Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (
GTA:SA) is a
third-person action/
adventure video game developed by
Rockstar North and published by
Rockstar Games. It is the third
3D game in the
Grand Theft Auto franchise and fifth original game overall. It was released for the
PlayStation 2 on
October 26,
2004 in
North America and on
October 29, 2004 in
Europe and
Australia. It was later released for the
PC and
Xbox on
June 7,
2005 in North America and
June 10, 2005 in Europe.
Following the success of
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, many gamers eagerly anticipated a new
Grand Theft Auto game on the PlayStation 2 in late
2003. Most theories were shot down when Rockstar had given no announcement of a new game by summer of that year. The first hint at there even being a new installment was on
October 29, 2003, when
Take-Two Interactive announced that an untitled
"GTA5" game was set for release in the "later half of the fiscal fourth quarter 2004".
[Douglass C. Perry, GTA 4 Date Confirmed, IGN, October 30, 2003] By this time, pundits had begun theorized it would either be based in the fictional city of San Andreas, California in the modern day, or in the fictional Sin City, Nevada (based on in the 1970s.
On
March 1,
2004, Take-Two announced in a press conference that
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be released Tuesday,
October 19, 2004 in North America,
October 22 in Europe
[Stephen Coleman, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, IGN, March 1, 2004] and
October 29 in Australia. The first news of the game's content would be revealed on
March 11, as it was divulged that San Andreas would not be a city, but rather an entire state consisting of
Los Santos,
San Fierro, and
Las Venturas.
On
September 9, 2004, Take-Two announced in its third quarter financial results for 2004 that the release date would be pushed back by a week. The PlayStation 2 version would not be released until October 26 in North America, October 29 for Europe, and
November 15 in Australia. In the same release, Take-Two announced PC and Xbox versions would be released on June 7, 2005.
Set in the early 1990s, the player controls main character
Carl "CJ" Johnson, a man in his mid-to-late twenties returning to Los Santos after five years residing in
Liberty City. Carl left Los Santos after being blamed for the death of his younger brother, Brian, by his older brother, Sean (nicknamed "Sweet"). The murder of his mother causes him to return for her funeral. CJ returns to find disarray in his family and in his old gang, the
Grove Street Families (named for their home territory, Grove Street), which prompts him to stay.
Characters
The characters that appear in
San Andreas are relatively diverse and relative to the respected cities and locales that each of them based themselves in. This allows the game to include a significantly wider array of storylines and settings than in
Grand Theft Auto III and
Vice City.
The
Los Santos stages of the game revolve around the theme of the Grove Street Families gang fighting with the Ballas and the Vagos for territory and respect. East Asian gangs (most notably the local
Triads) and an additional Vietnamese gang are evident in the
San Fierro leg of the game, while three Mafia families who own a casino are more prominently featured in the
Las Venturas section of the game.
Like
Vice City,
San Andreas' voice actors includes notable celebrities, including
Samuel L Jackson,
Frank Vincent,
Peter Fonda,
James Woods,
Wil Wheaton, the late
Chris Penn,
William Fichtner,
Charlie Murphy,
David Cross,
Debi Mazar, rappers
Yo-Yo,
MC Eiht,
Ice T,
Kid Frost and
The Game, as well as musicians
Axl Rose and
Shaun Ryder.
Locale
|
Los Santos, as seen from the low-wealth district of Idlewood. Downtown's prominent skyscrapers can be seen far in the background |
The fictional state, San Andreas is generally based on sections of
California and
Nevada, comprising three major cities:
Los Santos and the
badlands represent
Los Angeles and the California badlands;
San Fierro is the equivalent of
San Francisco; and
Las Venturas (and the surrounding
desert) correspond to
Las Vegas and the
Nevada desert. Players can climb Mount Chiliad (based on
Mount Diablo), a half mile (800 m) tall
mountain,
parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in three counties: Red County, Flint County, and Bone County. Other notable destinations include a massive
dam (based on the
Hoover Dam), a large secret military base (called Area 69, an obvious reference to
Area 51), a microwave dish, and many other geographical features. San Andreas is approximately 17 square miles (44 square kilometers), almost four times as large as Vice City, and five times as large as Liberty City.
Los Santos features landmarks reminiscent of the
Watts Towers, the
Los Angeles Convention Center, the
Capitol Tower, the
U.S. Bank Tower, the
Great Western Forum, the
Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and
Grauman's Chinese Theater. The city of Los Santos has several important areas, including the gang-ridden Ganton, Idlewood and East Los Santos, based on
Compton,
Inglewood, and
East Los Angeles, respectively. Also located in the city are a busy downtown, the wealthy Rodeo and Mulholland districts, and glitzy Vinewood (complete with giant VINEWOOD sign in the hills), based on
Hollywood.
