Incredible GTA 5 NaturalVision Evolved mod makes the game photorealistic

(Image credit: Rockstar)

The GTA 5 NaturalVision Evolved mod has gone into early access, with its first trailer showing what a transformative effect it can have on the open world. 

The early access mod is an extensive graphical reworking of the game, and the YouTube description goes into some of the work already done on it. It reads: "Numerous changes were made to the environmental weathers, lighting system, ambient colors, tonemapping, world textures, building models and much more in order to blur the line between fantasy and reality." 

In practice, it means that the 7 year old masterpiece can look almost photorealistic. For instance, this clip from journalist Ben Walker shows just how well the mod works as he drives a motorbike through the raining streets of Los Santos and I'm not going to lie, I spent far too long rewinding it to marvel as all the details. The pools of rain on the read, the the warm hum of Neon signs, and the crisp details on the road. Bacially, it's proper lush. 

To get your hands on NaturalVision Evolved's early access release, you'll need to donate to developer Razed's Patreon. They have various tiers which you can donate to, but for the early access NaturalVision Evolved mod, you'll need to go for the Gold Tier, which comes in at $10 a month. We'll let you know when the mod gets a full release.

Got GTA 5 on the Epic Games Store for free recently? There's never been a better time to check out which GTA 5 PC mods can enhance the game. 

Ben Tyrer

Hello, I'm GamesRadar's News Editor. I've been working in the games industry since 2013, after graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism. Since then I've worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as writing for Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. When I'm not moaning about being beaten on FIFA and Warzone, I'm writing news, features, and reviews for this wonderful site.