA Trilogyremaster compares very favorably to mods.
What’s perhaps a more important question is whether theGTA Trilogyremaster is so impressive that it justifies Rockstar publisher Take-Two’s aggressive legal efforts to shut down mods. For example, the Vice Cry mod portedGrand Theft Auto: Vice CityintoGrand Theft Auto 5’s engine. That’s not an easy question to answer, but there’s clearly a statement being made within theGTAcommunity saying that these mods are valued and comparable to the official remaster (if not better).
It’s also worth pointing out that Rockstar has removed the original versions of the threeGrand Theft Autogames included in the trilogy remaster fromPC and console storefronts. There’s no legal way to purchase these games other than via the new bundle on its supported platforms.
Further, it’s just a matter of time before modders do the work required to get their projects updated forGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition.That’s if they even feel comfortable working on Rockstar projects anymore, after the wayTake-Two treated them leading up to theGTA Trilogy’s launch. Rockstar will also need to get theGTA Trilogyback up and running on PC in the first place for this to happen.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Editionis available now on PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
