LB's GTA: San Andreas Review
More of the same? Hell yeah!
"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", the latest installment of the best
selling game, has delivered on its promise as one of the best console
video games ever made. Following the tried-and-true formula of its
venerable predecessors, you star as a thug; to be exact, a home-boy
thug in early '90s Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San
Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas)...think "Boyz N the Hood."
You are Carl Johnson, returning to the hood in Los Santos after five
years away. Your Mom has been murdered and your brother, Sweet, wants
revenge.
Upon returning home you are framed for the murder of a cop by two
corrupt cops, Tenpenny (Samuel L. Jackson) and Pulaski (Chris Penn).
And thus the fun begins. From your home in the hood you begin a life
of petty theft and gang wars. As you make your way up the criminal
ladder you will soon make contact with the city's other crime lords
and your horizons will expand to the other two cities.
In classic GTA style, the game is very open-ended. At any one time
there are several missions for you to accomplish or you can simply
drive/run/bike/swim around the city exploring and earning money in any
of the many side games/quests.
"GTA: SA" is different than the previous "GTAs" in a number of ways.
First, as you have already guessed, there is more than one city. In
addition to the expansive cities there is now countryside connecting
the cities. The countryside contains a few small towns, dirt bike
tracks, mountains and hills. To get around such a huge environment,
the designers at Rockstar have given us a plethora of new and improved
aircraft. No longer will we hear the classic, "How do I fly the
Dodo?," question. Not only will you find a Dodo, but you'll also have
access to WWII fighters, bi-planes, Harrier jets, and at least a
half-dozen helicopters. Flying becomes a big part of this game in the
later missions and is definitely an improvement on the previous games.
Another big difference is the ability to swim. Although this
improvement has eliminated an easy way to end a mission if things are
going poorly it is a great addition. In fact, there are 50 oyster
shells hidden throughout the game's water environments. Finding them
helps your sex appeal and your lung capacity.
That leads me to another difference: stats. You have a whole new slew
of stats including respect, sex appeal, bike skill, driving skill,
muscle, fat, luck, and many more. Your stats, or lack thereof,
determine things like your ability to date girls, access to mountain
bike challenges, and how hard you can punch enemies. You build up
muscle by working out in gyms and you lose fat by doing aerobic
exercises like running or riding a bike. You also have to watch how
much you eat. There are a number of fast-food restaurants throughout
the game. Eat too much and you get fat resulting in an inability to
run fast. Eat too little and you become skin and bones and start to
lose muscle. You have to manage your eating and exercise habits to
maintain a svelte appearance.
The missions in "San Andreas" are by far the most diverse of any "GTA"
game to date. From helping electronic geek, Zero (David Cross),
tackle his arch-enemy by controlling radio controlled vehicles in a
battle arena to robbing a casino "Ocean's Eleven"-style you will not
be disappointed by the number or lack of variety of the missions.
When you're not on a mission there are many more distractions than
previous "GTA"s have offered. Bored? Walk into a bar and play a game
of pool. Go to a convenient store and play spoofs of several arcade
games to see if you can get the hi-score. And, like before, hop into
a cop car, ambulance, or taxi to do vigilante, paramedic, and taxi
missions to earn money. New additions to this list include trucking,
freight train, and pimp missions.
What's that? You saw a pretty girl over there? Well, why not date
her? There are 6 datable girls in the game. To attract them you have
to have a nice physique, a cool car, and stylish clothes. Oh, flowers
help too as does a particular sex device that I'm not at liberty to
discuss.
Gone are the hidden packages. They have been replaced by the
aforementioned oysters and three other "findables": spray tag
locations, horseshoes, and snapshot locations. Finding these
items/locations in each city will spawn weapons at your "home base"
for each city.
The graphics in the game aren't stellar, but they don't have to be.
Like all "GTA" games, the cutscenes are some of the most rudimentary
I've seen in a while. For example, the movement is choppy, the five
fingers on hands are all one big chunk of hand, and lip movement is
terrible. However, you're not playing this game for the cutscenes.
You're playing it because the in-game experience is like no other.
The in-game graphics are above average with cars, streets, buildings,
and character movement all well above average. A lot of time went
into the gameplay of this game...not so much to the cutscenes.
The story in "San Andreas" is also the best of any "GTA" game so far.
Rockstar adroitly perceived that the whole "Tony Soprano" mafia thing
is getting old and therefore they went for a whole new direction:
South Central LA, the hood. The drug wars, gang wars, and repression
of the inner-city youth is a strong undercurrent in the game. For as
much flak as this game takes for having "random violence" and terrible
"moral values" there is actually quite a complex plot unfolding.
Without ruining anything, CJ (you), is disturbed by the crack epidemic
that has reached his hood and the lives it has ruined. The corrupt
and militaristic cops are no help and in fact do more harm than good.
You can almost see how this is leading up to the OJ Simpson debacle
and the riots that ensued.
A large part of the success of the story is the excellent voice
acting. In addition to Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Penn other
Hollywood (Vinewood) and music-industry talent can be heard throughout
the game including Peter Fonda, Ice-T, Chuck D, Bijou Phillips, and
many more.
Going beyond voice and into music, "GTA: SA" does not disappoint.
With 10 radio stations (which you can listen to in any vehicle) and
over 100 tracks spanning every genre imaginable you won't be tired or
hearing the same song over and over. Some of our fave's include, Guns
and Rose's, NWA, Public Enemy, Joe Cocker, Bobby Brown, Jane's
Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Think of early 90's music and
it's in the game. In fact there is an 8 CD box to accompany the game.
As you can probably tell, "GTA: San Andreas" is a huge game. The
addition of several cities, a countryside, stats, and many aircraft
have pushed what was once the most expansive of games into a whole new
universe. Having finished all of the story missions you still have
about 45% of the game to complete. You can spend hours roaming the
seemingly alive city, exploring, playing, and well, killing and
maiming.
"GTA: San Andreas" is hands down, one of the best games of the year
and is probably one of the best games released on a console to date.
It is mind blowing and fun. It is a world in which you will get lost,
will care about characters, and will ultimately dominate.
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