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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Limited Edition (PC DVD)
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Considering how massively popular the last two GTA games were Rockstar could've knocked out any old rubbish as their last GTA game this generation, but despite Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas not being a full sequel (it still uses essentially the same graphics engine as GTA III) it has more new features and ideas than the majority of official follow-ups. For a start San Andreas itself is not a city but a whole fictional county, containing the San Francisco-esque San Fierro, the Las Vegas style Las Venturra and the Los Angeles inspired Los Santos. You can drive anywhere else you like in the countryside, between making the game four to six times the size of Vice City. You can also now start up your own gang in the game, recruiting members and claiming territory--you can even build and operate your own casino once you get the necessary moolah. You can't just sit around and wait for the money to roll in, though--eat too much junk food and your character will grow fat and have to work out at a gym, as well as keep an eye on a new stamina meter. The list of other additions and refinements are almost endless; above and beyond the usual claims of an improved aiming system for weapons you can now swim, ride bicycles, get your hair cut, take part in random break-ins and robberies... pretty much anything you were ever told not to do as a kid (except the getting a haircut bit). --David Jenkins
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5/5 |
ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER MADE
(September 09, 2008) |
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This is a must have game....!!!!
...definitely: one of the best videogames ever created...
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5/5 |
Probably The Best Game Ever Created
(August 25, 2008) |
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Lots of reviews before this and for the console versions too. However I think it fair to say that GTA: San Andreas is the best PC game I have ever played. Within the GTA series it is better than both Vice City (which now has a few issues running on modern hardware) and its console successor GTA4, which really had a hard act to follow.
The scale and scope of the game is immense, combining elements of FPS, RPG, driving, strategy, puzzle solving and a huge virtual sandbox to explore. It's also very much a rite de passage as you control the main character Carl "CJ" Johnson on a journey which starts with him left penniless after arriving in Los Santos to a triumphant denouement. This is not a game you will play through in a few evenings - in addition to something like 100 main story missions, there are numerous side tasks to attempt. Although these are optional, a fair number contribute towards the elusive 100% completion achievement, while others help in developing skills or utilities that come in handy later on. (Note, although I've played through SA three times now the best I've managed so far is around 88% completion). One slight niggle is that a few of these side games only become available quite late on, by which time you have been going solid for a couple of months and just want to see the end game. And like many other games that combine the campaign with free play once you reach the end, the desire to go back and finish up the odds and ends tends to diminish.
The difficulty level varies - there are a couple of missions where you can very nearly get stuck. Often it is just a case of taking a different approach or perhaps going into the side missions and levelling up a required skill (e.g. driving ability). The very first mission can catch you out if not prepared, whereas some missions later on are relative no brainers. Of course, once you've played a few times, read the FAQ's, studied the guide and maps things do get easier. The missions are quite linear and always play out the same way and there are no sidesteps or alternative paths to victory - you must pass all the main story missions to see the end game.
As stated in other reviews, the "gangsta", "rappa" culture can be a bit off-putting but once the game hooks you it falls into the context of the overall story. It's role play, after all. Parents be warned - even without the infamous "Hot Coffee" mod, the 18 rating on this title means what it says. The swearing, violence and adult references are relentless throughout the game. Even if you avoid un-necessary slaughter, just to finish the story you will have killed several hundred people including police/FBI officers, soldiers and ordinary citizens in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Although SA struggled a bit on lower end PC's when first released, three years on the average PC eats it for breakfast. The beauty and depth of the game can really be appreciated on a machine with Dual Core CPU and 8800GT graphics card. There are a few little glitches - when it rains all other sounds are masked - but I have never encountered any serious crashes or issues with the titles.
In crafting GTA: San Andreas, developers Rockstar created something close to a work of genius for the gaming hobby. Even their own studio couldn't better it with the next instalment in the series, the rather mundane GTA4 It has a few issues, has courted considerable controversy but it's not so much a game as an immersive experience.
Buy it, play it and love it! |
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4/5 |
Great.... but
(April 27, 2008) |
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I had this when it came out for PC.
First of all. If you like GTA games, this one is sooooo so so so much fun to play. The sheer scale of the map will keep you occupied for a long time and the variety of environments, people and style will keep the whole thing interesting.
The missions are okay. I found some of them very tedious, but never the less got through them.
There is a but however and its a very big but. The black gangster culture is way too overpowering throughout. If your into that sort of thing its fine, but if not it does get extremely annoying! |
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5/5 |
PS2 OR PC
(December 15, 2007) |
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So from what I see people like this p.c version of G.T.A sa
But I thought people might want know that the p.c version is so much better than the ps2 one. One thing I like is the mods you can download my favourite being the cars! Another thing is it's so easy to aim with the mouse which makes it better but I do sometimes struggle driving so I have just bought a ps2 controller link thing which makes it easier to drive.
Overall a brill game I'd say BUY IT NOW! |
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5/5 |
A landmark game.
(November 26, 2007) |
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No doubt in 10 years or so I will be mocked for saying this, but it is hard for me to imagine in my lifetime games getting any better than San Andreas. No other game is as non-linear, as open-ended, as polished, as immaculately produced as GTA:SA. It sets a benchmark WAY beyond any game that has come before. The atmosphere created by the movie-quality voice acting, the camera direction, the awesome soundtracks, the A-List voice actors, the humor, the storyline and the immense playing field and variation has not been matched by any game, past or present. The PC game market is dominated by endless similar First Person Shooters. I am sick of them. They are contrived, clichéd and formulaic. I don't care whether it's Half Life 2 or Call of Duty 4 or any other highly ranked PC game. They all follow the same FPS production rules and I tire of them easily. With San Andreas, months of my life were swallowed up in pursuit of playing the finest game ever to surface. I'm not really a big gamer. I get bored with the same old, same old but I found GTA:SA jaw-dropping. I was fixated, engrossed and utterly addicted. I can't heap enough praise onto SA for it blew me away in terms of it's sheer size and inspired production. I was sucked in, hook, line and sinker into the world of SA. It's better than movies, soap operas, television and other, lesser games. It's the finest game ever produced. Buy it and shelve the next 3 months of your life. You won't regret it. |
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