Dec 19, 20214 min read

Grand Theft Auto 3: Definitive Edition

Updated: Feb 7, 2023

Reviews by:

@damoroso4

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Grand Theft Auto 3- Definitive Edition

Release: November 11th 2021

Console: Ps4, Ps5; Xbox one, Series S, X, Switch, PC

Rockstar's re-release of the legendary game that spawned an entire genre of open world clones was something fans have been clamouring for since the PS3 days.

2 console generations later, we finally got our wish.

What's that famous saying- be careful what you wish for?

It's tough to review this with a fresh, unbiased eye. Playing it in 2021, you can feel the weight of nostalgia weighing heavily on your shoulders.

Whether you're just driving through the familiar streets of Liberty City (which I probably know my way round better than I do some real life cities!) , or listening to the radio and certain songs that come on, it's hard not to get swept up in the memories.

Liberty City itself is the original open world sandbox. Returning to it's busy streets after 20 years feels incredible at first. Remembering where certain landmarks are, having that feeling of reuniting with old friends, it's every bit as fun as you expect.

The story follows the mute protagonist Claude, as he escapes from prison and begins working for small time gangsters in Liberty City before working his way up to doing jobs for the big guys such as the Mafia and Yakuza. It's a brilliant story woven together by memorable characters; dialogue Tarantino would be proud of, and plot twists that keep you guessing.

And the soundtrack? Wow. The soundtrack. Probably one of the greatest soundtracks in gaming history. Add in the witty and hilarious dialogue from the various DJ's and talk show hosts that plays between songs, and all of a sudden you'll find yourself taking the long way to missions JUST so you can finish the next song.

So far, so good. Right?

Then the missions start coming, thick and fast.....and so do the problems.

Let's take a look at some of the main ones below.

CHARACTER MODELS

So in this 'definitive edition' remaster, fans would be forgiven for expecting a huge graphical overhaul, right? even for 2001's standards, the original game's visuals were hardly the strong point. While cars and the city itself were decent enough, some of the character models were downright awful. In the first of a couple of strange decisions though, Rockstar decided to 'kind of' polish these models without overhauling them entirely. This makes them seem almost half finished. It screams of laziness and is arguably worse than the original efforts. Either leave them as they were, or completely modernise them- not somewhere in between.

CAR DAMAGE

Of all the missions on offer, the bulk of them involve driving of some sort. Luckily the handling of cars is perfect- probably the highlight of the game in fact. Unluckily, however, the way they become damaged and catch on fire after a couple of scrapes or being hit by a few stray bullets, is both frustrating and ridiculous.

Honestly, a push bike would offer more protection than some of these cars do. Whether cars exploded this easily in the original i'm not sure- but either way its a big issue and makes some missions infuriating.

LACK OF CHECKPOINTS

Speaking of infuriating, let's talk about the lack of checkpoints.

In what I can only imagine is some kind of grand trolling scheme by Rockstar; getting arrested or killed no longer means you start in the hospital or police station, you now get given an option to restart the mission.

Regardless of how far into the mission you are though (and some of them have several parts spanning the island), you start from scratch each time. So if there's this 1 bit of the mission that you're stuck on, you gotta restart the whole thing again every time you die.

Not only inconvenient, but a monumental waste of time.

This could be overlooked in 2001 when we were all so amazed at the game itself that we were willing to sweep things like this under Liberty City's giant rug. In 2021 though, this stands out like a sore thumb to the point where you will grow to hate some of the more complex missions.

CONTROLS/ SHOOTING MECHANICS

Arguably we saved the best til last.

Claude himself handles poorly. Tapping X to sprint is tempremental- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But Claude and his weird running isn't the biggest problem.

The shooting in this game is absolutely awful. It was awful 20 years ago (but again we could overlook it then) and it's still awful now. Rockstar claim they have improved it. All that does though; is highlight just how bad it was before.

Sure you can lock onto enemies and shoot....sometimes the bullets will hit, sometimes not.

There's no cover system so if you can shoot them, they can shoot you. This makes gunfights pretty much a game of Russian roulette. You pump each other with led until one of you falls.

Without body armour or the protection of a car (before it explodes of course), you can expect to be regularly mowed down by groups of enemies.

For some guns, the camera switches to a first person perspective. This is actually so bad, that you can't help but laugh. The aiming is overly sensitive, to the point where accuracy pretty much goes out the window. You just have to tap fire as much as possible and hope you hit them. Of course while in this view, Claude is frozen on the spot, leaving him wide open to enemy gunfire too.

Sound fun? If it does then I've described it wrong, because trust me; it's not.

These issues become apparent not long after you start playing. They become more noticeable the more you play, and they make prolonged play sessions almost impossible.

GTA 3: The Definitive Edition is the game that really made me realise that as powerful as nostalgia is, sometimes it's just not enough.

This game was better kept in my memory. Playing it again now, with a new coat of paint and handful of marginal improvements, only serve to highlight just how poor some of it's mechanics were and still are today.

While the original was undoubtedly one of the most important games of all time, this remaster has done it no favours whatsoever.

I haven't even touched on the many glitches and crashes I encountered; as you have to believe that this is the one element that Rockstar can- and will- fix with further patches.

Unfortunately though, that's not the part that needs fixing.

Pro's

- Invokes incredible nostalgia driving round Liberty City - Brilliant soundtrack - Cars handle well, driving is fun

Con's

- Clunky mechanics - Awful shooting - Car damage unbalanced - Awful character models - No mission checkpoints