Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Xbox, 2005)

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.