When it comes to the discussion of remasters that have been a major let down for the community, it's fair to say that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: Definitive Edition will be talked about for some time, even if it does become fixed. With Rockstar updating GTA to version 1.02 recently, work is being done to undo the calamity that could have otherwise been a firm favorite for fans old and new. However, some are seemingly not wanting to wait for official patches and are taking matters into their own hands, as one modder has done.
Uploading a texture pack to Nexus Mods a couple of days ago, a user has tasked themselves with fixing some of the visuals in the Grand Theft Auto remasters, specifically in San Andreas, with the addition of 85 brand-new textures that go towards making it look a lot better. As it stands, the mod, which is called "Project Texture Overhaul" and is a work-in-progress, seems to address some of the more obvious issues with the graphics, with the downloadable pack containing high quality, 4K textures for the main roads, pavements, as well as other surrounding ground aspects, such as dirt, grass and rocks.
The modder adds that there is "a lot more work to do" with a stipulation that future updates will not only add new textures, but will improve on the ones that the user has made themselves. Given the disappointment fans had with the GTA Trilogy visuals before the game was even out, this texture pack will undoubtedly be welcome by the fan base and, at the time of writing, has already been downloaded around 1,500 times. The screenshots on the mod page show a significant improvement between the official textures and the ones made by the modder.
Overall, the reception to the remaster has been extremely negative. In fact, recently, GTA Trilogy had the lowest Metacritic score of all time, with it currently sitting on the extreme left of the review bar on 0.5. A myriad of bugs, graphical inconsistencies, unusual models for key characters, and questionable AI upscaling have all contributed to the low scores and general derision from the community as well as the critics.
The new 4K texture pack is also not the first, and probably won't be the last, fan-made improvement to the game. Some players have re-added the fog back to San Andreas, an aspect that was taken away and, as a result, made it so the entire map could be seen from above, pulling some out of the experience. While fans continue to alter the game to make it better, here's hoping that eventually, through official updates or otherwise, the GTA Trilogy can get closer to what fans were hoping for at launch.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Nexus Mods