GTA: San Andreas

[GGKoul]

Wow!! What a GREAT GAME!!  

[Dartful Dodger]

Wow!! What a GREAT GAME!!  

I skipped Vice City, I figured is was more or less GTA3, which is a good game, but not worth buying twice.

What makes SA greater than GTA3?

[Vicious]

I'm waiting for mine to get here (lthough I'll get it again next year when it hits the PC.)

Dartful Dodger:  You really should get Vice City.  It's similar to GTA3 but it's the atmosphere that makes it great.

[Vicious]

While I'm talking about Rockstar's games, I hope they do a killer job on The Warriors.  That is the game I can't wait to get next year.

[hulkster]

yeah i played gta3 for the pc when it came out, and i think i spent around 10 hours just driving around a shooting people and stuff....great fun.  but after a while, it got boring, so i finally beat the game, but didnt get all excited when vice city came out.  plus the graphics (although the worlds are big and stuff) arent all that great, so its probably better for me if i get the pc version.  

[Hoagie_one]

vice city was all 80's in feel...too bad it didnt have classic gaming in it, lol

[Vicious]

Definitely get the PC version.  I even had the XBOX version but sold it cause the PC just feels and looks better (to me).  The big advantage both have over the PS2 version is custom soundtracks.  I like having a station with 80's music I used to listen to when I was younger.

[GGKoul]

A couple of cool things about San Andreas..

- San Andreas is a state, so you can drive around the state visiting the various cities in the state.  So your not stuck in one city.
- No load time when driving around.  This is cool new feature, you can drive around the whole state and have no load time.
- You can now ride Motorcycles and Bicycles.  Riding a Bicycle around the hood ringing your bell in great.
- You can now go shopping.  You buy food, clothes, guns and go into bars and strip clubs and other areas.  Plus you can now go to a Gym to workout.  Also, if you eat too much food, you look fat and run slower.  And if you work out, you get huge and look very buff.

I agree, the PC version will look the best.  But this game is AWESOME and if you have a PS2, you have to get this game.  Look at the ratings...

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/gta4/index.html

[Bgnome]

san andreas isnt really a state..  its a fault line that runs through california.  i used to live on it..

[mozzer]

This game rules. I think it's the best in the series.

Haven't got much sleep since it came out, and I might have called in sick yesterday....  a case of the San Andreas Flu!

[GGKoul]

san andreas isnt really a state..  its a fault line that runs through california.  i used to live on it..

In the game, San Andreas is a state with 4 cities.  2 large ones, Las Santos (LA) and Las Ventureas (Las Vegas) and 1 medium and 1 small hick town.

[GGKoul]

This game rules. I think it's the best in the series.

Haven't got much sleep since it came out, and I might have called in sick yesterday....  a case of the San Andreas Flu!

I hear ya!  Started playing yesterday around 7pm and I stopped around 2am.  Man am I tired today.  

Hey, try this.  Try to drive to Las Ventureas.  You can't take the bridge to Las Venturea, but you can swim across the water to get to Las Ventureas.  As soon as you step on the ground, it automatically shots to 4 stars and the whole police force is after you.  I stole a motorbike when I got there and was able to evade the police for a bit.  So I was able to see the casinos before the helicopters shot me down.

 

[Snarbald]

Last night I was just driving around aimlessly (in the game) and I saw a riding lawnmower next to a house and sure enough you can take it. If you can actually cut grass with it I haven't figured that out yet though. Yay! yardwork simulator!

[GGKoul]

Riding lawnmower?? Have to keep my eye out for thay.  I drove around with the tractor yesterday.  

My favourite is still the bicycle.

[hulkster]

question....i played the first one quite a bit, but didnt get vice city.  do i need to play vice city in order to fully enjoy san adreas?

[Sephroth57]

well youre a totally different character and i dont think the storylines are related, so i would guess not

[GGKoul]

question....i played the first one quite a bit, but didnt get vice city.  do i need to play vice city in order to fully enjoy san adreas?

I had never boughten a GTA game before.  Just played at friends houses.  As the gameplay from version to version was basically the same.  They just changed the timezone they used as a reference and updated the graphics.

