.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
After what felt like an eternity of leaks and rumors, Rockstar finally caved and revealed the remastered collection of its PS2-era GTA games is real - and it's coming very soon. It offers us a chance to revisit Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas - something many of us haven't done for 20 years. We now also know how much better the games will look, and that updated features such as waypoints and GTA 5-style controls have been incorporated.
Now Rockstar has confirmed the trilogy exists, the rumor mill can finally stop turning. The focus can turn instead to the slew of details that have been revealed, including its pretty steep price tag. Since the g♌ames were available through💧 various storefronts for far less right up until the remasters were officially revealed, that price point likely won't sit well with a lot of people. It sits well enough with me though - at least, well enough that I'm prepared to shell out for it - and even though I've played them all before, it feels like it's my chance to play them for the first time.
While I would have been disappointed if the trilogy had been improved upon so little that the differences were negligible, most of my excitement revolves around being able to actually play the games as they were meant to be played, not as we all💯 played them way back when.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1.5)
Let me explain. First of all, I definitely don't condone people under the age of 18 playing GTA games. I also wouldn't let my own son do so, although at the age of two he hasn't shown much interest in wasting people on the streets of Los Santos just yet. However, I definitely played all of the games included in the trilogy before celebrating my 18th birthday. I know I wasn't the only one either, as I played the games alongside a number of friends the same age as me. I even let my little sister play them from time to time, but don't tell my mum that. To clarifiy; under 18s should not play GTA, and if my son or mum ever ask, I definitely definitely didn't.
Not only was I playing games that glamorized a life of crime at an age where I really shouldn't have been, but my immaturity meant I didn't even experience these games as intended. Take GTA 3, for example. My fondest memory of the first GTA game to ever come to PS2 is stealing the train and attempting to derail it as fast as I possibly could. Doing so over and over would entertain me for hours. Meanwhile, a virtual city containing a meticuously pieced-together story was awaiting me beyond that short stretch of railway.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1.5)
By the time Vice City and then San Andreas arrived, I had matured a little. Plus, Vice City didn't have trains, so I needed to find something else to bide my time. The game's missions did that for a while, but eventually my immaturity took hold once again. Remember when you would try to play a GTA game as a law abiding citizen? Then get bored of doing that and punch a pedestrian just to feel virtually alive again before abandoning a mission and grabbing your list of almost illegible cheat codes? Yeah, that.
That quickly became the only reason to play the games. Give pedestriands weapons, make them riot, and watch the chaos ensue. Video Killed The Radio Star playing as I flew overhead in a car that should never have been granted the gift of flight. Every time I would leave Vice City for the real world, I would be careful not to save my game. If I did, the pedestrians would riot forever, and playing the game properly would be almost impossible. Years later I've realized that wouldn't have mattered. I had given up on the game's story long before and just didn't want to admit it.
Now the games are back, they look better than ever, and I'm going to be able to play all three of them back-to-back as a mature adult. No driving a train so fast that it derails. No loading San Andreas up with so many cheats that it becomes a video game version of The Purge. Just the missions, the characters, and the stories to play through and enjoy after all these years. Then, you know, after that I might indulge in what I used to love about these games as a kid. Magicking a tank out of thin air and wreaking havoc on a virtual city still sounds like a lot of fun, regardless of how old I am.
