Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review

It has been nine years since Rockstar North (formally DMA Design) and Rockstar Games produced Grand Theft Auto on the Sony Playstation and PC. The latest addition to their franchise Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas arrived on the shelves October 2004.

The player takes control of Carl Johnson; a former gang member who returns back to San Andreas for his mothers funeral where he finds out she has been murdered who after his mother is murdered arrives home from Liberty City for the funeral. Upon arrival he learns that his former gang has become a shadow of its former self, and decides to stay and regain control the gang once had.

The game offers the player a large roam free environment of three different areas Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). A Hollywood A-list cast from Samuel L Jackson to James Woods lend there voice to create another classic Grand Theft Auto story. There is also a large collection of music that is played throughout the radios of the vehicles that will appeal to all styles of music

The missions this time are more balanced and challenging then previous titles making for a more enjoyable game. The missions start out difficult from the beginning and continue to become harder as the game progresses.

Along with the primary missions there are several other missions and tasks available for the player to complete. These missions are small and quick offering the player something extra and different.

The graphics of the game are improving from the previous 3D titles; Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The graphics do keep to the same format and texture but where graphics may fall in areas the game play makes up for it.

The setup of these controls allows previous Grand Theft Auto gamers to dive straight into the game but also allows the not so confident gamer to gain the skills without to much effort. The improved targeting system with option for manual aiming was an improvement form previous versions.

A new feature to the game was the ability to enter the water and swim rather that die as soon as the character hits the water. The ability to dive underwater and collect objects made for a better game experience. Another new feature is the freedom to customise your character, by buying new clothing, getting tattoos and even different hair styles.

Although the version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that I played was on the Sony Playstation 2. The versions for the Microsoft Xbox and PC had a few additional features due to their later release; one of these features was the ability to play personal songs stored on the computers hard drive through the radio

Although the game may not be for everyone especially with its reputation, it has become more popular though the years especially since becoming available on different computers/consoles.

Congratulations to Rockstar North and Rockstar Games for producing another fantastic game.