GTA 3 has been enhanced into a fan-made remake that reimagines a part of Rockstar’s acclaimed open-world crime festival in the stunning visuals of Unreal Engine 5.
The release of the remastered GTA Trilogy last year was so disastrous that Rockstar ended up offering disappointed players free games as compensation. But this fan-made shot shows Liberty City in all its glory. O short video (opens in new tab) is styled like a trailer, imagining what GTA 3 might have looked like if it was remade on Epic’s top-of-the-line game engine.
The clip travels through the city’s skyline, showing the dirty underground of its subway network, before cutting to protagonist Claude driving through the streets. Everything is rendered in exceptional detail and with fidelity worthy of the PS5 or Xbox Series X | S.
The remake certainly takes full advantage of Unreal Engine 5’s capabilities, rendering textures at resolutions that seem to go beyond GTA 5’s recent high-end ports. Much is made of the engine’s lighting capabilities as well, with a moment in the video showing Claude almost silhouetted by reflections on the sidewalk. Add to that a mafia narration, and it all becomes very atmospheric.
Watch the clip below to see for yourself.
The remaster that should have been
While impressive, this version of GTA 3 will likely provide cool comfort to fans of the classic ’em up crime series. Gamers are still bitter after Rockstar’s handling of the GTA Trilogy collection last year, in which GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas were updated to run on modern hardware. Unfortunately, they were also updated with a series of technical bugs, performance issues, and an art style change, disappointing fans who had hoped to revive the series exactly as they remembered it.
Rockstar has improved the remaster in the months since its release, however. A series of content drops brought it into line with player expectations, while major performance updates finally made it worth playing. The most egregious technical bugs have been fixed, and the entire trilogy runs at a smoother, consistent frame rate.
If you really like the look of this new version of GTA 3, check out the other works of the creator TeaserPlay. They also reinvented Resident Evil 4 Unreal Engine 5, which sparked our excitement with the official Resident Evil 4 remake announced earlier this month.