Grand Theft Auto Vice City Nextgen Edition Review. The remaster we deserve

Grand Theft Auto Vice City Nextgen Edition is a large-scale modification by the Russian team of enthusiasts, Revolution Team, offering a different vision of the remaster of the classic 2002 game. The modders transferred Vice City onto the "rails" of the fourth part and offered fans an unprecedented level of visual and gameplay enhancements that Grove Street Games could not provide in the official remaster, The Definitive Edition. Despite numerous challenges and legal battles with Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series, the modification was released at the end of January 2025. In this review, we will look at the history of the modification, its improvements, and answer the main question of why the unofficial remaster looks and plays better than the official GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition.

The Nextgen Edition modification is the brainchild of a dedicated team of modders who aimed to bring the classic Vice City to the modern RAGE engine. Initially, the project started as a small remaster with improved visual effects and mechanics, as well as adaptation for modern platforms. But porting the game from RenderWare to the GTA 4 engine turned out to be a challenging task. The developers needed not only to transfer the Vice City map to a «bare» engine but also to recreate the original atmosphere of 80s Florida.

It's important to understand that Vice City Nextgen Edition is not the first attempt by modders to bring classic Rockstar games to modern engines. There is a significant number of «scraps» or projects in a semi-raw state on the internet that were supposed to become remakes of GTA 3 and San Andreas. But no fan project developed beyond the beta version. The main problem in developing such large-scale modifications lies in Take-Two's policy. Since 2021, the company has begun large-scale crackdowns on fan projects and demanded to stop independent attempts to modernize Rockstar classics. The main reason for tightening the policy towards the modding community was the strategy to protect the Grand Theft Auto brand before the release of The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition.

Take-Two's actions caused outrage in the modding community. Many players accused the publisher of stifling creativity and disrespecting fans who have supported classic games for years. Despite legal issues, the Revolution Team continued to work on the modification, secretly releasing updates and beta versions. After the release of the unsuccessful official remaster by Grove Street Games, the community began actively supporting the authors of Vice City Nextgen Edition and motivating them to continue development, despite the close attention from Take-Two.

It was the support of the community and the particular persistence of Russian modders that allowed Vice City Nextgen Edition to reach release despite all the difficulties and obstacles. The developers didn't just stop at porting Vice City to the RAGE engine but literally wrote the code for all in-game cutscenes from scratch and recreated story and additional missions. Since 2021, modders have been actively filling the city with race missions, side tasks with car deliveries and remote-controlled vehicles, unique jumps, and hidden packages.

Despite attempts to maintain the original atmosphere of Vice City from 2002, the developers went for a number of improvements that ultimately significantly enhanced the visuals. The city layout and updated weapon models were taken from the Definitive Edition. The neon from building facades was borrowed from the PS2 version of Vice City Stories. Improved versions of cars came from the Xbox version of the game, as well as from San Andreas. The original radio stations were taken from the PS2 version, which included the cut track Lionel Richie — Running With The Night.

With the new engine, the game features functions that were not in the original. For example, Tommy learned to swim, and the developers had to add ladders for getting ashore so that players could calmly explore the waters of Vice City. The authors even fully recreated the seabed with rocks and seaweed. In the hideout, the main character can change clothes, and stores, cafes, pharmacies, and ammunition points are fully functional and positively affect the overall immersion that was in GTA 4. If you lose some health during a mission, you can simply go to a pizzeria and recover. Moreover, new public places can not only be used for their intended purpose but also be robbed.

The most important thing that the Vice City Nextgen Edition modification offers is the opportunity to experience the immortal classic in a new guise. The project gives fans what The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition could not properly deliver at the time. Initially, Revolution Team planned to release the mod with the mandatory requirement of having the original game to show respect to the developers and publisher. But after Take-Two Interactive deleted the team's YouTube channel two days before the Nextgen Edition release without any warnings, the authors rebuilt the build with the main files pre-installed. This means you can easily play the release build without compatibility issues.

The first thing that catches your eye after launching Vice City Nextgen Edition is the updated and truly lively city. Most of the scripts were taken from the fourth part, which ultimately affected the traffic and the behavior of passersby. NPCs now carry items in their hands, talk on the phone, read newspapers, drink coffee, and behave like regular city dwellers. Thanks to the internal Euphoria engine, Tommy interacts realistically with the environment. If you push a bystander with a grocery bag, they will undoubtedly drop it and start swearing back. Sometimes there's a dissonance in the mind from the mix of low-polygon models of passersby with realistic animations, but the classic «baby duck syndrome», which constantly popped up during The Definitive Edition playthrough, does not manifest. We never caught ourselves thinking that it was better before.

There are not just more cars on the streets of the city; they are literally everywhere. Traffic jams on the narrow streets of Vice City are a common occurrence. Yes, now in most cases you can't just freely race on a sports bike, but there is no feeling of an empty and lifeless Vice City. From the first minutes, you understand — here it is, the resort center of America! By the way, the developers recommend reducing the traffic amount to 30 in the game settings, as there can be so many cars on the roads that the trip to the next mission can take several dozen minutes.

