Posted on: Friday, November 26, 2004

MY VIEW | GAMES
'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' lives up to expectations

By Julius Pecson
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: Four THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely play it. 3 — Good: Worth playing despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the license or series, don't bother. 1 — Poor: You'd have more fun playing Pong.

Console: PlayStation 2.

Developer/publisher: Rockstar North/Rockstar Games.

Genre: Action/adventure.

Number of Players: 1-2.

ESRB rating: Mature (for crude language, violence, drug abuse)

The premise: Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Now it's the early '90s, and soon after his first moments back home, CJ is framed for the murder of a cop and finds himself on the run from the long and crooked arm of the law. CJ is now out to make a name for himself, build a criminal empire, and even solve the mystery of his mother's death.

Gameplay: Fans of the previous games will feel right at home with the free-roaming gameplay, vehicular hijacking and expansive areas to explore. The city of San Andreas this time around is enormous, with landscapes ranging from a typical inner city, a Las Vegas strip look-alike and a mass of open countryside and desert. New additions include RPG-style skill attributions and customization in features ranging from muscularity, attire, vehicles and tattoos. The amount of things to do in the cities of Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas is absolutely staggering. Take sky-diving lessons, run in an illegal street race, rob houses, go on dates, shoot some basketball, or try your hand at some classic arcade games. There is so much to do in "San Andreas" that I couldn't possibly list them all. And I don't even have room to mention any of the story missions.

The good/bad: Let me get the negatives out of the way: The graphics, while good, are not great; the mini-map in the corner of the screen is still too small and difficult to read; a "save anywhere" feature would really prevent the frustration of having to sit through the same cut scene again and then drive several minutes across town to redo a mission that you've just failed; and some the mini-games/side-missions are more tedious than they are fun. But even with these faults, the fact is that "San Andreas" is an exceptional game, providing an engrossing story and a staggering attention to detail. The developers have improved the vehicle controls, as well as the targeting and hand-to-hand combat. True to the time period, the soundtrack boasts plenty of '90s hits (it's awesome to hear Dre and Snoop's "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" or Boyz II Men's "Motownphilly"), and the script is very well acted. Multitiered objectives add significantly to the game's depth, chaining together many gameplay elements into each task to provide much more entertaining — and difficult — missions.

My take: "San Andreas" is enormous, engrossing, diverse, liberating, sophisticated and ambitious. Yet at the same time it can be restrictive, hackneyed, unpolished and frustrating. This game is not for everyone, especially for those who didn't particularly enjoy the earlier "Grand Theft Auto" installments. However, the faults don't detract from the massive virtual world that is more alive and expansive than most of the games available.