Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition review — Ah s**t, here we go again

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition review (Image by Rockstar Games)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition review (Image by Rockstar Games)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas went from defining and refining the open-world sandbox genre to controversy resulting in a post-launch rating change, a name so legendary that it transcended beyond the video game genre to become a cultural sensation.

Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, collectively known as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, are often considered perfection.

However, on November 11, to celebrate Grand Theft Auto 3’s 25th anniversary, Rockstar Games released The Definitive Edition of these three games by Grove Street Games. They were remasters of the original games on Unreal Engine 4, brought back for modern generation hardware.

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But can this Definitive Edition of Grand Theft: Auto San Andreas truly pay homage to the classic while bringing in a new generation of fans? Does it truly earn the title of the Definitive Edition of one of the most iconic, generation-defining titles?

Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly. It should be clarified that the following review will be judging only the new additions and refinements in the Definitive Edition and not judge the characters, story, and the world of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.


Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition review — Like it says in the book... we are both blessed and cursed

Set in the backdrop of 1990’s Los Santos, inspired by real-life Los Angles, players take the role of Carl “CJ” Johnson. He returns home after five years and gets mixed up in gang violence and a deep plot spread across three cities and their associated areas.

The game’s characters, story, and the world are considered iconic nearly 18 years and three console generations after its release.

The Definitive Edition builds upon the original game to deliver the most definitive experience of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The changes to the Definitive Edition can be best explained by quoting Big Smoke when he greets CJ with a bat, five years after the latter returns home.

“Like it says in the book... We are both blessed and cursed.”
Big Smoke and CJ in the game (Image by Rockstar)
Big Smoke and CJ in the game (Image by Rockstar)

But what does that refer to? Let’s take a deeper look at the different aspects of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: The Definitive Edition.


Visuals and textures

Let’s start the discussion by addressing the biggest and the most noticeable change in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: The Definitive Edition: the visuals and texture. For the most part, the former has been improved across the board, with higher-resolution textures upscaled by AI.

However, in some instances, the upscaled AI loses the charm of the original game. One of the most prominent examples is that of the in-game store Tuff Nut Donut. Instead of nuts and donuts for the signs, the upscale AI has turned the hexagonal nuts into round metallic rings.

CJ with his family (Image by Rockstar)
CJ with his family (Image by Rockstar)

Furthermore, the texture mapping also appears wrong in some places. The most notable example is a Grove Street Gang member’s shirt, where the one number is laid atop an outline for a different number.

All in all, the Definitive Edition visuals may not hold a candle to other modern titles or even the most recent rendition of Los Santos in 2013’s Grand Theft Auto 5. However, it still holds on to the look and feel of the original while building upon it.


Lighting and shadows

For the most part, the lighting and shadow completely overhaul the game. While Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition is missing the iconic California orange haze, which, to be fair, was already missing from the PC port back in the days, the lighting makes the game brighter and visually more appealing.

However, the shadow implementation has been extremely hit or miss. While sometimes the shadows bring depth to the characters, in many instances, it completely ruins a scene, making the characters blend into the shadow.

An example of the hit or miss shadow implementation (Image by Rockstar)
An example of the hit or miss shadow implementation (Image by Rockstar)

One of the most egregious examples was during the mission “Drive-By”, where CJ, Sweet, Ryder, and Big Smoke go to a Cuckin’ Bell and order food. During the cutscene, Big Smoke ends up giving a big order while the characters look at him.

This is how the developers explored Big Smoke’s characteristics while building upon the different reactions from the other characters, all from a simple order. However, the high implementation of the shadow has made the character blend into the darkness and the facial reactions completely unrecognizable.

Due to this, the scenes fail to build Big Smoke’s character, like the original title, and end up being a comic dialog about a large order of foods only.


Character models

Like the rest of the game, character models in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition have been upscaled by AI. However, it falls apart quite fast.

The PlayStation 2 era characters have been smoothed out, making them look like dolls rather than actual characters. Be it the main cast or an NPC, the upscale AI has resulted in disproportionate sizes.

Disproportionate sizing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)
Disproportionate sizing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)

While by now everyone is familiar with Ryfder’s extremely buffed arms with three bones or Denise’s changed look, one of the biggest missed opportunities is Claude’s appearance.

