Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – PC – Review

Ahh … Grand Theft Auto. Those
three words are enough to fill the hearts of gamers with glee. The Grand Theft
Auto (GTA) series has been around for a while now but it wasn’t until GTA III
that the gaming world was turned upside down. The biggest change between the
previous versions of the first two games and the third game was the transition
to a 3D viewpoint. But this change revolutionized the gaming world and gaming
hasn’t been the same since. Never before did gamers have an almost living,
breathing world that allowed them to live out all of their secret criminal
desires. It’s sometimes hard to admit but running around killing characters in a
game with a blow torch and being wanted by the cops, FBI and National Guard was
an amazing experience.

With GTA:San Andreas (GTA:SA) gamers
are treated to the ultimate edition of GTA. The same, now classic, gameplay from
the last two games is back but this time in a massive gaming world. Instead of
just one or two cities to explore, GTA:SA allows gamers to explore one large
state (San Andreas) with three different cities. The three cities are all based
around cities in the United States. Los Santos is based on Los Angeles, San
Fierro is based on San Fransisco and Las Venturas is based on Las Vegas. Each
city has their own unique look that is specific to their the real-world
counterpart, which helps created a sense of authenticity even though you’re
playing in a game world.

A change from the last two versions
of GTA is how the cities connect to each other. Instead of just driving across a
bridge to the next city this time you will have to travel between the cities
through vast back roads and locations. Of course you’re limited to the first
city, Los Santos, at first but eventually you have to undertake missions outside
of the confines of the city. This is a nice change of pace from the previous
games, but it does create some extensive back tracking. Completing missions in
one city is easy enough but having to travel outside of town and back again can
get a little old.

Since the cities are based upon
locations on or near the western coast of the United States, the storyline of
GTA:SA follows. Instead of focusing on the mafia, as in the past two games,
GTA:SA is based upon the early 90’s street gangs on the West Coast. A young lad
by the name of CJ (Carl Johnson) returns home to Los Santos because his mother
has been murdered. CJ is picked up as soon as he leaves the airport by the
police, whom pin a murder of a fellow police officer on CJ and demand that CJ do
what they want or else. CJ tries to plead his case that he’s clean and been out
of the gang world, but the corrupt cops could care less and drop CJ off, of
course after taking all of his money and clothes. Reluctantly CJ is thrown back
into the corrupt and dangerous world that he left by leaving Los Santos. In
order to convince his old friends (and even his brother, Sweet) that he still
has what it takes to survive in their harsh world CJ has to help the old gang
regain their turf and credibility.

Helping his old gang and friends is
where the game really takes off. The gameplay is very similar to the previous
GTA games so veterans of the series shouldn’t have a problem jumping right in.
For those that have never played a GTA game yet (or at least on the PC) should
know that the game is mission based. The missions vary from something simple
such as driving a gang member somewhere to a little more complex, like stealing
a helicopter. If you didn’t think there were enough missions in the previous GTA
games then be prepared for close to a 100 missions. The game has something I
would call a “slow unlocking” feature that unlocks different functions and
features in the game as gamers complete the missions. For example, during the
early parts of the game you will probably see the same type of cars and
characters in the game. But as you progress you start to notice some different
kind of cars, people and activities that start happening throughout the city.
This little feature helps in creating a living world that grows and reacts to
what you do in the game.

Playing the missions is the main
focus of the game, which can cause the game to be very linear in that you might
be stuck playing a mission over and over again. Now don’t get me wrong since
this is GTA and you have an almost limitless amount of freedom to do whatever
you want, however you want. But it has to be mentioned that playing the same
missions over and over again gets old, quickly. Getting past the missions can
sometimes be a piece of cake or require some thinking outside the box to come up
with a unique strategy.

You will never progress the
storyline of the game by skipping the missions, but you can actually play the
game without playing the missions. The game has a ton of side missions or mini
games that you can play that can keep you occupied for hours. I thought I read
somewhere that many Japanese players would play a GTA game just to explore the
world and would rarely play through a mission. If this was your draw to the
previous GTA games then GTA:SA will not disappoint. You can spend countless
hours changing how CJ looks by buying new clothes and/or getting a haircut at
the barbershop. Another new feature in the game is the ability to eat and
workout in the game. If you want to be a fat slob of a man then you can by
eating fast food all the time and never working out. But if you want to be a
lean, mean, trim, fighting machine then you can eat salads and lift weights at
the gym. What about a game of basketball? Running around the cities and
discovering something new to do is always a great feeling for any game. GTA:SA
won’t disappoint anyone with the amount of mini games included. Oh, I almost
forget to even mention the arcade games that are sprinkled throughout San
Andreas. The arcade games are based upon classic games of the early 80’s but are
just another example of the greatness that is GTA:SA.

The game controls great with the PC
layout but still seems designed for a controller. Fortunately being able to
customize the controls is always a great benefit of the keyboard-and-mouse
layout. I would recommend adjusting the mouse sensitivity since the mouse
controls the camera angle. Before I adjusted the sensitivity I never seemed to
find the right camera angle, especially while driving a car. Firing weapons has
never been easier and more accurate then when using the keyboard and mouse. The
auto targeting system can be tossed aside since you can pinpoint someone with
incredible accuracy with the mouse and keyboard. I still want to know why
driving in the game feels like a hassle instead of second nature. I had to
replay several missions over again because I was slipping and sliding all over
the place or falling off a motorcycle. Thankfully as you keep playing the game
your skills will increase for almost everything you control in the game.

