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Great game with just a few flaws

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 35
Date: October 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I hadn't played any of the other Grand Theft Auto games before I got "San Andreas" for the Xbox, but I pretty much knew what to expect before I started playing it. Still, the game exceeded my expectations and is a blast to play. Allow me to list the things I like about it, before I make a few complaints:

You control a character named CJ in a free-ranging storyline that takes you to three different cities. The game world feels big, and the quests will take you to every part of the map. Although the three cities are just a tiny fraction of the size of the real cities they're representing (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas), they still contain lots of different neighborhoods and it will take ages to explore each one. (And you will have an incentive to explore each city carefully, as each one is full of a different kind of easter egg you can collect to improve your final score.) The ghettos of Las Santos, the hippie areas of San Fierro and the neon glitz of Las Venturas all nicely reflect the popular images of the cities they're imitating. In between the cities there are woods, a desert, waterways, mountains, farms -- the design of the game world was done with lots of care and attention to detail.

I love the multiple radio formats. It's great to cycle through the stations and pick appropriate music for the current setting and mission. And I normally listen to rock and hip-hop, but even the reggae and country music stations in "San Andreas" sound good to me. They obviously spent some time in assembling the songs to get a representative list for each genre, and I dig being able to hear stuff from bands like L7 and Black Uhuru that I'm not familiar with. The DJs do fine work as well; Chuck D as the bombastic old-school rap DJ ("I don't even get paid to do this! I spin these records as a public service!") and Axl Rose as the classic rock DJ (and former lead singer of ersatz band "Crystal Ship") are wonderfully self-aware parodies. I would have liked to have a classic jazz station too or a spoof on NPR, but really -- I have nothing to complain about because the radio aspect of "San Andreas" is exceptional. Even the commercials are wickedly satirical.

I love the varied gameplay. Of course you do a lot of driving in "San Andreas", but there are over 100 different vehicles, from monster trucks to sports cars to bicycles to helicopters. Bouncing through the streets of hilly San Fierro on a motorcycle is a genuine thrill. Many of the quests are of the "deliver this package" or "kill that informant" variety, but there are plenty of more original ones, such as one where you have to drive around with a Mafia guy tied down to your hood until he's scared enough to squeal, one where you street-race a souped-up low-rider through Los Santos, and even one where you have to dance to the rhythm of a particular song to allow you to jack a van full of audio equipment.

The optional side quests are also terrific -- you can assume the role of an ambulance driver, a delivery courier, a vigilante policeman, a fireman, a car thief, a taxi driver -- there are always things you can do outside of the main quest line. There are minigames galore, such as training sessions for driving and flying; you can play pool for money against the shark at the local bar; arcade games at the convenience store; even a demolition derby. You can also get extra money for doing "insane" stunts, like driving off the side of a mountain and bailing out with a parachute.

The details are well-realized too. There are about seven classes of guns in the game, from a pistol-with-silencer to a sawed-off shotgun to a sniper rifle. You can perform melee attacks with items such as a pool stick, a samurai sword, a chainsaw or a bunch of flowers. You can buy all manner of clothes for CJ -- I have him wearing the "Helmut", a spiked metal helmet that makes him look Prussian, sort of. You can get different tattoos and hair styles. You can date different girls with different temperaments. You'll recognize a lot of Hollywood stars among the voice actors, but even the non-famous voice work is good.

And my niggling complaints:

I know that "shooty" games are harder to interface with on consoles than on PCs, because joysticks don't allow as much accuracy as mice when aiming, but "San Andreas" makes it TOO easy by allowing you to press a button to auto-aim at enemies in front of you. I know this game is cartoonishly violent (that's one of its strong points), but it still seemed unbalanced to me that I could single-handedly mow down ten or twenty enemies just by crouching and quickly cycling through them with the auto-aim.

Also, I know that this is very much an adult game, with tons of swearing and violence -- I don't mind that. It seems slightly strange to me though that "bitches" and "hos" are so common (one mission description even says "Take the ho downtown to the hotel"), but I've heard no racial epithets in the game. These characters would definitely be throwing around the "n-word" to each other if their slangy conversation were true-to-life. I guess it wasn't worth the controversy to include it.

And I seriously wish you could drive a bus in the game. How funny would it be if CJ was able to jack a school bus and do a mission where he had to pick up a bunch of kids and take them to school? I don't blame the makers of the game for not including kids anywhere though -- it's not a game for (or about) children in any way.

But as you can see, my complaints are pretty small. "San Andreas" is hilariously profane, over-the-top violent, satirical, varied, open-ended, detailed, funny -- it's practically the perfect game.

The GTA Universe continues to expand..into San Andreas!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 32
Date: June 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Being a big fan of the others in this family of games, I hurriedly purchased it after waiting ohhh so long for it to come out on XBOX.

