5 things that should be changed in a GTA III remaster

Modified Apr 27, 2021 18:47 GMT

If there had to be a GTA game to be remastered, GTA III would be the ideal one.

There is no official confirmation whether GTA III will be remastered or not. As a result, this article is geared more towards fan speculation. This, in turn, means that it will focus more on GTA III's flaws and what a remaster could easily fix it. Remasters should always seek to fix a game's flaws, and GTA III has a lot of them (from a modern point of view).

GTA III was a fantastic game for its time, but it's commonly argued that it hasn't held up well to today's standards. It's not unplayable by any means, and there will always be fans that enjoy the game for what it is. However, a remaster will have to fix some of these issues in order to broaden the appeal of the game to more players.

Five things that should be changed in a GTA III remaster

#5 - Fragile vehicles

Vehicles are far too frail in GTA III. Ignoring the logic of an upside-down vehicle blowing up (as that's in most 3D GTA games), vehicles can be blown up way too easily. Simply bumping into a few objects is enough to make the vehicle ready to explode, which makes certain missions just outright annoying for all of the wrong reasons.

Vehicles shouldn't be invincible or anything, but GTA Vice City handles vehicle durability excellently (as does the following GTA titles). It doesn't make sense that vehicles just explode in the slightest of instances.

If Rockstar wanted driveby shootings to still be effective, they could just increase the guns' damage done towards vehicles. This would mimic a similar effect to what's presently seen in GTA III while allowing driving to be less frustrating overall.

#4 - Add in more side activities

When a player isn't doing the main storyline, they will find that there isn't much to do in Liberty City. They can explore the world to find Hidden Packages or do a few vehicle-based side missions, but that's it. At times, GTA III can feel lifeless in an undesirable way.

Claude is a silent protagonist, so it wouldn't be hard to find some activity he could enjoy quietly. He sometimes seems quirky in his mannerisms in the GTA III storyline, so that side of his personality could be expanded upon in additional side activities.

Ideally, it would take place in the lesser-visited parts of the map.

#3 - Clunky controls

If a player doesn't care about graphics, then their most likely complaint about GTA III is the clunky controls. It feels incredibly archaic at times, with an example being how the player cannot bail from a moving vehicle. As GTA III is the oldest 3D GTA title, it's no surprise that it's aged the worst when it comes to controls.

Good controls are essential to a video game's identity. If it's notoriously bad, then it will harm its reputation for years to come. Of course, Rockstar wouldn't have to just copy GTA 5's control scheme; they can just modernize the old GTA III control scheme.

#2 - Graphics

If there was a remaster, this would be the most likely thing to change, and for good reason. GTA III's graphics are incredibly outdated, and it lacks the charm a game like GTA Vice City has, where some of the graphics could be excused. With a dry and dark artistic direction, improving the graphics to a satisfactory level wouldn't be difficult at all.

It would be awkward if a remaster used the same exact graphics as the original title. A GTA III remaster wouldn't have to be on the level of GTA 5 for it to look good, but it wouldn't be very difficult to make it look better than what it currently looks like.

#1 - Use of money

Players can't do much with money in GTA III. If they complete the final mission and get $1,000,000, they don't have much to spend it on. There are prostitutes, Pay 'N' Spray, and Ammu-Nation, but none of those features require so much money. There are various ransoms in the game preceding the final mission, but it's still easy for players to earn too much money in GTA III.

A GTA III remaster could simply allow players to spend their hard-earned cash on various items. Perhaps they could finally buy safehouses and clothing. Alternatively, they could customize vehicles and weapons. There are plenty of past GTA features that involved the use of money, so it wouldn't be hard to draw inspiration from at least one of them.

Note: This article reflects the writer’s personal views.

Edited by Nikhil Vinod