Looking at: GTA: San Andreas

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The Grandest of Thefts

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Ryder, CJ, Big Smoke, and Sweet, the main cast of the game.

Grand Theft Auto has been in the news a bit lately. Between the re-release of GTA V on next-gen, the anticipated PC version of GTA V, and the recent release of GTA San Andreas HD on Xbox360. It's the latter item that brings me to today's topic of the original, unhindered version of what I believe is still the finest moment of the GTA franchise. It's worth noting here that, as of today (11/10/14) I am talking about a version of GTA:SA that is no longer readily availible (PS2), for reasons I'll discuss below.

GTA: SA represents everything the GTA series should be about. It's full of wacky antics, serious moments, crazy characters, and tonnes of shooting and driving action. It represents the fulcrum on the teeter-totter that has become the GTA franchise, reaching an almost perfect midpoint between the arcade style games of old and the serious and gritty games of new. To me, it's the perfect mix, and I love the hell out of it.

Welcome to San Andreas

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The state of San Andreas.

GTA: SA no longer has the largest map in the franchise, as explained in this article. However, at the time it was massive, and it's still rather daunting today. Instead of a single city, like all other GTA games, SA was set in the state of San Andreas, another fictional location in the GTA universe. San Andreas is a mixture of North and South California, along with a good chunk of Nevada.

There are three cities this time around, and all of them are big enough to be GTA games in their own right. You start in Los Santos, a mirror image of Los Angeles with a dirty ghetto downtown and a high class upper city in the hills. From there you move to San Fierro, representing San Francisco, with it's notably asian population, large hills, and long bridge. Finally you find yourself in Las Venturas, GTA's version of Las Vegas, complete with shining strip and casinos around every corner. Aside from three major cities is the state in between, with a myriad of small towns, farms, forests, deserts, and other oddities.

 More then any other GTA game, the state of San Andreas is about diversity. Every location looks different from each other and the three cities are pleasantly distinct from one another. You really feel like your in an actual place, even despite the aged graphics. There's an impressive level of detail put into every different location, and the world might be the best put together map Rockstar has ever made.

Follow the damn train CJ

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One of the bikes available.

This level of diversity spills into the game itself. You play as Carl "CJ" Johnson, a young African-American returning home after the death of his mother. CJ learns that his former gang is a mess, his brother is struggling to keep afloat, his sister has grown cold and distant, and there's trouble brewing throughout the city. Add to that the oppressive police officers Tenpenny and Pulaski that use CJ as their personal errand boy. Needless to say CJ's return home is anything but peaceful.

Playing as an inner-city gang member is a bit of a shift from older GTA games. Where they all focused on established gangs like Italian mafias or Japanese Yakuza, the Grove Street Families are disorginized and often confused. Most of your missions at the beginning are attempting to make your gang stand out, and you'll often find yourself outgunned and outmanned by the other street gangs.

What's really refreshing is the cast of characters you meet. CJ is easily one of the better African-American characters I've ever seen, actually growing through the game and slowly shedding his street-banging gangster life style. He's no hero, that's for sure, but he's likable and has a lot of personality. There's CJ's gang family, with colourful characters like the prophetic Big Smoke, or the paranoid Ryder. Or CJ's own family with his tough but fair brother Sweet or his disillusioned sister Kendl. There's the asian crime-lord Woozie with a hidden secret, the hippie drug kingpin known as Truth, or Kendl's street racing boyfriend Cesar. There's such an awesome varity and personality in the characters that they're memorable even long after your done with them.

Even better is the voice cast, made of up a who's who of great talent. CJ is voiced by west coast rapper Young Maylay, and his crew is made up of similar talent like The Game, Faizon Love, and Clifton Powell. Samuel Jackson provides the voice of the maleficent Office Tenpenny, Peter Fonda is the enigmatic Truth, and James Woods is the opportunistic Mike Torrens. David Cross shows up as the electrical genius Zero, and Ice-T shows up as rap star extraordinaire Madd Dogg. As always the radio talent is top notch, with shows hosted by or featuring Andy Dick, Chuck D., Axel Rose, Wil Wheaton, George Clinton, and GTA mainstay Lazlow Jones.

9s and AKs

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CJ engaging in a firefight.

Of course, it wouldn't be a GTA game with out guns and cars. There's a number of different weapons available, ranging from simple pistols, to assult rifles, all the way up to RPG launchers and flamethrowers. SA has an RPG upgrade system where the more you use a weapon, the better you get, eventually unlocking perks like dual wielding, better accuracy, or better movement speed while aiming. Shooting, at least on PS2, is... functional. It takes a while to get used to it, especially after playing more modern third person shooters, but spamming the lock-on mechanic and using dodge-rolls to avoid fire is enough to get through almost all of the firefights. One really unfortunate note is that you can't move backwards while shooting. It seems minor, but it's more annoying then you think.

The RPG mechanic permeates through the game. Every action is tied to progression, from driving, swimming, or running. CJ's physical appearance can be altered, and your encouraged to keep him fit to increase his stamina and health. It's an interesting system, but falls flat overall. It's especially annoying when certain missions are locked until you level up a skill high enough. it's a minor annoyance, and one that's easy to overlook.

Everything else is part-and-parcel with other GTA games. There's a large variety of vehicles to drive, including a number of airplanes and boats. Every mission consists of the standard Travel->Crime->Escape progression. There are a huge number of side missions to take on, ranging from skill-building schools, races, transportation, and even a valet parking minigame. There's a lot to see and do in San Andreas and you'll be hard pressed to find yourself bored.

Wrong Side of the Tracks

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Bikes are another new addition.

SA has aged... weirdly. Obviously it doesn't hold up graphically. Even when it came out the GTA3 engine was being pushed to it's limits, and it couldn't hold up to other releases like Far Cry, Doom 3, or Half Life 2. The devil is in the details, and despite it's blocky exterior there's a lot of fine detail put into the little things. Every car is visually distinct, every city has it's own spawn of NPCs. Even things like cop cars or taxies change from city to city. There's an extra level of care and detail in every distinct section of the map.

There are other issues. The animations are jankey and weird looking. Lighting is pixalated and static. Character models, despite having a lot of detail, are all blockey and lack real emotion. The particle effects in particular look bad, as most of them are obviously overlaid into the game.

Despite all of this, GTA:SA remains a fun game, especially if you've grown disillusioned with the darker more serious tones of GTA IV and V. It's fun, wacky, and over the top, and remains a monument to what GTA used to be. Parts of it don't hold up, and the recent re-releases cripple the music playlists, but I still hold that GTA: San Andreas is the best the series has ever been.