One of the most impressive games I have ever played

User Rating: 9.7 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PS2
I have put several hours into this game, but I havent played many missions at all, and the stats screen tells me I am only about 5% through it. This is definatley a good thing. Going through the game mission by mission wouldnt be any fun at all. There are so many little side 'quests' you can do, and a single side quest can take you a couple hours if you do it right. These are my favorite type of games; games where you can stick to the main game if you like, but at the same time explore your city and do tons of other little fun things. Sure, I could start the "Catalyst" mission sometime this year, but I have been really busy pimping girls in my "Broadway" car, driving dirtbikes and Blazers out in the country, and jumping on the roof of a car to get over the wall to the airport...so I can take one of their planes for a spin. Oh, and the home invasions are quite fun too. There are tons more things like this to do....many of them I havent even tried yet. Jump into a car and recruit some of your 'homies' for a little drive by action. Dont forget to turn your radio to your favorite station and listen to the era-appropriate tunes it has to offer. (Thats right, real bands, real music). This is like the games that offer the main story, and a separate game mode called Free Ride, etc, except its all one single mode. Very cool.

Every game has its flaws, and this one may have very few. One thing that kind of bugs me, is that you can be going through some rival gang turf, and some of them might open fire on you as you go by. Meanwhile a cop is walking right through the middle of it, not doing a single thing. The minute you retaliate and open fire, the cops are after you. Thats kind of annoying. It also seems like some of the cars take a little more damage than they should. Like tapping the front end of your freshly painted and customized low rider into a car, or another wall and your bumper practically falls off and maybe your hood gets crumpled up. One more thing thats a little annoying is when you are trying to shake the cops and they always know where you are. You can totally be out of site and jump into another vehicle and they somehow still recognize you if you drive by them. I once tried jumping into the ocean to try to swim away, and somehow the police found me and blew me out of the water with one of their police boats. But...these flaws are very minor ones. Compared to the flaws in some of todays biggest hits....these arent bad flaws at all. I just thought I would mention them.

If you are a fan of the previous GTA's you will definatley love this. If you werent a big fan before, this is your chance to become one. Get this game, it wont disappoint you. Well, I think its time to play a game....should I play Faxanadu for the NES....or Grand Theft Auto for the PS2?

**UPDATE** I finished the game a couple weeks ago, playing it here and there for 4 months, and finishing the missions at just under 100 hours. And I am only 70-something percent through the game....still have a ton of side missions to do!

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