The modding team behind the Nextgen Edition Mod for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has released a new comparison video. In this video, the team compares the modded version with the original one. So, let’s take a look at it.
For those who did not know, GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition will be a complete transfer of all missions from the original game to the RAGE Engine. The mod currently targets a 2025 release date. However, there isn’t any specific release date window for it.
The mod will have an improved version of the city – and weapons – from the Definitive Edition. All the cars from the Xbox version of the original game will be present here. Additionally, all the models of all characters and peds will be from the Xbox version. From what we know, there are no plans to increase their polygon count. However, all 3D characters will have better textures.
All the original radio stations will also be present in this unofficial remaster. And although the project will have the cut-scenes and the style of the original game, it will also pack better particle effects and some lighting improvements.
Since GTA: Vice City NextGen will be using GTA 4’s engine, it will be interesting to see whether it will address its engine issues on PC. As we’ve showcased, the only way you can currently run GTA4 smoothly on PC is via DXVK. So, will we have to use DXVK for this mod too?
While on paper GTA: Vice City NextGen sounds great, the following comparison does not do it any favors. As you will see, the lighting seems better in the first cutscene. However, the characters now look flat as they lack shadows. The same can be said about a lot of objects. In the original game, they feel more “grounded”. On the other hand, during gameplay, we can see more shadows in the NextGen Version. However, the game loses its art style due to the new lighting. With the mod, it now looks more cartoonish than before.
All in all, I’m not that impressed with GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition. I get it, this is a free mod. However, it fails to capture the art style of the original. And that’s one of the biggest issues a lot of players had with its official remaster.
To be honest, I believe the best way of remastering GTA: Vice City is via RTX Remix. In January 2024, we shared some screenshots and a video from a WIP mod. And those screenshots look WAY better than anything I’ve seen with this WIP mod. I get it, the team has invested a lot of time in this mod. The end result, though, is nowhere close to what can be achieved with RTX Remix.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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