San Fierro features Rockstar's interpretations of the
Haight-Ashbury district ("Hashbury"), the
Castro district ("Queens"),
Chinatown, and the
Golden Gate Bridge ("Gant Bridge"), as well as the city's prominent
cable cars and
hilly
terrain. Several other familiar landmarks have been recreated, from the
Embarcadero clock tower and the
Transamerica Pyramid ("Big Pointy Building") to
Lombard Street ("Windy Windy Windy Windy Windy Street"), and
Scottish landmarks such as the
Forth Bridge and the
Forth Road Bridge. There is a district known as "Garcia", a tribute to
Grateful Dead frontman and San Francisco native
Jerry Garcia, and San Fierro's City Hall closely resembles San Francisco's ornate
city hall.
|
Police trouble in Las Venturas, PC version. |
Las Venturas is home to several
casinos, where the player can partake in various casino games, such as
blackjack,
poker,
roulette, and
slot machines. Off-track betting parlors are also available in the game's other regions. In addition to
gambling,
strip clubs are also prevalent in Las Venturas. Many real
Las Vegas Strip casinos are faithfully interpreted on Las Venturas' Strip, including the
Excalibur Hotel and Casino ("Come-a-Lot"), the
Sphinx and pyramid of the
Luxor Hotel ("The Camel's Toe"), and the
Pioneer Club, with Vegas Vic and Vicki
[Super Signage - NEVADA (page 1)] replaced by
Vice City characters
Avery Carrington and
Candy Suxxx, respectively.
Plot synopsis
Carl discovers his best friends, Big Smoke and Ryder, are working with the crooked Officer Tenpenny and Grove Street's hated rival gang, the
Ballas. Smoke and Ryder help the Ballas ambush Sweet, who is then arrested by Tenpenny and thrown into jail. Tenpenny kidnaps Carl and ditches him in the distant rural countryside. Carl, realizing Tenpenny is Sweet's only way out of jail, continues to run the cop's crooked errands.
|
Flying a stunt airplane over the desert region of Las Venturas, PC version. |
Carl steadily befriends new allies, among them, blind Chinese gang leader/businessman, Wu Zi Mu; the seemingly aloof but extremely knowledgeable hippie, The Truth; and Cesar, a former Hispanic gang member who, like Carl, has been betrayed by his old friends. Carl, along with Cesar, Kendl (Carl's sister and Cesar's girlfriend), and The Truth's friendly technicians, opens a thriving Auto Mod-Shop in San Fierro. After finding and killing Ryder, he becomes immersed in the affairs of shady government agent, Mike Toreno, who says he will release Sweet if Carl helps him with his covert operations. At Toreno's assertion, Carl avoids Los Santos and, instead, works alongside Wu Zi Mu, to promote the growth of a new casino in the mafia-run Las Venturas. Carl enjoys new-found wealth and eventually returns to Los Santos, where Sweet has been freed. To his surprise, Sweet is disgusted with Carl's new found lifestyle, aversion to Los Santos, lack of identity, and disconnection from his 'hood.
Tenpenny, who is taken to court for clear corruption, is acquitted, sending the citizens of Los Santos into a city-wide riot. Fueled by Sweet's resolve to enact revenge upon Tenpenny and all his dealings, Carl reacquires lost gang territory and hunts down the traitors responsible for aiding in the drug business that destroyed the Grove Street Families. He kills Big Smoke, now a drug tycoon, prompting Tenpenny to flee with Smoke's fortune. Sweet and Carl pursue Tenpenny through the streets of Los Santos, finally forcing him off a bridge, killing him. The final scene shows the Johnson family reunited, with Carl walking out the door, saying "Fittin' to hit the block, see what's happening."
San Andreas is structured similarly to the previous two games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open environment to move around in. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons and basic hand to hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, airplanes, helicopters, and motorcycles.
The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain cities and content, they are not required and players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and create havoc (ie: drive-by shootings, robberies, etc). However, doing so generally attracts unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle minor infractions, whereas SWAT teams and the military respond to higher warning levels.
The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, such as dropping off taxi cab passengers, putting out fires, driving injured people to the hospital, and fighting crime as a
vigilante. New additions include truck and train driving missions requiring players to make deliveries on time, and driving/flying/boating/biking schools, which help players learn skills and techniques to use in their respective vehicles.
Unlike
Vice City and
GTA3, which had loading screens when traveling between different districts of the city,
San Andreas has no load times when the player is in transit. The only loading screens in the game are for cut-scenes and interiors. This is very surprising, considering San Andreas is four times larger than Vice City and five times larger than Liberty City. Other notable differences between
San Andreas and its predecessors are the removal of hidden packages (which have been replaced by spray paint tags, horseshoes, and oysters) and Rampage missions.
