Despite the fact that the Grand Theft Auto games have been going since 1997, it is 2001's GTA 3 which set the bar for what would become one of the biggest game franchises in the world. With the remasters of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas games being leaked recently, the game which really made the series take off is screaming for a modern take. So much do fans want to see the earlier titles be remastered that one person has managed to actualize such a concept using mods.
Uploading a video to YouTube recently, user just Gesha has been able to show off what Grand Theft Auto 3 looks like when given a more up-to-date bit of polish. While staying true to the original game, the fan used a series of mods to transform it, so it looks like a more modern title. While it doesn't look ultra realistic, due to them wanting to stay "faithful" to the 20 year old classic, it still gives the title a much-needed coat of crisp high-definition fidelity.
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One of the other changes made to it is an improvement on the lighting. In the video, a swipe is shown which compares the original GTA 3 to the modded version, in which lighting has been improved, making it more vibrant and HD. Grand Theft Auto 3 set the industry standard for the open-world genre, and just Gesha's video shows just how far video game technology has come over the years, so it would be interesting to see how the other GTA titles would look with official remasters.
There are plenty of GTA 3 mods which help remaster the game, and the combination that the version shown in the YouTube video uses shows what happens when several are put together. It takes a beloved classic game and boosts it up, tweaking the models, the aforementioned lighting, and adding interior locations. It shows that just Gesha has a lot of love for the original by being respectful to it, but also injecting a little modern pizzazz into it to keep the game visually fresh.
With the release date of Grand Theft Auto 6 still very much uncertain, the chance to see full remasters of the original third-person games will no doubt keep fans excited. While they are still enjoyed years later, and in their original formats, the fact that people like just Gesha are willing to put in the time and effort to give the third game some HD love shows that the community is not ready to leave the older titles behind.
Grand Theft Auto 3 is available for mobile, PC, PS2, and Xbox.
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Source: Dexerto