San Andreas is completely different.  Sure you go around and steal cars and complete missions.  But they've add so much more to both the gameplay and the scenery as well, that makes the game enjoyable on many levels.

A couple of differences from Vice City to San Andreas.
- You can go swimming.   Haven't found anything cool in the water yet, but its good when you fall into the water that you do die instantly.
- Added the concept of developing your character.  I mean, you increase your stamina or strength by working out at the gym or riding a bike/walking around and you'll lose muscle when you don't goto the restaurant and order foood.  There's a variety of areas you can improve in.  From personal goals to gun shooting goal.  I'm at "Hitman" level with the shot gun.
- You can take trains or planes to the other cities in the state of San Andreas.  

If your not sure... read the reviews and check the game out at a buddies house.  You'll be surprises just how much different the game is to the other GTA games.  

[simplygriff]

Funny.  There's a thread http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=15;action=display;threadid=26454 in consoles ripping on the game.

I've picked it up(WhooHoo! TRU Buy 2 get 1) and haven't had time to play it.
-G

[LeedsFan]

I just bought this at the weekend for my PS2.  But I feel as though I'm cheating myself. The grahics on PS2 blow chunks compared to the PC.  I played Vice City on my PC and it was brilliant!  The very first thing I noticed with San Andreas was blurry graphics and jagged edges. The icons on the map are difficult to make out as they are so small. This is gonna be great on the PC..... so I might wait.  

I know we're all into retro arcade games and all that.... but I do want my modern games to be optimised to the full!

[hulkster]

yeah i agree on the whole pc thing....which is one reason why i own a gamecube.  i mean, seriously, if you wait long enough all of ps2/xbox titles will come to the pc with better graphics anyway right?  xbox more than ps2 of course (halo, star wars:kotr) but why spend $150 on a system in which all of their great games come to pc in better fashion?  makes no sense.  anyway, i will wait until it comes out on pc because apparently the ONLY gripe about this game is the outdated graphics.

[GGKoul]

anyway, i will wait until it comes out on pc because apparently the ONLY gripe about this game is the outdated graphics.

Comparing today's PC graphics cards against an older system like the PS2 is unfair.  I agree, games look best on a PC, better on Xbox and ok on a PS2.  But that doesn't mean the game sucks, it's just a limitation of the PS2 graphics engine.  I'm sure this won't be an issue with the PS3.

[Stingray]

I bought this one and am loving it. The map is HUGE and there are about a zillion things that you can do when you get bored/ frustrated with the missions.

If you sneak into the airport (you have to climb the fence) you can steal a plane and fly into the unlocked area of the map. Your wanted level goes up to four stars just the same as if you swam there. In a very short time you'll get shot down by a military aircraft, but I still like to see how far I can get into the "forbidden zone" before getting shot down. Once I was able to ditch the flaming plane into a pond before it exploded and swim to shore. I still got shredded by the swat team though. Too much fun to be had in this one to not buy it.

-S

[GGKoul]

I bought this one and am loving it. The map is HUGE and there are about a zillion things that you can do when you get bored/ frustrated with the missions.

If you sneak into the airport (you have to climb the fence) you can steal a plane and fly into the unlocked area of the map. Your wanted level goes up to four stars just the same as if you swam there. In a very short time you'll get shot down by a military aircraft, but I still like to see how far I can get into the "forbidden zone" before getting shot down. Once I was able to ditch the flaming plane into a pond before it exploded and swim to shore. I still got shredded by the swat team though. Too much fun to be had in this one to not buy it.

-S

When you get into the forbidden zone, you need to steal a motorcycle.  This gives you the best chance evade the police for awhile.   I drove around all of Las Venturas and I even tried to get into a Casino, but none of them where open.  

What plane did you use?  Dodo or the Lear Jet?  The Lear Jet is down the runaway from the Dodo and is much more fun to fly.  Also, after you hop the fence, go to the gate and the gate will open for you to bring in a car or bike.

[Stingray]

I've flown both planes, but I find the Dodo to be slightly easier to use when trying to evade the missle attacks. It's a little easier to barrel roll and seems a lot more manuverable. I'm still trying to reach the area on the map that's labeled the  "No Fly Zone". I assume this is an "Area 51" inspired place. Just want to see what's there.

