Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
PlayStation 2
People take improvements in the Grand Theft Auto series for granted nowadays. Each edition of the game that comes out always seems to improve on its previous installment. But never has this case been more extreme than with the jump from GTA: Vice City to GTA: San Andreas.
Prior to San Andreas, action was limited to one city in each game. You had Liberty City, which was a knockoff of New York. And then there was Vice City, which was based off of Miami. San Andreas completely blew the cover off of this whole "one city per game" thing. And it did it in a major way.
When the game starts off, you find yourself in Los Santos, which is the GTA world's representation of Los Angeles. But unlike past games in the series, you quickly discover that action is not limited to this one location. In fact, San Andreas represents most of the state of California with a little bit of Nevada thrown in for good measure. Not only can you explore Los Santos as a whole, but you can travel to two other cities, which are just as big and just as detailed. San Fierro, which is modeled after San Francisco and Las Venturas - modeled after Las Vegas.
As if these three cities weren't big enough, there is also an enormous amount of area in between these cities that you can explore to your heart's content. It isn't just barren landscape either. There are highways, tunnels, little towns, rest stops, parks, mountains, trails, wooded areas, quarries, rivers.... the list goes on and on. Compared to the previous entries in the GTA series that simply take place in one city, the detail level of the game is just staggering. I am sure there are numbers on just how big the game is, but off the top of my head I'd have to say that the sheer amount of area to cover in this game is at least ten times bigger than Vice City and Liberty City combined. At least. That's probably still not doing the size of the game justice. It is really massive.
With a game this big you expect there to be excessive loading times, or perhaps a reduction in quality in other areas. But this is not the case with GTA: San Andreas. The graphics are the sharpest in the series (at the point it was released). The series' standard cutscenes in between missions are still present. There is a boatload of diverse missions. And whether it is working out at the gym, going on dates, or hitting up the game's various racetracks - there is always a ton of stuff to do here. That's not even mentioning the game's collectibles. Each area seems to have its own unique collectible. You spray over rival gangs graffiti tags in Los Santos, collect horseshoes in Las Venturas, collect underwater pearls anywhere there is water in the game, and snap photographs of iconic locations in San Fierro.
As if that wasn't enough, you aren't just limited to cars, motorcycles, and boats in this game. There's bicycles (you know, the ones that you actually pedal) helicopters, airplanes, ATVs, tractors, semi trucks, and a countless number of other things you can use to ride around town. Hell, there is even a jetpack you can use if you make it that far in the game.
Character customization is at an all time high. You can change clothes to virtually any combination possible. You work out, you get buff. You eat too much, you get fat. You run, your stamina goes up. The more you use certain weapons, the more your skill with them improves. Comparing this game to GTA 3 or Vice City is like comparing apples to oranges. There is SO much to do here, so much is improved and expanded upon that it almost feels like a different series. But at the same time - the same. It's quite simply the single largest jump in improvement from one game in a series to the next. And I thought Vice City was superb, too. So that should speak volumes to how I feel about this game.
GTA soundtracks are known for being amazing and versatile, and this game is no exception. There are a ton of diverse radio stations. There are multiple rap stations, and I'm not a big rap fan. But I must say that they really hand picked some of the best rap songs from the 90's for this game. I have to stop every time I am channel surfing and come across Snoop Dogg or Dr Dre on the radio. There is a classic rock station, filled with some great tunes. Freebird is a personal favorite. And a 90's rock station. I don't care for the talk stations, nor the techno or the country, but all in all it is a very satisfying soundtrack for this game. It is a rare situation when you are changing stations on the radio and can't find something to listen to.
The voice acting is on par with the music, with people like Samuel L Jackson, Chris Penn, David Kross, and many more lending their talent to the game.
As far as the story goes, I didn't particularly care for it too much. This is where GTA games usually fall short for me. They all follow the same formula. You've got your main character guy, and he takes missions for kooky sons of a bitches who are trying to use him, one after the other. Eventually your guys works from the bottom of the scrap heap to the top of a criminal empire. And then the game ends. You don't really care too much for the characters. Perhaps the game is too silly to be taken seriously? Because it is definitely a very goofy and over the top game. If some day they can make GTA's story line more serious and intense, like an interactive Breaking Bad, we could have the ultimate video game. But it hasn't happened yet.
But I do like the diversity in the series. This game follows CJ, the main protagonist. He comes home to the hood in Los Santos after his mom was killed, and he sets out looking for answers while trying to make things better for his remaining friends and family at the same time. Each GTA game changes it up with its main characters, and I appreciate what they did here.
The time setting for each GTA game is almost a character in its own way. Vice City was clearly recognizable as being set in the 80's, and this game is just as recognizable as being set in the 90's. From the songs on the radio to the pop culture references, to the giant, sneaker sized cell phones, it is like you are transported back in time 20 years go. It is super cool.
