When Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition was first announced I was fully onboard. The chance to experience three PS2 classics with remastered visuals and modern controls was too good to pass up. Then the collection launched in a pitiful state last November and like many I decided to give it a wide berth.
However, I always planned to circle back to the GTA Trilogy once it received a few patches and a fairly significant price drop. It appears that day has finally arrived. Right now Amazon U.K. is offering the GTA Trilogy on Xbox Series X for £20, that’s more than 60% off its launch price. The same deal is also available on the PS4 version. U.S. gamers haven’t been left out either as the GTA Trilogy has dropped to $40 at Amazon. This discount is likewise available on both the Xbox Series X and PS4 version of the game.
The GTA Trilogy brings together three classic open-world crime games: Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. All three games have been given a visual touch up, plus a performance boost. Controls have also been modernized to bring them in line with the most recent entry in the franchise Grand Theft Auto 5.
Smaller quality of life tweaks like additional checkpoints and a less cumbersome save system have also been added. The souls of the original games remain, all the content is the same as it always was, but all these classic GTA games have been made just a little bit more accessible for a modern audience in this collection.
To put it bluntly, the collection launched in an unacceptable state. Critics and gamers alike complained of an abundance of glitches and bugs as well as performance problems even on next-gen hardware. By all accounts the GTA Trilogy is in a much better state now (with another patch believed to be on the way), but it’s still not flawless. However, at this discounted price I’m willing to tolerate a few bugs and performance issues.
The nostalgic pull of revisiting Liberty City, or exploring the original Los Santos for the first time (I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never actually played GTA: San Andreas) is hard to resist. Plus, the GTA Trilogy seems like the perfect way to fill some time in this relatively quiet period for new gaming releases. For just £20 I’m confident I’ll get my money's worth out of these three games.
