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San Andreas is a game with atmosphere and style, and should keep anyone busy for months. Check it out, foo!

Politicians seem to have a strange desire to ban violent video games. The latest in the line of Grand Theft Auto games, San Andreas, must be on the top of their list. The game has violent killing sprees, dangerous driving, sex and drugs. But is that what the game is really about? Well, yeah, it pretty much is.

While Vice City was set in the ‘80s, San Andreas moves into the next decade, and into the ghetto. Instead of synthesised pop music, you will hear gansta rap blastin’ out yo speakas. At first I wasn’t too excited about the change of culture; I thought it would irritate me. But after a couple hours of play, you’ll probably find yourself strutting around speaking like Chris Rock.

The main character is called CJ, and is back in the ‘hood after some time away. Of course he immediately runs into police corruption and gang wars, and the party is on. The great thing about GTA is that you don’t really have to do missions if you don’t feel the desire. Cruising around in a stolen car, listening to the radio is a pleasure.

With quite a large time gap between the PS2 and PC releases of this game, you might expect that the PC version has been overhauled in the graphics department. While there have been some minor changes, the game looks drastically outdated when compared to other new releases. Textures in particular are simply bland, and the game doesn’t even run very well, considering the simple graphics.

The music is excellent as always, with a good selection of tunes and talkback. Voice acting is superb, which makes missions a lot less boring.

When you aren’t out on missions (which mainly involve killing and driving, often at the same time) there are a whole lot of things to do. New to San Andreas is an RPG style experience system. If you use the assault rifles a lot, you might gain a level in assault rifle use, and can walk sideways while shooting. You must work out at the gym to keep your fitness level up. Eating will keep you from becoming skinny. Most of these things are gimmicks, and they aren’t very fun (the gym is especially mundane) but they do add to the immersion and longevity factor.

If you fancy a game of pool, you can find it at the local bar. Or you can take territory for your gang, and defend your territories against rival gangs. The bottom line is that this game has a lot of content.

Unfortunately AI hasn’t improved much, if at all since Vice City. Enemies generally just run towards you until they’re 20 feet away, then start firing.

Fans of the series should definitely get this game, as the vast amount of content and fun gameplay makes for some good times. It could have been better; graphics and AI need to be brought into line with newer games. San Andreas is a game with atmosphere and style, and should keep anyone busy for months.


Review by Gavin Manley.