Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition has received a big update with a long-requested feature.
As reported by Rockstar Intel, Rockstar Games has rolled out Classic Lighting to the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Classic Lighting was originally added to the mobile version of this collection, and it’s no coincidence that Netflix, not Rockstar, published these games to mobile.
Netflix likely invested in Classic Lighting, and Rockstar didn’t have to pay that much to bring it to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It certainly looks like this feature could be added to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Switch, but Rockstar may feel that’s too prohibitively expensive. At least, they aren’t interested in adding it for those platforms for now.
As you can guess from the name, Classic Lighting brings back the lighting found in the original games, which Netflix and Rockstar claims “restores the look and feel of the sky in the original games.”
Rockstar also implemented other improvements for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition that came alongside Classic Lighting. For example, visual effects like ambient clouds and heat haze were added back in.
They also improved how the models look like when swimming. Subsequently, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City players can once again run while shooting using shotguns, assault rifles, and flamethrowers. Does that sound oddly specific? As astounding as it may sound, this ability was actually disabled in those games when the collection was first released.
Lastly, and perhaps notably, Grove Street Games has been removed in the credits. Added into these credits is Video Games Deluxe, which is not a video game website like GameRanx, but a game studio based in Sydney, Australia. You can see their LinkedIn profile here.
Netflix commissioned the studio to make the mobile versions of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, and it seems safe to say that they will be updating this game moving forward.
We don’t know if Rockstar and Video Games Deluxe will also update Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, but maybe we are making too many assumptions here. It’s possible that the game was poorly programmed on those platforms, that it wouldn’t even be worth trying.
As things stand, this update still doesn’t ‘fix’ this collection, and it may not really ever be possible to do that. Rockstar may really have to start over with a new remake or remaster to do justice to their legacy. If they did reach that conclusion, that would be better for us, but they won’t be able to justify making it this soon after this collection was released.
Maybe the next time they make a run of this, they could add the real top down 2D Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2 games too, if they recognize that their fans value their games beyond just being the cutting edge of video game graphics back in the day. But these are our hopes for the future at best. Here and now, we get a bit of an improvement at best.
