Carl Johnson returns home after losing his mom and a brother some
time ago to gang wars in his home hood of Ganton in the ghettos of Los Santos. With the help of the rest of his Grove Street Family, he sets out to put things right. That is the basic premise for San Andreas. The story starts out strongly as you try to take back the hood from the Ballas and other local gangs. Then you're left in the Badlands working for someone GTA fans will recognize from GTA III (one of multiple cameos in SA). When you reach the desert and Las Venturas, its when you feel like the game as lost its direction. Going from the gangs of Los Santos to conspiracy theories and government technology in the Desert just don't feel particularly natural. CJ has to get a pilot's license in order to advance the story and many of the missions taken at the airstrip don't feel like they belong. Its not until you leave Las Venturas and head back to Los Santos that you finally return to the roots of the game. The last few missions are when the story really comes together and wraps up the beginning. The desert missions make SA feel disjointed as you go from the gang storylines, which are well developed and the player actually feels connected to, to the desert missions which have nothing to do with CJ and feel almost tacked on.
The graphics are the same as Vice City with almost no noticable improvements to the engine. The major differences are the sheer size of the map as well as the number of interiors. The interiors look much better compared to VC, however the exterior graphics still suffer from glitches. Distant mountains, trees and other landscape features pop up suddenly and almost randomly as you near them. People sometimes appear in walls, disappear altogether, body parts stick up, and freeze-ups occur. This comes to no surprise to anyone who has played the previous games but it is disappointing that they still haven't managed to remove these annoyances. For the graphics, think VC but bigger and that is what SA is like. Graphics are by far the game's greatest weakness and even that is not severe enough to deter from the experience besides the glitches. Musically speaking, much of the tracks on the radio stations are rap. Whilst that works fine when you're taking missions in Los Santos, it feels horribly out of place in San Fierro (where metal and hippie music are famous) and Las Venturas (home of lounge singers), Hearing the same music from city to city makes the entire state of San Andreas feel real but at the same time takes away from the uniqueness of each city. The sound effects are spot on though with every tire screech, swerve, horn and gunshot coming out with great force.
The controls have been revamped from the previous two games. Now, CJ (and any vehicle he's in) is entirely controlled with the left stick. While at first this takes some getting used to, eventually it becomes natural. Aiming has been once again greatly improved. Its very rare that you target non-hostile targets and target switching is easy. The vehicles start out awkward since all vehicles (except boats) all have a skill stat that governs how easy it is to control them. This makes the plane school missions unnecessarily difficult as you lack the skill to easily complete the missions. As you raise piloting skill the planes and helicopters control easily. The new controls, such as climbing up walls and stealth kills also work easily.
Rockstar has made sure plenty of new features were added to this game and because of this, many early missions are designed to show you new techniques like spraying tags and first person shooting. The early missions are great for those that haven't experienced GTA before but for those familiar with the old controls, these missions are too easy. Eventually you get to the point where missions are separated by different play styles. Missions can start out with a stealth section, then a shootout followed by a rail shooter getaway. Its these missions that showcase the best SA has to offer. While both GTA III and Vice City basically had shootouts with sometimes a getaway or simple "get from point A to B" instructions, here many missions require multiple objectives to be completed. Sometimes that makes missions unnecessarily difficult as you have to switch from one type of mode to another but most of the missions are fairly easy to get a handle on.
Besides the new control features, many other new features have been added to flesh out CJ. You now not only have to worry about rival gangsters, but also your stats. CJ has stamina, which affects his sprint ability, Body Muscle, which affects his melee attack ability as well as his Sex Appeal, and Fat, which also affects his Sex Appeal and his ability to run. You have to manage these abilities in gyms and head to fast food restaurants to eat. Eating keeps CJ's energy intact but also increases Fat in most instances, causing some light micro-management that never really interferes with the game. Weapons have been revamped so that you're rewarded for using them often. The more you use pistols and shotguns, the more experience you gain with them. After gaining enough experience, you get more accurate shooting as well as increased range until you can master the various individual weapons sklls. Gambling is another skill that can be increased. At higher levels you can borrow more money from casinos and make large wagers.They say the look makes the man and CJ can get decked out in plenty of different hairstyles, tattoos, and clothes. As you progress, new clothes are unlocked. You can go from local gang clothes, to trendy San Fierro clothes to expensive designer tweed suits. You can also converse with others using the D-pad to choose both positive and negative responses.Though it has no truly significant effect on the gameplay, these additions go a long way to providing more longevity to the game.
One of the best new features is Respect. You gain it by taking over rival territories, killing drug dealers and completing missions. The more respect you earn, the more Grove Street gang members you can recruit to help on missions or for taking over more territory. The conquering of territory provides a new way to enjoy the game that sadly doesn't last the entire game due to plot twists. One annoying problem that crops up with Respect is the fact that many missions give you Respect only and no financial rewards. This makes getting money much more difficult than it should be. Also, while trying to gain territory, when you first initiate attacks, cops attack you. When rival gangsters attack you, the cops do nothing. This can be quite infuriating considering cops prefer to shoot much more in SA.
Plenty of new vehicles abound and, like weapons, they also have skills pertaining to them. 4 skills are dedicated to driving, piloting, biking and cycling. The higher the stats, the more easier that method of transportation works. For bikes and cycles, higher levels also decrease the chance you'll be knocked off the vehicle. New unlockable vehicles from completing certain missions are all entertaining additions to the game and the road vehicles truly feel unique to one another with different handling, speeds and acceleration.
Whilst some missions can be easy, others can be frustrating. The plane missions as well as a few missions in San Fierro are tedious and unnecessarily difficult. Learning to fly in the game is a challenge because of the low piloting skill you start out with. New vehicle missions like Burglary, Pimping and Trucking add some new challenges and schools abound for all four forms of vehicles. The sheer number of small little missions to complete add plenty to a massive game. The only disappointment is the fact there are very few side story quests. Only a few locations in the game let you complete side missions separate from the story. Almost every mission encountered in SA is required to advance the story which is a major departure from GTA III where you could work for three separate gangs filled with plenty of missions to take on outside the main story missions. Here you're forced into a linear path in the story and considering the groundbreaking free roaming format that GTA brought to gaming, this can't help but be a disappointment.
Overall, the game has great features and some disappointing ones. The challenge in some missions is uneven compared to later ones, the graphics have no improvement from the previous games and the glitches rear their ugly head once again. I can only hope that any future GTA games are designed on a new graphics engine. On the plus side, the number of new side missions and sheer size of the map gives you plenty to do. Much of the map has something to find for those willing to investigate everything around. The new new RPG-like stat development and character creation adds a new dimension to the game even if it doesn't affect the story. The story sputters too much in the middle to truly be classic but it is far more enjoyable than the stories of both GTA III and VC. Here, you grow an attachment to CJ since you're really molding him in whatever shape you want. He can be skinny with a fro, muscular with plenty of tattoos, fat and bald or dressed in designer threads. The choice is up to the gamer. For those that enjoyed the previous two 3D GTA games, this game really is a must have. For those who found no enjoyment in the the previous games, though this game has plenty going for it, its not likely to change your mind with the series. Its more of the same but the new features flesh out everything from the previous two games.
Graphics & Sound: 9.0
Control: 9.5
Story: 9.5
Replayability: 10
Entertainment Value: 10
Overall: 96.875
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