The Definitive Edition of the classic 3D era Grand Theft Auto games came out two years ago, and in these two years, people believed that the definitive editions were nothing more than a failed attempt. Poor graphics, bug-filled gameplay, and on top of that, no updates to fix the game afterward. Though the creators did push a few updates, it was not enough to polish the games completely at all. Nowadays, the Grand Theft Auto Definitive Edition stands in the same place as when it first came out, an unreasonably expensive overhaul that nobody asked for.

The worst thing is people who are considered very talented modders of these games could deliver better-looking mods with fixes. Silent Patch and a few graphics mods that turn the games into their original PS2 counterparts are very easy to download and make it work in those games, so why should you go ahead and purchase the games that only add RenderWare Engine on top of Unity-based engine? Lack of optimization and glitchy gameplay pushed people to take their old CD releases or, unfortunately, opt for pirated versions to play.

The developer who was responsible for the Grand Theft Auto: Definitive Edition was GSG, also known as Grove Street Games. This small developer was also responsible for bringing these classic titles to the mobile platform, and their conversion to mobile was considered as nothing more than “mid”, it was playable, but some eye-poking problecouldn'tn’t be disregarded. Grove StreGames’ project was not an easy feat, though; all the games on the 3D series were ported to PC from PS2 a year later, and they are simulating a PS2 controller with a PS2-rendered engine. So from PS2 to PC, then mobile, then PC, it was not an easy way to port your game over.

Having already turned the game into a spaghetti code, it is unbelievable how all three games ran without actually breaking into two parts. The game was basically duct-taped together, but still, it was functioning. Two years after its release, Definitive Edition was the latest version to hit the stores until a Netflix version appeared in the stores a few days ago. So, what is the Netflix version?

Grand Theft Auto Netflix Version is a free version of three 3D games from the GTA series, and they are distributed to everyone who owns a Netflix subscription. All Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas games can be played on your mobile phone, although there are differences between the Definitive and Netflix versions. In order to check whether you can play the games, you need to have a compatible smartphone, which you can check by visiting the game's app store page. On top of that, you need an active Netflix subscription to download the game. Alternatively, you can purchase the standalone games from the app store without having a subscription, though they cost 20 dollars each, just like the Definitive Edition. 

So what is exactly wrong with the Netflix version? It has been two years, as we stated, and you would think they would come up with the idea of fixing the mess that was called Definitive Edition because the Netflix version is also based on the game. Strangely, the name Groove Street Games is missing from the title; instead, we have the team who worked on L.A. Noire VR Cases, Video Games Deluxe. Now this team is actually competent, unlike Grove Street Games. But it's too bad some of the problems of these games actually flew over their radar.

To their credit, there are some glitches and visual oddities being fixed in the Netflix version, and you can even find extra options to bring back “classic lighting”, which is the gray/blue/orange tint found in the PS2 versions of the games, respectively. While most of the problematic bugs might have been fixed, the titles still feel soulless and apart from their original counterparts. They still lack personality, and no, this has nothing to do with the nostalgia filter. You could still go ahead and play the classics and see that they are functioning as they are intended.

Most of the people who regularly play or speedrun these games realized that the optimal performance of these games is still not ready for smartphones, and unfortunately, the developers only cared for the first quarter of these games. While the starting island or the first 30 missions are so great and without bugs, once people jump over to the next chapter of the story, the games exactly feel the same in terms of quality. It is almost as if they only cared about the beginning of the game rather than properly establishing a research of the game code and executing a massive flush on the pesky bugs.

For now, Netflix Editions of the 3D era GTA games are still not worthy of play, and it is somewhat concerning that RockstGames’ quality control dipped to the bottom. It showcases how they do not care about the quality as they would know people buy their products regardless. Unless people start mentioning, or far better, boycotting Rockstar Games for not being faithful to the titles that made them popular today, we will keep seeing half-assed game attempts of their so-called revivals. We just hope that they do not employ the same route on their highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI.

Atilla Turan (@burningarrow)
Editor, NoobFeed