GTA IV receives massive visual improvement via RTX Remix

While Rockstar maintains its full focus on the development of GTA 6, the modding community has taken on the responsibility of revitalizing the legacy of Liberty City. Modder xoxor4d has released a PBR (Physically Based Rendering) texture pack for Grand Theft Auto IV, raising the technical level of the project based on Nvidia's RTX Remix tool. The work involves processing approximately 18,000 original textures, adapting them to react realistically to global illumination through path tracing.

The technique used is remarkable: the creator uses an automated method that captures textures during gameplay and generates roughness and detail maps. In practice, metallic surfaces, fabrics, and the asphalt of the streets no longer have the opaque look of 2008, but instead display reflections and light interactions consistent with modern graphics engines. It's the kind of treatment that many were expecting from an official remaster, but given Rockstar's silence, it can only be found through independent efforts on the PC.

Unlike modifications that simply saturate colors or increase contrast, this add-on respects Niko Bellic's dark art direction, focusing exclusively on material fidelity. By combining these textures with ray tracing lighting, the game achieves an aesthetic close to titles released in the current generation. However, it's important to note that such a level of fidelity requires robust hardware, which has always been the Achilles' heel of heavy graphical modifications for the RAGE engine.

It's frustrating to see classics of this magnitude rely solely on the goodwill of fans to receive essential improvements. While Rockstar seems hesitant to revisit its titles from the PS3 and Xbox 360 era — possibly due to the technical trauma of the GTA Trilogy: The Definitive Edition — modders prove that the GTA IV code still has much potential to be explored. If you have an RTX card, this is undoubtedly the definitive way to revisit the story of revenge and the American dream in virtual ground.