The vehicle physics have completely transitioned from the fourth part. Cars move noticeably slower, which makes the trip from one end of the map to the other take longer. With the cool suspension physics from GTA 4, you want to leisurely «cruise» around the updated city, listening to Lazlow Jones' humorous radio shows. Additionally, the mod features modern collision physics and the protagonist's reactions to accidents. For example, Tommy can easily fly through the windshield during a «hard» crash.

But the features described above are essentially the «basic» foundation of the fourth part. The main work of the modders was to update the building facades, lighting, and city map geometry. The mod received high-resolution textures that breathed life into the iconic locations of Vice City. From the neon streets of Ocean Drive to the sun-drenched beaches of Vice Beach, every iconic part of the environment has been carefully updated. The new lighting system with ENB enhances the game's atmosphere. Day and night cycles, realistic shadows, and improved reflections make the world more alive. It's especially nice to explore Vice City in the evening when the neon lighting pleasantly blends with the warm tones of the sky. Weather effects — rain and fog — have also been reworked, adding depth and realism to the game's visual effects.

Character models have been noticeably improved while remaining true to the original art style. There's no plasticine ugliness from The Definitive Edition. Main characters like Tommy Vercetti, Lance Vance, and Sonny Forelli look cooler than ever. The protagonist received an expanded animation library from Niko Bellic, making it much more convenient to control the character than in the original.

The combat system has completely transitioned from GTA 4. On one hand, the game has gained particular depth and is now noticeably more convenient to control. Shooting has become enjoyable, and fights with multi-button combat offer a special challenge. Any passerby can fight back and punish for bad behavior. But the enjoyable moments of the updated gameplay end when going through scripted missions that were not designed for the GTA 4 gameplay. Modern shootouts with cover turn missions that were difficult by 2002 standards into an easy walk with shooting dummies. This cannot be said about quests with melee fights. For example, in the mission to kill Avery's competitor at the golf club, bodyguards constantly pulled Tommy out of the golf cart and beat him to death with clubs. All because the vehicle start animation is noticeably longer than in the original. And the damage from enemies is so huge that surviving in a fair fight against five opponents is almost unrealistic. We literally had to outsmart the local AI to progress further in the story.

Almost every classic mission from Vice City in the modification doesn't work as it should. And it's not about scripts and technical roughness, with which Nextgen Edition has no particular problems. The main difficulties arise in the conflict of game design of two different games. For example, the mission to kill the pizza delivery guy is completed in a couple of minutes because Tommy learned to shoot through the windshield. But the famous mission with the toy helicopter... trust me, even in the original, it was noticeably easier. With the new physics and behavior model, controlling the mini-helicopter has become so unstable and crooked that we spent an hour trying to reach the destination without the blades catching on the environment. Therefore, we advise you to stock up on patience and extra nerve cells in advance.

The interface has completely transitioned from the fourth part. There is now the ability to set a marker on the map. Loading screens are styled after the classic Vice City art. The graphics settings are very flexible, but the authors advise sticking to a specific configuration to avoid crashes and glitches. Bugs are certainly present, but the most annoying are the crashes to the desktop and memory leaks. The latter results in the city slowly loading, and environmental objects may appear out of thin air. Minor roughness will accompany you throughout the playthrough. For example, the roar of a motorcycle engine may sound a minute after the ride starts. Upon loading the game, the body armor disappears, and cars have a very sturdy body, which can significantly prolong the mission to intimidate the jurors.

Despite the roughness and crashes to the desktop, the final build of the modification looks more coherent and stable compared to the release version of The Definitive Edition. Yes, some missions are too difficult, and yes, you need to get used to the gameplay features of the fourth part, but the mod itself looks amazing. We even wanted to replay the already memorized storyline just because Nextgen Edition tells it in a completely different way. This is exactly what we expected from The Definitive Edition, but in the end, we got a neural network forgery on Unreal Engine. A group of enthusiasts clearly showed that the RAGE engine would be perfect for classic remasters.

Let's just compare what four fans managed to do without a budget, and an entire studio of several dozen people with funding from the largest publisher in the industry.

Graphics and Lighting

Definitive Edition: The official remaster contains updated textures and lighting but suffers artistically. In particular, character models have been criticized for their strange appearance. The heroes were often compared to «The Simpsons» for their yellow skin color, as well as to plasticine dolls from The Sims 4. The developers did not engage in color correction and disregarded the stylistic features of the original. Realistic lighting poorly matches the cartoonish environment and neural network upscaling. At times, the game can surprise with beautiful neon lights and evening landscapes, but overall the picture differs too much from the original. In the latest patches, the developers, of course, improved the lighting, but this is clearly not what we would like to see in an official remaster.