Missions are big and varied. Most of the missions are things you have seen and done before. Storm enemy strongholds, shoot people, win races, steal cars. But this game really goes the extra mile in making each job you undertake seem slightly different. Before the game is over you'll find yourself driving a motorcycle onto the ramp of a moving airplane, hijacking a train, loading boxes onto a truck with a forklift, stealing a jetpack from Area 51, and burning down a field of marijuana before the cops arrive. The game makes even seemingly mundane missions like driving a semi truck from point to point seem fun. Stealth is introduced to the GTA series as well. This game isn't always all about going in guns blazing. Sometimes sneaking into places is the way to go.
A lot of people hate the Zero missions in the game, but I thought they were unique and fun. Zero is a character who is a whiz with mechanical flying toys. Of course, this is GTA. The toys have been modified to deal lethal damage to your enemies. One particular mission involves flying a tiny little biplane that has been equipped with a machine gun over the city and picking off your rivals. This was very difficult because not only is the thing hard to handle, but you have a limited amount of fuel to use in which to complete the mission. It must have taken me at least 15 tries to complete this mission. Sure there is a steep learning curve, but it actually never got frustrating to me. I was constantly challenging myself to do better, and eventually I did.
As amazing as the game is, it does have its faults. The most noticeable thing to me during my most recent play through was definitely the draw distance. This is especially irritating when you are attempting to fly a plane and random trees and poles suddenly appear in front of you. They have a tendency to do that. And planes are fragile too. It just takes one tree to completely wreck your mission.
As much as I praised the game for its size, there are points when backtracking is required. Then, the game seems TOO big for its own good. It can be a good 10 minute drive across San Andreas to get to your next mission. And if you wreck your car or somehow get stuck on foot out in the desert, this can easily stretch to 20. As far as I could tell, the game doesn't have a fast travel system. Nor can you skip long portions of travel by taking a taxi. It is all on you to get from point A to point B.
There are missions later in the game where a giant gang war erupts, and you must take over enemy territory to advance the game's story line. This part of the game seemed especially glitchy to me. Vehicles are nearly impossible to find when all this is going on. Most cars you encounter are either on fire, which means they are about to blow up. Or they are cop cars, which if you try to steal will bring massive amounts of police attention down on you. Without a car, you'll find yourself having to run across the city to your next location. And it takes FOREVER to get anywhere without a vehicle.
It happened to me a few times during these missions where I would take over a few territories, and then die on my way back to a save point. Or my property would fall under attack, and I'd die trying to defend it. This was beyond frustrating. Especially with the limited amount of vehicles at your disposal.
The only other times I would feel frustration in the game were mainly due to stupid bad luck. Halfway through a race - my car flips and I lose. Almost finished with a tough mission - get run over by an ambulance and die. Fly a plane to bomb an enemy location - hit a tree on the way back or fly over a restricted area and die. This game is filled with cheap deaths. Filled, I say. And I am not even counting all the times I would make sure the coast is clear, steal a car, and then instantly have cops all over me. At least they are easier to shake in this game, as opposed to GTA 4 or 5.
But all of this should be expected by anyone who has ever played a GTA game before.
I love the Grand Theft Auto series. I have been a fan since the overhead, top down view versions of the game back on the original PlayStation. I had a girlfriend who loved Vice City, and we would spend countless hours playing the game over and over again all night long. That game holds a lot of great memories for me. I love me some GTA 4. I pumped more hours into that game's multiplayer mode than any other games multiplayer modes combined. GTA 5 is giant, fun, and may even rival this game in the sheer amount of shit you can do. And the game's graphics completely blow San Andreas away.
But if you asked me to name my favorite game in the series, it would definitely be GTA: San Andreas. This game broke the mold in so many ways, and completely elevated Grand Theft Auto to another stratosphere of video gaming. It is fun, it is iconic. There is so much to do, so much to collect. It is big, it is beautiful, and it is funny as all hell. The music is great, the voice acting is great. The missions are fun. Even if you are not really doing anything, there is still a good time to be had. It is truly a remarkable game.
If I had given this game a grade when it first came out, it would have received an A+ for sure. But since time has passed, some of the game's more obvious flaws stick out like sore thumbs. And there were some very frustrating moments in the game for me, particularly when something completely out of your control happens and completely messes up your mission. And the story. I really wish I cared about the story.
GTA: San Andreas isn't a perfect game, but it is pretty damned good. If you have never played it before, you may think it is a major step backward, especially if you have played some of the newer iterations of the GTA series. But those of us who grew up playing this game, who were sitting at the store waiting to buy it when it was first released - you know what I'm talking about.
Excellent game, easily my favorite in the series.
Overall:
A
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