GTA Trilogy is finally fit for purpose after 3 years of updates and a huge new patch

Rockstar's classic collection of Grand Theft Auto games have been fixed at last

(Credit: Rockstar)

• 👏 The GTA Trilogy is the best it’s ever been

• 👍 A new update and three years of fixes has restored the game to what it should have been

• 😣 A disastrous launch led to Rockstar cutting ties with the GTA Trilogy developer

• 🎮 Replaying the games is a great way to prepare for Grand Theft Auto 6

After three years of updates and a massive new patch, the GTA Trilogy is finally fit for purpose. Rockstar’s classic games launched in a sorry state, with countless bugs, missing graphical features, horrible lighting, and embarrassing mistakes aplenty.

The launch was so bad that Rockstar parted ways with the game’s original developer, Grove Street Games. Credit to Rockstar, though. It may have botched the release, but it’s continually tried to fix the GTA Trilogy with countless patches. And it seems like the latest update has now made a game I told people to avoid into a worthwhile purchase – though the Nintendo Switch versions haven’t been patched just yet.

The new GTA Trilogy update has restored the game’s original art direction, reworked character skeletons, and made the games previously poor weather effects more convincing. The settings now include a classic lighting option that makes the games look like they did all those years ago on the PS2.

X user Synth Potato compiled a list of all the changes with before and after screenshots so you can see the vast improvement for yourself.

Left: After the update. Right: Before the update. (Credit: Synth Potato)

It seems like the GTA Trilogy is worth revisiting if the state of the port initially put you off and it makes a great appetiser before GTA 6 releases in late 2025.

Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two recently said the GTA 6 release date hasn’t slipped, despite several rumors the game had been delayed. It also confirmed that GTA 6 will run fine on Xbox Series S, as some have expressed concerns Microsoft’s more affordable Xbox might struggle.

The optimal way to play GTA 6 will probably be on PS5 Pro, but don’t expect it to run at 60fps. Sony’s new console launched on November 7 for $699.99 but it doesn’t have a disc drive.

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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.