A new update is live for the controversial Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on consoles and PC. It adds visual enhancements previously exclusive to the mobile versions developed by Video Games Deluxe and published by Netflix. These include a classic lighting option, which brings the atmosphere and skybox closer to the original games.
As pointed out by Twitter user TJGM, the update adds volumetric clouds when flying high up in the sky, improved lamp posts, shadows moving in real time, improved running and aiming animations, lens flares on fire and new effects for glass breaking. CJ also no longer appears deformed when cycling, and weapons from Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, which required standing still, can now be aimed while moving.
There are also options to pause cutscenes and save games have dates and timestamps attached. Not everything is ideal, though. Camera controls tend to re-center often, especially while flying, and LOD doesn’t look very good. Nevertheless, considering everything wrong with the original release, this is a massive step up. Oddly enough, Grove Street Games, who worked on the base game, and their logo are missing from the main menu and splash screen.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is available for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and PC. Check out our review of the launch version here.
The #GTA Definitive Editions just got an update which added the classic lighting option.
Not gonna lie, it actually looks nice on a screen bigger than a phone.
I’ll test now to see if the same problems still exist with it though like they did on mobile a year ago… pic.twitter.com/Qv5J68hYos
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
🧵So just a quick thread to wrap up everything that’s been added to the #GTA Definitive Editions today…
Classic Lighting was added to PC/Console after it was first added to mobile, however it’s done correctly this time each area in SA has its own atmosphere now! pic.twitter.com/3VOzobApQO
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
Volumetric Clouds which were in the original San Andreas, have now been added to the Definitive Edition!
These clouds appear when you’re high in the sky. They’re not as dense as the original clouds, but they’re still a nice improvement. pic.twitter.com/2dJCOJgvSa
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
Lamppost lights now look much better! Before they were basically white, but now they’re a nice orange colour just like the original games, and they also have a nice lens flare now! pic.twitter.com/k5sm7ith5v
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
You can now move and shoot several guns which previously required you to stand still in GTA III and Vice City…http://t.co/m3LN7QJxQd
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
Shadows no longer move in chunks, they move in real time isntead which is a big improvement!http://t.co/OcWaMxWyqy
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
They fixed the aiming and running animations in GTA III and Vice City, which were extremely janky before this patch.http://t.co/ZNMokIsrGC
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
As well as lights, fire also produces a lens flare and there’s also new glass breaking effects.http://t.co/4mGxztb4j2
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
They fixed tons of bugs, including CJ becoming all deformed when cycling. pic.twitter.com/ShN85nDVS5
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
They added the ability to pause cutscenes. pic.twitter.com/Y5phbNdiyB
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
They added date and timestamps next to save games. pic.twitter.com/UxHIpfjTKW
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
While they’ve added tons of improvements, there’s still issues.
The camera controls seriously need to be improved, especially when flying. It keeps auto-centering almost immediately when you stop moving the camera. pic.twitter.com/t0RIFlyy8z
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
LODs still look awful AND this update introduced a lot of holes in LODs (that or they’re just more noticeable now). pic.twitter.com/NZ3xuzrfPH
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
Looks like mentions of Grove Street Games and their logos have been removed from the splash screen and main menu of the #GTA Definitive Editions as well. pic.twitter.com/ZmXpccyiyS
— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024
