By fall 2001, the second Sony-created video game system had been available to purchase in North America for over a year. Aptly named the “Playstation 2” (or “PS2”), Sony looked to continue its dominance in the video game market by surpassing its then-current competitors (Nintendo’s “Nintendo 64” and Sega’s “Dreamcast”) thanks to an ever-growing library of quality games while housing media entertainment options unlike anything seen on the market at the time by being both a DVD/CD player as well as a gaming console.
Though the hardware was there, the PS2 really didn’t get that “system seller” game until the release of “Grand Theft Auto III” – a revolutionary open-world, sandbox experience unlike anything seen before it including Sega’s “Shenmue”. A year later and “III’s” neon-drenched sequel set in the 1980s – “Grand Theft Auto Vice City” – broke even more records while garnering praise from journalists & gamers alike. 2004 saw the “GTA” franchise become a true juggernaut with the release of the sprawling “Grand Theft Auto San Andreas” – a game featuring three cities based off Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. I found myself in the heart of these initial releases during my high school years, going out of my way to buy ports on the Xbox 360 years later (“San Andreas” becoming one of my favorite games of all time).
So when it was announced a collection of all three PS2 classics would become available on the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, I found myself excited like it was 2001 all over again… until the release date was given. With the holiday season near, a sixty dollar price tag attached to seventeen to twenty-year-old games seemed absurd. Then the reviews arrived and I felt justified about waiting. Thanks to multiple sales, an opportunity arose to pick up the disc version at less than half price brand new. I popped the disc into my PS5, downloaded the patches and got ready to, potentially, relive my teenage years in grand fashion; or be left saying, “Look what they did to my little boy!”
Did I Complete “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition”?
Though the PS2 “GTA” games were staples of my gaming love during the early 2000s, none found their way to being completed in any way, shape or form. Each “GTA” game during the era and beyond featured a criteria of things to do including collecting hidden packages, finishing city races, and pulling off some big jumps to reach “100% Completion”.
That personal disappointment of not completing a “GTA” changed with “TDE” thanks to both the expansion of information at my fingertips courtesy of the internet (Youtube not being available until 2005 and yours truly not forking over money to buy old school strategy guides back in the day as the site Gamefaqs only had written walkthroughs), as well as a knowledge of what was mostly to come in regards to missions and general gameplay having gone through all three stories multiple times. In a little over twenty hours respectively, I attained 100 percent completion in “Grand Theft Auto III” and “Vice City”. “San Andreas”, as expected, took twice as long to reach the necessary 100 percent completion – providing this old school buster a chance to earn three new platinum trophies.
Did “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition” Live Up to the Hype?
When “The Definitive Edition’s” reviews started pouring in, players, both consumers and onlookers, responded in disgust. Grove Street Studios – the game designers behind the mildly-received “GTA” PS2 trilogy mobile ports – were given the task to do the potentially impossible by updating three-generation-old games for modern day players. One of the key differences between the original versions and “TDE” is the addition of a weapon wheel a la “Grand Theft Auto V”. With the touch of a button, players can pull up the weapon wheel at any time; slowing down everything so the player has the ability to choose their instrument of destruction. In all three games, the option to not simply scroll through the available weapons in the protagonist’s inventory and easily pull out a pistol, shotgun, or Molotov during a firefight adds level of player friendliness the original versions lacked even during a time when it wasn’t a gameplay norm.
Implemented in “GTA III” and “Vice City”, but seen in “San Andreas” is a hard lock-on system when shooting. Similar to the weapon wheel, having a lock-on system is mostly a wonderful addition to complement the free-aim option. The reason “mostly” must be used when addressing the lock-on system is due to an issue that goes across all three games where the reticle will target a non-adversary like a civilian NPC driving by when having a shootout in the streets of Los Santos, or refusing to stop marking a dead body – forcing the player to manually change the target when the protagonist is filling a corpse full of lead.
