Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PlayStation 2, 2004)

For those who appreciate the sophomoric, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the ultimate indulgence. This particular storyline follows Carl Johnson, "CJ", who takes it upon himself to regain his "street cred" in his old Grove Street neighborhood, all the while cleansing his home city of gang violence and building his business empire across the cities of San Andreas. Despite the challenging missions, what makes the game so much fun is that it is truly a cartoon for adults. Character voices include the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Charlie Murphy, and Peter Fonda, among many others. The developers' attention to detail and variety of side-missions will have any gamer discovering new features and laughing at new jokes many months after starting a game. In other words, San Andreas has a very long shelf life before it gets old.

Like its most recent predecessor, GTA: Vice City, San Andreas could be considered a "period piece"--this time for late 80's/early 90's West Coast living. Get into any vehicle, and as you surf the radio stations you may hear Ice Cube, Stone Temple Pilots, or Eddie Money--with George Clinton or Axl Rose as the radio DJ. Whereas previous GTA games focused on one city, San Andreas is a state with 3 major cities--caricatures of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas--with countryside in between, thus making the landscape of this RPG absolutely enormous. The developers' sophomoric sense of humor spares no detail in their creations. Virtual doppelgangers of places like Luxor Las Vegas and Camelot are renamed into much raunchier (and funnier versions). You may ride in a boat called a "Reefer" or a car called the "Bf Injection". As you walk past pedestrians in different neighborhoods, you overhear strange parts of silly (and sometimes nasty) conversations. There is even a "secret" army base in the desert, called Area 69. Needless to say, this game is not for children. Even clean jokes may be over the heads of some minors because of the subjects they parody. All in all, if you like a challenging role playing game and can appreciate the little details in a big world; you will get your money's worth from San Andreas.

OK, I will start with a disclaimer: If you have never seen an R-rated movie, then you should not be playing this game.

Now, if you have seen an R-rated movie and thoroughly enjoy them, then this game has everything that you could want. It has added a lot of features and improvements from previous versions. The main ones being a wider array of items, from cars to guns to more characters.

The story mode is challenging and almost impossible to beat without using cheat codes, but that is what makes the game so much fun. However, it is also very easy to get sidetracked from your missions because there is so much to do.

Aside from the story mode, I had the most fun trying to control the whole city in the gang battles. I spent a good couple of days trying to occupy as much of the city as I could.

If you own a PS2, this is game that you MUST have. Just like if you own an XBOX, you must have Halo. This is the game to own for PS2 and I cannot wait for the next one to come out.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA:SA) is, simply put, a great game. The six month wait for a PC port was worth it; although still not state-of-the-art, if you've got the rig for it graphics are noticably improved over the PS2. I'm a bit biased having been addicted since the original GTA came out - Gouranga refers to the easter egg you get for taking out a line of hare krishnas in the original - but the game is probably the best of the series as the world is richer and the missions more fun. My only reservation is that the violence and plot here have no place anywhere near kids, but for adults this is the best of the genre and deserves 5 stars.

GTA has fully evolved from a pure-action game in the original GTA to an RPG with a good deal of action in GTA:SA. The majority of the game revolves around completing missions rather than simply jacking cars and running over people as in the early versions. The good news is that the RPG works. Missions are funny but brutal.

It's important to note this isn't the tamer, slightly cartoonish Scarface-inspired Vice City. Instead, this is the very nasty world of early 90's South Central LA with a gangbanger-influence and language that many will find disturbing. With the revelation that interactive softcore porn is included, this very much deserves the new AO rating. (All the infamous 'hot coffee' mod does is unlock some hidden but pretty rough sex simulations and take off the computer-generated clothes of those involved - if you're disturbed by the gangbanging the in-genre scenes will make it even worse.) One wonders if the rumor that TakeTwo leaked information about the hidden code to the hacking community as a marketing stunt is true - if so, it's massively backfired and it's hard to argue they don't deserve at least some criticism for at the very least not being far more upfront about its inclusion. Even before hot coffee this was pushing the upper limits of an M rating and probably deserved an AO one. Then again, any parent who let their kid near this game - or incredibly, a litigous grandmother buying this for an unsupervised 14 year old when M is clearly marked for 17 year olds - really isn't doing their job either as its incredibly obvious this is not a game for kids. Caveat emptor, and it looks like the AO version is about to become a collector's item.

