Words can't possibly give this game the justice it deserves. One of the best games ever created. An enormous game which is heavily story line driven, it looks great, sounds great and plays great, hugely addictive and pure fun.
The story is excellent, everything starts off very small and personal, which is great as you really become involved with your close friends and family. As the story unfolds you will begin to like, love and hate various characters in the game and will really allow you to ride the rollercoaster of plot twists and turns, in the back of your mind you begin to imagine the enormity of what lies ahead, and the excitement really starts to build.
You are Carl Johnson, you have returned to San Andeas from Liberty City because you mother has been killed. A while ago your brother was also killed and you fled, this has left a bitter taste in the mouths of you once close friends, you will have to prove your trustworthiness to them. And you journey begins.
The game is just huge! Not just one or even two cities to explore but three full cities and the connecting environments, which range from arid deserts to mountainous terrain to farm land; there are even little towns to explore.
The three cities are fictional depictions of real life cities, for example: Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fiero (San Francisco) and Las Ventures (Las Vegas). The cities are all big, the major landmarks and attitude of the real life cities are captured in the game very well.
Everything looks great, from the buildings to the mountains to the vehicles and characters. There are some minor graphical elements which could be better, but that would just be nitpicking. The audio is fantastic, great SFX and the soundtrack rocks! Different songs from the era have been included in the usual radio stations. Great songs from hard rock, techno, country and gangster rap, its all here. I must say cruising in a low-rider with a bunch of fellow gangsters on your way to do a drive by shooting whilst listening to NWA is priceless. You can also create your own playlist.
The gameplay is brilliant, the two main elements of the gameplay are driving and on foot (3rd person), though there are many, many other things you will find yourself doing. Driving is super smooth and responsive; the vehicles all have unique characteristics and offer plenty of fun. Flying though the mountains on a dirt bike is awesome, but that's just the beginning, there are heaps of vehicles and some new vehicles and some that will blow you away. Its great fun!
The 3rd person side of the game is what we have come to expect from the series. Though there are some brilliant new elements, one of them is the ability to swim, this is a wonderful introduction as drowning in the other games was terribly frustrating, especially if it happened near the end of a mission.
The controls are simple and effective. Your control Carl with the left thumb stick, you aim and target with the right trigger and shoot with the left, this works well and gun battles are pure great.
As I said before there are plenty of elements to this game, here are some of the things you are able to do: Play pool, work out, shop for clothes, gamble in casinos, play street basketball, hit the BMX park, skydive (true), modify your Lowrider, bet on horse racing, compete in many racing events, date girls, play video games (in arcades and on Carl's console), get tattoos, get a hair cut, fly jet fighters, buy businesses, pimp hookers, burgle homes, go dancing, earn cash driving big rigs and so on. The usual taxi, paramedic, vigilante, fire fighter jobs are also available.
Instead of collecting the usual "hidden packages", there are various other odd collectables and jobs. There are 100 rival gang tags sprayed over Los Santos, you must tag over top of all of them. Another job is to photo graph various landmarks around San Fierro. These and other various odd jobs are available, you will be rewarding in various ways as you complete them.
One of the things I adore about this game is the character advancement and development, which reminds me a little Morrowind. You have stats which cover many different things including; stamina, muscle, fat, driving, riding, weapons etc. These stats will increase as you use or do certain things. Weapon skill, for example, will improve slightly with every accurate shot you land, land enough shots and you will improve in rank, such as Gangster or Hitman. Each rank will allow you to do different things, for example, when you reach Gangster you can now move while aiming and lock on range, strafe speed, rate of fire and accuracy will all increase. This works with many things, riding will slowly increase riding stats, swimming will increase stamina, lung capacity, etc, there are many other areas you can upgrade and improve as well.
This game has the ultimate replay value. Even if you don't want to do missions or maybe you have finished them, there is still plenty of fun to be had. Fly down the coast line in a jet fighter, initiate gang warfare, hit the casinos, play some street basketball or go dirt biking through the mountains, it's just endless!
Possibly the best game I have ever played. San Andreas is pure class anyway you look at it, and it offers an amazing gaming experience you will never forget!
Create an Account
Member Login
