GTA trilogy remasters get enormous patch with a focus on texture fixes

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy was a big mess at launch, but sold like hot cakes anyway. Those who planned to wait for the post-launch patching spree to conclude before actually playing the jankily remastered games might want to take another look: Rockstar has just issued a massive new patch to all three games, fixing a wide range of bugs while also addressing general performance issues.

Fixes that apply to all games include "stability improvements" and collision fixes, as well as updates to texture art and "signage", which presumably means those cases where sign improvement attempts led to typos, like "gearboxes" becoming "bearboxes".

The patch notes are refreshingly specific, though the vast majority of them do relate to texture tweaks. In GTA 3, other fixes include "improved collision near SupaSave!" and a solution for a problem with the mission Liberator not starting for some players.

In Vice City, expect the same long list of smaller tweaks (traffic lights now illuminate, and you should now hear footsteps when using a single-handed weapon). San Andreas' "High Fade haircut" is now improved too, presumably because the newer one sucked so bad that there's a mod to revert it back.

The full patch notes are on the official Rockstar site; make a cup of tea before you dive in, they're long. Hopefully they go a long way towards making these modern remasters more playable on PC so that we don't have to continue to rely on the older versions.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.