Regarding content, there are so many more things to do compared to even Vice City. The world is, in a word, huge. It takes at least 20 minutes to drive from one end of the world to another (although if you're creative you just jump the airport fence and fly a plane for 2 minutes instead). Sure, there are standard GTA missions, like mugging drug dealers and drive-bys. But there is a lot more. Want to play death from above? Complete a ton of missions and get the easter egg of a Hunter gunship that can blow anything in the game away. Want an insanely fast car? Don't steal one; go to the docks and import a Super GT. Want to show off your moves? Enter the lowrider contest or go dancing with a date. Where the change from action game to RPG is most noticeable is in the addition of skill-based character advancement. CJ needs to eat and be in shape, but more importantly needs experience with weapons if he wants to hit something besides his foot. It's not onerous by any means, but it's a noticeable difference. One other note for veteran GTA players: this is probably the first GTA in which you'll use your keyboard a bit. The shooting missions are easier with mouse control for targeting, although I definitely prefer my Logitech gamepad for driving.

I'm not going to beat around the bush. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the single best PlayStation 2 title I have ever played. It has more story than the heftiest adventure game, and has almost as many mini-games as Nintendo's Mario Party. Additionally, it has a production value that's second to none, boasts a faithfulness to '90s source material with an eerie accuracy, and provides more hours of entertainment than all the previous Grand Theft Autos combined. In short, it's a terrific unending masterpiece of a game -- and one that will never fall victim to an over-exaggeration of its lofty status. It's the defining piece of software for Sony's successful sophomore system, and it's almost impossible to imagine a PlayStation 2 library without it.

As a mother of 2 boys (11 and 17), this game should be rated AO, if it hasn't been already. My husband bought it and played it once. No decent parent should let their child or teenager play this game. Walmart has taken it out of their stores completely!

Fans of this game already covered everything I know about this game, and then some. I will say that I enjoyed this game-at first. The violence is cool. The adult themes do make the game stylish. Gameplay is improved over every previous version. Then, at some point, after about 3 weeks into the game, I began to lose interest. Not something that hapens to me alot. Maybe it is the repetitive nature of the "missions". I don't know, but, I didn't finish the game, and probably won't.

Some games you loose interest quick. This one is constantly holding our attention. Only downfall, If you dont get a plane or jetpack it takes some time to get around the map.

Review for GTA:VC (PC version)

This is 3rd 3D iteration of the GTA series. It is basically a third person RPG/Shooter/Simulation. The story line is set in 3 fictional cities (based loosely on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas) during the gang heyday of the early 90s.

This game was original rated 17 M+ for graphic violence, drug use, and strong sexual situations. It was pulled from the shelf over a piece of game code that was partially edited out of the game. A european hacker discovered the code and devised a way to hack it back into the game. The hacked game code still doesn't show anything that you couldnt see in an R rated movie. The 17+M rating should have stood. (Despite the medias and politicians constant references to 'graphic sex', keep in mind that the characters involved have no genitalia! No genitalia makes it impossible to have *any* sex of any kind much less graphic)

The game play is very open ended. You can do any of the numerous side missions, like firefighting, paramedic, police or pimping missions OR you can play the missions that move the main story along. Either way you are in for hours and hours of captivating, thought provoking open ended gameplay. The graphics look decent enough if you can run things at high resolution. The Vegas strip from the air looks fantastic at sunset! All in all a fun game to play, but for mature teens and adults only. Parents, start paying attention to what you buy your kids, the ratings are on the back of the box with reasons why. Few things are spelled out for parents in black and white anymore, this is one of them.

