28-Jun-2005 Much as I love my mum and dad and respected my teachers at school, it's still hard to come to terms with the possibility they might have been shielding me from the truth of the world.
Compared with them, I'll admit I'm not really much of an educator, but I would like to advocate the teachings of the late, great Tony 'Scarface' Montana for all children at an early age. Surely, ne'er a wiser mandate for living has been spoken than, "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."
If that's the truth about the world (and it probably is), then Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the perfectly written small print. It's the tale of men who push themselves hard, and their enemies harder, to get what they want. Whether you're driven by ambition or a victim of it, you'll find San Andreas to be more than just a game. It's the ultimate catharsis, period.
Anyone who's played or even heard of Grand Theft Auto probably has high expectations of San Andreas. But even the most cynical sequel-weary gamer will be taken aback by just how monumental Rockstar's latest masterpiece is.
It all begins in the late 1990s when Carl 'CJ' Johnson returns to his gangland home in Los Santos following the slaying of his mother. The quest for revenge is short-lived however, as the crooked Officer Tenpenny frames CJ for a cop killing and blackmails him into running errands. Behind all this, the Grove Street gang and the Ballers are embroiled in a full-on gang war. San Andreas is about to explode and you're going to light the fuse.
Now that's a way more incendiary tale than Vice City could weave, and although I still drive down its Miami-style boulevards with fondness, San Andreas is really where it's at. Imagine Liberty City and Vice City combined, then doubled in size, soaked in loads more graphical detail and given a darker, more adult atmosphere. This isn't just a city - it's an entire US state.
CJ's journey begins in Los Santos. Based on the urban nightmare of Los Angeles' ganglands like Compton, pimps, pushers and playerz dwell on every street corner and they don't mind taking a pop at you if you stray from the safety of Grove Street. Skilled bullet-dodgers (50 Cent should not apply) have the chance to admire famous landmarks like the Los Santos (Santa Monica) pier and the Vinewood (Hollywood) sign dominating the skyline. It's very dirty, unpleasant and extremely menacing, but you still won't ever want to leave.
At least not until you've got about 20 missions under your belt and you move on to the second area, the San Andreas countryside. Up to now, the GTA series has always been set in cities, but that's all about to change. Being dumped in the middle of nowhere is totally unexpected and unlike anything you've seen before. I felt a real sense of loneliness as I wandered through the wilderness, looking for a road. It took five minutes before I even saw another person. The roads and towns are few and far between, making this the kind of place you don't want to be on foot.
Cleverly, Rockstar North plays on this feeling of isolation, but also on the sensation of freedom as you romp through the countryside on a scrambler or quad bike. The seemingly endless open roads are also perfect for lengthy A-B truck driving and racing missions, and the game plays up to these strengths.
Of all the environments in San Andreas, San Fierro is probably the most traditional in a GTA sense. It's an accurate recreation of San Francisco, with hilly roads, coastal bridges and working tram system. If you've seen the movie Bullit, you'll get the idea how it's perfect for car chases. This is probably also where you'll experience swimming and diving for the first time. Unlike Mr Tommy 'it burns' Vercetti, CJ doesn't mysteriously die on contact with H20, making for some very original mission objectives. The swimming controls are easy to learn, although you have to keep an eye on your oxygen meter.
The final area, Las Venturas, is easily the most impressive. It's an exact replica of Las Vegas with working casinos, blinding neon lights and enough gambling opportunity to throw away all the money you've earned so far. Instead of doing the missions, I found myself wandering into the casinos and trying out every game, including poker, roulette, Wheel of Fortune and many more.
With so many sights to see and such huge distances to travel, San Andreas's 'skip journey' feature is a bit of a godsend. If you fail certain missions, there's now the option to skip back to the starting point, saving you from a gruelling city-to-city drive. You don't have to skip the journey, but there are times that I'd have put the controller through the screen if it hadn't been there. Those who prefer to 'keep it real' and repeat the journey will be pleased to hear that there's no loading whatsoever. The game cleverly streams in data so the next area is generated before you even get there. You don't have to put up with the scenery pop-up that hampered the PS2 version either.
There are 93 main missions to get through, not to mention more mini-games and sub-quests than you're ever likely to play or even discover. It's all paced so well though, that you won't find the experience intimidating at the start. Missions only appear in a new city once you've completed the core quests in the one you're in. I discovered that it is possible to try and cheat and cross the border illegally, but that instantly gives you six police stars! It's a clever way of reining you in without removing the sensation of absolute freedom.
You rarely get two shooting, racing or driving missions back to back. Even then, there's always the alternative of completing one of the profuse mini-games. There must be more than 50 hours of sub-quest play.
Rockstar North seems to revel in turning game genres into sub-missions. Incredibly, it still does them much better than most other developers can manage. During my time in San Andreas, I dabbled in car-modding, street racing, kung-fu fighting, pool hustling, plane flying, slot machine clinking and much more. And this was only scratching the surface.
Easily the most engaging of the mini-games is 'gang wars'. Think Sim City with gratuitous violence. The objective is to control as much of the Los Santos map as possible by wiping out the rival gangs. You rush into their territory, slaughter four enemy attack waves, and the land then becomes yours to control. If you leave a territory unattended for too long, another rival gang will step into your place. Keep as many territories going at once to earn mucho respect.
Respect is very important in Los Santos, because the more you have, the more gang members you'll be able to recruit. If you thought completing the missions was fun, try doing them with four homeboys in the back of your car. They'll execute drive-bys, shoot cops at the worst possible moment, and do all kinds of other unpredictable things. It's the first time in the GTA series where you actually feel like the gang is working for you rather than the other way around.
