The GTA: Definitive Edition trilogy brings three classic titles to a whole new audience. GTA 3, San Andreas and Vice City have all been given a fresh coat of paint and some mechanical upgrades.
When it was announced that the trilogy would look to learn from GTA 5's gameplay and controls, it caused some uncertainty within the fanbase. There were worries that the games would become too modern and lose their charm.
This left many people asking whether or not the games would adopt the first-person camera that was added with the GTA 5 re-release back in November 2014?
Can you play the GTA Definitive Edition in First-Person?
It must be very difficult trying to balance the new and old features within the GTA: Definitive Edition. The goal must be to maintain the games' feel while making them more accessible to a new audience. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the original games, it's more a case of making the experience more enjoyable in 2021.
One possible addition being discussed by fans was the addition of the first-person camera from GTA 5. This would offer a whole new perspective as each of the games was originally made with a raised third-person configuration.
Now that the Definitive Edition is out, we can confirm that there is no way to adopt a first-person camera in GTA 3, San Andreas or Vice City. Each game has its original third-person camera perspective with minimal changes to how the camera operates or looks.
Many of the changes revolve around the visuals and control mechanics such as vehicle control and weapon/inventory management. That doesn't necessarily mean that the camera was perfect and not in need of a change but most likely that it would have been too big a change and lead to backlash.
In keeping with the rest of the changes that were made, each one tries to vastly improve how the games play over a decade later, a change to the camera probably wasn't considered to have this effect.