According to a new leak, the recently announced Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition will keep its original graphics and instead add minor enhancements, which would amount to much less than the major overhauls that have been speculated. The long-rumored GTA: The Trilogy remasters were announced in October, with Rockstar Games promising the classic open-world sandbox games will feature graphical improvements and modern gameplay enhancements. However, no screenshots or gameplay footage has been revealed so far.
The sixth console generation Grand Theft Auto games and many other Rockstar Games titles were developed using Criterion Software's prominent RenderWare engine, an incredibly popular engine to build games with at the time. With the release of new technology, though, RenderWare grew outdated and Rockstar went on to create the RAGE engine prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto 4. This new engine allowed the developer to graphically upgrade its titles and introduce new mechanics and systems for deepened immersion, and some rumors have suggested GTA: The Trilogy's ports of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas could have been reworked for RAGE or the ever-popular Unreal Engine.
According to presumed leaker GTACheaterMan on Reddit (via Express), GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition remasters' graphics will “largely look the same as they did back in the 2000s” with “slight enhancements to faces, better animations, and overall better lighting.” Furthermore, the leaker claims that while the games' visuals remain largely the same, each will play much better overall and that their outdated gunplay mechanics have been updated to feel more like Grand Theft Auto 4 or 5. This has allegedly been done by adding free-aim and auto-aim modes, with an option to play with the same classic lock-on controls based on preference. A recent retail leak suggested the price of GTA: The Trilogy to be $70 for next-gen consoles and $60 on other platforms, GTACheaterMan says this figure is a placeholder and that the games will actually cost "$29.99 or $39.99" on all platforms.
The highly-anticipated GTA: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition's release date has yet to be announced, but more information is likely being revealed later this month, as Grand Theft Auto 3's 20th anniversary is on October 22. Rockstar Games has already begun its celebration by giving GTA Online players a free Grand Theft Auto 3 t-shirt and offering extra rewards in a series of game modes, with more expected to be added to the online game over the coming weeks.
Rockstar has already stated Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition will be faithful to the original games, so the purported leak's information wouldn't be a large surprise if it turns out to be accurate. Rockstar hasn't officially debuted any footage from the GTA trilogy remasters, but that's likely to change soon and officially set the record straight on the content of the collection.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition is set to launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch in 2021, as well on iOS and Android in the first half of 2022.
Source: GTACheaterMan/Reddit (via Express)