GAME STUDIO DESCRIPTION: Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas… a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.
Now, it’s the early 90s. Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Liberty City. Vice City. Now San Andreas, a new chapter in the legendary series.
GRAPHICS: When haven’t you been impressed by the graphics in a GTA game? The breadth of each game only grows more and more. San Andreas has both multiple cities and the country to boot. What is most impressive is that you don’t have to wait to load a new map city to city or going into the country.
The streets are a scary place and there is a subtle intensity to them. You almost feel like you are in Cali in mid-summer. You can feel the sun burning up the pavement. The visuals add a richness that is rare in a video game. You feel the weather like never before.
The character models are decent in a cartoon/GTA way. There are issues with frame rates when you get in close to objects however it is tolerated considering the other aspects that outweigh the issue.
PLAY: As with all the GTA games there is an effective storyline—but aren’t restricted. The missions aren’t strictly about your character alone—you will help others so that you can complete your missions and earn respect and money. It’s an interesting interaction as the game is more of a movie that you are an actor in than a video game that you play.
Right from the beginning GTA is intense. If you are looking for sweaty palms you’ll be there about five minutes into it. There are an assortment of bad guys and good guys who care very little about you. There scariest part of the game is that you start off on a bike. A bike! Talk about not feeling safe.
The shooting is better this time around and mimics Manhunt—a very nice addition. There is a new depth to your character. CJ must working out, eat and gain respect. As in any underground life we all know respect is everything. Without respect you can’t recruit gang members and will find yourself doing little more than riding a bike and getting chased down by your friends and foes alike. You also need to increase CJ’s weapon and vehicle skills. This allows you to get good enough to simplify many of the harder missions and take out your rivals.
There is a ton of exciting side missions. As in the past, if you enter a police car you can press R3 and take to missions—the twist is that you can do the same with ambulances and fire trucks. Also if you enter a moving vehicle after dark you’ll do a stealth home break in mission. You’ll also get to date. It’s not all about the hookers. Think SIMS gangster style.
SOUND: GTA is the kings of the videogame soundtracks. Once again when you get in a car you can change the radio station and get a wide assortment of music. Most of the hip-hop comes from the early ‘90s and ‘80s. Anyone that loves hip-hop will always be tuned in. There are also funk, reggae, country, rock, talk-radio stations and more. There are even some cool DJs like Chuck D and Axl Rose. Talk about depth for a video game—hell this would have been impressive for a movie.
The voice acting has been taken up a notch. You only have to look at the credits that come with the booklet to see how vast and deep the voice acting is. This might be the most astonishing level of voice acting to date. The vehicles have strong sounds that kick in when you have the stereo connected.
FRANKLY: Most of the missions are exciting and come with twists-and-turns. San Andreas is never easy but is still a lot of fun. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the grandest video game releases ever. Build your thug nation and they will come. Rockstar has made a masterpiece in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
+ Charlie Craine
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