| | Click on Product Listings for Details!
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- The next chapter in the legendary Grand Theft Auto series
- Set in Los Santos, San Andreas, plagued by gang violence, corruption, and drugs
- Carl Johnson's mother has been murdered and family has fallen apart
- Carl is framed for homicide by two corrupt cops
- He must journey across San Andreas to take control of the streets
The Editors Desk:
It may not be a splashy leap forward, but Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in its own deep, dark way does just as much to move and revolutionize video games as its two predecessors, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. As in previous installments, here you play as a thug with problems you must steal and shoot your way out of, but the problems this time are disconcertingly more realistic. You play as Carl Johnson, known on the street as CJ, a likeable criminal type who has just returned to his hometown, Los Santos (a fictionalized Los Angeles), to find that his mother has been murdered and that the police have framed him for another murder. Reunions with his friends and a troubled relationship with his brother set off a sprawling, complex plot line, taking place at first in the immediate Los Santos area but eventually spilling into San Fierro (based on San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas).
 | | You play as Carl Johnson, known on the street as CJ. |
This is an honest effort to create an engaging story about sympathetic characters caught up in a brutal environment that is on par with a movie or novel.
| Gaming Gangsters
Where Vice City took its cues, with tongue firmly in cheek, from the 1980s television series Miami Vice, San Andreas is a sincere homage to early 1990s innercity gangster films like Menace 2 Society and Boyz ‘N the Hood. This is an honest effort to create an engaging story about sympathetic characters caught up in a brutal environment that is on par with a movie or novel. If that effort hits a few flat notes (you would have to be totally desensitized not to wonder if it's OK to make entertainment out of driveby shootings), it may also mark the first step toward video games growing up. The first thing that fans of earlier GTA games will notice is the range of action is much wider now: Along with shooting, running, and driving, there's now swimming, eating, working out, shopping, and, yes, getting a haircut. All this means the game has a fairly steep learning curve. But, though the pick-up-and-play appeal of Grand Theft Auto III may be long gone, your access to the action becomes fairly transparent after a little practice. My only serious complaint is that, with the controller now crowded with such previously unheard-of functions like "Gang Active" and "Talk Positive," you can drive only with the left analog stick. A minor point, but it makes cars a lot more difficult to handle.  | | Bicycles take on a surprisingly central role. |
Vehicular Variety
It would be hard to surpass the variety of automobiles available in earlier games, and San Andreas wisely does not for the most part try to compete on that score. Instead, it's bicycles of all things that steal the show. The bikes' speed and flexibility are perfect for many of the missions, and there is something about cruising through the streets and basketball courts on a BMX that just feels right. If you play far enough into the game, you will also be rewarded with the chance to fly a number of aircraft, and flying is something Rockstar makes a greater effort to get right this time (welcome news for anyone who struggled with the planes and ‘copters of the earlier games).
Lackluster Graphics--but a Real Feel
Graphics--never a huge priority for Rockstar--actually take a step backward from the luscious, tropical look of Vice City. Textures are rendered with only a cursory attention to detail, and contours are often blocky. It scarcely matters, though, because no matter how San Andreas looks, it feels real. This is due in no small part to voice work by an all-star cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Ice T, James Woods, Peter Fonda, and Outkast's Big Boy and a stellar soundtrack with tunes by Soundgarden, 2Pac, Public Enemy, and even a few country classics from the likes of Willie Nelson. But it's not just realistic, San Andreas is also vast, encompassing three big urban centers and huge swaths of rural land (complete with shotgun-toting farmers) between them. This vastness does mean, however, that there can be a lot of tedious driving to get to the missions, which, along with some awkward sequencing of the cut scenes (they are in places stacked one on top of the other), means that there is a bit too much downtime. But never mind the quibbles. Ladies and gentlemen, we have another classic on our hands. --David Stoesz Pros: - Astonishingly vast game space
- Vivid character development
- Complex, engaging plot
- Enormous range of available actions
Cons: - Occasionally awkward game design
- You can no longer steer cars with the directional buttons
- Steep learning curve
What's Your Strategy?
 Get mission strategies and detailed maps to achieve every objective with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Strategy Guide.
Avg. Customer Review: 
 PSM Stuff
Alright heres the stuff i read in the official Playstation 2 magazine (some of the stuff you may already know but oh well):
-The game is set in 90's San Andreas, which is a whole state that contains cities like Los Angelas, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and a bunch of country stuff in between like deserts, mountains, rivers, and lots and lots of interstate highways.
- You are CJ who decides to come back to his old Los Santos gang called the Orange Grove Family after spending a couple of years in Liberty City...
-YOU CAN: eat in restuarants (get fat), Work out in the gym and get buff( get too buff and you move slower), improve CJ's skills, get haircuts, ride a bicycle, wear lots of outfits, buy and build buildings (many more things to do with this than in Vice City), Gamble at casino's, break into houses and steal money, swim,dual wield mutliple guns, recruit your own gang to help you out, do 4 person drive by shootings.
The improvements: -five to six times the size of Vice City, game comes on a rare dual layer dvd, no more loading between cities, new graphics engine with 35-50% more polygons on screen, longer view distance, more realistic relections, shadows, and animation; every character has a "brain", a bunch of more detailed indoor locations, more mini games, man hunt style gun targeting, better hand to hand combat, each weapon is detailed and has its own realistic experience, rag doll physics, wider range of vehicles with improved physics, and the vehicles get rusty and dirty over time.
The average pedestrian in San Andreas will have up to six times more dialouge than in Vice City. Another thing is that the game will automatically adjust the level of difficulty if a player gets stuck on that impossible mission. However this doesnt mean you can fail and then it will be easy, the changes are supposed to practically invisible and very small. IF you get fat the insults will be pretty mean. You can ride a bicycle by pushing x real fast to go real fast. There is free aiming with any weapon. Also your rival gang are the Balla's and if you go in their territory you are dead meat. The cops provide a greater challenge and are very determined. I got all of this information from a very good magazine that is 100% Play Station 2 called PSM, I strongly recommend this magazine if you are interested in upcoming games and reviews on games. From what i read in the magazine this is going to be a great game and I am preordering it right now... you should too!
Great, But the best?
ok GTA3 and Vice City were both great! I loved them to death and i would play all the time. Now i hear GTA San Andreas is coming out but is it going to be the best? I figure it will. But i read reviews saying its not worth buying and wait until the next gta game which is Grand Theft Chariot: Ancient Rome. They say there is not much to do. On the other hand, many reviews say its great or is going to be great! Its still 5 months until its released so there will be rumors about it! The new things i heard u can do are u can ride bikes, there r big bears,swim, u r a blak gangsta, be in gangs and recruit members AND u can do 4 people drive-bys,u can actually talk to people on the streets .. plot robberies in houses,real strip clubs where girls get naked (im not excited), u get fat if u eat too much so there will be gyms to work out and better cars. Also, u can customize ur cars wit tinted windows rims and fire power. U also can fly planes! If u dont think you wunt this game, then dont get it. But i think it will be a mix of GTA 3 and VICE CITY plus a mix of its own. i love the gangsta pimp kinda look! This game will be great. AND EVERYoNe should go and buy it, if not ur missing out!
Best Game Ever
Grand THeft Auto is the best Grand theft auto yet the environment is just so wonderful and the map is huge.<br />
If you liked any of the other grand theft autos you will love this one
| |
shopping cart
Enlarge View
