GTA Trilogy: what does it look like on consoles?

We are not going to offer you a proper test of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Indeed, almost everyone is familiar with the three legendary games from Rockstar Games. Thus, with this short article, we will focus particularly on the technical and graphic contributions of this remastering.

With that in mind, we played Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas on PS5. Also, we quickly looked at the PS4 versions. So, is this collection worth it?

Live up to the legend?

When they were launched between 2001 and 2004, our three dear GTAs marked a real turning point for the video game industry as a whole. The fashion for open-world games was on and many studios offered their vision of this concept over the past 20 years. Rockstar Games has remained one of the undisputed leaders in this area. So the opportunity to revisit these legendary opuses on more capable machines was enticing on paper.

Before getting to the heart of the matter, let's remember one extremely important thing. We are not in the presence of remakes but of remasterings. The story, the map or the characters of each GTA have therefore all remained unchanged. Only the graphics have been reworked and the gameplay slightly refined to suit the standards of our time… It remains to be seen whether the Grove Street Games studio (which belongs to Rockstar) has shown itself up to the task.

Between shadow and light

The pictures speak for themselves. A huge amount of work has been done on the lighting. The overhaul at this level is all the more obvious on Vice City with its emblematic neon lights of the 80s. The first minutes of play spent outdoors flatter the retina. The meteorological effects have also gained in realism with, for example, more abundant rain. Once the downpour has passed, the lights are reflected on the asphalt. Unreal Engine 4 works wonders. But all is unfortunately not perfect… Far from it!

Whether on PS5 or PS4 (and therefore on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S), our three GTAs are victims of the same technical problems. Clipping, that is to say elements of the decor that appear at the last moment, is omnipresent! This concerns small objects like whole buildings! By picking up speed at the wheel of a racing car, the textures have all the difficulty in the world to appear. This is quite surprising for titles which, despite their new plastic, were released in the early 2000s. Aliasing is also part of it and is more pronounced in performance mode.

Maybe it was better before?

Let's also stop at the two modes available to players. Nothing to report by choosing the one that favors performance with a rather constant framerate at 60 FPS. Unfortunately, by choosing the “quality” mode, the deal is radically different. Yes, the trilogy is noticeably more attractive visually, but the fluidity takes a nasty hit! So much so that it is not uncommon to drop below the 30 FPS mark. Again, this observation is valid on PS4 and PS5. We therefore advise you to select the “performance” mode to benefit from an optimal experience.

For the rest, Grove Street Games provided the union minimum. The character animations are dated, the faces very often missed and, in terms of gameplay, the driving leaves something to be desired and the aiming lacks precision. As for the artistic direction, it will necessarily divide the community… But at this level, everyone is a judge.

The call of the street...

Let's conclude this little overview now… Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition does not keep all its promises. Yes, the remastering work has been done well but it remains clumsy in many aspects. And when we add to that the fabulous price (60 € all the same!) Applied by Take-Two Interactive, there is something to cringe.

Just to add a layer, the Nintendo Switch version is a real disaster with a shameful framerate and a very pronounced blur effect. If you absolutely want to buy this trilogy, do it on next-gen consoles if possible. For the more patient, it is wise to wait for the deployment of a few patches in order to correct recurring bugs. A rather missed comeback…