Rockstar Games’ output during the sixth console generation was nothing short of legendary; games like Bully, Manhunt, and the Midnight Club series were all standouts on the Xbox and PlayStation 2. However, Grand Theft Auto was the franchise that truly stole the show. Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas were pioneers of the open-world sandbox genre, and fans have been clamoring for remasters of these classic titles for over a decade.
Unfortunately, Rockstar would see fit to outsource the development of these remasters to the unproven Grove Street Games, and the final result was the utterly meme-worthy Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
10 Caught Up In The Money
Fans of the Grand Theft Auto games have been displeased with Rockstar for some time now. The developer has mostly been focusing on GTA V‘s online component since the PS4 and Xbox One versions debuted in 2013, but ire grew when, as per GameSpot, it was announced that the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series likely won’t release for several years.
Compounding this issue is the disastrous release of long-desired GTA remasters. In the minds of Reddit user Adventurous-Ad-432 and many other gamers, Rockstar seems to be too caught up in the money and power to produce anything worthwhile—Red Dead Redemption 2 being the lone exception.
9 Stretching The Defenition
Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas, and Vice City all released relatively close together, and they’re all highly-regarded games, but, given how loosely connected the Grand Theft Auto stories are, they could scarcely be considered a genuine trilogy.
That said, as this meme points out, this isn’t the worst Grand Theft Auto “trilogy” Rockstar has released. While the three games included in the new remaster all released within four years of each other, Rockstar’s most recent GTA output consists of the original Grand Theft Auto V for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and two subsequent ports for the ensuing console generations.
8 The Ocean
Grove Street Games’ GTA trilogy is full of bugs and odd technical issues, but the games’ rain effects are some of the most troubling. Coming down in weird sheets that make it seems as if static PNG images are falling from the sky, it’s one of the most perplexing weather effects ever introduced to a video game.
What’s worse, as Reddit user 2xgiddl points out, rain doesn’t seem to fall in or over the ocean at all. Maybe it’s a puzzling programming error, or maybe the ocean is simply full.
7 Pain
When it was first announced, albeit oddly titled, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition seemed like it would be an excellent way to experience a collection of old-but-gold open-world games. Unfortunately, the remasters were anything but “definitive.”
Upon release, the collection was lambasted as one of the most poorly-produced gaming remasters of all time. With an abysmal Metacritic user score of 0.6 and scores of articles and videos trashing the release, it’s fair to say that Grove Street Games’ latest effort didn’t live up to expectations.
6 Trash-O
It’s rare to see the gaming community unanimously agree about anything, but, though a few fans seem to begrudgingly accept the state in which Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy launched, it’s been met with almost universal disdain.
This screenshot posted by Reddit user riksoz more or less sums it up; fans don’t think the game is just trash, they think it’s poorly-coded trash with a wonky character model clipping through it.
5 Straight Busta
Ryder from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an eccentric and arrogant gangster who serves as a manipulative antagonist for much of the game. In a way, he’s emblematic of the parodic nature of the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole, and he’s one of the franchise’s more memorable villains.
Famous for calling CJ a “straight busta,” he’d likely slap the new remaster of the game in which he stars with the same label. Unfortunately, as this Reddit meme by user balorclub254 indicates, they may just take that as a compliment.
4 Modders To The Rescue
In recent years, AAA video game publishers have been accused of relying on their dedicated fanbases to fix their incomplete games. In fact, according to GameRant, that exact thing is happening right now with Rockstar and Grove Street Games’ botched batch of remasters.
It’s hard to know if Rockstar actually expects its community to patch its poor releases, but, in this instance, much of the community seems to be under the impression that more than a few executives have their feet up while hardcore fans do most of the work.
3 GTA VI Release Woes
Perhaps Rockstar outsourced the GTA remaster collection so they could better focus on the allegedly-upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, or perhaps that’s just wishful thinking. If that is the case, it doesn’t seem as if the extra development time Rockstar afforded themselves will help to move GTA 6‘s projected release date forward.
As this Reddit post from user huge-loquat-3984 points out, it doesn’t seem as if new Grand Theft Auto-related content that doesn’t have to do with Grand Theft Auto Online will debut any time soon. Hopefully, things will be different by 2080, but, at this point, it’s hard to tell.
2 Peppa Pig
Few gaming franchises are revered as Peppa Pig; initially a spin-off of a British children’s television series, the Peppa Pig franchise took on a life of its own on home consoles, culminating in the all-time classic hack-and-slash RPG Peppa Pig on the PS4.
That may be a bit of an exaggeration—as are most of the Metacritic reviews which boosted the game to an outstanding 8.8 total user score—but, if public opinion and Reddit user bdiddlediddles are to be believed, then this unassuming kid’s game is far superior to the catastrophic Grand Theft Auto remaster collection.
1 A New Reason To Avoid Pre-Ordering
The practice of pre-ordering games is often looked down upon by much of the gaming community; years ago, it was a way to guarantee a physical copy of a new game when supplies were limited. Today, however, there isn’t much of a point save for pre-order bonuses.
From the impossible promises of No Man’s Sky developer’s Hello Games to the terribly buggy Bethesda launches of late, there are plenty of reasons to avoid pre-ordering, and, unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy serves as yet another cautionary tale.