New features
Many new features have been included in the game. New vehicles include bicycles, trucks with detachable trailers, police motorcycles, operable tow trucks,
combine harvesters,
quad bikes, fixed-wing airplanes, a
VTOL military jet fighter, a jet pack, and trains. In total, there are nearly 200 vehicles in the game, compared to the 85 in
GTA3. In addition, players can swim and climb walls for the first time in the series. For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with multiple gang members. The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked with concepts from another Rockstar game,
Manhunt implemented, including improved target crosshairs that change colors from green to red to black depending on the target's health, as well as various stealth elements. Another inclusion in the game is a waypoint reticule on the HUD map that the player can set to aid them in reaching a destination. Considering San Andreas is much larger than other cities in the series, this minor addition was appreciated, especially in driving intensive missions.
Personalization |
Running in Los Santos, PC version. The player's character initially has little money, fitness, or skills. These attributes improve as one plays the game. |
Rockstar has emphasized the
personalization of the main character. Clothing and accessories (which players can buy at one of the game's many clothing stores), haircuts and tattoos are now available for purchase by CJ, and have more effect on
Non-player characters' reactions than the clothing in
Vice City. Players must also ensure CJ eats to stay healthy, obtaining food from
fast food restaurants such as Cluckin' Bell, street vendors, diners, bars and nightclubs. The balance of food and exercise has an effect on his muscularity and appearance. If CJ eats too much in a short period, he will get sick and throw up; if he overeats periodically, he will grow fat and move more slowly while on foot. If he fails to eat, he will become less muscular and, eventually, will lose health.
San Andreas also tracks acquired skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game. This adds an
RPG aspect to the game. CJ may also learn three different styles of
hand-to-hand combat at the gyms in each of the game's three cities. CJ can also speak with a number of pedestrians in the game, including drug dealers, prospective girlfriends, and fellow gang members. CJ's level of respect among his fellow Grove Street gang members varies according to his appearance and actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. Rockstar claims that CJ has a total of about 4200 lines of spoken dialog.
[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Weekend Update: Street Talking, Gamespot, October 23, 2004]Better artificial intelligenceAnother improvement to the game is the
artificial intelligence. No longer can the player beat a pedestrian to death on a busy street in broad daylight and have bystanders not do anything. While most pedestrians will flee or duck for cover, some armed civilians and enemy gang members will attack CJ, and friendly gang members will shoot at and pursue his opponents. This makes the previously mentioned home invasions more difficult than one would expect because the occupants will resist, and in some cases, draw weapons. Another aspect of this is that the cops will now chase other rival gang members who are committing crimes instead of just the player character.
Vehicle modification |
Driving a modified sports car in San Fierro while deploying nitrous oxide to boost speed, PC version. |
TransFender, Wheel Arch Angels, and Loco Low Co. are fictitious
Car tuning shops in San Andreas. Most car mods are strictly visual, adding aesthetic appeal to the vehicles, as opposed to those which improve the performance. Many, but not all, vehicles can be modified. Common modifications include
nitrous oxide tanks, hydraulics, paintjobs, rims, body kits, and stereo system upgrades.
Gang warsAfter progressing through the storyline enough, the ability to engage in gang wars on the streets of Los Santos is made available. The goal is to gain as much territory within the city as possible in order to earn money. The more territory inhabited, the more money CJ earns. Battles with enemy gangs are prompted whenever the player (either alone or accompanied by fellow Grove Street Families members) ventures into enemy territory (denoted by sections of the HUD map color coded to certain gangs) and kills 3-4 gang members. If the player survives multiple waves of enemies, the territory will be won and fellow gang members will begin wandering the streets of these areas. Occassionally, your territory will come under attack from enemy gangs and defeating them will be necessary to retain these areas. Taking over all areas will stop any future attacks by enemy gangs.
RobberyA new activity that continues the
Grand Theft Auto series' tradition of
controversy is
home invasion.
[Greg Kasavin, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Weekend Update: Robbery and Home Invasion, Gamespot, August 13, 2004] By stealing a robbery van, CJ is able to sneak into a residence, and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants at night. The loot the player makes off is then sold for money.
MinigamesNumerous
minigames are also available for play in
San Andreas, including
basketball,
pool,
rhythm-based challenges involving dancing and hydraulic vehicles, and video game machines that pay homage to classic
arcade games such as
Gyruss,
Defender and
Gradius. In addition, there are the aforementioned methods of gambling, which allow the player to play blackjack, video poker, roulette, and other casinos games. Be careful though, as running up a gambling debt will see the mafia after you.
MultiplayerA two-player cooperative mode has also been added for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Two-player icons are found in several key locations in the
San Andreas world. The mode offers a series of special objectives similar to a "Rampage" in previous
Grand Theft Auto games. Two human players will be able to travel by car or on foot. Both the players are required to remain on the same screen and within a reasonable proximity of one another.