I was thrilled. The GTA family keeps the same formula for success, while adding enhancements and features to each predecessor, making them refreshingly challenging and fun upon each release.

Familiar friends return with the option of multiple weapons, social enactment such as purchasing power, and a multitude of soundtracks ranging from hip-hop, rap, rock, and old-school country. The storyline, action, and cinematic vision all meld together nicely for what makes to be one of the best games of the year, from a video-game line that is the most successful of the past 10!

With SA, the biggest 2 factors right off the bat are the expansion of land mass that you can cover. This thing does not go 16 blocks out to the waters edge and end, forcing you to turn back. It's AN ENTIRE CITY! Multiple Counties are tallied as you run through the hills on foot. Gang Members abound making what used to be the "average citizen" all the more dangerous to deal with. Cops on motorcycles are fluent as you travel through rich and poor neighborhoods that are connected by multiple, long sprawling freeways with several off and on ramps that help you jump down into a downtown area to garner your next mission or simple raise havoc in a community. The 2ND great feature, what with all the area you have to cover, is the "pointer pen"..this option is similiar to GPS in that you can mark your place on a map so you can easily continue on without getting disoriented, or even if you simply want to return to the "scene of the crime". Aircraft are abundant in it as well. What can I say, you could play this thing for hours!

Other fantastic features...well lets say it's a cross between SIMS and Boyz in the hood...

1) Walk into any pizza or burger joint and get your health back up with some food.

2) Customize yourself, you have a variety of things in wardrobe and will be able to shop for clothes. Don a Bandana, some cammo pants, a hockey mask, and high tops. Watches, Chains, hats, and glasses are also available!

3) Get a haircut of any kind, there are so many to choose from at the barber shop...even a pink mohawk!

4) Tattoo shop. Now this is pretty cool. I had CJ decked out with a giant AK-47 across his shoulderblades. There is a wide variety of tats to skin yourself with!

5) Go to the local gym and work out, you'll need to build your strength and stamina as you build your gang and take back your turf!

6) Accumulate money to buy real estate that will be your "safe houses". This feature we've seen before but is definitley a bennie!

7) Get points for pulling off great dancing moves at the clubs.

8) You can walk up to pretty much any arcade machine and play a classic video game!

Those are just some of the features that makes this game a cut above the rest. It's not just shooting and stuff...you are building your life in the XBOX world of SAN ANDREAS!

Works great on xbox 360

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: March 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I hadn't seen anybody else talking about the 360, so i thought i'd add this. This game is compatible with the 360 and it is awsome! The black and white buttons on the xbox map to the "bumpers" on the 360, so all works quite well. This game is one of the most addictive games i've ever played. I highly recommend it for adults and mature teens who are already desensitised to gangs and violence.

A Masterpiece!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: June 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The ultimate GTA game San Andreas is absolutly stunning. GTA: S.A. takes the series into both macro & micro levels with a ton of added mini games & not to mention the ton of regular missions. Weighing in at 5 times the square mileage of GTA:Vice City. San Andreas is the coolest,grittiest, biggest action game I have ever played on any console. The XBOX version has sharper clearer textures, with progressive scan & 16:9 widescreen support. Improved lighting & the world is less saturated ,& the draw distance is better than the PS2 version . Although the graphics arent stunning the overall scope & attention to detail is fantastic. Also exclusive to the XBOX version you can play your own custom soundtrack from your xbox's hard-drive, it shows up in the radio playlist while your driving. There is also a 30 second instant replay feature exclusive to the XBOX version ,this is kool when you just performed an insane jump & you wanna watch it again. Load times are faster than the PS2 version ,when you enter a building no long load times on the XBOX,the transitions are flawless almost in the blink of an eye. Im glad I waited for the XBOX version.Everything that was in the other games is in here & more, much, much ,more. You could easily call this game an ACTION/RPG with all of new things to do that have been added to this installment of the GTA series. On the action side they have added bike riding abilities now in this series & its incredibly fun & addictive ,you can do bunny hops, ride in bowls, ramps, back yards. etc. On The RPG side you can eat, get fat ,get thin,work out, get buffed, buy clothes,get haircuts, get girlfriends, run gangs,etc.etc. The Mini-games you can play pool,shoot hoops,horse betting,dance in clubs,etc.The list goes on & on.I could go on for hours how awesome this game is . There is just so much to cover & review. GTA: San Andreas is easily a 60 to 80 hour game to get the coveted 100% game completion. GTA: San Andreas is (NOT) & I repeat (NOT) the the standard rent & beat it in one week type game. San Andreas is a definatly MUST OWN game. My New Favourite Game.