5 out of 5

When you talk about Groundbreaking, Grand Theft Auto 3 was the most Groundbreaking game in this series. It introduced gamers to a large environment where you can virtually do anything you want. When you talk about polish, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is as polished as you can get in the GTA series (besides graphics, which doesn't seem to have changed too much given GTA3 came out in 2001). The storyline, subplots, vehicles, environments are all bigger, bolder and have made national headlines in certain notorious and infamous minigames.

This is a game for adults, and it has always been since GTA3, so there is no shortage of sex, crime, drugs, violence, and virtual death and destruction. You can now pilot helicopters, private jets, motorcycles, bicycles, ice cream trucks, fire engines, police cars, and of course fast fast cars.

It covers a sprawling locale including what accounts to the real cities of San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. There's so much detail that it even includes the desert and redwood back country of California. You can even become a trucker to make money.

Your character changes as well, adding tattoos, hair styles, clothes as well as weight lifting, exercise, and eating; chiseling your body or allowing your body to fatten out into the crime boss that you are.

Guns and missions are varied, and the plot can get pretty confusing with all the characters introduced. But it's a great gaming experience, as long as you can get over the video game violence and accidental deaths of pedestrians as you're running away from the mafia in your convertible.

If you can only own 1 game on the PS2, and you're over 18, this is the game to own.

San Andreas is by far the crown jewel of the Rockstar Lineup. As Carl Johnson you return to the fictional city of Los Santos after your mother has been murdered. Along the way you meet a slew of characters, voiced by high profile celebrities such as James Woods, Samuel L. Jackson, and many others.

Unlike previous GTA games, San Andreas is a state, with three large cities and miles of sprawling country side. The storyline of this game is great, with a plot that will keep you interested from start to finish. Once you complete the storyline the game remains fresh with plenty of mini games, side missions, and the overall fun that comes with causing random mayhem by gunning down pedestrians, blowing up cars, skydiving, swimming, working out, and more.

Your video game collection is not complete until you own a copy of San Andreas, arguably the greatest game ever to hit any console.

Gaming Gangsters
Where Vice City took its cues, with tongue firmly in cheek, from the 1980s television series Miami Vice, San Andreas is a sincere homage to early 1990s innercity gangster films like Menace 2 Society and Boyz ‘N the Hood. This is an honest effort to create an engaging story about sympathetic characters caught up in a brutal environment that is on par with a movie or novel. If that effort hits a few flat notes (you would have to be totally desensitized not to wonder if it's OK to make entertainment out of driveby shootings), it may also mark the first step toward video games growing up. The first thing that fans of earlier GTA games will notice is the range of action is much wider now: Along with shooting, running, and driving, there's now swimming, eating, working out, shopping, and, yes, getting a haircut. All this means the game has a fairly steep learning curve. But, though the pick-up-and-play appeal of Grand Theft Auto III may be long gone, your access to the action becomes fairly transparent after a little practice. My only serious complaint is that, with the controller now crowded with such previously unheard-of functions like "Gang Active" and "Talk Positive," you can drive only with the left analog stick. A minor point, but it makes cars a lot more difficult to handle.
Vehicular Variety
It would be hard to surpass the variety of automobiles available in earlier games, and San Andreas wisely does not for the most part try to compete on that score. Instead, it's bicycles of all things that steal the show. The bikes' speed and flexibility are perfect for many of the missions, and there is something about cruising through the streets and basketball courts on a BMX that just feels right. If you play far enough into the game, you will also be rewarded with the chance to fly a number of aircraft, and flying is something Rockstar makes a greater effort to get right this time (welcome news for anyone who struggled with the planes and ‘copters of the earlier games).
Lackluster Graphics--but a Real Feel
Graphics--never a huge priority for Rockstar--actually take a step backward from the luscious, tropical look of Vice City. Textures are rendered with only a cursory attention to detail, and contours are often blocky. It scarcely matters, though, because no matter how San Andreas looks, it feels real. This is due in no small part to voice work by an all-star cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Ice T, James Woods, Peter Fonda, and Outkast's Big Boy and a stellar soundtrack with tunes by Soundgarden, 2Pac, Public Enemy, and even a few country classics from the likes of Willie Nelson. But it's not just realistic, San Andreas is also vast, encompassing three big urban centers and huge swaths of rural land (complete with shotgun-toting farmers) between them. This vastness does mean, however, that there can be a lot of tedious driving to get to the missions, which, along with some awkward sequencing of the cut scenes (they are in places stacked one on top of the other), means that there is a bit too much downtime. But never mind the quibbles. Ladies and gentlemen, we have another classic on our hands.©Kevin Starnes©

