GTA III - THE DEFINITIVE EDITION

[_Neptunno_]

GTA III - THE DEFINITIVE EDITION

There's not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said in over 20 years since its release. However, since I've played it again... and finished the story mode, I'd like to share my thoughts.

When we hear Grand Theft Auto, GTA V usually comes to mind, even if you're older, maybe GTA IV. These are gems in their genre with a lot of work behind them. More veteran players also remember San Andreas and Vice City, but you don't usually hear much about GTA III. However, I believe this game is partly responsible for what we have in the Saga; after all these years, I still remember the feeling it gave me when I first played it in 2002. The freedom it offered, not being the good guy in the movie, how addictive it was, and how big the damn map seemed. When VC and SA came out, they exposed many of its shortcomings and limitations... we've all hated drowning when falling into the water or trying to fly the mythical Dodo! But until that moment, it was a joy to explore Liberty City and be a jerk

This game will always have something special for me, that's why I was tempted to buy the pack last Christmas. I just wanted to see what improvements and flaws the "famous Definitive Edition" had and to take a trip down memory lane since the last time I played it was in 2012, when I bought it on Steam. In the end, I got hooked and finished the story mode, as well as the side missions and all the secret packages
Unfortunately, the disappointment with this version is quite big. And I'm not saying this because of the number of bugs, which in my case fortunately didn't affect me to complete the missions, but sometimes they were annoying and other times it was something grotesque. What bothers me the most is that after the time this remaster has been out, they didn't bother to fix them... at least to care about the reviews since they know perfectly well that they haven't met expectations and users, who are the ones that make their business profitable, are very disappointed.
It's true that some things have been improved in terms of gameplay, brightness, textures, and several other things. To some extent, it has been a small update so that 20 years later it doesn't seem so visually outdated. Ok, I think it's correct and even necessary (although it wouldn't hurt to leave the option to have a "retro mode" for those who want the old textures), but let's be honest... what they've done can be done by any group of fans or modders for free and with better results.

I bought it on sale, the whole pack, so it's more or less €10 per game. And I bought it knowing that the reviews were mixed, I did it for nostalgia and whim, something that the video game and film industry has been living off lately.
I would recommend it... I think the original game can't be bought anymore, so that's a handicap. But what I do advise is to try to buy it when it's on sale and if you didn't like VC or SA (I'm talking to younger people who currently start from V or simply it wasn't your game but you loved V) don't bother.
For me, it will always be a great game and if one day they "remodel it well", even if they use the GTA IV engine (Another gem to be careful with), maybe I'll play it again

Greetings Gamers!!

[cobito]

GTA III was a revolutionary game for both the series (the first in 3D) and the gaming world in general. The technical show-off impacted me at the time. You say that when people mention GTA, they think of IV or V. For me, the first one that comes to mind is III. It's true that it had flaws, shortcomings, and its performance left much to be desired even on powerful machines. But for my part, all that was forgivable for the new paradigm that these people had put into production (although other titles would get ahead in style). The execution of the concept by DMA Design (I don't know if it was already called Rockstar) was great.

Anyway, I'm not going to ramble any more.

I enjoyed it a lot at the time with pretty bad performance and minimal graphic settings. Of all of them, it's the one I'd most like to replay. I appreciate your review in case I ever have the chance to sink my teeth into it again.

[_Neptunno_]

@cobito I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one (although I suspected it, but I say it in general terms) who thinks of III when hearing about GTA

Perhaps the reason why we like it so much is because it's a very period game, very late 90s and being so contemporary, it breathes a "retro" era that some of us like so much. The curious thing is that after 20 years it still manages to convey the same sensations as it did back in the day.

The good thing about this version is that some improvements in terms of gameplay and lighting, effects and textures have done it a lot of good.
Maybe the idea was not to take away that magic of the nineties by making a very big remodeling, but at least they could have polished the defects that people have been finding and are a symptom of neglect.
I've dedicated 34 hours to it, I can assure you that they went by very quickly. The last time I played it in 2012 I gave it more than 60 hours and they flew by. That's what happens when a game hooks you

Regards!!

[Sylver]

Here is another GTA III enthusiast, and I fully agree with you. It was a brutal paradigm shift in the gaming world, with permission from Driver, which already allowed certain similar freedoms previously, but laying the foundations for what those types of games would be like in the future.

In my case, I saved up strongly to change all my equipment, which was already quite old, with the sole objective of being able to play this game in conditions. It was something like "the bar" that the hardware had to exceed. And in a way that hasn't changed. Today GTA V is still the main reason for my graphics card changes, and in the future it will happen again for GTA VI, I can promise you

As for the game itself, I have always loved it. Time has treated it well with respect to technology, as it works well on practically any equipment from the last 15 years, no matter how modest. It is probably one of the games I have dedicated the most hours to. And when the option to modify its textures, add areas to the map, change vehicles and so on appeared, it became my own amusement park.
If you have never tried to tinker with it like this from the editing programs, I recommend you give it a try. It's a lot of fun.

The remastered version, however, I have not tried, but if I have not been encouraged it has been precisely because of the "bad" publicity it has had so far. However, as a true lover of the game, when I least expect it I will find myself installing it and replaying it. Then I will be able to give an objective opinion.

Greetings!

[_Neptunno_]

@Sylver I will have to investigate what you say about messing with editing programs, it's something I've been putting off for years.

Regarding Driver, I've been meaning to play it as I don't know why I only tried it a little back in the day and didn't delve deeper. And I thought it was such a movie-like story to be a cop going undercover.

By the way, I couldn't resist and bought "Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft", I'll be able to install it on February 14th when it's released. I can't help it!! when it comes to your favorite games with me, they make more money than I'd like to admit
It's definitely going to be one of the best Valentines I've ever had

Best regards!!