Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review

Character Evolution

San Andreas sets itself apart even more by implementing a really great system for character advancement and improvement. By doing all of the stuff I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, you automatically build up your stats. If you run around and swim a lot, you will improve your stamina so you can run further before you get tired. If you drive or ride a motorcycle or fly a lot, you will improve those stats so you will be a better driver/pilot. You can exercise and build up your muscles in order to do more damage. And you can change your hairstyle and clothes and tattoos and try to raise your sex appeal stat to try and impress the ladies. All of these things are updated automatically and you don’t have to think about them, which is absolutely great. Depending on how you play the game, your CJ will be different from everyone else’s and I like that a lot.

Something else that is different in San Andreas is that you now have to eat to regain health and keep up your stamina. It sounds sort of annoying, but the truth is that you’ll likely die or get arrested before you need to eat so you never really worry about it. If you want, however, you can go and eat a lot and make your character really fat, which is fun too.

Perfect Design

Everything in San Andreas works so incredibly well because the state is perfectly designed. The cities feel like real cities and the forests and mountains feel like real forests and mountains. The state is huge and it can take 20 minutes to go from one side of it to the other. Highways and dirt roads and freeways and train tracks criss cross the landscape and it is up to you to learn the roads in order to find the best path to wherever you are going. You can actually get lost in this game, which I absolutely love. You can’t just drive wrecklessly over a mountain because it will likely end up with your car either at the bottom of a river or in a smoking heap, and it isn’t fun to have to run for five minutes to find a car to drive. Everything about the state of San Andreas feels realistic and it makes everything you do even more fun and interesting.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, San Andreas is far from a beautiful game, but considering how much is going on at any given time it is acceptable. It doesn’t seem like it was cleaned up as much for the Xbox as GTA3 and Vice City were, but perhaps that is just because this game looks pretty good on the PS2 to begin with. Everything is much clearer, though, and it is now possible to read all of the signs spread throughout the state which is a big improvement. Another change is that the sickly orange barf glow and “fog” that made the game a bit of a pain to play on PS2 has been scaled back quite a bit and it is now possible to see more than ten feet in front of you.

The sound is also well done. The voice actors all do an amazing job and really draw you into the story. As expected, the radio is filled with over 150 songs ripped from the early 90’s and it covers everything from rap to rock to country to talk. You can also use your own custom soundtracks, and this is another option that makes this version of San Andreas the one to own because cruising around to your own music makes the game even better.

Bottom Line

All in all, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a spectacular title that no Xbox owner should be without. Every single aspect of the game has been improved over GTA3 and Vice City and with over 100 hours of gameplay this is a great game that is an outstanding value. In addition to the single-player game, there is a limited multiplayer mode where two people can play, but they have to stay on the same screen and only one can drive at a time, so it is pretty limited. Better than nothing, I guess. Passing the controller around just goofing off in the regular single-player mode is good fun on its own. It should be noted that this game definitely earns its “M” rating. It is violent and has some sexual content as well as some incredibly foul language. If any of these things raise any red flags for you, you should probably skip this one. For everyone else, San Andreas is an absolute joy to play that is head and shoulders above the other GTA games as well as the dozens of GTA pretenders that have flooded the market recently. This is a great game that is highly recommended for a purchase.