Weapons
The weapon selection in
San Andreas is approximately the same as in
Vice City, with a few additions or replacements. As in
Vice City, weapons are categorized by type, and the player can carry only one weapon in each "slot" at a time.
*
Slot 1: Hand: bare fist,
brass knuckles*
Slot 2: Melee Weapons:
baseball bat,
shovel,
cue stick,
katana,
golf club,
nightstick,
knife,
chainsaw*
Slot 3: Handguns:
9mm pistol*,
silenced 9mm pistol,
Desert Eagle*
Slot 4: Shotguns:
pump-action shotgun,
sawn-off shotgun*, combat shotgun (
SPAS-12)
*
Slot 5: Sub-Machine Guns:
TEC-9*, micro-SMG (
Micro-Uzi)*, SMG (
H&K MP5)
*
Slot 6: Assault Rifles:
AK-47,
M4 Carbine*
Slot 7: Rifles:
hunting rifle,
sniper rifle*
Slot 8: Heavy Weapons:
rocket launcher,
flame thrower,
heat-seeking rocket launcher,
minigun*
Slot 9: Explosives and Incendiaries:
hand grenade, (lethal)
tear gas grenade,
Molotov cocktail, remote
satchel charge*
Slot 10: Handheld Items:
fire extinguisher,
spray paint,
camera*
Slot 11: Gifts:
flowers, a
cane,
dildos, and
vibrators which can be given to CJ's girlfriends
*
Slot 12: Special Items: thermal/
night vision goggles,
parachute*
Slot 13: misc.: detonator
* denotes weapon can be dual-wielded
The in-game model for the "9mm pistol" resembles an
M1911, although it's actually a
GLOCK 17 as seen in the HUD icon, and Ryder's gun in the first Ryder mission. Also, the HUD icon for the "micro-smg" resembles a
MAC-11, although the in-game model is that of a Micro-Uzi. Also, the HUD icon for the "Sniper rifle" resembles a
PSG-1. However, the weapon in-game is a generic
bolt action rifle lacking a
pistol grip rather than the semi-automatic PSG-1.
[[1]] |
Screenshot from the controversial sequence. |
In mid-June 2005, a
software patch the game dubbed the
Hot Coffee mod was released. The name "Hot Coffee" refers to the way the released game alludes to the unseen sex scenes. In the unmodified game, the player takes his girlfriend to her front door and she asks him if he would like to come in for "some coffee." He agrees, and the camera stays outside, swaying back and forth a bit, while moaning sounds are heard.
After installing the patch, users can enter the main character's girlfriends' houses and engage in a crudely rendered, partially clothed
sexual intercourse mini-game. Patch codes that allowed the scenes to be accessed in the console versions were subsequently found. The fallout from the controversy resulted in a public response from high-ranking politicians in the United States and resulted in the game's recall and re-release.
On
July 20 2005 production of the game was suspended and the game received a revised
ESRB Rating of Adults Only, making San Andreas the only mass-released AO console game in the U.S. Rockstar has given distributors the option of applying an Adults Only ESRB rating sticker to copies of the game, or returning them to be replaced by versions without the Hot Coffee content. Many retailers pulled the game off their shelves in compliance with their own store regulations that kept them from selling AO games.
Rockstar North released a "Cold Coffee" patch
[No More Hot Coffee, Rockstar Games, 2005] for the PC version and re-released San Andreas with a Mature rating. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have also been re-released in a "GTA Trilogy Pack"
[Tim Surette, GTA gets trilogized, San Andreas special edition, Gamespot, September 23, 2005] for Xbox, and a Special Edition for PlayStation 2 that includes the documentary film
Sunday Driver.
Many characters, locations and fictional elements from previous
Grand Theft Auto games reappear in
San Andreas, at times with minor modifications due to the difference in time periods. Due to the fact that
Vice City occurred before the events of
San Andreas, crossovers from
Vice City are more prominent but there are numerous crossovers from
GTA3 as well.
Most criticisms of
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas have stemmed from the PC version of the series and are a result of the difficulties encountered when porting the console version of the game. These include control issues, graphical mishaps, and awkward camera angles. Some critics also note that while a lot of new content has been added to
San Andreas, little of it has been refined or implemented well.
San Andreas is distinct from the previous two games for a large amount of propagated myths. Shortly after the release of the game, several message boards sprouted claims of alleged
Bigfoot and
UFO sightings, and several alleged photographs were released, all of which have been proven to be faked. One easter egg put in as a joke is located at the top of the Gant Bridge as a
sign reading, "There are no easter eggs up here, go away."The Introduction, a
machinima video, was provided in a DVD along with the
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, as well as the
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition re-release for the PlayStation 2. The short movie acts as a prequel leading up the events in
San Andreas, and provided insight into the development of the characters of the game. It ends at the point where
San Andreas begins, when Carl learns of his mother's death on a phone call from Sweet and returns to Los Santos.
*
Official San Andreas site
