This week, Microsoft & Sony finally launched their flagship next-generation consoles into the wild. As previously announced by Rockstar last week, some of their titles are backwards compatible; these titles include Grand Theft Auto V & Red Dead Redemption 2, which are playable on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
This piece will dive deep into improvements that players will benefit from that these new systems provide. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S are more powerful than previous generations, which greatly improves game performance and loading times.
Grand Theft Auto V & GTA Online
As alluded to earlier, one of the key differences is the remarkable improvement in game loading times when compared to the previous console generations. Both systems load games almost instantly; in some cases, this can even mean skipping the loading artwork entirely. Unfortunately Grand Theft Auto: Online still can have longer loading times than other newer titles, but it is still a marked improvement over the previous generation experience.
Players can also expect a performance boost while playing GTA Online. An example of this is that the game finally operates at steady 30 frames per second; it is expected that the frame-rate will be uncapped in 2021’s port for both systems.
Xbox Series players can also enjoy the systems’ backwards compatible auto-HDR feature.
Grand Theft Auto IV
While GTA IV is only backwards compatible on Xbox Series (X/S) & Xbox One, it does benefit from enormous improvements to the game performance; some of these improvements are staggering.
Rockstar originally shipped GTA IV with an uncapped frame-rate in 2008 on Xbox 360. With this uncapped frame-rate Xbox Series X & Xbox Series S players can finally play GTA IV in 60 frames per second locked with faster loading times.
Though do keep note the resolution of the game remains unchanged. GTA IV still plays the original game resolution (720p).
Red Dead Redemption II
Red Dead Redemption II doesn’t quite have too many differences, but loading times on both systems have a 50% boost on PS5 & Xbox Series X/S. It’s over a little minute faster on both consoles as reported by various gaming media outlets.
Of course, game performance will be improved thanks to the extra power of both machines so expect no frame drops in demanding areas like Saint Denis.
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption (and Undead Nightmare) are only backwards compatible on Xbox Series & Xbox One, it does benefit considerably massively from high-resolution enhancements & texture filtering boosts.
The game on Xbox Series X operates at full-4K resolution. Similarly, Microsoft’s low-tier next-generation system Xbox Series S will play the game in 1440p resolution too. These improvements are a tremendous boost compared to its original game resolution which was little as 720p on Xbox 360.
Xbox players can expect to see Red Dead Redemption in HDR for the first-ever thanks to the auto-HDR feature as per part of the OS features. Moreover thanks to the Xbox’s NVme SSD, loading times will be almost instant.
Rockstar Games PS2 Collection on PS5
Rockstar Games have confirmed the Rockstar Games collection titles from PlayStation 2 are playable on PS5. Note that you do have to purchase the games again, these games cannot be played from the original game disc and must be bought again on the PlayStation Store sadly.
The following list of these games are:
- Bully
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Manhunt
- Max Payne
- Red Dead Revolver
- The Warriors
Of course, loading times will be improved over the PS4 but note that the resolution for all games remains unchanged.
That’s all for our deep dive, we hope this helped bring some insight into the improvements for backwards compatibility on next-gen consoles!
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