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 Trilogy Definitive Edition is a good way to (re)discover three legendary titles of the PS2 era. They're the same and yet very different in terms of visuals. But it's not really 100% good and even on PS5, it struggles to deliver a totally smooth experience. Not to mention that they feel a bit old if you talk about gameplay. Still effective, but be prepared.
Review in French | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on Switch delivers three of gaming's true greats in a shockingly rough package that manages to suck pretty much all of the fun out of Rockstar's stellar crime epics. This is a poor port, a shoddy, stuttery, low resolution mess full of bugs, glitches, audio problems and more besides. If can grab this one on any other platform, we'd advise you do so or, at the very least, hold off until it's been patched and hopefully improved in the future. As things stand, this is a very, very long way from 'definitive' - this isn't the way we want to remember these games.
The nostalgic value of this collection is beyond doubt, they are three masterpieces that today are still very funny (and with a sensational script), but this remastering has fallen short in many aspects, and has technical flaws.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is an interesting package; despite doing a number of things fairly well such as gameplay tweaks and refreshed visuals it’s hard not to feel a little let down. When you consider all of the possibilities or additional improvements that could have been made, it just feels like Rockstar could have gone further and created some truly memorable remakes or high-quality remasters. All of the games here do look better and play better than the originals, which technically does make these versions the definitive ones, but it feels like a missed opportunity at the end of the day. A few patches will likely take care of some of the more obvious issues, but at this point it is hard to recommend to anyone other than the GTA faithful.
Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: The Definitive Edition is one of those "Be careful what you wish for" games. While it has all the improvements that would be considered the bare minimum for Rockstar to put into something, it also exposes the ages of the titles, making the cheapness appear worse than it is. Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: The Definitive Edition is barely worth it for returning players, but is perfect for first-timers to this trilogy of games.
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”.
Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are some of the PlayStation 2's best games and helped to both pioneer and define the open world genre. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition does not provide the best way to experience these titles, nor should this be considered the "definitive" edition of the games included. The Definitive Edition is often prettier and slightly more modern in its controls and presentation, but missing features and poorly optimized content let down what could have been ideal remasters. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition feels rushed - and after twenty years, that's disappointing.
GTA Trilogy on Nintendo Switch has problems like the rest of the versions, from an unstable frame rate to a noticeable popping or blurrier graphics playing in the dock, but they are still three great adventures like the cup of a pine, with slight improvements, which are highly enjoyable in portable mode.
Review in Spanish | 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.
In the end, you'll hate that you can't love GTA Trilogy Remastered, at least at its current state, as tons of bugs and performance issues really ruin the fun. That said, if you grew up playing these titles and you can't wait to get back into the good old days, the game is still playable, although we recommend to wait for future updates to iron out the issues. As for new generation gamers who are used to modern gameplay and design, there is probably not much to look for here as the core gameplay mechanisms of this package are really old.
Review in Persian | Read full review
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.
It’s not that I’m mad, I am just disappointed. These three PS2 games remain iconic, and I have enjoyed returning to Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas, but as a remaster, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is lacking the care and respect such highly regarded games deserve. It doesn’t have the quality we have come to expect from remasters recently. Yet, such is their quality, the underlying games, which deserved better, still hold up as a product of their time. They are worth returning to if the PS2 GTA Trilogy holds a special place in your heart, so long as you can temper expectations and accept the good, the bad and the downright ugly from a ‘that’ll do’ remaster. If not, you’re better off persevering them with those rose-tinted memories.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition is a collection of three of the greatest games of the early 2000s.
This GTA The Trilogy is GTA The tragedy. Unfinished and very bad edition - especially PC version.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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.
GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a relic of its time. A relic that was better left unearthed.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition can be fun to play thanks to the inherent strengths of the three all-time classics it remasters, but the remastering itself feels shoddy, thoughtless, and rushed.