Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review (scheiss ausländer)
Even though I know better, I still had to buy the Definitive Edition Trilogy, purely because these three games made my childhood. We would go over to my friends house literally every day after school with my PS2 copy of San Andreas and all the cheat codes written down on a piece of paper inside my backpack.
And it is for this reason, that these three Remakes are so disappointing. The original 3D-Trilogy of the Grand Theft Auto series did not only make my, but other childhoods as well. Not only that, but it also put Rockstar Games on the map for decades to come. You would certainly think that they would put some love into these three games especially, but they instead decided to hand the work to an under-staffed studio, which does not seem to have a single bit of love or care for the original titles. These games should have gotten the Rockstar treatment we have gotten used to: In-house development and a care for the tiniest of details.
Now, are these Remakes really that bad? No, not at all. All three titles look amazing with the new skyboxes, volumetric clouds, dynamic lights, upgraded models and AI-enhanced textures. But this is the bare minimum that they could have put into these games anyways, because underneath the new Unreal-Renderer there are still the old codebases running. This could have very well been a free update to the existing, older titles, as a gesture of good-will for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI or a tie-in event in GTA: Online. Yet, they decided to sell the Trilogy at full price, while they didn't even put a meaningful amount of resources into this project.
While I do realize that Grove Street Games (WarDrum Studios) is at fault here, it is not fair to give Rockstar Games a pass on this, like most GTA fans seem to do. They had to have at least taken a look onto these games and given the final green light to make this release happen. This makes them just as guilty for how bad these ports are.
And to withhold other remakes and updates for the PC version of RDR2, just because the reception to the Definitive Edition Trilogy wasn't as good as they had expected (deservingly) seems really petty and embarassing on Rockstar's part. And it is for all of these reasons, that I cannot recommend this game, while I do enjoy the new visuals, which will make the Trilogy viable for another decade.