Pros:

Astonishingly vast game space
Vivid character development
Complex, engaging plot
Enormous range of available actions

Cons:

Occasionally awkward game design
You can no longer steer cars with the directional buttons
Steep learning curve

Without a doubt the worst grand theft auto i have played, i bought and got rid of it the same day not caring of the loss i took on it. funny how you hear of department stores pulling cd's because of explicit lyrics, this one should never been allowed to even hit the floors of those department stores.very bad game,i still think vice city is the best.

Even before GTA: San Andreas’ hidden ‘Hot Coffee’ mod erupted, controversy surrounded the series and its depiction of 90’s Los Angeles and the gangs that frequent it. Though politicians and advocate groups attacked it, no can deny that it’s simply the most free-wheeling and addicting game ever made.

What makes this game so great is that it’s not a game; it’s another world. Almost anything is possible. You want to work out? You can do that. Shoot pool and bet on it? You can do that too. It’s the rare game that serves up unlimited replay potential since the game itself never really ends. The main storyline may wrap up but there’s still a whole world out there waiting for you to stir trouble up.

It would not be a stretch to call GTA: San Andreas the pinnacle of the PS2. It’s likely to stay that way as we wave so long to the PS2 and welcome the Playstation Next in the coming months.

It boggles the mind how high the expectations will be for the next incaranation. One thing is for sure, Rockstar Games is up to the task and will deliver a phenomenal effort.

I could go on for hours about the game but chances are you already know everything you need to know: this is a must-have for your gaming collection.

this game to me is just like all the others in the series after gta3. there is small things you can do that you cant in the older ones, like ride a bike. but over its pretty much the same.

After seeing the excitement in my teenage nephew's face when he got this game for Christmas, I couldn't wait to play it with him. But after the first 30 minutes I couldn't help wondering, "What's the bid deal?!" The only reason this series got any attention is because of the theme - excessive violence. It's BORING!!!! This game would be better without all the stupidity.

This is one of the best games ever made! You have to buy it to know what im talking about. Not a waste of money.

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas... a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.

Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.

On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

LOVING THIS GAME AND THE WHOLE THEME, BIG INTO HIPHOP AND THIS GAME SHOWS THAT LIFE STYLE IN AN OVER THE TOP EXPEREINCE, GREAT GRAPHISC TOO, BUY THIS GAME!!

I recently aquired the banned copy of this game from Half Price books for $10.00 what a deal! My husband and I play it alot. We recently saw the screenshots and video clips of the hot coffee code and I have to say it was the sickest most perverse thing I have ever seen in a video game. Its one thing to have a game rated M for mature but this is NC-17 if you get a-hold of this code and its not that hard to do, kids are very savvy on a computer these days. The game play in the new version of course you cannot crack but some scenes are really not appropriate for children under 16. I love the game just some of the things in gameplay are a little too much.

Here is some more information on the net I found to help out Ebay buyers:

The Hot Coffee minigame controversy concerns a dormant sex minigame that exists in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, developed by Rockstar North. The minigame was made notable with the release of the Hot Coffee mod, created for the 2005 personal computer port of San Andreas. When installed, it enables access to an otherwise inaccessible part of the game which involves a sexual intercourse minigame (I CANNOT SAY WHAT HAPPENS SINCE IT IS WAY TOO INAPPROPRIATE FOR THIS GUIDE) with any of the main character's girlfriends to try to improve the relationship between the two. The name of the mod is derived from the girlfriends' offer for the main character to come into their homes for "coffee" — a euphemism for sex.

