While a decent effort was made to retain the original style of the games while also giving them HD graphics, the overall level of quality to be found in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition appears lazy to many gamers. Criticism of the collection has been directed at numerous technical issues, odd changes to character models and complete removal of past cheat codes and songs on the soundtrack. Because of Rockstar’s immense success and talent in the past, players feel this collection is well below what the company can offer. While much of this negative reception is warranted, it does not spell doom and gloom for Rockstar, as it can take measures to bounce back from this in the eyes of gamers.
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Provide GTA Trilogy Improvements in Patches
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition being released with a myriad of technical issues wouldn’t exactly mark the first time this has happened in the industry. Nowadays, with the benefit of online play and downloadable content, a lot of studios have taken an incremental approach to game design. Sometimes games are given large day-one patches to resolve any outstanding development issues, while others are released despite numerous issues and no time to fixm them before deadline.
Look no further than the controversy that plagued Cyberpunk 2077 this time last year, with many deeming it clearly unfinished and needing more time in production. This new trend of rushing products aside, the advent of being able to improve a game after launch is a benefit that older generations didn’t have, and something that Rockstar should definitely look into for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition.
The game overall doesn’t look terrible, but many have pointed out weird visual tweaks that are actually a detriment to the experience, such as the draw distance, rain animation and lack of fog eliminating any atmosphere. Patches and updates could certainly resolve these issues in due time.
Release Free Content For GTA Online
Everyone loves a freebie, and Rockstar certainly has deep enough pockets to toss players a bone or two. Grand Theft Auto 5 overall sales are ludicrously huge, as the title still somehow continues to push units eight years after its original release. A large part of this success is attributed to the popular multiplayer component of the game, GTA Online, where players can engage in a wide range of activities in a sprawling open world map.
Considering the amount of revenue that Rockstar have raked in over the years, and the amount of players still actively engaged in GTA Online, announcing some new free content could help ease some of the damage caused by the recent remaster collection. This could come in the form of new vehicles, weapons or even in-game currency for all active GTA Online players. For extra fun, perhaps these updates can be themed after these classic Grand Theft Auto games, with obvious homages to Vice City or San Andreas.
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Announce a New Rockstar Remaster
While the launch for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition may not have been smooth sailing, this doesn’t mean that Rockstar should never attempt another remaster in the future. The studio is home to some of the most beloved classic games, and with many of them growing older by the day, its time to reimagine them for the modern era. Aside from Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar has developed other well received open-world action games, all of which just as deserving of the remaster treatment.
Fans have clamored for years for a sequel to Bully, the cult classic PS2 game that was basically Grand Theft Auto in a high school setting. Red Dead Redemption, while still not technically bad looking, is already eleven years old, having released back in 2010. Naturally, Rockstar would have to take extra precautions and take better care to ensure a future remaster runs into less technical hiccups at launch. Even so, the announcement of another classic getting a modern facelift would surely turn some heads.
Tease Grand Theft Auto 6
Lastly, the one move that Rockstar could make to truly sway all attention away from its recent mistakes would be to officially announce Grand Theft Auto 6. Rumors about the next game have been swirling around the internet for a long time, with many sources reporting that the game is still many years away. Whatever the game’s overall status may be, its almost a foregone conclusion that Grand Theft Auto 6 will someday be a reality, considering the huge success of its predecessor.
Provided the game is real at this point, Rockstar Games wouldn’t have to do much to send hype into a fever pitch. If the project isn’t far enough along to show off properly, even the most basic of teaser trailers would probably do the trick to get fans excited. A few quick shots of the game’s setting, some voice over narration over a catchy musical soundtrack and a reveal of the game’s title logo would get the ball rolling in a simple, yet effective way.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Android and iOS ports are scheduled to release in early 2022.
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