The three Grand Theft Auto games that came out on the PlayStation 2 — Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — are still, for many, the best the series has ever been. Often called the PS2 trilogy, these games gave fans an unprecedented for the time open-world experience. While all of us expect gigantic worlds with the freedom to do whatever we want these days, it was GTA that set the trend that so many games still follow today.
All three of those games have been readily available across multiple consoles for years now, but as time has moved forward, the games have begun to show their age. Rockstar, the developers of GTA, decided it was time to bring them into the modern age with a packaged remaster. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition will release digitally on Nov. 11. It will be available on every current platform, including the Nintendo Switch. Rockstar went into detail about the game, including how it’s been improved, on its website.
Experience the games that started it all — introducing unprecedented freedom and immersion through three living, breathing worlds filled with hilarious action, rich, cinematic storytelling, classic characters, and unforgettable music.
Bringing the classic worlds of Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas to modern platforms, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition debuts new GTAV-inspired modern controls, plus across-the-board visual enhancements such as resolution upgrades and improved visual fidelity across the world, and much more to faithfully tune and improve upon all three games, while also maintaining their distinct original aesthetic.
Alongside the website, a trailer was released for the game that gives fans a direct comparison to how the games looked when they originally came out. The differences are stark with the remaster going with a more cell-shaded, cartoonish look compared to the attempted realism of the original games. This actually serves the old style well, because it helps the game keep that original style to it without looking dated. Alongside the visual upgrades, the game is going to have the same aiming system when shooting as Grand Theft Auto V.
When this trilogy was originally teased, one of the big questions was how it was going to justify buying it. This trilogy of games has not been hard to find historically for anyone besides Nintendo owners. While that might be a little more difficult now with Rockstar delisting the games in anticipation of the trilogy, it does feel like these games may be worth the cost of admission.