Does GTA Trilogy work yet? Is Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy worth it?

Grand Theft Auto – The Trilogy – The Final EditionAfter a lengthy period of exclusive access to Rockstar Games’ PC store, the game was launched on Steam on January 19. Remastered versions of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto Vice CityAnd Grand Theft Auto San AndreasThe bundle was launched in 2021, but in a less than ideal form. Every entry suffered from multiple visual and performance issues. Rockstar did release some patches in the meantime, but it is important to be cautious with this re-release.

At the moment, it’s not possible to purchase the original versions of the three games on Steam, which means the Definitive Edition package is now the solely available bundle on the store. After some hands-on time with each title, here is a breakdown of what you can expect (or rather what to prepare for) from the GTA Trilogy’s Steam version.

Rockstar via Polygon

Can the GTA Trilogy be used?

It’s complicated. You can generally boot the GTA Trilogy Steam game and each of the individual games with no problems. At least from my experience, I didn’t encounter any particular bug that prevented me from going to point A to B without that many issues (I’ll tell you more about the hostile car drivers later on). The heavy rains that were almost unseeable are gone.

This being said Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Final EditionIt is important to be in an optimal state. All three situations result in the game getting stuck during initial boot-up. After the Rockstar Games launcher opens — which, yes, continues to run in the background even with the Steam version — I get a black screen and the game’s process doesn’t respond. Every time the game doesn’t respond, it opens the task manager. All games also asked for firewall permission, too, in case you’re interested in knowing.

The games were mixed in presentation. With whom I was going GTA Vice City’s Steam version first, and to my surprise, the top right corner of the UI was present throughout the whole starting cutscene. This didn’t repeat itself afterward, but it wasn’t the best first impression. In terms of interface, all three games share the same structure — the options are displayed on the left side of the screen, while the background itself is the game’s map. You can use your mouse to drag it around, but it’s not until you actually select the map button that you get to see the icons or place waypoints. Sometimes hovering with my mouse over the menu selected the button that was above the pointer of the cursor. The overall presentation is unpolished, although it’s not important.

In terms of visuals… it’s complicated. None of the three games defaulted to my PC’s standard resolution, which is 1080p, and they had black bars on the side until I changed the setting and restarted them. Some scenes featured characters that had their eyes cut off or completely blank. A few models also looked blurry when viewed up-close. A few other times, the position of NPCs or key objects — such as the bomb that goes off at the start of GTA III — was clearly in a different position than intended. Again, while these issues won’t prevent you from playing the GTA Trilogy per se, they add up to become a constant distraction.

You will see a different aesthetic for each game depending on how you use lighting or the design of your models. But even if you don’t mind everybody’s faces looking like a mixture of a surprised baby and a squashed clay figure, some lighting effects are distracting at best and disruptive at worst.

Floating items such as police stars or quest markers emit their own light, and it’s incredibly bright, to the point where you can see their reflections on fences or other nearby objects. Shadows suffer from the same problem as other characters, particularly during cutscenes. This can sometimes be related to the game’s current time of the day. In other cases, it’s the reflections that can hide characters, such as in the drive-through scene in San Andreas where the group is picking up food. CJ could not be clearly seen in the car because of the intensity of the glare on the windshield.

Rockstar via Polygon

Are the GTA Trilogy Definitive Editions worth it?

Rewinding is, in truth, a good idea. GTA IIIOr GTA Vice CityToday’s world feels inherently clunky. Even subtle additions like the radio channel wheel are subtle. Grand Theft Auto 5The new features are now available in all three games. It’s also worth mentioning that there is a decent amount of accessibility options present compared to the original releases.

However, there were some unusual cases. For example, sometimes hitting police cars or bikes doesn’t immediately lead to having a wanted star. While this can help, it is not a good idea. Driving in general just seems to be chaotic — in GTA III, I couldn’t go traverse for more than a few blocks without seeing a car crash or a killed pedestrian on the floor blocking a street.

Drivers in San Andreas sometimes just get angry and begin hitting people repeatedly without any reason. One time, the driver managed to turn my car upside down, and I was able to get out of it before it burst. The driver kept going in reverse and marched on the wreckage for an interminable loop even after they had done the job.

However, it is possible for performance to be very random. With a RTX 2060 and i7 8700k along with 16 GB RAM, my average frame rate was 60 FPS. I used the highest setting settings. The framerates dropped frequently across the three games. Sometimes it was not for any specific reason. DLSS can be used, although overall it feels like the games have been acting more aggressively than expected, which is affecting performance. The fans on my computer made a weird, constant noise as I was playing them. This is something that I have never seen before.

All in all, if you’re planning to see all three games through, you’re bound to encounter issues and glitches such as the ones described above. If you really want the GTA Trilogy on Steam, they’re the only sole option available, and the presentation leaves much to be desired. You might have an old PS2 lying around, so you can still enjoy the nostalgia of yesteryear without getting disappointed.