Sex good; violence bad

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 22
Date: October 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

How is it our country is so messed up to allow such a violent game be sold then pull it off the shelves because of a little sex scene. I walk up to the old grannies in the game, stop them into a bloody mess then track bloody foot prints (or tire tracks) as I leave. But show two consenting adults having sex and the game gets pulled. Sex is not illegal. The violence is. I think it is totally bassackwards. The game is sweet either way, for adults anyway. I need to get GTA 3.

Welcome To The Jungle

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 24
Date: July 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll baby!!!

The wizards of mayhem at Take Two have done it again with another home run of a game in the Grand Theft Auto series with their latest smash hit GTA: San Andreas!!

Combining everything they had learned from their previous 2 games, the ante has been truly upped in the latest incarnation. Taking binary data to the thresholds of what is possible, the developers have created a world which is the biggest yet in the GTA universe and as you play this game you wonder when it will ever end. They could have slapped nearly any price on this gem and it would be money well spent, as there simply is no way possible that you will not enjoy San Andreas if you liked GTAIII and Vice City.

Set in the 1990s in an Los Angeles type gang environment, San Andreas puts you in the role of C.J. who is a gang member back from jail who immediately gets caught in the world of the the underground the moment he returns home.

I am not going to say anything more about the story behind this game because I don't want to spoil the fun.

If you like adult games and/or are a fan of GTA in general, the question isn't IF you should pick up this game, rather the question is why are you still reading this review and not PLAYING San Andreas?!?!??!

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY, NOT FOR KIDS

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

So much to do, so much time.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 22
Date: June 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

GTA San Andreas is a big improvement over the past GTA games in the series! There are just so many things to do. My personal favorite is the co-op mode. I also like customizing my ride, doing drive-bys (in cars and helicopters), jumping off of a building and parachuting, plus the simple goodness of shooting the hell outta whoever you want. Also the Xbox version has smoother graphics than the PS2 version and you can add your own custom soundtracks to the game. Overall, the Xbox Version of GTA San Andreas is much better than ANY other game of the GTA series, even the PS2 version of San Andreas. Buy NOW! (P.S. I'm not a kid, I just lost my password.)

Very fun game with only minor flaws.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Grand Theft Auto is the latest game in the GTA series. It has incredibly better graphics and features not 1 city but 4 making it the largest in the series. When finishing missions unlike in the previous GTA games sometimes you will earn respect instead of or in addition to money. Respect reflects how the other people in the gang think of you and in turn, how many you can recruit to follow you. The custimization of your cars and character has been added including paint jobs, hydrolics, eating, haircuts, tatoos, and thousands of combinations of clothing. Another new feature is the "sim like" ability to eat and get fat, work out, etc. There are also many more vehicles in SA including bicycles, ATV's, dune buggys, many different kinds of planes, a Hunter helicoptor that doesn't take forever to get like in Vice City, and the ability to parachute from high places. The ability to recruit gang members to follow you is a bonus, for you can use their help when taking over other gang territories in the city or in completing missions. The character is very original and the environment and story give you a feel for what it is really like there. There are no major flaws in the game, although i found the multiplayer lacking. The two players are on one screen with an overhead view, making aiming difficult. The cheats that can be used in this game are incredible varying from one hit kill punches, to instantly spawning a Hydra (plane with homing missles). I want to add that to people who say this game is terrible and it should be banned, that your are idiots. There's something a little thing called freedom of expression that you might want to check out. It is one thing if you don't want your own kid playing it or something, but to try to take it away from people that are mature enough to play it is wrong. It's only a game and just because someone plays a violent game doesn't make them a violent person. And I think that a lot of kids are mature enough to play this game and know that it is only a game and not something you should do in real life. If your kid can't see the difference between the game and real life than that is an excuse to not let them play it, but don't take one kid being stupid after playing a voilent game out on those of us kids who know the difference. In conclusion this is a game I strongly recommend to anyone who is mature enough to play it.

would give it 6 stars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: November 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is by far the best game I've ever played. Sure, it's so inappropriate it's laughable, but that's not the point. This is a revolutionary game, with probably one of the biggest worlds ever made in videogames. The radio is amazing, the story makes sense, and even though it's a GTA game, it still has family values. CJ tries to find out who killed his mom with his brother as they bring the Grove Street Families back from the grave. Excellent!

PS: To the kid who wrote the review about this game, with all due respect you really don't know what you're talking about mate. People don't buy this game because it teaches them great values, they buy it because it's a great game. It's not like after beating this game, I'm gonna go grab an AK-47 and go on a police massacre. Also, it says 'A Kid's Review'. That means you're under 13. This game is for 17 year olds and up...

GET IT QUICK! BEING PULLED AND SELLING OUT!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: July 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've got the other GTA's and damn that I waited until now to pick this up. Production of this has been HALTED! I stopped inside a "Worst" Buy to get one and wouldn't you know it, the cowards pulled it off the shelves. If you've been stalling on this NOW IS THE TIME - BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!!

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