On November 11, Rockstar released GTA Trilogy Remastered — a collection of three major games of its 3D Universe: GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas. The Grand Theft Auto series is all about crime — in all its forms. Every now and then, the player has to assume the roles of a mafia guy, a street gang member, or a retired bank robber.
However, even in the remastered version of the game, a variety of guns in the series still lacks brightness. The CS.MONEY blog fixed this issue and created a selection of skins that would fit the vibes of these games’ main characters.
GTA Trilogy Remastered: Vice City. Hawaiian shirts & machine guns.
The story of GTA: Vice City is set in 1986. Since this is the first game chronologically, we’ll start with it. Tommy Vercetti, the game’s protagonist, was obviously inspired by the criminal action heroes from the 80s.
We’ll be looking for skins that would look great in this guy’s hands, factoring in which particular guns he used during his adventures, of course.
Glock-18 Vogue
If we were to choose one Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin per game, the choice for Vice City would be unequivocal: it’s the Glock-18 Vogue. The skin literally screams: “I am the epitome of the glamorous 80s.” While Tommy’s adventures don’t exactly lay claim to the title of “glamorous” at first glance, he actually sponsored a rock band and attended yacht parties, among other things. In environments like that, the Glock-18 Vogue would only accentuate the exquisite combo of a blue Hawaiian shirt and casual jeans!
M249 Midnight Palm
Remember Tony Montana from the Scarface movie? His epic shootout with the M16? Well, forget it. It’s Tommy Vercetti know knows what a truly epic firefight looks like — and we’re not talking M16. He used an actual helicopter with a huge M60 machine gun on board.
Unfortunately, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive doesn’t feature the M60. However, it does feature its successor, the M249. The M249 Midnight Palm certainly deserves a spot in this selection. Because there are palm trees on it. And Vice City has palm trees. Yes, it’s that simple.
MAC-10 Disco Tech
Disco enjoyed its heyday in the 70s, and by 1986 — that’s when the plot of GTA: Vice City sets off — the music genre was already living out its last moments of glory. Nevertheless, for the main character, disco was probably the music of his youth. Fact is, he got in jail at a time when disco was a craze all over the world. Tommy could well use something along the lines of the MAC-10 Disco Tech purely because of nostalgia.
SSG 08 Turbo Peek
In GTA: Vice City, the main character had to engage in a whole bunch of activities, street racing among them. That said, the SSG 08 Turbo Peek is perfect for this selection: it combines neon lights and patterns evocative of Fast and Furious. Bottom line, a fantabulous finish that matches the game’s setting.
Tec-9 Decimator
With guns, everything’s rather tangled in GTA: Vice City. The common, default pistol has the looks and icon of the M1911, yet the 17-round magazine hints at the fact that originally it was a Glock. The protagonist Tommy Vercetti utilizes a Desert Eagle, but only in the cutscenes. There’s also the Tec-9 in the game, but for some reason, it’s considered a submachine gun along with the MAC-10 and MP5.
Despite all this confusion, we did manage to find a skin that feels like Tommy would want to use it. It’s the Tec-9 Decimator. At the time of the game’s plot, the Tec-9 was a thing from the future, so this finish with neon lights and geometric pattern nicely underlines the weapon’s novelty.
GTA Trilogy Remastered: San Andreas. Street gangs & the hip-hop underground.
The events of GTA: San Andreas are set in 1992. When creating this world, the developers drew inspiration from several real locations: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. The plot revolves around the confrontation between street gangs and corrupt police, as well as the war between these gangs.
USP-S Monster Mashup
Unlike previous games, in GTA: San Andreas the protagonist ceased to be a super-powerful guy who always bulldozes in and learned to act stealthily at times. That includes eliminating opponents with a silenced pistol or knife blow.
For that reason, we thought the USP-S Monster Mashup would suit Carl “CJ” Johnson, the protagonist. The gun has another bonus apart from the silencer: the green color scheme. The Grove Street Gang, of which the protagonist is a member, dresses in green. As you can see, the USP-S Monster Mashup is spot on!
Classic Knife Case Hardened
In addition to the silenced pistol, CJ utilizes a knife for stealthy kills. Even though you only have to resort to the knife only a couple of times in the whole game, these missions dilute the gameplay, which mostly consists of shooting and driving cars.