Nextgen Edition: The modification offers a more cohesive visual style with high-quality textures and lighting that enhance the aesthetics of the original game without altering it. The RAGE engine doesn't push the visuals towards realism, and the overall lighting and color scheme correspond to the classic 2002 version. The city looks voluminous, and improved car models with updated physics make the traffic more natural and spectacular. Character models are recreated exactly as in the original. The environment and in-game spaces are filled with additional details and decorations, enriching the overall picture and filling the gaps that were due to the technical limitations of the PS2. Overall, Nextgen Edition gives players what they expected from the Definitive Edition: a modern version of Vice City while preserving the signature atmosphere and aesthetics of 80s Florida.

Models and Animation

Definitive Edition: The character models and animations in the official remaster are a «mishmash» of new and old solutions. Some characters look better than in the original, while most are completely unrecognizable. The animations are entirely carried over from the original 2002 game. Combined with the new high-polygon models, they have become awkward. Some animations were even broken at release. Tommy ran unnaturally, and the car suspension was noticeably raised compared to the original level. Vehicles were ported with minor changes, and the damage physics were equipped with strange algorithms.

Nextgen Edition: The models and animations in the modification are more polished. Characters have retained their original charm, and animations from GTA 4 look smooth and natural. Improved versions of the cars match the spirit of the original, without breaking the overall style, as the originals were taken from the Xbox version of the game. New objects and environmental details also do not disrupt the overall harmony. The vehicle damage physics corresponds to GTA 4, although the deformation of cars looks too conditional, which is quite noticeable in missions where Tommy has to smash someone's car.

Definitive Edition: The official remaster offers modern controls and convenience improvements but suffers from critical errors and technical issues in the scripts. Unreal Engine 4 often seems faulty and broken, and the behavior of non-player characters appears inconsistent. Shootouts have been modernized with a pinpoint aiming feature. Overall, the remaster offers the same game from 2002, but with a crooked code implementation and a large number of bugs. The quests are functional, and the overall gameplay difficulty corresponds to the original.

Nextgen Edition: The gameplay improvements in the modification are more extensive, as the basic functionality is taken directly from GTA 4. The project offers enhanced vehicle handling with realistic suspension physics and interaction with the environment. In shootouts, you can take cover, and melee combat works on a multi-button system with blocking and grappling. Nextgen Edition allows visiting public places and using their services. Tommy can swim and shoot on the move. The carjacking system includes breaking windows, disabling alarms, and long wire connections. The wanted system is taken from modern GTA games. Police react to reckless driving and may demand the protagonist kneel if he commits an offense. The main missions are fully functional but not adapted to the changed game design. Some tasks are too easy, while others are literally impassable.

Overall Quality

Definitive Edition: The official remaster leaves the impression of being created in haste. Hence the numerous graphical bugs, missing effects, unprocessed neural network models, incorrect textures, and the effect of «lack of proper polish». Even after several patches that more or less fixed the obvious flaws, the game remains a crooked and rather ugly rendition based on the iconic game.

Nextgen Edition: The modification gives exactly the emotions we wanted from the Definitive Edition. The authors expressed boundless love for Vice City and gave the fan community a remaster worth spending free time on. Every aspect of the game is meticulously updated: some elements of modern GTA games perfectly form the basis of the remaster and reveal the «neon city» from an unusual but very enticing side.

There are several key areas that clearly demonstrate the superiority of Nextgen Edition over Definitive Edition.

Faithfulness to the Original Vision: The modification has preserved the spirit and aesthetics of the classic Vice City 2002, while the Definitive Edition strayed too far from its roots for the sake of realism and modern visuals.

Polish and Consistency: Despite crashes and some bugs, the modification is more polished than the Definitive Edition was at release. The game world feels cohesive, and the absence of visual bugs positively affects overall immersion.

Community-Driven Development: The modification is a direct testament to the passion and dedication of the GTA community, which was sorely lacking in the official remaster. The authors constantly shared details, provided beta versions for testing, communicated with the audience, and responded to criticism and suggestions.

Additional Content: The modification offers new gameplay mechanics and improvements to the old ones, significantly expanding the content of the original game. For new players unfamiliar with the classic, it's a great chance to get acquainted with the Vice City storyline, and for dedicated fans, it's the perfect opportunity to return to a familiar world that now shines with even more vibrant colors.

***

The GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition modification is a vivid example of what projects created by a cohesive fan community can achieve. Despite the obstacles posed by Take-Two's lawyers, the team of modders created a modern version of Vice City that not only visually astounds but also remains true to the spirit of the original.

For fans of the original Vice City, the Nextgen Edition modification is an excellent reason to replay the classic game in 2025. It is a living testament to the value of the Grand Theft Auto legacy and the creativity of its community. And while the Definitive Edition holds the status of an official remaster, the Nextgen Edition modification has something far more valuable: the heart and soul of the fans who made the return to the beloved Vice City possible and meaningful. Be sure to try it if you haven't already.