GTA 5 may have been released in 2015 (on PC, before you get to me in the comments), but even the Legacy edition on Steam is a whopping 119.03GB – yup, another hard drive gobbler. Thankfully, modders have found the perfect way to squeeze it down to 2.5GB, saving tons of space so you can explore Los Santos without cluttering up your computer.
There's just one catch. A pretty big catch actually. Obviously, clocking in at 2.5GB, a pulp sacrifices must be made. You've seen the featured image of this article, which you'd be right to believe is actually taken from Ridge Racer Type 4, not GTA 5, but no, there were so many corners that had to be cut to get the file size that small.
I think it's Michael? It is difficult to decipher from a lump of polygons
As reported by Synth Potato, this is the work of the ultra low end mod, an experimental project that aims to push file compression to its absolute limits. Calling it “playable” would be a bit of a stretch, as the team had to remove entire missions, sounds, maps and more. But still, it works enough to be vaguely recognizable as Grand Theft Auto 5, even if Michael is a polygon blob of block colors (at least, I assume Michael is).
3D assets have been flattened by a digital steamroller, textures pop in and out, roads are almost indistinguishable from the gray bits that are supposed to be buildings, and the less said about the pedestrians the better, but impressively the mod still renders the capital and lets you drive around with little trouble.
It's definitely not the optimal way to play, and if you're struggling with hard drive space, it's better to remove something other than downloading this mod, but that's clearly not the point. It's a fascinating glimpse into what a truly slimmed-down GTA 5 would look like, giving the game a makeover that straddles the line between DS and PS1.
- Released
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September 17, 2013
- ESRB
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M for Adults 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, mature humor, nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs and alcohol
- Developer
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Rockstar North
