 "Probably The Best Game Ever Made" | 2008-08-25 |
| - Reviewed By vern2340 |
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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 "DO NOT BUY" | 2008-08-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A22EW7T8QG2AC5 |
| Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is one of my favorite games, but this page clearly states they are selling the 1st edition(the mod-able one), but I received the 2nd edition. |
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| "just like PS2" | 2008-06-18 |
| - Reviewed By stusrt |
I bought this for my laptop so I can take the game with me on the road, since I am a GTA addict.
With the money to be able to play in hotel rooms and airplanes! |
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 "Uninspired" | 2007-12-31 |
| - Reviewed By pburger10 |
Quite frankly, this game sucks. The graphics are ugly, the controls horrible, the characters unsympathetic, the cities labyrinthine, the story repetitive, the language foul and the workmanship lacking. It's obviously a cashcow and as such an epitome of mediocrity. The only good thing is the huge size of the landscape. The food is bad, but such big portions...
This game is just not user-friendly. Just about every irritating mistake that could have been made was made, especially in the controls. This game is *slow*, all the controls are constantly lagging. That's what got to me the most in the end. And my machine is capable enough, it runs Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. without problems.
A pity, because this game could have been so much better. Rockstar, please, don't use braindead programmers and uninspired designers next time.
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| "Big Boys" | 2007-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: AA5NDJEMF2CF7 |
| This is the version you should be playing,Hot Coffe,it was made for the Big Boys,i just love it |
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 "An amazing game that has a lot of replay value." | 2007-06-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2XRIU3SOYZ0ZC |
| First off let me say that you should only get the first edition of this game because you can mod it in any way you see fit.The second edition of this game has the ability to use mods disabled(most likely because of the hot coffee mod).The use of mods give even more replay value to this already huge game and will most likely have you playing for years to come.The story line of San Andreas has you playing as CJ, a man that has come back to the state of San Andreas from the east coast to find the people who killed his mother.Along the way he gets help from his brother Sweet,his friends Rider,Big Smoke and his Sisters boy friend Ceaser.CJ must travel all over the state to bring down drug dealers,corrupt cops and gang bangers.There are a ton of ways to get around the state including the vehicles that were in GTA III and Vice City but also new rides like Jet Packs,Fighter Jets and crop dusters just to name a few.This game is a must buy,but i do have to warn you of some major bugs in it.If you get the first edition of this game you might get a message telling you to place the game in another CD/DVD drive after you install it.If you dont have another CD/DVD drive to pop the game into you should download the "GTA San Andreas NO CD Crack".This No CD Crack will make it so you dont need the Game disc to play the game,it will run from your Hard drive.Just install San Andreas,download the crack and swap out the file that makes the game run for the file you just downloaded.:) This game would have been perfect if it were not for some bugs in it but it's still amazing.Buy it! |
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| "GRAND THEFT ALL THE WAY!!" | 2007-05-17 |
| - Reviewed By butterflybeauty2 |
| well i was shopping one day an saw this game on the shelves..i remember a while back i saw my friends boyfriend playing, it seemed really intresting he was buying homes, an actually sleepin with women in his car,an i was amazed at how smart they make these people on this game.. an being a female myself i didnt think i would like it but it still sparked an intrest in me so i bought it an i LOVE it i just cant get enough of jacking peoples cars or robbing drug dealers for the money,an actually geting the hoes lol..very good game if u like action type games i would get this |
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| "question" | 2007-04-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A34J4V4JVW9IIQ |
| I've played GTA san andreas on xbox but wanted it on PC. What is the difference in this game and GTA San Andreas V2.0 that came out approximately 3 months later?? |
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| "I have to upgrade my opinion of this game" | 2006-12-27 |
| - Reviewed By hshtimp |
Edited review... After a few more days of playing, I have to say the game has grown on me. Camera handling doesn't seem to be such a big issue anymore, maybe because I improved my motorcycling skills and it takes a lot more to knock me off the bike. It therefore doesn't matter so much if I have fender benders. The city is fantastic, much more impressive than Vice City. Some of the missions have been a lot of fun and full of unexpected action.
original review follows...
I just got done replaying Vice City when I picked up a copy of San Andreas. It runs well on my graphics card which is an Nvidia 6600 agp but after about seven hours of playing I've decided that gameplay is seriously botched by the need for constant camera tending. In Vice City the camera took care of itself. I only fiddled with it for drivebys. In San Andreas I'm smashing into things all the time because the camera is following my car from some strange angle. I don't know why they didn't use the same system as Vice City. Maybe it has something to do with the huge hills. One of the most common angles of the camera is for it to be way down low where you can hardly see anything. The camera just seems to love to be down there and it becomes tiresome correcting this when I'd rather be dodging obstacles or shooting something. I still enjoy playing the game but I might just download the mod that lets you play San Andreas on the VC engine. |
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| "Fine tuned challenges" | 2006-12-07 |
| - Reviewed By cgs_sys |
San Andreas does a few things wrong but most everything right. There is a large encompassing landscape that evolves and contours the initial gang-banging drive-by violence into a strange and colorful world that takes you from the fictionalized cities of Los Angeles (called Los Santos in the game) to San Franciso and Las Vegas along with desert, countryside, mountains and whatever you can think of. You even get a short visit to Liberty City. The violence is crude but not machabe and that's appreciated. CJ Johnson the main character is tough, crude, violent, sometimes simple-minded and hardly the sympathetic character we expect. He's lost his brother and his mother to gang violence but still falls into the world of guns and drive bys. He other brother sweet is constantly dragging him down that road berating him constantly for running out on the family. Amist the violence is the basic corrupt cop, the betrayer and of course the pathos (if you can call it that) of his girlfriends, his struggles and his strive to clean up the town in the only way he knows how.
As the game evolves we meet really quirky and strange characters that continue the flavor of the game. CJ eventually aquires a large nest egg of property, skills (including flying) and business management. As the game moves on it gets more colorful and less logical but you don't care. Bored with the storyline you can play basketball, drive city vehicles (fire truck, etc) to gain money and perks (such as fireproof) or just shop and travel around. There's plenty to do and it makes it appealing. The only annoying parts are to aquire the basic skills to survive. San Andreas gives you hard challenges right out of the box and doesn't slow down. You also have to spend time getting CJ in shape and feeding him as well as improving his driver and gun skills. Pain in the neck but you get through it. My favorite highlight is Ammu-nation. Once a place to buy guns you now have an hysterical character to listen to with such words of wisdom as "Wise choice sir, wise choice" or "do you smell the machine oil?" If you have the patience you can spend months at this game and not get bored. My greatest pet peave was to have a statement against gang violence. It's hidden but it never fully morphs into something worth listening too.
Also I did exploit the "hot coffee" mod. Not a big deal and the game is a real pain. Parents need to supervise kids but stores need to supervise more as well. We all need to appreciate and accept full responsibility for protecting our kids. Everyone needs to get involved. Companies will make these products but we can protect our kids if we want to. Ratings help but stores and parents need to get involved. |
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