I also landed (okay crashed) a plane in the "Easter Bay" airport. For some reason, even though I had four stars, none of the cops were able to get to me there for a long time, so I was able to explore it on foot. There are several neat looking planes and helicopters there, but sadly they were all locked. Eventually the police found their way in and I got massacred.

-S

[GGKoul]

I unlocked the city that the Easter Bay Airport was located in.  And I hopped the fence to access that airport and all the helicopters and other planes were locked for me too.  Still haven't unlocked Las Venturas.

[Stingray]

So I'm just curious how far you have to play before you unlock the second city. I'm up to the point where you follow the guy that CJ's sister is dating to a lowrider race (getting ---my bottom--- handed to me in that mission). How much farther do I have to go before I unlock another city?

-S

[Santoro]

I reaqlly want to get this game, but there is no way I'd ever be able to play it with three young kids around.

There doesn't happen to be a 'clean mode' does there?

[GGKoul]

So I'm just curious how far you have to play before you unlock the second city. I'm up to the point where you follow the guy that CJ's sister is dating to a lowrider race (getting <auto-censored> handed to me in that mission). How much farther do I have to go before I unlock another city?

-S

I don't want to ruin it for you, but I think 3 or 4 more...

[Stingray]

Best you can probably do is play it on a small LCD screen with headphones. That's how I play it. I don't have kids, but I like to play in the living room in my recliner, and I don't want to disturb my wife if she's watching TV.

This game is a lot of things, but clean isn't one of them.

-S

[GGKoul]

I reaqlly want to get this game, but there is no way I'd ever be able to play it with three young kids around.

There doesn't happen to be a 'clean mode' does there?

Haven't seen a "clean mode".  But there is alot of cursing in this version.

[The Man]

You have all played the arcade games in this game right?

I just got the game so I haven't had time to play it much, but I did go into a shopping center and purchased a drink and played the video games.

I just found it funny reading the post and no one mentioned the video games

[GGKoul]

Oh ya... every shop or bar you go into has a video game inside of it that you can play.

Also, you can do some DDR type dancing at the Disco and some DDR type dancing with your car...  

[Stingray]

I've been following threads on this game on several different forums. The arcade games were discussed exhaustively on some of them, I guess I just rememberd wrong, I was thinking this was one of thos threads.

There are several arcade machines in this game. There's a Gyrus clone with the hilarious name "It Crawled From Uranus". There's also an asteroids type game. Can't remember what else I've come across.

-S

[Jakobud]

This game is SOOOO much better than Vice City it's amazing.  Vice City was a great game.  Huge improvement on GTA3.  And now, I can't believe how much they improved on Vice City with San Andreas.  The world is SO large and there is so much to do.....  You can spend weeks playing the game and not do a single mission!

You can take women on dates,
goto different restaurants and order different types of food that effect your fat intake,
go shopping for any type of clothing item at lots of different stores,
spray graphitti art,
go diving for oysters,
go work out lifting weights or using a treadmill or exercise bike,
learn new attack moves in a gym boxing ring,
do coordinated drive bys with fellow gang members,
play pool in a pool hall,
bet on horse racing,
play arcade games in bars and restaurants and dance clubs,
go dancing in dance clubs,
steal cars, bikes, motorcycles, planes, helicopters, tractors, 4 wheelers, combines, trains, and monster trucks,
go parachuting out of planes or helicopters,
go base jumping off of cliffs or skyscrapers,
do cargo deliveries with a semi truck and a full size trailer,
do vigilante police missions,
be a taxi driver,
be a pimp delivering women around the town,
drive firetrucks to put out fires,
drive ambulances to safe people,
break into houses at night and try to be really quite and sneak around and steal tv's and vcr's, etc etc etc...

there is SO much to do!  So many mini-games it's ridiculous!  And all this stuff I just listed off the top of my head is on the side.  There is also an entire story line with the missions... My buddy spent hours just playing pool in a bar one night.

