Curious, no? The games look newer, absolutely, but the contrast between high-tech shine and stylised art is odd and I’m not sure I’d say I think they look better. Weird ‘HD mod’ vibes. Maybe it’ll grow on me. And probably more relevant is improvements to how they play. The three games have been rebuilt in Unreal Engine by Grove Street Games, the studio who previously did mobile ports of the three (and were formerly known as War Drum Studios). In terms of how they look, Rockstar say the games have upgraded character and vehicle models, new high-resolution textures, increased draw distances, a rebuilt lighting system, and improved shadows, weather, and reflections. It’ll support DLSS on PC too. In terms of how they play, Rockstar say the games have a GTAV-style controller layout, improvements to targeting and lock-on aiming, an update minimap, improved radio and weapon selection wheels, and other bits. See the website for more info and screenshots. I’m hoping for a complete absence of janky old menu systems, though the state of the menus in GTAV to this day does make me feel foolish for even thinking that. The PC edition will be available through Rockstar’s store and Launcher. That store page lists the system requirements, which predictably are a touch higher than the original. It’ll also hit Xboxes, PlayStations, and Switch. And yes, it will cost £55. I realise that the trilogy is a huge amount of video game in one package, and that the rebuild must have been a lot of work, but goodness me. With the originals, if you waited for Steam sales, £10 would get you all three games with enough change left over to buy five copies of Bad Rats to foist upon your pals. That said, GTA 3 in particular is so archaic that I don’t think I’d recommend the original at all. Still, you no longer have that option because Rockstar pulled the originals from sale after announcing the remasters. This is one of those cases where a remastered re-release is happening mostly for newcomers on consoles, isn’t it. It’s not meant for me, is it. That’s fine, that’s fine. The remastered San Andreas is coming to Xbox Game Pass, but they don’t say anything about Game Pass For PC. Oh, and may as well mention that PlayStation Now will get the GTA3 remaster.