Not changed is the enemy AI. The adversarial AI may actually be dumber in these versions compared to the original iterations. Either the enemy AI will have sharpshooter-like accuracy across all three games, or stand motionless even during a firefight; awaiting inevitable death. In an effort to help players avoid having to do extensive traveling or pay for a mistake that may not have been their fault, a mission checkpoint system has been added that usually allows gamers to immediately restart a mission from the beginning or, in the case of some of “San Andreas’” more lengthy escapades, midway through a mission.
Driving is mostly the same with its arcade-nature at times (“San Andreas” featuring, arguably, the trilogy’s best physics both on land and in the air). Issues such as ambulances easily rolling over in “Grand Theft Auto III” and sports cars somehow compressing into the ground when driving on the relatively flat surfaces of “Vice City” still exist from the original versions. The plethora of options when trying to make money or create mayhem are still in tact, though utilizing cheats does disable trophies & achievements. The mild RPG elements and customization options in “San Andreas” reinforces why it is such a testament to then-modern gaming beyond the environmental scope.
Technically, even after several patches, “TDE” suffers in a plethora of strange ways. Across all three games, graphical glitches including insane car flips when hitting another vehicle, characters getting stuck in the road, and cars floating overhead are the norm. Pop-in is a big problem especially in “San Andreas” with objects like bridges showing up out of nowhere when flying around. As expected considering how big the game is compared to its predecessors, “San Andreas” has the most stability issues; though “Vice City” has a nasty habit of crashing during “Vigilante” missions.
One of the biggest problems associated with “San Andreas” has to be the elevator glitch that causes the game to crash during the dramatic “Breaking the Bank at Caligula’s” mission. By using the elevator without CJ wearing the night-vision goggles, the game crashes while auto-saving; creating a permanent loop of failed continuations if the player doesn’t have multiple saves to learn from a mistake that gives no indication as to why it’s happening. Frame rate drops are a problem mostly in “Vice City” and “San Andreas”, but the games run a lot smoother than their PS2 counterparts as they should.
On the positive side in regards to technical performance is how good the environments look with great reflections off cars & windows, as well as better resolution when it comes to buildings & signs. The same can’t be stated about the character designs as a majority look like something from MTV’s “Celebrity Deathmatch” while sporting terrible lip synching. The character audio including NPC chatter is still as it was all those years ago, though the sound quality in certain scenes fluctuate randomly and even goes out of sync with the character models.
Music is a big part of the “GTA” experience with “Vice City” and “San Andreas” having, arguably, two of the best game soundtracks of all time. Sadly, due to licensing issues, a good amount of very important songs were removed. It doesn’t feel the same not hearing Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” coming on the radio when Tommy Vercetti enters his first vehicle in “Vice City” or “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine emphasizing a date gone wrong for CJ in “San Andreas”. Thankfully a majority of the tunes and all of the talk radio shows are still there to enjoy when moving throughout each game.
Even without the technical issues that turned the fan base against it at launch, there’s no denying that “TDE” is an acquired taste that may have gamers who weren’t around in the early 2000s unable to appreciate these games for what they once were. With that being stated – even most gamers who loved the original versions will walk away from “TDE” feeling like their cherished experiences of days gone by have been tarnished almost two decades later.
Should You Play “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition”?
Other than the gun play improvements (though said improvements can be finicky in execution) and better environmental & vehicle graphics, most of everything in “TDE” is no different or better than the original PS2 versions. There’s no way this collection is worth sixty dollars and, if you’re an old school “GTA” gamer, it may be best to avoid this version to retain the cherished memories of so many years ago. “The Definitive Edition” would also be a pretty rough starting place for gamers who haven’t played the three as it will leave someone questioning what made the series so special. But if you do take the plunge, make sure you check your beeper beforehand, have a hefty supply of Hawaiian shirts, and don’t be ashamed of gorging yourself on Burger Shot.