The protagonist of Grand Theft Auto 3 made a cameo in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where his name was officially confirmed as Claude. However, instead of using the high-quality model from Grand Theft Auto 3 The Definitive Edition, the developers opted for an AI upscaled model, which looks terrible.


Map navigation, radio, and weapon wheels

Map navigation is easily one of the most underrated improvements in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition. While the entire state of San Andreas easily becomes all too familiar by the two-thirds of the game, the map navigation, borrowing from Grand Theft Auto 5, is a perfect quality of life addition well suited for newer players.

Another quality of life improvement borrowed from GTA 5 is the radio and weapon wheel. Players don’t have to go through the tedious process of scrolling through the weapon list to find the necessary weapon. Instead, they can hold down a key to open up the weapon wheel while the gameplay is slowed down to obtain the essential tool for the trade.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition certainly looked good in parts (Image by Rockstar)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition certainly looked good in parts (Image by Rockstar)

This method is exceptionally user-friendly and saves quite a few precious seconds, which can very much turn the tide of a gunfight.

This is also true for the radio wheel. Despite the missing music (more on that later), the radio wheel lets players instantly choose a radio channel and set the mood for the ride.


Draw distance

In the original game, the developers overcame the technical limitation of drawing distance by rendering fog and hiding the distant land. However, due to the technological leaps over the last few generations, they can render much further distances than previously possible.

Unfortunately, this has caused a big problem for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition.

While the map of San Andreas is relatively tiny compared to the modern-day open world, it maintained the illusion of being a massive state with three major metropolitan cities and a vast open-world by using the fog and draw distance. Unfortunately, this illusion is broken in the Definitive Edition as the entire map is visible from the top of a high enough building, let alone flying.

A look at the whole map in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)
A look at the whole map in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)

This sadly compromises the entire experience and results in San Andreas becoming a small area instead of a massive state with metropolitan cities and deserts and a mountain range with woods.


Mission control

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition improves upon several mission controls to make it more player-friendly and more suited to the modern generation audience. One of the most noticeable changes is in the dance missions during “Cesar Vialpando” and “Life’s a Beach”.

The speed of the quick-time event button prompts has been slowed down, and the target area has been increased. While this makes the nail-biter missions relatively straightforward, perhaps a bit too easy, it also fails to match the beats of the songs like it did previously.

Nevertheless, it’s good to see the refinement of the control.


Missing music

In many ways, a game’s music makes it great, and all the Grand Theft Auto games had quite a few iconic era-specific tracks. Unfortunately, like the anniversary edition, quite a few songs are missing from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition.

While music licensing is something that isn’t always in control of the developers, the game feels strangely hollow without iconic tracks like Don’t Let IT Go To Your Head by Black Harmony or Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine playing on the radio.

S few iconic songs are missing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)
S few iconic songs are missing in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition (Image by Rockstar)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition does not feel definitive due to the missing music.


Performance

The review copy of the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition provided by Rockstar was sampled on the setup with the following specs and resulted in the following performance:

  • CPU: Intel Core i5 8300H
  • GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 (6 GB)
  • RAM: 16 DDR4
  • Quality: Custom, Mid to High
  • Framerate: 45-55 fps

Conclusion

After a week of playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PC edition on Steam and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition back to back on PC, it can be said that the latter, while a significant improvement, leaves a lot to be desired.

The game also has quite a few bugs and glitches, some of which were patched mid-review with patches. GTA SA DE feels quite rushed and incomplete, considering it had to meet the deadline of the 25th anniversary.

Perhaps Rockstar can amend that with future patches, though how much refinement is possible through a patch is an entirely different question.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Definitive Edition review scores (Image by Sportskeeda)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Definitive Edition review scores (Image by Sportskeeda)

While maybe not at the current price point, new players should play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition to experience one of the most iconic games ever. Returning players should definitely try it out for a nostalgia trip down memory lane and have a good time again.


Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas The Definitive Edition

Part of GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition

Reviewed on: PC (Review Code provided by Rockstar Games)

Platforms: Rockstar Games Store, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch

Developer: Grove Street Games

Publisher: Rockstar Games