When making Grant Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar were given the almost impossible task of trying to improve two of the best games ever – GTA3 and GTA Vice City. They decided to go with a new theme for the game, which is set in the early 1990’s, and a state in America where gangs rule the streets, and where you play a black gangster who’s part of the ‘Grove Street’ crew.
The game is set in an imaginary West-Coast state, featuring 3 large cities. The 3 cities are based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, and represent them fairly accurately, without going overboard. In this GTA San Andreas review I will attempt to give a detailed look into the game, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. First of all, the game’s story is fantastic, and the characters are voice-acted brilliantly, so you’re really sucked into the world.
The missions start with you – CJ, coming back for your mother’s funeral, only to meet up with your brothers, before getting sucked back into the gang culture. You decide to help them out, and the first mission involved spray painting your gang’s ‘tag’ on enemy turf, before escaping on a BMX bike. The first time I played this mission I was terrified that someone would see me spray painting, as all I had to protect myself with was a knife, and my enemies would all have guns! The game has a really nice learning curve and doesn’t throw you in at the deep end.
No GTA San Andreas review would be complete without a look at the game’s weapons, and there is a lot to look at. The game has more weapons than any of the previous games in the series, and it seems that every GTA San Andreas review has picked up on this.
The weapons range from heavy machine guns, to chainsaws, and then to the downright bizarre (golf clubs anyone?), and it seems like almost anything can be used. All in all the game is one of the best of its generation, with the only downside being with the graphics that can sometimes be a bit dodgy (especially when there’s a lot happening on the screen