What is more striking in this case, however, are the ways in which the Final Edition uses a variety of quality of life changes designed to improve the GTA Trilogy titles not only look more modern, but also feel more modern. We’re going to have a lot to say about the rest of the Final Edition‘s updates and changes as we delve deeper into this release, but it has to be said that many of these changes to gameplay and controls have already been hailed for the way they make these sometimes clunky classic games infinitely more playable.
But what about the unofficial changes? Well, that’s definitely where things get more interesting.
The truth is, it’s a little hard to get a full list of unofficial changes and differences in the Final Edition currently. While that’s partly due to the fact that these games have only been available for about a day (it doesn’t sound like Rockstar gave anyone pre-release review copies of the games), it should also be noted that you might want to consider everything in this game to technically represent a difference or change. After all, the game’s new visuals and art direction ensure that nothing is as it used to be.
With that in mind, here are some of the more notable ones: Final Edition changes and differences noted in the game so far that aren’t necessarily based entirely on the remaster’s new look.
- Cars no longer show dirt
- There is only one “moon phase”
- Special animations for certain vehicles (such as driving the back of a garbage truck) have been removed
- You no longer lose weapons when you die in San Andreas
- There are fewer civilians and vehicles on the street
- Analog control has been removed
- Local co-op has been removed from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Some characters (like Old Reece, the hairdresser) have been replaced by generic NPCs
- Top to bottom view option has been removed from GTA 3
- Vice City‘s vehicles seem much less durable and explode more often
- Some hairstyle options are missing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Some of the text on shop windows has been changed (appears to be the result of an error, but some attribute this to possible censorship or design decisions)
- A reference to the Confederate flag in Vice City is removed
- “Running with the Night” by Lionel Richie has been added to GTA: Vice Citoand, but all the other songs that were missing recently GTA Trilogy reissues are still missing in the Final Edition
- The “Bridge Facts” Easter Egg has been updated with remaster information
- The “orange haze” in Los Santos is missing
- Some signs and small environmental details (such as a theater tent in San Andreas) have completely changed (seemingly due to texture issues/laziness)
Most of these unofficial differences represent changes to the original PS2/Xbox versions of the game and the more recent reissues of these titles, although some differences (such as the missing original tracks) have been present in most versions of these games for quite some time. The point is that most of these changes are somehow unique to the Final Edition.
While some fans have been concerned that Rockstar would use these remasters as an opportunity to “censor” the original games, it appears that the only notable content change made to these games in the name of modern sensitivities/limitations is the decision to Confederate flag of Vice City (which we discussed earlier). While it’s possible that there are other notable content changes in the game that haven’t been discovered yet, I’ve seen some… questionable content in these remasters, so it feels like those fears of censorship were largely unfounded.
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