2008 Advisor
StarSoldier1
Lake In The Hills, IL
So do you want some Hot Coffee tonight?
5 star rating

looking for a new car
Pros

    One of the biggest video games ever, New role playing features, It even has 2 player games

Cons
    A bit too big, Sex scene is hard to unlock

JUL
26
2007

Playstation 2 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Special Edition) — 

This Grand Theft Auto game here still is just like the popular previous installments and you know what that means. You get to steal any vehicle (from bikes to a harrier jet) in the game if you want to become a much better anti-hero but what has changed is this game takes place in the 1990's. The good news about the new star of this game is he's African American, something you don't see in video games too often especially one this big. The bad news it is a GTA game, some of the most controversial titles in history thanks to all the graphic violence and sexual themes. To counter this San Andreas doesn't beat around the bush and has a very gritty and realistic urban story lines much like a Menace 2 Society or Boys N the Hood movie. The game does have a few funny moments here and there to lighten things up a bit but remember this is rated Mature to Adults Only (the banned edition has the hidden 'Hot Coffee' boinking scene) for a reason so expect a lot of heavy content with some very foul and very offensive language. Remember keep the kids far away from this one!

In the game you play the role of a man named Carl Johnson. He returns to his old home town after he finds out his mother was murdered. CJ needs to find out just what happened to her and it won't be easy. A lot of your old friends don't trust you anymore, the crooked cops are always on your back and there are rival gangs all over the place ready to shoot you down at a moments notice. You will need every trick in the book to survive the huge fictional cities of Los Santos, Las Ventura, and Vine Wood.

If CJ wants to get any answers he not only needs to do several odd jobs to get more money but he also needs to earn a lot respect and that's where the game's new Role Playing features come in. OK, you can't gain experience like in a traditional RPG (like a Final Fantasy) game but you can increase your stats and looks so you can go from a very skinny guy and in a boring white shirt with jeans to a jacked up muscle head with cool tattoos, a stylist hair cut, and hip cargo pants. Your looks also play an important role when doing certain jobs and you can even use it to help you go out on dates with a cute honey too.

If you are familiar with the past 3D GTA games then you will instantly recognize the look of San Andreas. The game graphics are amazing simply because Rockstar has able to create this huge virtual world populated with tons of citizens and secrets. Although the graphics are still impressive especially in the real time cinemas, they are starting to show their age thanks to all the slowdown, bland textures, and some choppy animations. All the GTA's were some of the best sounding games for the Playstation2 and thanks to all the millions they made on those hit games they were able to get bunch of big names for San Andreas as well. Turing on the game's radio will reveal a wide list of 10+ stations each with their own style like rap, rock, and much much more. If all that wasn't enough the game has some well acted cut scenes with Hollywood voice talent like Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, James Wood, just to name a few.

All that junk aside, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is literally one of the biggest games ever created and it will take you weeks or even months just to see everything it has to offer. Some editions of the game may even include bonus DVD's where you get a side movie to GTA here. San Andreas may not have the graphical overhaul and other improvements I wanted but if you are one of the few people that have not played this awesome game before it got banned, you have less of an excuse to go out play it now that hidden sex scene has been taken out (hopefully).

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas overall rating: 93/100

For 1 or 2 players
Rated (M) for Mature
or Rated (AO) for Adults only
graphics: 7/10
sound: 10/10
gameplay: 9/10
replay: 10/10

This review can also be found:
videogames101.com

-StarSoldier1 2007
(Ryan Genno)



I_thumb_up Playstation 2 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Special Edition) is recommended by StarSoldier1

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StarSoldier1 wrote on Jul 27, 2007 at 12:45PM

I know, it was almost too big, eh?

kevin wrote on Jul 27, 2007 at 10:15AM

I love the GTA series, and San Andreas overwhelmed me with the size of the world you can explore. This was a great game and I sunk a ton of time into it! Lot's of fun.

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