This game is just plain great!  It's a harsh game for sure, more cursing in the cut scenes than I have ever seen in any game, unfortunately.  But they definately capture what it was roughly like in 1992 Compton LA.  One of the coolest new aspects of the game is it's RPG elements.  The more you use certain weapons, the better you get with them.  The more you drive certain vehicles, the better you can drive them.  Even when you are dating women, the more things you do right on dates and stuff, the better your progress is with the girl.  But the worse things you do, like ditch her in the middle of town or hit or something, the worse your progress will be with her.  Your clothes you wear effect your 'sex appeal' as others see you on the street.  The more you drive a car instead of run or ride a bike, the more fat you will gain because of lack of exercise.

This game truely takes the GTA games to a whole new level.  I mean IGN gave it a 9.9... the highest rated game ever on IGN...    If you buy San Andreas, you will NOT be disappointed.

[GGKoul]

go parachuting out of planes or helicopters,
go base jumping off of cliffs or skyscrapers,

Where can you do this?

Also, how where you able to fly the helicopters?

[Jakobud]

go parachuting out of planes or helicopters,
go base jumping off of cliffs or skyscrapers,

Where can you do this?

Also, how where you able to fly the helicopters?

You will find choppers when you get to San Fierro.  And as far as basejumping goes..... for a taste of it go find the tallest skyskraper in Los Santos.  Find the entrance at the bottom of it.... i leave the rest to you

[maraxle]

I'm skipping this one.  I really liked GTA3, liked Vice City significantly less, and have very little interest in this one.  I liked the atmosphere of GTA3, but the whole 90's gangsta thing doesn't appeal to me.  I like the idea of being able to swim, and new vehicles are always good, but the idea of having to feed, train, and micromanage my character bores me.  If I want to do that, I'll play the Sims.  

[Snarbald]

I'm skipping this one.  I really liked GTA3, liked Vice City significantly less, and have very little interest in this one.  I liked the atmosphere of GTA3, but the whole 90's gangsta thing doesn't appeal to me.  I like the idea of being able to swim, and new vehicles are always good, but the idea of having to feed, train, and micromanage my character bores me.  If I want to do that, I'll play the Sims.  

The micromanage stuff isn't is bad you think. I also couldn't get into Vice City nearly as much as I got into GTA 3, but San Andreas is the first game in a while where I'm finding the time to play like when GTA 3 or Final Fantasy 7 first came out. If nothing else, I suggest at least renting/borrowing  it to try it out before you write it off.

[GGKoul]

go parachuting out of planes or helicopters,
go base jumping off of cliffs or skyscrapers,

Where can you do this?

Also, how where you able to fly the helicopters?

You will find choppers when you get to San Fierro.  And as far as basejumping goes..... for a taste of it go find the tallest skyskraper in Los Santos.  Find the entrance at the bottom of it.... i leave the rest to you

I found the choppers in the San Fierro Easter Bay airport, but the doors were locked and I couldn't  enter them.... found did you get in them?  Also, where do you find a parachute?

[LeedsFan]

The only niggle I have is that people keep saying there are no loading times. That's rubbish!     I was doing the pimping missions (it takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete) and about 10 mins from the end I got a message saying that I needed to eat as I was hungry.

"I need to finish this mission first! I've been doing it for half an hour!"  But no.... my muscle was dropping due to lack of food.  "I know.... I'll grab a burger!"

Jumped out of the car.... got a message saying "Get back in car within 20 seconds or mission over"   Ran in burger joint.....  waitied like 10 seconds or so for burger shop to load up..... then was told I had only 8 seconds left to get back in car!  Impossible to get back!  Even without eating!

No loading times my arse!   Half an hour wasted!

[GGKoul]

The only niggle I have is that people keep saying there are no loading times. That's rubbish!     I was doing the pimping missions (it takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete) and about 10 mins from the end I got a message saying that I needed to eat as I was hungry.

"I need to finish this mission first! I've been doing it for half an hour!"  But no.... my muscle was dropping due to lack of food.  "I know.... I'll grab a burger!"

Jumped out of the car.... got a message saying "Get back in car within 20 seconds or mission over"   Ran in burger joint.....  waitied like 10 seconds or so for burger shop to load up..... then was told I had only 8 seconds left to get back in car!  Impossible to get back!  Even without eating!

