Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition Reviews
If somehow, inexplicably, you can overlook all of its issues then the three games in GTA Trilogy are undisputed classics. But if you want to revisit them properly, right now you’re far better off doing so on another platform.
Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are admittedly masterpieces. Unfortunately, the remasters offered by The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition suffer from too many problems and do not give these diamonds the treatment they deserve.
Review in Greek | Read full review
GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition is a good way to play these three classic games, but it feels far from “definitive”.
I am not going to pretend I didn’t have a lot of fun with this remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy. At the end of the day, they’re still the PS2 classics, and I have loved them for the past two decades. I also won’t deny that, yes, there ARE some good quality of life improvements in each of the games, such as an improvement aiming system, camera controls, checkpoints, and much more. But man, these visuals, this framerate, these glitches, all of those are unacceptable.
There’s some legitimacy to all of the gripes, and that’s why I can’t give The Trilogy the perfect score that these titles would have merited individually when they were first released. Though the teenager in me might balk at giving any of these games less than 5/5, the 35-year-old me can’t deny that they are a bit janky and dated in parts, and much of the work done to update the gameplay has been insufficient or uneven. It definitely seems a big ask to expect folks to pay £55/$60 USD for these more minimal remasters when the Mafia trilogy, for example, was recently given a much more thorough root-and-branch remake of the first game along with the remastering of the other two titles. Still, even though a new coat of paint can’t cover every imperfection (and creates a couple new ugly streaks in the process), Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy is still a serviceable update for three absolute classics. With the quality of life improvements and visual upgrades, it’s still a fine way to enjoy three amazing games beloved by so many.
After a campaign of threat and terror against the mod makers who had kept these titles alive for the better part of two decades and de-listing the original versions, we are offered this magnificent piece of failure and while playing it, you just keep wondering about the inner workings of QA departments of the publishers and console manufacturers that time and again have let titles this functionally broken, slip past them.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is inferior to the original games and represents these phenomenal titles in the worse way possible.
Bugs may vary in degree across titles in the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition release, but whether or not they are tolerable, it is puzzling to see how this got past Rockstar, especially with the output that you know they can bring out.
This comeback of the three GTA classics feels superficial and poorly optimized, although some improvements are clearly visible. It's not the remaster we were hoping for, but these are still immortal classics that can still entertain and sometimes even amaze. And sometimes that's all we need.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are one of the best games of all time and they deserved an opportunity to shine again, which was tragically and shamefully missed here.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Despite its entertaining nature, GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is disappointing. While there are much better graphics mods, it gives the impression of an unnecessary package with its bugs.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition was set to be one of this year's biggest and most celebrated releases. Unfortunately, due to multiple questionable decisions by those involved in the project, what we received was a collection that did little to deserve the nickname “definitive” registered in its name.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
CJ’s return to Grove Street in the opening sequences of San Andreas feels like a metaphorical foretelling. You’re returning home, much like he is, but things feel different. There’s an uncanniness to it all. You know the places and the faces, but they’re not the same. Rockstar Games has swooped in like Officer Tenpenny and taken your money from you, too, so you’re bitter about it all. To make matters worse, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. The Definitive Edition of these games is all we have now. Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas are worth playing if you can - but we’d find it hard to recommend the Definitive Edition versions over hunting down an old PlayStation 2 and booting up the originals. The improvements just aren’t worth the price.
Even if all the technical problems are corrected, the new version is considered inferior
Review in Greek | Read full review
It is impossible not to classify this offer as disappointing. There is merit in the work of making these classics more visually appealing and mechanically more modern, but the flaws are too many and incomprehensible. The three games are technically extremely defective, with huge crashes and numerous bugs plaguing the overall experience. Still, playing Vice City and San Andreas remains incredibly fun and enjoyable. So there is value here, but these games deserved much more love and affection from everyone involved.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy – Definitive Edition was $30 and on Steam I could perhaps justify buying into the hype and being excited about these games. But, $60 on Rockstar’s own launcher that you will forget even exists and never turn this game on? No, I can’t recommend this game with good conscience.
Definitive Edition? Such a term is unfit for the GTA trilogy. GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas remasters are half-baked, full of mistakes, bugs, and plenty of ugly things, such as weird faces and animations. We really can't believe this is the Rockstar now, but here we are.
Review in Czech | Read full review
I like to think that some thought was put into the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Edition, at least when it came to the quality of life improvements. But outside of that, it’s hard to say that this is the definitive way to play these all time classics. The end product of Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Edition feels more like a mod created from one person. And that would have been more forgiving if that was the case, however, it’s a full team (a small one granted) and the end result just simply isn’t on par with the level of expected quality. We weren’t asking for a full blown remake, but we definitely weren’t expecting to get this. It’s horrendously buggy, disgustedly ugly, and most of all, it’s not the same GTA we played decades ago. The very soul of the original Rockstar Team has been sucked out of them, and in their place, replaced with intolerable cash grab. I would say go grab the originals, but they have been replaced with this not so definitive version of the game. Maybe Rockstar and Grove Street will somehow pull through in the end, and restore much of what made the originals so beloved, but I guess, at least for PC players out there, they can look forward to modders fixing this mess.
The three classic GTAs are still fun, but deserved a better remasterization, with greater care from Rockstar Games and without musical cuts.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review