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.
Reviews (0 - 10 of 1,284)
Gta San Andreas is the best GTA game 4 ever
Good game !! Much more better than the previous Gta Games and even they were good!
Eah! This awesome game at all: story, characters, gamePlay and of course for mod makers. It's game that I can play in 2006 and in 2011. RockStar RyleZz!=)
Awsome !!
Favourite game
Like the Great Graphics!!!
Nice game! I played it long ago since 2010
Also love the characters as well.
GTA SA is the best GTA Ever.. THE BEST !
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First of all, this is a violent game, and thus minors or the younger audience of video games, so abundant these days, shouldn't be playing this. That said, GTA San Andreas (GTA:SA) is the first game of the saga that I've played, so the first impression was really important. It is one of those games that has a bit of everything: missions, side missions, skill stats, hidden content, collectibles, competitions, fights for territory... the list goes on. Much like the game genre, it is like a sandbox, with lots of available content for the player to do as they like. But compared to other sandbox games, there are reasons that make GTA:SA a whole other beast. While graphically unimpressive, the diversity in gameplay options is virtually infinite and it has a story more complex than it seems at first sight, easy to follow and with memorable characters.
For the year this game was released, the graphics are quite good. Thematically, it is coherent with a layout of real-life Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, enhanced by a good weather and day/night system. However, things like blocky model parts (faces, hands) and occasional missing textures that take time or won't load break the immersion. While the game was made when videogame technology wasn't much advanced, I recommend playing it on a PC with good video specifications and processing for a decent experience, though not necessarily state-of-the-art because some things in-game would look and feel extremely accelerated. Animations of vehicles feel good, and generally work well with pedestrians, although some idle animations or gestures when chatting or when injured look dumb. Music, on the other hand, is great, probably one of the most outstanding features of the game to the point there are several known songs that are instantly recognized to players because of the in-game radio stations. Voice-acting is also worth mentioning, especially because includes some notable movie actors.
At first, mission lore is fast-paced, easy to follow and even plain, given it is about gangs and drugs. However, it takes unexpected turns that lead the player to visit new places and make new acquaintances, which is one of the distinguishing features of the GTA saga, expanding the visitable areas the more you progress in the story. I find remarkable of GTA:SA the number of references to real life events in Los Angeles (and USA in general), giving it a great deal of plausibility. Some side missions also briefly explore aspects of the main characters in a comical or absurd manner, giving balance to the narrative.
The gameplay in GTA:SA not only offers a variety of possibilities over a long-time span, but also allows to advance in the game at your own pace, save for very few mission prerequisites among different characters. This together with the level of customization for the main character gives a unique experience for every player, yet a similar general feeling about progressing. Gameplay is also enhanced by environment design, which with all the traffic of vehicles and pedestrians gives the impression that the city or the country is alive. There are occasional odd behaviors that undermine this aspect, like people running suddenly or walking into walls and vehicles crashing into traffic lights or lampposts to open their way. The game also has a lot of interactable objects (some of which are the renowned easter eggs), and this feature allows for a lot of map exploration and discovering different areas by just walking. And despite the overwhelming quantity of activities, the game is coded with tutorial windows and cutscenes whose purpose is to explain in general terms what something is about.
As I established, there is a lot to do in GTA:SA. However, probably because of this, there is a lot of bugs in the game, making some things to not work as intended depending especially on what machine is used to play. The game has a lot of mod development, but said bugs are passed over most of the time to these. Also, once the main missions are finished, I think that the game gets less entertaining, despite all available features for replayability. Probably the fun depends on if you have an achievement or competitive mindset.
Having definitely more pros that cons, GTA:SA is one of those games that should be played to have a taste of the sandbox genre. While not the most polished game in the saga (but not the worst either), it offers a generous amount of gameplay hours and, with all probability, a special feeling that gets you to play it again once every few years.
Good