Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is easily one the best games ever made.
As Carl Johnson, you come home to find out your mother has been murdered in a gang drive by. Once you arrive in Los Santos, you meet up with fellow gang member Big Smoke, your sister Kendyl, and your stubbon brother Sweet. Tension is high on Grove Street as the once mighty gang has fallen on hard times. Officer Tempenny, a corrup officer who will do anything to get his way, makes it his mission to make CJ's life difficult. The storyline doesn't just stay in Los Santos, as your end up in San Fierro and Las Venturas throughout the course of the game, but saying anything about the plot will spoil too much. Needless to say, You will want to finsh the story, it is fantastic.
The core gameplay is similar to any other GTA game. You drive around and accept missions for various contacts. The targeting system has seen some improvments, but still isn't perfect as it will often lock onto someone other than your intended target. Still, it works well enough and you do have manual aim. You also have several guns from pistols and smgs, to ak47's and shotguns, and eventaully satchel charges and rocket launchers. Each weapon can also be upgraded with use increasing accuracy, range, and in some cases allow to duel wield them.
This RPG system also works in other areas including driving cars and bikes, flying, cycling, as well as physical elements such as muscle and stamina. In the case of vehicles, leveling up basically just tightens up the controls and allows you to stay on bikes longer. The physical elements have more effect on gameplay as the more you workout, the stronger you'll become. You also need to eat to keep CJ's strengh up but eating too much will make CJ fat and slow. The statistics are an excellent addition to the game and make the game even more addictive.
The story isn't the only thing to do. There are hundreds of side activities to complete. Ambulance, firetruck, vigilante missions are still around, but in addition, you have graffity, photos, and horshoes to find, courier missions, driving, boating, biking, flying school, gyms, haircuts/tattoos, street races and pimping out your rides, lowrider competition, train missions, gambling, dating, pool, basketball, and the list goes on. The amount and variety of stuff to do is overwhelming as well as the size of the map which includes 3 cities with countryside in-between. The size of the game and the replay value is enourmous.
Graphically, it may not stack up with the best on the xbox, but the game looks good, partically the environments and vehicle damage. The lighting is impressive and the frame rate is smoother than the PS2. The xbox version also has a cleaner look than the PS2 version, but still has pop in issues, and character issues aren't very good.
Audio is terrific with an outstanding soundtrack covering various genres and great voice overs. James Woods, Samuel Jackson, Ice Cube, all lend their talent to the game and all the voice work is spot on. Sound effects are also well done.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, with all it's variety, great gameplay, and great story/characters, is an instant classic. You could easily spend hundreds of hours in the world, there is just so much to do. If you are over the age of 18 and know the difference between right and wrong, you need this game if you don't have it already.
Verdict- Buy
One of the best, and biggest games ever created
Visuals- 7.5
Audio- 10
Gameplay- 10
Controls- 9.5
Replay- 10
Multiplayer- N/A
Overall- 9.5