Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Reviews

Another great "Grand Theft Auto" game.

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 17 July 2022 07:38

Just picked up the PC version of this game recently. I've been waiting months.

I don't play video games so much anymore (I guess it's both an age thing and a time-thing) but I typically make a special effort to get the newest GTA games when they come out on PC. I own the last three (GTAIII, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas) and each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

I liked the hard, visceral edge of GTA III and, of course, the novelty -- it was the first of its kind. I loved the bright, "Scarface"/Mafia-edge of "Vice City," which spoofed a lot of famous movies. Also, the voice talents -- Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds, to name but two -- were the best of any of the games so far.

GTA San Andreas is good because it has a lot of new additions. The AI of citizens is better. The city is larger, the graphics seem better (at least on PC), the free roam options are improved (you can jump up onto/over gates and houses, now), the radio stations are better and more diverse, etc.

At the same time it's got some problems. For starters, I prefer the style of Vice City's Miami Beach spin-off. San Andreas is essentially set in the early '90s gangsta hoods (what Vice was to "Scarface" this is to "Boyz in the Hood"), and at the risk of sounding racist, I'll merely say I do not think the city is as fun to look at or explore (in most ways). Vice City was great fun to just cruise around your car in, and the setting was really exotic. San Andreas is grungy, run-down and ugly, basically because it's a ghetto and I don't think anyone will deny ghettos are ugly. That's the point, obviously, but it doesn't change the fact that as a game, the settings aren't as nice to look at.

I don't like CJ, the main character, as much as Tommy Vercetti. Tommy was a bada$$: tough, cool, ruthless, savvy, stylish. CJ is a hoodlum, and your point in the game is to "gain respect" and rule your old turf and claim it back from the scum -- to be honest I just found CJ a step down from Tommy. Young Maylay has good vocal talents (he voices CJ) but I preferred Ray Liotta. No, it's not because I'm white. It's because I'm a fan of "GoodFellas." The bonuses are that the world is more explorable and the missions are better, more detailed cars, better radio stations, funner commercials, etc.

Axl Rose supplies the voice of DJ Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith, of K-DST. He's got a lot of good self-referential lines ("As I've said before, all you need's a little patience...") and his quips to callers are great. (One person calls in complaining that '80s rock is dead and he cusses him out.) I found that a nice touch, and rare, since Axl never seems to leave his house anymore. Also, it shows he has a nice sense of humor about himself.

The rest of the radio stations are classic - the commercials are hilarious, the songs are the best yet (I prefer rock music but those who like rap will love it too - it's got plenty).

Overall this is another great GTA game with its own pros and cons. I do overall prefer Vice City a bit just because I really loved where that game was set and everything about it. But then again my original review of Vice City I submitted to IMDb says I liked GTAIII better when I first started playing Vice City, so...

For some people I'm sure the content of this game will be a turn-off, especially the middle-class white Americans who played the previous two famous GTA games. This has much more foul language and is quite gritty.

I didn't like some of it merely because I was expecting better surroundings and I missed the character of Tommy. Hopefully he'll come back in one of the later games, even if it's just a cameo.

But it is a great game and I can't really spot any flaws that would indicate it's "worse" than the others. It's about on par, with some great improvements in graphics and AI in particular. Also, the sound is top-notch and the game seems more realistic. That's always cool.

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