No loading times my arse!   Half an hour wasted!

The claims is no load time when driving around.  When you enter a building, that's when there is a load time.  Besides, you can go on with out eating.  You just loose 1 or 2 muscle points and they are easily gained back via going to the gym for 1 session.

[rchadd]

vice city was all 80's in feel...too bad it didnt have classic gaming in it, lol

yeah they should have had an 80's arcade in it.

i loved the radio stations

whats the audio like in SA?

[Stingray]

Regarding load times. I'm playing the game installed on my hard drive with HDLoader. There's no load time anywhere that I've noticed. Even when entering buildings it's just a quick fade to black and then fade back in. Probably all of a second.

-S

[Santoro]

I don't even have the game but Opie and Anthony said on-air yesterday that you can (with a parachute) somehow ride your motorcycle off the top of a skyscraper and get a lot of points.

FWIW

[Stingray]

HAHAHA! Okay, that's it, I've got to try the motorcycle parachuting thing!

-S

[Jakobud]

GGKoul,  you will find a parachute at the top of the tallest skyscraper in Los Santos.  You can grab it and just jump off.  No, you don't need a helicopter to get up there.  Just run around near the base of the skyscraper and you will find a door to go in.  It's super fun!

Yeah you can't get in the airport up there just yet.  But there are other ways over the fence... you just gotta be creative

Driving a motorcycle off a skyscraper?  That would be cool, but I am wondering... 1. How do you get the motorcycle up there?  2. How do you get stunt points if you bail off the cycle in midair so you can deploy the chute?

By the way, there is another parachute that I found at the top of that HUGE mountain south of San Fierro.

[GGKoul]

Yeah you can't get in the airport up there just yet.  But there are other ways over the fence... you just gotta be creative

I know how to hop the fence.  But the helicopters were locked.

[krick]

Also, how where you able to fly the helicopters?

Right after starting the game, I drove to the water, jumped in, and swam around waiting for a speed boat to come by.  When one got close, I climbed onto it and stole it.  As soon as I went outside my "allowed area", I got a 3 star warning level.  When I was spotted by the police, it went up to 4 stars.  I spent an hour in the boat riding entirely around the edge of the map.   Most of the time I was being followed by police boats and helicopters.  At the very top center of the map, there is helicopter (with machine guns!) floating in the water by a dock.  I pulled my boat beside it, jumped in the water, then climbed into the helicopter and stole it.  I tried valiantly to fly it back to my save house but while en route, I was shot out of the air by sidewinder missles from an F16.

[Stingray]

Driving a motorcycle off a skyscraper?  That would be cool, but I am wondering... 1. How do you get the motorcycle up there?  2. How do you get stunt points if you bail off the cycle in midair so you can deploy the chute?

The building is pretty easy to spot from the air. It's really tall and is cylendrical. Once I found it from the air I marked the spot on the map and landed the plane. You enter the building just like any other building that you can enter (It's got the yellow entrance marker by the door). You can enter it while riding the motorcycle. I figured out that you don;t even have to use the parachute. You will survive the fall if you just stay on the bike and land right side up. You can doo all kinds of flips on the bike while you are in the air with the analog stick... I think it was the left one, but I'm not sure. Parachuting is pretty tame after freefalling off a skyskraper on a motorcycle.

-S

[GGKoul]

Driving a motorcycle off a skyscraper?  That would be cool, but I am wondering... 1. How do you get the motorcycle up there?  2. How do you get stunt points if you bail off the cycle in midair so you can deploy the chute?

The building is pretty easy to spot from the air. It's really tall and is cylendrical. Once I found it from the air I marked the spot on the map and landed the plane. You enter the building just like any other building that you can enter (It's got the yellow entrance marker by the door). You can enter it while riding the motorcycle. I figured out that you don;t even have to use the parachute. You will survive the fall if you just stay on the bike and land right side up. You can doo all kinds of flips on the bike while you are in the air with the analog stick... I think it was the left one, but I'm not sure. Parachuting is pretty tame after freefalling off a skyskraper on a motorcycle.

-S

Going to try this when I get home.