Rockstar
Rockstar fixes GTA Trilogy ahead of GTA 6. These are all changes and improvements
Rockstar Games delivered on its promise to fix Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition three years later. In November 2024, it released a patch that fixed a multitude of bugs and added numerous substantial improvements.
One of the most common complaints about Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition when it was released in 2021 was that it was anything but definitive. This compilation, which included redesigned and remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002), and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), was heavily criticized for having numerous problems that were not present in the originals, as well as changes in art direction that were widely considered to be for the worse. Three years after the release of this title, Rockstar Games finally released a patch that fixed the vast majority of the bugs, glitches, and issues that plagued the game.
Three years later, Rockstar Games has released a major patch for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition
A major patch for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is now available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch versions on November 12. This update proves that Rockstar made good on its promise to “fix” the game just weeks after its release. Those who bought it at the time found it to be a compilation that did not honor the saga, which subsequently succumbed to “review bombing” on Metacritic.
The new update fixes many problems in the original release and adds improvements that were not present in the titles released at the time. It corrects bugs and adds new features, including the ability to move while shooting with certain weapons. The main new features and fixes in the GTA Trilogy patch are as follows:
- Lighting Improvements: Each of the three titles has received a lighting adjustment that makes them more similar to their original versions. The visual disparity between the remasters and the originals was one of the main points of criticism.
- Volumetric Fog: Volumetric fog is back in all three video games. It was particularly prominent in GTA III and GTA: San Andreas, so its absence had a negative impact on visual fidelity compared to the originals.
- Movement and Combat Improvements: In GTA III and GTA: Vice City, the character can now move and shoot at the same time when using weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles, something that was not possible in the originals, so this is an improvement exclusive to the remasters.
- Improvements to character models and skeletons: The remasters had many problems with the models and animations of their characters, sometimes causing them to move in excessively unnatural ways. This has been fixed.
- Improvements in parallax of building interiors: In the remaster of GTA: San Andreas it was possible to see the interior of some buildings, something that was not present in the original. However, this “interior” often had nothing to do with the building because it was massively reused, so this feature has been reversed to make the title more similar to the original.
- Animation improvements: Certain animations, such as crouching in GTA: San Andreas, were very unnatural and have been corrected, resulting in greater fluidity and realism.
- Climatology improvements: In GTA: San Andreas, the same type of weather gave the game different lighting and ambient occlusion depending on the city we were in. This did not happen in the remaster, but has been fixed so that the climatology is the same as in the original game.
- Pause Scenes: this is a new addition that allows us to pause the movie scenes in the three titles of the compilation.
Though there are other changes and improvements, especially minor bug fixes, these are the most important. For the most part, this is how Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition should have been released. This compilation was released as a celebration of the saga’s legacy, revisiting three of its most iconic video games, whose enormous critical and commercial success made Rockstar one of the most important video game companies of all time.
However, its numerous launch problems tarnished what should have been something to celebrate. That its creators have decided to correct the problems that plagued this trilogy of remastered games at this time is no coincidence: everything points to the fact that if they have decided to polish it in the final stretch of 2024, it is because they anticipate that the great interest generated by GTA 6, due out in 2025, will also boost sales of GTA: The Trilogy.