Although the "Hot Coffee" minigame was completely disabled and its existence was only highlighted after the mod's release for the PC version in June 9, 2005,[1] the assets for the minigame were also discovered in both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, and people found ways to enable the minigame via console video game hacking tools. By the middle of July 2005, the minigame's discovery attracted considerable controversy from lawmakers and politicians, prompting the game to be re-rated as an adult game, and pulled from some shelves. An updated version of San Andreas has since been released with the minigame removed completely, allowing the game to regain its original rating. A patch for the original version of the game, which removes the minigame, has also been released.

Hope this helps!

I love playing this game, it never seems to get old. Great purchase, no wonder it has sold so many millions of copies.

I love this game. Many other people don’t. If you like a game that is on the edge. A game that breaks the rules. Than this is the game for you. However, if you don’t like games where you kill cops, blow people up, wreck cars, and kick people around DONT BUY THIS GAME. If you like doing those things in a video you might really like this game. Not to mention it has a great story line and is one of the most sold games ever.

I think of myself as a hardcore gamer, so I think I would know if this game was fun. From the many accesories you use to make your character unique, to the casinos and horse races, to the wide accesible area that always leaves you wondering what else is out there, this game is great. The missions range from easy to downright insane. Plus, all the new cars and weaponry this is the best Grand Theft Auto to date. But, the rating of this game is there for a reason. I do not suggest you get this for your nephew or niece. But, I say someone about 15 could handle it.
Just think of all the areas you can access and the new things you can install on your ride. Personally, I fancy the GoKart and the racing bike. You may favor the land and water vehicle. Whatever ride you are into it's in this game.

My personal idea was it was a well thought out game with extravagant free world play and excellent game play. Now here is why I rated it so poorly, I played it with the volome completly off and was still embarrassed to play it in front of my wife or child, that is just beyond my means. Although some may tollerate it I could not.

I can honestly say that GTA:SA is the only game I ever play. Great graphics, gameplay, storyline, enviroment, and endless possibilities. There is racing, stunt bike competitions, dance games, ambulance, fire engine, and police driving mission, taxi driver (beats the need for Crazy Taxi), and much more! To get more in-depth I'll talk more about the game. First, the levels. The game is based on Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Las Vegas, as well as the countryside, woodlands, and desert. Let me just say that the cities are IMMENSIVE. You will never run out of things to find and do. There is even a mountain that you can drive up and then parachute down from. All the terrain is interactive and you can climb anything you want. Now the cars. There are a lot of different vehicles in the game and most of them are customizable. You can bring it to a "shop" and customize the wheels, paint job in almost every shade that you wish, add a body kit, add NOS, and among other things. There is even a special shop for "lowriders" and street racers to customize specifially as well. Very good handling and physics by the way. The next thing is the storyline. The plot of the game is very believable and very down-to-earth. You start off small as a guy who just moved into his deceased mothers house in the dilapidated part of Los Santos (Los Angelas, called "Los Santos" in the game). The area is swarming with street gangs and you can even round them up to do drive-bys for you later in the game. You soon rise up in the game moving to more affluent areas and the storyline gets more and more built-up. The last thing I'll talk about is the character. You play C.J. and you start off as a skinny guy with just a little cash and not much respect from your street gang. What's unique about this game is the ability to control your stats. You can view these by pressing the "L1" button. These include, your weight, strength, you sex appeal and other things. You are fully in charge of these stats and you can abuse them or lose them as well. To gain weight, you can eat a lot and not excersize. However, to lose the weight just do the opposite, eat healthy and excersize. To increase your strenghth, you can go the gym or ride your bike or run a lot. To gain sex appeal, get a nice car. In a nutshell, the greatest game ever made and will even save you money from the lack of games you'll need to buy!