After a Years-Long Wait, Fans Can Finally Play 'GTA V' in Its Newly Remastered Form

If you've played Xbox or Playstation at all over the last decade, odds are that you've spent some time in the Grand Theft Auto V world. As one of the longest-standing and most successful titles to ever release on major platforms, GTA V has achieved levels of success that few other video games in history have. As such, it has been constantly updated and kept fresh for players eager for new GTA content despite the game being so old now.

Thankfully, Rockstar Games has finally addressed a lot of the major issues associated with GTA V being a nearly 10-year-old game in the form of a newly remastered version. So, what exactly is different about GTA V in its remastered state? Keep reading to find out!

Initially teased in 2020 with a release date set for 2021, the remastered version of GTA V that has been ported for next-gen consoles like the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S has been pushed back more than once since being unveiled. Fortunately for fans, the game was finally released on March 15, 2022, and it is as beautiful and action-packed as any Rockstar fan could hope for.

In an official press release, Rockstar highlighted just now massive the changes to their beloved title were in its latest remastered state.

To start, players will now be able to enjoy the game with "4K resolution, a frame rate of up to 60 frames per second, improved texture quality, HDR options, and ray tracing." On top of that, the latest version features "immersive 3D audio, support for platform-specific features, and more."

One of the biggest visual changes to the game comes in the form of its three new optional graphics settings. When in Fidelity Mode, the game runs at 30 FPS (frames per second). When in Performance Mode, that is amped up to 60 FPS. The final mode, Performance RT, creates a hybrid of the previous two modes and runs at 60 FPS.

Console-specific changes aren't all that GTA V is offering fans in its latest state. Rockstar also noted that the game sports a bevy of general visual enhancements across all platforms including "faster loading times, increased population and traffic variety, increased vegetation density, improved lighting quality across shadows, water reflections, and other elements."

On a more specific level, the new game also boasts "improved anti-aliasing" and "motion-blur." Improvements to the game's controls include "Haptic Feedback and dynamic resistance via the Adaptive Triggers on PlayStation 5’s DualSense wireless controller, adding new sensations to weather effects, directional damage, rough road surfaces, explosions and much more."

The game's audio has also been remastered utilizing the PS5's Tempest 3D positional audio and the Xbox's Spatial Sound.

As for GTA V Online, the game is adding a much-needed feature that fans have been clamoring for: the ability to carry over their GTA V story and online progress to the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game.

Another addition came in the form of new vehicles and a new locale dubbed Hao’s Special Works, a race-specific modification shop within the game to tune cars.

As a special promotion, Rockstar decided that "for the first three months from launch, GTA Online will be available to download and keep for free for PlayStation 5 players." Sounds pretty good to us!

Be sure to check out the newly remastered version of GTA V, available on all major platforms now!