Another reason to feel more empowered is the extremely deep customisation mode. With tattoos, hairstyles, threads and bodybuilding, there are at least as many ways of changing your appearance, as you'll find in Fable (Issue 34, 9.4). More customisation items are unlocked as the game progresses and some missions can only be attempted once CJ takes on a certain look.
The way you look affects other aspects of the game too. Eating fast food recovers CJ's health but also puts on blubber. A super-sized version of CJ can't run as fast or climb over walls like a skinny one can. If triple chins and heart failure aren't your bag, working out on a daily basis increases CJ's muscle mass. This is perfect for running away from cops with greater haste and for stronger melee attacks.
But the customisation angle doesn't end there. Every action you perform, be it running, swimming, shooting, fire fighting or even pimping has a skill meter to go with it. The more you do something, the better you'll become at it in the long run. As I got further through the game, I earned so much motorbike skill that it became very difficult to knock me off. Similarly, I got so good at using the SMG I could dual wield and pop twice as many caps in record time.
We've already talked about the money and the power, but what about the women? Each area has multiple girlfriends to seduce, but like bodybuilding and gang wars, this requires serious attention on a daily basis. It helps to be physically attractive, but the best trick is to give her flowers from a petrol station (also works in real life). It's also essential to take your girl on dates regularly to keep her sweet.
It's inspirational stuff and often results in some hilarious situations. Why not take your girl on a romantic drive-by or get her involved in a steamy and seductive full-on war with the national guard? The possibilities are endless and girls love a killer. I particularly liked the section where CJ gets involved with the psychotic Catalina from GTA III. Even Liberty City's silent hero makes an appearance as your love rival (if only he knew what was in store!)
When it come's to new features, this is way beyond expectations for a sequel. Sadly though, Rockstar North has made a slip-up by changing the controls. You now use the Right thumbstick to rotate the camera freely and the White and Black buttons for the drive-by cam. While it's superb to have more freedom over the camera, using Black and White while also having to reach the B button (to fire) in the same instance is a hand-mangling frustration. I mostly ended up using motorcycles which now let you shoot straight ahead rather than face the annoyance of drive-by controls.
The new camera system is more cinematic though, and is a big improvement when you're on foot. Locking on to enemies is also much easier than in previous games, not least because you can toggle left and right. It's a bit slow but nowhere near as infuriating as the GTA Double Pack (Issue 25, 8.9). But one thing that really appealed was the ability to do Manhunt-style stealth kills.
Arguably, the only other blemish is the AI of your allies. On occasions they accidentally run into areas they can't get back from. This is especially annoying in the middle of time-limit missions. On the bright side though, their unpredictable behaviour does create plenty of funny moments.
San Andreas seems to have a life of its own. One minute everything is normal, the next a plane crashlands in the street! Cops fight criminals, gangs fight gangs, and sometimes even the normal pedestrians go on a killing spree or a joyride. You could probably play the game 24/7 and still be surprised by what crops up.
It's a game of so many memorable moments, not least because of the awesome soundtrack. Guns n' Roses' Welcome to the Jungle started blaring on the radio the first time I boarded an articulated lorry. That really got the testosterone flowing and for a few brief moments, no car on the road could stand in my way. It wasn't quite the same when Billy Idol's White Wedding came on in a street sweeper, but you couldn't fail to appreciate the irony.
Arguably, the soundtrack is an improvement over Vice City's because it isn't so focused on a particular era. Sure, there's a lion's share of '90s hip-hop, but there's also country, house, classic rock, modern rock, reggae, soul and dance. If you're really fussy and don't like any of that, you can use your own custom soundtracks instead. Thankfully, there are fewer repetitive ads ('Degenetron', anyone?), and no GTA game would be complete without the brutally funny talk radio stations hosted by Lazlow and Maurice Chavez. This is 'take no prisoners' material, where American society is the target. I actually found myself crashing into walls because I was laughing so hard.
With top-flight voice talent like Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda, Chris Penn, Ice-T and even Shaun Ryder, you expect good things and are not disappointed. In between the (literally) thousands of 'mutherf***ers', there are some bitingly funny lines and situations. It's way more savvy than most movies about gang violence.
If San Andreas was a person it wouldn't have to worry about the money, the power or the women. It already has it all. Rockstar North has set a new benchmark for sequels, delivering above and beyond what you expect to see. It's more cinematic than Vice City, more intelligent, more grown up, more playable, more violent and more greedy. Without question, this is the best Xbox game ever for anyone with a life but too nice to use it.
Official Xbox Magazine staff
// Overview
Verdict
Delivers an unbelievable amount of new features while polishing up all the things that the GTA series already did well.
POLICE, FIREFIGHTING and taxi missions are joined by pimping missions! Collect a pimp mobile and click the Right thumbstick. There's a time limit as you drop your two hoes off with their clients, and you can kill cheapskates who won't pay. Completing ten pimp missions in a row are hard, especially as your car falls to bits. Luckily, cops often turn a blind eye because you're providing a valuable service!
If one of your hoes gets beaten up, you’ll have to race against the clock to save her.
This bad boy is the pimpmobile – you’ll need one of these to start the mission
// BROTHAZ IN ARMS
RAMPAGE mode has been replaced with two-player mini-games. If you find a special icon, a mate can join in the fun on the same screen. There isn't really any point, other than going on a killing spree, and you don't earn any cash or unlockables for completing them. GTA is still predominantly a single-player experience.
Homeboys stick together for life, although that usually isn’t very long.
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