Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, which remasters Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, is set to release on November 11, and players should make sure they save San Andreas until last. While the three games included all exist in the same narrative continuity, they each feature their own independent main stories, and players will be able to decide which classic GTA game they want to play first.
GTA 3 was released in 2001, followed by Vice City in 2002 and San Andreas in 2004. The gameplay of the series evolved greatly in the few years between the releases of GTA 3 and San Andreas, but Vice City and San Andreas looked to the past when it came to their settings. While GTA 3 was the first of the trilogy to be released, the following two games were actually prequels. This means that Vice City, set in 1986, is the first game in the trilogy’s chronology, and San Andreas is the second. Therefore, some players will choose to play GTA: The Trilogy in chronological order, enjoying the narrative in a linear fashion.
Still, San Andreas makes the most sense as the final game players should experience in the GTA Trilogy. This boils down more to gameplay than it does story, as San Andreas possessed the most in-game features of any GTA up to the point of its release. It is the experience that the prior two games had been building towards, and it’s still talked about as one of the most ambitious games ever made. While GTA 3 and Vice City are each classic entries, they almost feel quaint when compared to the sheer scope of San Andreas.
San Andreas Feels So Much Bigger Than Vice City & GTA 3
San Andreas's open-world is significantly larger than earlier Grand Theft Auto game maps, and it's loaded with things to do. San Andreas' map even competes with GTA 5's, which is a testament to the game's scale. While GTA 3 and Vice City take place in sandboxes that were seen as huge at their times of release, San Andreas contains three cities that players can explore: Los Santos (based on Las Angeles), San Fierro (based on San Francisco), and Las Venturas (based on Las Vegas).
What’s even more impressive is the sheer amount of diversity included in the map, which includes desert fields, inner-city neighborhoods, and casino strips. This means that if players moved onto the relatively constricted settings of GTA 3 and Vice City after playing through the sprawling San Andreas, they might be slightly underwhelmed. The previous two games still have impressive maps, but they don't possess the depth of the environment in San Andreas.
There’s also the transportation of San Andreas, which is more varied and fully formed than in previous entries. Whereas GTA 3 features mainly cars and trucks and Vice City adds boats, motorcycles, and planes, San Andreas incorporates many vehicles, such as planes, trains, and even jetpacks. That's not to mention parachute and swimming gameplay. In addition to the multitude of options, San Andreas also offers deep customization options for vehicles, including paint jobs, nitrous oxide, hydraulics, and frame modifications. The ability to craft your perfect lowrider or fly around in a jetpack isn’t present in earlier titles, so players who start with San Andreas will miss those features when they play through the rest of the trilogy.
Even more ambitiously, San Andreas features a role-playing system that allows players to level up different attributes and alter CJ’s appearance. The incorporation of statistic-based skills incentivizes players to hit the gym, spend time at the shooting range, and practice flying around the city. Seeing CJ’s appearance and abilities change based upon in-game decisions added a new level of depth to the GTA formula. These features were such fitting additions to the series that GTA 3 and Vice City felt retroactively empty without them.
San Andreas Has More Gameplay Variety Than GTA 3 & Vice City
Additionally, San Andreas's core gameplay is a series highpoint. Rockstar was coming fresh off of its work with Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, meaning that they had gained experience in crafting compelling combat gameplay. While San Andreas’s shooting controls never hit the heights of more recent Rockstar titles, Rockstar North did add improved targeting, movement control, and a new stealth system inspired by Manhunt. This led to missions that are loaded with more shootouts and spectacle than ever before, pushing the franchise's blockbuster ambitions to their then-limit. In comparison to San Andreas, GTA 3 and Vice City feel like warmups. In many ways, San Andreas is the culmination of everything Rockstar had been developing, and saving it for last in the trilogy will let players track the evolution of GTA’s gameplay.
Even when only considering its story, San Andreas is perfect as the final game in the trilogy. Despite GTA 3 taking place later in the timeline, San Andreas feels like the entry that wraps up the franchise’s 3D chronology. Unlike Vice City, which could only feature cameos from GTA 3, San Andreas has two classic games to reference. Players are able to learn what became of beloved Vice City characters, such as Kent Paul and Ken Rosenberg, while discovering the backstories of several GTA 3 characters, such as Claude, Salvatore Leone, and Maria Latore. San Andreas is the connective tissue between the two games that preceded it, tying together the trilogy’s epic crime tapestry.
Despite San Andreas’s many attributes, there is no clear consensus on the best GTA game. Some prefer the '80s aesthetic and perfectly paced story of Vice City, while others champion GTA 3 for its groundbreaking design and timeless appeal. Being the biggest game in the trilogy means it can be messy at times, but San Andreas remains one of the greatest games ever even 17 years after its release. Its maximalist approaches to gameplay, world-building, and storytelling make San Andreas the obvious game in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition to tackle last for players wanting to go out on a bang.