- Drive through the largest GTA environment ever -- The game has three cities players can explore, for a gaming area 5 times larger than Vice City.
- Recruit new characters into a street gang and take over by leading drive-by shootings against rivals.
- Steal all-new vehicles, including bicycles.
- Improved fighting elements -- smoother hand-to-hand combat, plus the ability to hold a weapon in each hand.
- New graphics elements as cars get dirty and even rust, the longer you drive them.
It may not be a splashy leap forward, but Rockstar Games' Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas in its own deep, dark way does just as
much to move and revolutionize video games as its two
predecessors, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice
City. As in previous installments, here you play as a thug with
problems you must steal and shoot your way out of, but the
problems this time are disconcertingly more realistic. You play
as Carl Johnson, known on the street as CJ, a likeable criminal
type who has just returned to his hometown, Los Santos (a
fictionalized Los Angeles), to find that his mother has been
murdered and that the have framed him for another murder.
Reunions with his friends and a troubled relationship with his
brother set off a sprawling, complex plot line, taking place at
first in the immediate Los Santos area but eventually spilling
into San Fierro (based on San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las
Ve).
CJ You play as Carl Johnson, known on the street as CJ.
This is an honest effort to create an engaging story about
sympathetic characters caught up in a brutal environment that is
on par with a movie or novel.
Gaming Gangsters
Where Vice City took its cues, with tongue firmly in cheek, from
the 1980s television series Miami Vice, San Andreas is a sincere
homage to early 1990s innercity gangster films like Menace 2
Society and Boyz ‘N the Hood. This is an honest effort to create
an engaging story about sympathetic characters caught up in a
brutal environment that is on par with a movie or novel. If that
effort hits a few flat notes (you would have to be totally
desensitized not to wonder if it's OK to make entertainment out
of driveby shootings), it may also mark the first step toward
video games growing up. The first thing that fans of earlier GTA
games will notice is the range of action is much wider now: Along
with shooting, running, and driving, there's now swimming,
eating, working out, shopping, and, yes, getting a haircut. All
this means the game has a fairly steep learning curve. But,
though the pick-up-and-play appeal of Grand Theft Auto III may be
long gone, your access to the action becomes fairly transparent
after a little practice. My only serious complaint is that, with
the controller now crowded with such previously unheard-of
functions like "Gang Active" and "Talk Positive," you can drive
only with the left analog stick. A minor point, but it makes cars
a lot more difficult to handle.
Bikin’ it Bicycles take on a surprisingly central role.
Vehicular Variety
It would be hard to surpass the variety of automobiles available
in earlier games, and San Andreas wisely does not for the most
part try to compete on that score. Instead, it's bicycles of all
things that steal the show. The bikes' speed and flexibility are
perfect for many of the missions, and there is something about
cruising through the streets and basketball courts on a BMX that
just feels right. If you play far enough into the game, you will
also be rewarded with the chance to fly a number of aircraft, and
flying is something Rockstar makes a greater effort to get right
this time (welcome news for anyone who struggled with the planes
and ‘copters of the earlier games).
Lackluster Graphics--but a Real Feel
Graphics--never a huge priority for Rockstar--actually take a
step backward from the luscious, tropical look of Vice City.
Textures are rendered with only a cursory attention to detail,
and contours are often blocky. It cely matters, though,
because no matter how San Andreas looks, it feels real. This is
due in no small part to voice work by an all-star cast including
Samuel L. Jackson, Ice T, James Woods, Peter Fonda, and Outkast's
Big Boy and a stellar soundtrack with tunes by Soundgarden, 2Pac,
Public Enemy, and even a few country classics from the likes of
Willie Nelson. But it's not just realistic, San Andreas is also
vast, encompassing three big urban centers and huge swaths of
rural land (complete with -toting farmers) between them.
This vastness does mean, however, that there can be a lot of
tedious driving to get to the missions, which, along with some
awkward sequencing of the cut scenes (they are in places stacked
one on top of the other), means that there is a bit too much
downtime. But never mind the quibbles. Ladies and gentlemen, we
have another classic on our hands. --David Stoesz
Pros:
* Astonishingly vast game space
* Vivid character development
* Complex, engaging plot
* Enormous range of available actions
Cons:
* Occasionally awkward game design
* You can no longer steer cars with the directional buttons
* Steep learning curve
What's Your Strategy?
Get mission strategies and detailed s to achieve every
objective with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official
Strategy Guide.