Among all the knives there are in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the most suitable one is Classic Knife Case Hardened. This blade has a similar blade curve and no handguard; even the color is about the same. Classic Knife Case Hardened for a classic installment of the GTA series!
UMP-45 Crime Scene
Have we already mentioned that the game’s plot has to do corrupt cops? Then here’s another slight spoiler: CJ will briefly work for these bad, bad guys. With that in mind, we decided that a thematic police skin should be part of this set too, choosing eventually the UMP-45 Crime Scene. By the way, if you think that the UMP-45 currently belongs in the metaphorical dumpster of history due to its nerf, try to play with this gun: it’s still pretty cool.
AK-47 Cartel
The AK-47 is not only the most popular gun in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but also the most common gun in the world. In pop culture too. Apparently, GTA: San Andreas’the main character uses this assault rifle as well. And although the AK isn’t the best weapon in the game, it remains the stable in the player’s arsenal for a long time thanks to its accessibility. The only downside is that the re-release didn’t replace the regular, boring AK with a skin. For example, with the AK-47 Cartel. It fits the game perfectly.
Sawed-Off Highwayman
Let’s finish with GTA: San Andreas by talking about shotguns. Three types are available to the player: pump shotgun, combat shotgun, and a saw-off. The latter is not as tough as its namesake from Red Dead Redemption 2, but it’s still a lot of fun. Besides, what beats your grandfather’s sawed-off shotgun for running around as a street gangster? We settled on the Sawed-Off Highwayman. It’s pretty self-explanatory: its name literally describes Carl Johnson’s main occupation.
GTA Trilogy Remastered: GTA III. Stone jungle & impenetrable fog.
The first in terms of the release date but the last by plot chronology, GTA III was very laconic. Notably, the game’s protagonist did not talk. Also, his arsenal consists of only six guns. The last GTA game features more pistols than that! Plus, we found out his name, Claude, in the GTA: San Andreas crossover mission only. Nonetheless, this didn’t prevent us from making a selection to commemorate Claude’s trials and triumphs.
M4A4 Neo-Noir
GTA III‘s Liberty City is remembered for its grayness and general dullness. Whenever it wasn’t raining, the sky was covered in clouds. Whenever the clouds dissipated, the city was still foggy.
Naturally, the fog was due to technical limitations, but it lent so much noir charm to the game whose plot wasn’t at all noirish. That’s why we decided to start the selection for the GTA III protagonist with the M4A4 Neo-Noir. The picture on the skin looks amazing — it could well decorate the cover of the next GTA game. At any rate, we suggest that you decorate your inventory with this gun.
MAC-10 Pipe Down
The MAC-10 Pipe Down represents Liberty City’s grayness rather well. The body of the weapon finish is as gray as the concrete, and the three-dimensional effect with the pipes nicely echoes the fact that GTA III was the first three-dimensional game in the series. By the way, here’s a fun fact: there was no MAC-10 in GTA III. This gun only appeared in Vice City.
AWP Graphite
The gray AWP Graphite will add some more depressing shades to Claude’s skin set. However, it’s quite logical given the plot of the game and the fate of the protagonist. We settled on the AWP because of the barrel’s devastating power. Thing is, the sniper rifle from GTA III looks more like the Schmidt Scout from Counter-Strike: Source, but it surpasses even the AWP in terms of killing power.
P2000 Imperial
Okay, enough of the grayness. Let’s dilute the skins with the vibrant P2000 Imperial. And not just for fun, but with a reference to the plot. Claude’s career in the underworld will have him work for the Italian mafia, among other things.
The P2000 Imperial is executed in rich red, a direct reference to the Roman Empire in its heyday. On top of that, it looks very appropriate in the context of the criminal empire that the GTA III’s Italian Mafia was.
Nova Koi
Besides the Italian Mafia, Claude also had to work for the Yakuza. Therefore, the last item on his list is the Nova Koi. The carp — the skin is decorated with a drawing of its scales — is considered a symbol of good luck and happiness in Japan. We’re not going to spoil just what kind of luck Claude will find as a result of him working for the Yakuza, but he’ll definitely find it. Intrigued? Then walk through the storyline of GTA III (again?) — the game isn’t very long.
Liked the skins of our GTA Trilogy Remastered loadout? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. And don’t forget to check out the Lara Croft selection and the skin collection that will make your inventory as legendary as Dominic Toretto’s cross!
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