While not a huge fan of any of the GTA games, I felt it was my cultural obligation to purchase San Andreas. This is the same trap that sprung when I bought the two previous next-gen GTA games. I find that, in a Grand Theft Auto game, I generally get to the latter half of the game then decide it's not worth my time or effort to complete. This comes about not because of difficulty, but from the repetitive nonsense I see sitting in front of me. There comes a time where you have to move end the six-star, thirty minute standoff wherein you possess a sniper rifle inside an Ammu-nation. You make a break for it. You hop into a tank. You are unbeatable, even by other tanks. You roll over everything and out of boredom, you pop in a few cheat codes and all of a sudden, your tank flys and everyone in the streets riots with pistols in hand. In saying this, I'm taking a step back and ranting in a convoluted way about how I despise the lack of freshness found in Rockstar North's infamous series.
The game begins in an expected way: Main character enters town and is double-crossed. He must do jobs to stay alive, yadda, yadda, seen it before. Your character is the man they call CJ, Carl Johnson. He has just returned from a five-year absence from his 'hood, Grove Street in Los Santos. You have come back from Liberty City to bury your mother, but while at home, you decide to tie up some loose ends. These tied ends lead to loosening of others and you must right all wrongs and reunite your family, take over the streets once again, clear those streets of drugs; all the while, keeping in shape, eating right and learning skills.
Skills become a large part of the game. Many skills are just applied, such as gun skills: kill people, level up accuracy and the like, reach hitman level, dual-wield, etc. There are also those you have to learn, such as flying planes. I, much of the time, found myself obsessing over maxing out a certain weapon to gain Hitman status. Oh how glorious it is to wipe out chumps with dual sawn-off shotguns!
One cannot even explain how much goes on in San Andreas. It becomes a constant effort to juggle missions, side-missions (taxi, ambulance, vigilante, etc), the gym (get buff, duh!), eating, clothing, tatooes, haircuts, girlfriends and causing ruckus. This game can only be summed up by one word: massive. GTA:SA will keep you busy, whether you like it or not.
The graphics are not the best you've ever seen, but none of the GTA games are great in the visuals department. If only the slow-down and pop-in were kept to a minimum, I'd be pleased. Per usual, they are a tad better than PS2's graphics (though I did not see a huge difference).
Another word comes to mind when thinking about San Andreas: glitchy. The AI at points is downright TERRIBLE. It is very frustrating to have an enemy gang run from their territory while you are trying to capture it, then having to wait for them to come back, or going after them to find that you lose the fight because you left the warzone (Yes, you do take territories for your own. Yes, it is a jolly good time). It is also frustrating finding yourself or your gang members stuck in walls, under cars, on top of cars, inside other people, etc. While frustrating, the obvious glitches did not bother me as much as I feel they should have. Either I'm growing softer in opinion to developers or I wanted to just reload and create more carnage.
As with Vice City, sound plays a huge role in creating the game's atmosphere. You'll find old-school rap, gangster rap, assorted early 90s alternative, country, and much more. Kudos to Rockstar for the great soundtrack, but I have to say that I prefer my custom soundtracks (Kudos to Xbox version).
I must say that I have become a fan of GTA. 30 hours and I've completed the main story, but I'm only at 60%. I have plenty left to explore, and, oddly enough, I want to do so. I commend you, Rockstar.
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