A GTA 5 mod updates the entirety of Los Santos by transforming the weather, interiors, lighting, textures, and basically every visual element of Rockstar’s crime sandbox to look something closer to GTA 6 – or at least, our personal, giddily optimistic, imagined version of GTA 6.
NaturalVision (no space) is a wonderfully ambitious total overhaul of Grand Theft Auto 5, continually updated by the talented and highly devout modder Jamal Rashid, also known as Razed. The latest version offers the most stunning and comprehensively overhauled iteration of Los Santos that we’ve ever seen, adding dozens of new, highly detailed models, extra weather and particle effects, an advanced shadows system, and myriad visual tweaks and upgrades. Vehicle headlights reflect off of rainwater, the snow on Mount Chiliad melts and reforms, and there’s even a rainbow in the sky from time to time by the lighthouse.
The biggest change, however, is to the overall weather system, which now undergoes various stages of transition and clearing, rather than blinking from one state to the next. It’s not a game breaker, but when you’re in the middle of a tough, atmospheric gunfight during a storm, and then Los Santos suddenly breaks out in glorious gold sunshine, it tends to kill the mood, something that NaturalVision deftly addresses.
The mod is available for free and certainly something to keep you entertained while we wait for news on the GTA 6 release date. You can also check out our guide to the best GTA 5 mods, or if you fancy a change from Los Santos entirely, try something from our list of the best sandbox games on PC.