After weeks of speculation, Rockstar Games today confirmed the Grand Theft Auto remaster trilogy. It’ll bring beloved games GTA III, San Andreas, and Vice City to modern consoles. The GTA trilogy is set to release later this year for consoles, PC, and mobile, but there’s a twist: The GTA Remasters won’t get a graphical overhaul.
GTA Remasters Finally Revealed
Confirmed today in a series of tweets paying tribute to the enduring legacy of Grand Theft Auto III, the remastered trilogy will drop later this year. However, current promotional material makes it sound like there’s less of a an emphasis on updating the graphics in line with modern expectations. In the announcement, Rockstar says that the games will “still [maintain] the classic look and feel of the originals.”
That makes it sound like this won’t be a remaster in the same vein as the upcoming Dead Space remake. Instead, it appears Rockstar will polish the graphics, but not modernize them to look like current releases. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The games will retain the nostalgic sheen we all know and love. However, it does mean that some GTA fans might be disappointed when the first gameplay footage is less visually impressive than expected.
Regardless, it’s definitely exciting news for GTA fans. The remasters will also make “modern gameplay enhancements,” likely changes to controls and checkpoints. This might make the infamous train-chase level in San Andreas slightly more bearable. For many, it’ll be the first chance they’ve had to explore these genre-defining titles – making the trilogy a much-anticipated release.
Sadly, it does mean that existing versions of the game on digital stores have to make way. Starting next week, editions of these games on the PlayStation and Xbox stores will disappear, leaving some players unable to access it. However, with all the promise of these new versions, it should be a price worth paying.