Later this year, Rockstar will release 'Definitive Edition' remasters of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, in a new collection called Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy. This is a chance to replay three of the most influential games of all time, and revisit the bazillion-selling series' first bold steps into three dimensions. It can't be overstated how much Grand Theft Auto 3 changed the games industry in the PS2 era, with every major publisher suddenly becoming obsessed with making their own smash hit open-world game. But Rockstar was always one step ahead of its peers, and continued to set the standard for the genre with stylish 1980s-set sequel Vice City and the absurdly ambitious San Andreas.
For this remastered trilogy, Rockstar is promising 'graphical improvements and modern gameplay enhancements', but makes a point of saying the 'classic look and feel' of the originals will be maintained. There are no specific details about any of this yet, but it got me thinking: how could Rockstar fix, tweak, or otherwise tinker with these games? They're 20, 19, and 17 years old respectively, so they are gonna need some work to not feel wildly outdated on modern consoles. But if the developer meddles with them too much, it runs the risk of turning the games into something they never were. With that in mind, here are some things I'd love to see Rockstar change, and some things it really shouldn't mess with.
Visuals and art
It's encouraging that Rockstar says it wants to maintain the look of the old games. There's a very specific aesthetic to the early GTAs that is an important part of their identity: from the chunky low-poly character models to the hazy glow of the lighting. Rather than a complete overhaul, Rockstar could augment the original graphics with newer effects—similar to how Sega handled the Shenmue remasters. Real-time reflections and modern post-processing effects would give them a visual boost without compromising the intent of the original art. Quake 2 RTX added ray-tracing to the classic FPS, and is another example of an old game being subtly modernised. I'd love GTA to get the same treatment.
Draw distance
Draw distance is something else that could be radically improved, but this is a tricky one. While flying a plane in San Andreas and seeing a thick mist surrounding you does limit the scale of the world, an infinite draw distance would actually have the same effect. PC players have used mods to remove the distance-obscuring fog in San Andreas, and it makes the world feel incredibly small. You suddenly become aware that the entire state is really just a square of land sitting in the middle of the ocean, and all three cities being visible at once makes the distance between them seem trivial. It'll be interesting to see how Rockstar approaches this in the remaster. I suppose it could extend the draw distance a little as a compromise.
Combat
As for the games themselves, there's really only one core thing I think Rockstar should change: the shooting. You have to remember that these games were made at a time when developers were still figuring out the best way to make combat work in a 3D open world. As a result, the third-person shooting in all three PS2-era GTAs is pretty clunky and awkward. I'd love to see a smarter lock-on system implemented, as well as smoother, more responsive controls. That would make the combat-focused missions less of a chore. I happily put up with this back in the early 2000s, but I really can't imagine wrestling with those controls on a PS5 with a DualSense in the year 2021. Time really won't have been kind to them, especially not when modern GTA games have near enough perfected the formula.
Mission design
There are some notoriously difficult missions in these games too. I don't think Rockstar should mess with them to make them easier—but maybe just throw in a few checkpoints here and there. In most cases, the difficulty isn't as frustrating as making a mistake at the end of a long mission, then having to do the whole thing all over again. That's a very old school approach to game design that I don't think many people would have the stomach for these days. I might feel personally attacked that this new generation of GTA players will have checkpoints to help them through controller-smashing missions like Demolition Man, Wrong Side of the Tracks, or Supply Lines, but it's for the greater good.
I spent many memorable hours rampaging across the mean streets of Liberty City, Vice City, Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas, and it'll be interesting to see how these games hold up all these years later. We're spoiled for quality open worlds these days, so they won't feel quite as special as they did back then—but that's always the case with re-releases. I'm intrigued to see how Rockstar will make these games worth playing again today, and the approach it takes to the remastering process. They're not just great games, but important historical artifacts as well. If you have any interest at all in the history of video games, and how the industry ended up where it is now, this trilogy is basically a set text.
