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I received GTA San Andreas (GTA:SA) the day it came out for the PC. I've been pounding away at it every spare moment since then. While I wouldn't call it the "perfect" game, it's been a ton of fun to play. This article shares my initial observations, thoughts, and impressions of the game. If you are thinking about buying it, this might help you make the decision.
This is not so much a review as a commentary on Grand Theft Auto (GTA) San Andreas for the PC. I received the game the day it came out from Outpost.com, who offered it at a relatively low price with free shipping. The first thing I noticed going into the game was changes to the way the character and vehicles are controlled. In general I've picked up the controls pretty well (although I think there are far too many controls overall). The only one I haven't really mastered (and because of that, dislike) is the mouse camera controls. I've been killed or crashed way too many times because the mouse moved the camera to a strange angle and confused me about which way to turn the vehicle or whether I should be running forward or backward. Even after many hours of play, I'm still having that problem. I think I'd prefer an automatic camera control that I could temporarily override to having constant full control of the camera. The next thing I noticed about GTA:SA is the incredible number of things you can do within the game. To say it's overwhelming is probably to sell the game short. I'm sure I haven't found "everything" yet but what I have found is a staggering amount of "stuff to do": - There are, of course, plenty of vehicles to use on land, sea, and in the air, as with any GTA title.
There are also plenty of different missions to undertake, including burglary, assassination, drive-by shootings, and arson. The variety of missions in this game seems to be considerably larger and wider than previous GTA titles. There is a role-playing aspect to this game, where your character "grows" his skills by practicing them. For example, by going to a gym and working out, his physical strength increases, making him more effective when fighting with his hands or club-like weapons. There are lots of little mini-games built into GTA:SA, including a shooting competition at some of the Ammu-Nation stores, a "Dance Dance Revolution like" game where you make a low-rider car "dance" with its hydraulics, and video game machines in some areas that actually play typical arcade-style games on-screen. The main character can go on a date with a girl, taking her to a restaurant, etc., and tries to build up a relationship with her. There are lots of humorous things hidden in the game. The commercials on the various in-game radio stations tend to be funny parodies of real commercials. There are some amusing ad slogans on billboards, and the soundtrack inside the Ammu-Nation stores is pretty darned funny. Unless I've missed it, one of my favorite aspects to the original GTA title, the ability to steal and sell cars, isn't there in GTA:SA and probably hasn't been there for a while. I miss that, especially as a way to make money in the early parts of the game. There is a strategic component to GTA:SA in that you can fight for "turf" in the city with other gangs. If you can survive three waves of ever-escalating gang activity in an area, you can take over that "hood" for your gang. The first wave is a handful of enemies who aren't especially well-armed but aggressive. The second wave is better-armed and includes a car that tries to do a drive-by on you. The last wave is a large number of well-armed enemies who try to sneak up from all sides on you to catch you off guard. (I have to admit that without a "trainer" I'm not sure I could win one of these turf wars.) Police response, at least in the initial area of town (where I still am), is limited to 4-star response. At 1 star, cops who see you will chase you down and try to arrest you. At 2 stars, cops will actively seek you out and some will shoot you rather than try to arrest you. At 3 stars, the cops will actively try to seek you out, shoot you, run you down with their vehicles, and even deploy a helicopter to get you. At 4-stars you get what is probably the full range of GTA's police deployment: Officers on foot will chase after you, officers in vehicles will chase you and try to run you down if they can, they generally won't try to arrest you at all, the helicopters drop SWAT teams, the SWAT team brings in its heavy trucks, etc. I have seen very few attempts at roadblocks in GTA:SA, which is an interesting change from previous GTA titles. Perhaps they realized these were ineffective against most players? The "normal citizens" in GTA:SA are more interactive with each other than in previous titles. I've seen rival gang members crash into each other's cars, get out, shoot it out with each other, and the winner drive away. I've seen people have shootouts with the police, road rage incidents, and the like. I walked into a park where about 20 people were sitting, unmoving, on park benches. I pointed a weapon at one guy and he raised his hands in surrender. When I shot him, everyone else in the park ran away, pretty much like they would in the real world. It's been fun just walking around sometimes watching the people interact with each other. (The only thing that is not so well done is the conversations that people on the street stop and have. They rarely make any sense. One person might say something like "I hate all the crime around here" to which the other replies "I lost my job last week"... Huh?)
All things considered, the bad points are very much outweighed by the good points. GTA:SA is an impressive piece of programming and (as long as you can stomach the content and subject matter, which I can) a lot of fun to play. I think I enjoyed Half-Life 2 a bit more than I've enjoyed GTA:SA so far, but this is a very close second...
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