The graphics in the PC version of
the game are the best of any version released. For me the biggest attention
grabber for the graphics were the cities. The buildings and structures in the
cities are gorgeously detailed. Each city looks like a real city with huge
skyscrapers, street signs and other structures everywhere. Depending on your
graphics card you can even set the draw-in distance to eliminate the nasty pop
ups that have plagued the backgrounds of the previous GTA games. The character
models in the PC version look cleaner and more polished than the PS2 version but
still have the same blockiness to them that has been present since GTA III. In
fact the entire game on the PC looks like a high-resolution version of the PS2
version, but there was an occasional slowdown problem. The slowdown problem
would seem to happen for no reason. Sometimes it would happen during a racing
mission and other times it would happen when I was just running through the
city. I’ve read that other gamers have had the same problem even with the
biggest and most powerful graphics card and system specs.

The music and voice acting in GTA:SA
is another shining star of this game. The voice acting in the game is arguably
the best voice acting ever done in a game. Several major film stars lend their
talents to help create a fantastic and compelling storyline. My only minor gripe
about the voice acting has to do with the radio stations. I didn’t notice as
many clever and interesting commercials being played and subject matters being
discussed by the disc jockeys. In fact I was disappointed with the music of the
game simply because the majority of the music was rap music. I’m not a big rap
fan and even the rock stations in the game seemed limited. Luckily the addition
of being able to listen to your own songs was a welcomed feature. But if you
enjoy rap music (especially from the early 90’s) then you will probably enjoy
the radio feature more than I did.

GTA:SA is the crown jewel of GTA
games. The most missions, the biggest cities and the most immersive character
building of any previous GTA games makes this a sure-fire hit. Sure the game is
based upon a PS2 game that came out almost a year ago but GTA:SA is unlike
almost anything available for the PC (unless it’s another GTA game). The almost
limitless gameplay, amazing graphics and incredible voice acting/storyline all
add up to a classic game that shouldn’t be overlooked. However, having to replay
the same missions over again just to keep the storyline going can get old and
repetitive. For a game that offers almost limitless gameplay options, screwing
up a mission shouldn’t have me loading a save game just to try again (and to
keep all my weapons in case I died). Minor quibbles aside, GTA:SA is a must have
game for PC gamers that never played the PS2 version or for gamers looking for
something new and interesting.

Gameplay: 9.2
A ton of missions, a large assortment of mini games and countless ways to play
the game is the basis of GTA:SA. This game will keep you entertained for a long
time, even if you don’t play the missions. The keyboard and mouse controls work
great, especially after tweaking a few settings. I would have liked to have seen
the ability to skip some of the missions and still keep the storyline
progressing. Hey, maybe in the next GTA.

Graphics: 9.0
The PC version of GTA:SA is the best-looking GTA game to date. The graphics for
the cities are amazing, especially when you’re just exploring the cities. The
character models are much cleaner than the PC version but might have some Doom
III players screaming “ugly!” Remember this is a game based upon a game engine
that has been around for a few years, that wasn’t the prettiest to begin with.
But the amount of detail in the game and incredible amount of events that happen
during the game (without you even participating) is a sight that has to be seen.

Sound: 9.1
All of the GTA games have always had great music and amazing voice acting and
GTA:SA is no different. I mentioned earlier that this is arguably the best voice
acting ever done in a game. All of the characters in the game have their own
unique personality that are portrayed wonderfully by the actors. Sure it might
be Samuel L. Jackson but you will forget about the actor and focus on the
character in the game. If you’re not a big fan of rap music then you probably
will be using the custom soundtrack feature. I always enjoyed the variety of the
music in the previous GTA games but this one didn’t have the same variety.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Thinking outside the box is a term used in business meetings all the time. If
you’re thinking outside the box then you’re thinking of unique ideas and
strategies that can hopefully be adopted to fit the needs of your business. Well
the same holds true with GTA:SA when it comes to the difficulty of the game.
Coming up with a new and innovative way to complete a mission can help reduce
the stress and difficulty in the game. But sometimes it’s hard to think outside
the box when you’ve played the same mission over again 10 to 20 times. Some of
the missions can be very frustrating, aggravating and a couple other adjectives
that I will leave to the minds of the readers. The side missions and mini games
will help in keeping your mind off of the missions you’ve failed and sometimes
help in coming up with new ideas to complete a mission.

Concept: 9.3
I do need to mention that this a mature rated game and besides some of the
survival-horror games GTA:SA deserves its mature rating. This is as close to an
“R” rated movie that I’ve ever seen in a videogame when it comes to the
storyline and setting. There are plenty of references to drug use, sex, and (of
course) violence throughout the game. There was a scene early in the game that
had me doubting I was actually playing a game and not watching a movie. But the
game works the mature theme into a compelling and fascinating game. This isn’t
the game to get your kids. Oh, and keep some crazy politicians away from the
game as well.

Multiplayer: N/A
This is a single-player only game.

Overall: 9.2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a game that shouldn’t be missed by gamers. It’s
the apex of the GTA series and makes me wonder just what will in the next GTA
game.