It’s hard to believe that something as revolutionary as Grand Theft Auto V released more than 11 years ago. I was a naive 20-year-old when Rockstar’s crime drama hit the shelves. Time has been kind to Grand Theft Auto V, even though I cannot say the same for myself. I may have been too poor to afford a PS3 or 360 back then, but I still had the joyous optimism of youth with me. I lived on Let’s Plays and clips of Grand Theft Auto V for two more years until the game was finally released on PC as Rockstar’s finest PC port. I want to thank my dear friend Richie Lucas at this hour, because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the game. You be you, Richie!
All right, all right, more about the game and less about me. People make fun of Bethesda and Rockstar for repeatedly re-releasing their games. But if you ask me, both Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto deserved it. These two went from being choppy, blurry messes on their home console variants to 4K 60 fps glory in a few years. Sure, Rockstar could have handled the release timings and their business model better, but I’m glad that whether you’re gaming on the seventh, eighth or ninth generation of consoles, you’ll be able to enjoy both Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto V just the same. Games are therapy, man.
So, I digress. I have played Grand Theft Auto V in a variety of hardware configurations over the years. Nvidia GTX 750, 1050ti, 1070, 1080, 3070 and 4060. When it was announced that Rockstar would be releasing the “current-gen” update for the PC version, I was kind of surprised. For starters, it’s been like 3 years since the current-gen version came out for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. Furthermore, everyone and their babushka is anticipating Rockstar to make even the slightest acknowledgement that the mega-anticipated title, Grand Theft Auto VI, would still be releasing this year. Hey, I’m not complaining. As someone who’s knee-deep in his backlog, I do not expect to play GTA VI at launch. But, I do not speak for everyone and I totally get why the fandom is so pissed.
So, what is included in this “current-gen” version, you ask? Dubbed “Grand Theft Auto V: Enhanced“, this updated PC version includes all the content of the PS5 and Series X|S ports, that means players get to access new vehicles and upgrades, the Wildlife Photography Challenge, improved visual fidelity, and more. You can check out the entire changelog here. All players who currently own GTAV on PC will be able to upgrade to this new version for free, with a one-time Character Migration flow to bring over your Story Mode and Online progress.
The real major change in Grand Theft Auto V: Enhanced on the PC is the inclusion of Ray Traced Global Illumination, aka RTGI. Basically, what it means is that instead of the usual baked dynamic lighting, RTGI adds fully dynamic, realistic and immersive ray traced lighting, i.e, adding real-time interactive bounce lighting to areas of the game that are not directly lit by a given light source. TLDR, it makes the game look good, damn good. I hold the opinion that Grand Theft Auto V is one of the best-looking and best-aged games of all time. RTGI makes it look even better! Sure, it’s not as game-changing as some of the ridiculous mods of there, but it sure makes an impressive difference. If you don’t believe me, look at some comparison shots. Is this what I, a retro gaming enthusiast, have been reduced to? Someone who salivates over pure visual fidelity?
So yeah, it’d say RTGI makes a pretty big difference to the visuals, especially if you’re like me and have been playing the game unmodded for 10 years. But the update isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The fanbase has been particularly critical towards the decision to remove text chat from GTA: Online as well as technical issues preventing them from importing their old save files and online progress. I’m glad I was not hit with the latter, because that would have sucked big time.
What’s next for GTA V? Well, how about RTGI update for the PS5 Pro? No? I’ll see myself out. Before I go, here’s a toast to all those friends who made my criminal adventures GTA Online worthwhile. We had one hell of a run…
