Currently this game is being review bombed on several major websites, and the main reason is... some of the characters look a bit goofy..... that's it. I am aware that the PC version is somewhat broken but there is absolutely no excuse to give this game a 1 star rating on Xbox and PlayStation when the gameplay of all three classic games is the best it's ever been. The graphics as a whole are the best they've ever been. The controls are modernised and feel much better to use than the originals and the lighting is superb. It's the complete package.
I believe Im one of the few who thinks this is the case and many people are furious at the games they received. I think alot of this bitterness towards the game stems from people who haven't ever played the original games or weren't even born when they came out. Many people heard "modernised controls" and instantly thought it would play exactly like GTA 5, including a cover system. In short people need to pay closer attention to what was said in the lead up to this game. Modernised controls means they changed the buttons, not make the game GTA 5, which I'm so glad because that would have ruined all of these truly excellent games.
One of the things that still amazes me is that people who call themselves gamers or people who have covered the gaming industry for years or even decades still don't understand the difference between remaster and remake. Simply put, this game is a Remaster which means it's got improved graphics, lighting and some minor gameplay changes, it's not a remake which is built from the ground up with all new systems put in place, new gameplay mechanics, new additions such as missions, modes etc. This difference is key to understand and learn for future reference.
Gameplay wise these games play mostly like the originals but with slightly improved aiming and much better movement, no longer do you feel like you're on ice skates when you move. This is especially good in Vice city which originally had some of the worst movement of any GTA game. One of the biggest flaws of these classic games has now been fixed and I'm really happy about it.
Graphics wise as previously mentioned the lighting is superb, though I do advise before even starting a new game you go into options and set the brightness slider to max and the contrast to minimum. This makes the colors really pop and the brightness shine through where as the default settings means it's quite dark. The reflections are tremendous especially on the cars and windows of buildings and the increased level of detail on materials is outstanding. The draw distance is massively increased and this means you can see almost the entire map from certain points.
The downsides: As previously mentioned certain characters don't look great, this is usually side characters for the most part but Tommy Vercetti in Vice city does look a bit odd at certain times. While I'm not a fan of the cartoonish look 'Grove street games' seems to have gone with, it does help in a game like GTA 3 where the overall look is far superior than the original, with San Andreas that becomes less prevalent in the characters and they don't look the best they probably could have, had more time and care been spent on them. I completely agree that this is something that needs to be addressed and hopefully a quick update or two can fix certain characters. Other than that there isn't anything else that springs to mind and having played all 3 games on both the Xbox Series X and PS5, they all played flawlessly without encountering any glitches in 30+ hours of gameplay. The game runs at 30 or 60FPS on next gen consoles and I've heard people complain that when in 60fps mode that the frame rate 'dips' at certain points. I haven't seen this, at least not with my eyes and would need testing equipment to see any actual drops. For me, if I can't actually see a drop in frame rate then it doesn't impact my game.
There is some music missing from the originals, most notably 2 Michael Jackson songs and NWA's express yourself. While I'm not too bothered about Michael Jackson's songs I was quite disappointed that Express yourself wasn't included as this was one of the best songs from San Andreas. It's important to not get too privileged though and understand that the fees to renew these songs would have been incredible and simply more than Rockstar was willing to pay which in my opinion is understandable. Other than that all of the great songs are here and especially vice city is just a joy to listen to, it's one of the best soundtracks of any game if you ask me.
Overall I think if you have actually played the original games and want that truly nostalgic feeling, all while playing the absolute best version of the games then this is the one for you. If you haven't played the originals then you're setting yourself up for failure because these games come from a generation that most who play modern games won't enjoy or even understand, some people are better sticking to GTA 5 but for me personally, I'll be playing these games for hundreds of hours to come, 9/10.
I believe Im one of the few who thinks this is the case and many people are furious at the games they received. I think alot of this bitterness towards the game stems from people who haven't ever played the original games or weren't even born when they came out. Many people heard "modernised controls" and instantly thought it would play exactly like GTA 5, including a cover system. In short people need to pay closer attention to what was said in the lead up to this game. Modernised controls means they changed the buttons, not make the game GTA 5, which I'm so glad because that would have ruined all of these truly excellent games.
One of the things that still amazes me is that people who call themselves gamers or people who have covered the gaming industry for years or even decades still don't understand the difference between remaster and remake. Simply put, this game is a Remaster which means it's got improved graphics, lighting and some minor gameplay changes, it's not a remake which is built from the ground up with all new systems put in place, new gameplay mechanics, new additions such as missions, modes etc. This difference is key to understand and learn for future reference.
Gameplay wise these games play mostly like the originals but with slightly improved aiming and much better movement, no longer do you feel like you're on ice skates when you move. This is especially good in Vice city which originally had some of the worst movement of any GTA game. One of the biggest flaws of these classic games has now been fixed and I'm really happy about it.
Graphics wise as previously mentioned the lighting is superb, though I do advise before even starting a new game you go into options and set the brightness slider to max and the contrast to minimum. This makes the colors really pop and the brightness shine through where as the default settings means it's quite dark. The reflections are tremendous especially on the cars and windows of buildings and the increased level of detail on materials is outstanding. The draw distance is massively increased and this means you can see almost the entire map from certain points.
The downsides: As previously mentioned certain characters don't look great, this is usually side characters for the most part but Tommy Vercetti in Vice city does look a bit odd at certain times. While I'm not a fan of the cartoonish look 'Grove street games' seems to have gone with, it does help in a game like GTA 3 where the overall look is far superior than the original, with San Andreas that becomes less prevalent in the characters and they don't look the best they probably could have, had more time and care been spent on them. I completely agree that this is something that needs to be addressed and hopefully a quick update or two can fix certain characters. Other than that there isn't anything else that springs to mind and having played all 3 games on both the Xbox Series X and PS5, they all played flawlessly without encountering any glitches in 30+ hours of gameplay. The game runs at 30 or 60FPS on next gen consoles and I've heard people complain that when in 60fps mode that the frame rate 'dips' at certain points. I haven't seen this, at least not with my eyes and would need testing equipment to see any actual drops. For me, if I can't actually see a drop in frame rate then it doesn't impact my game.
There is some music missing from the originals, most notably 2 Michael Jackson songs and NWA's express yourself. While I'm not too bothered about Michael Jackson's songs I was quite disappointed that Express yourself wasn't included as this was one of the best songs from San Andreas. It's important to not get too privileged though and understand that the fees to renew these songs would have been incredible and simply more than Rockstar was willing to pay which in my opinion is understandable. Other than that all of the great songs are here and especially vice city is just a joy to listen to, it's one of the best soundtracks of any game if you ask me.
Overall I think if you have actually played the original games and want that truly nostalgic feeling, all while playing the absolute best version of the games then this is the one for you. If you haven't played the originals then you're setting yourself up for failure because these games come from a generation that most who play modern games won't enjoy or even understand, some people are better sticking to GTA 5 but for me personally, I'll be playing these games for hundreds of hours to come, 9/10.