At GameGirl, we get a great deal of requests. Sometimes we get so many that we cannot get to all of them, hard as we may try. We thought it would be fun to go back at "review" games that may have been overlooked or games that came out long before GameGirl was here (such a horrendous time shrouded in darkness, I know), you know - the classics! There are so many I had no idea where to start but since I am [still] playing Grand Theft Auto IV, I thought it appropriate to take a look back at one of its predecessors, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. So now let's take a walk down memory lane...
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA: SA) is a great game! There it is said.
Structured like its predecessors, in that it consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, GTA: SA took games to another level. With that said however, the many differences from its predecessors are what made it so much better: It includes RPG elements, the ability to swim, customization of your character, cars, and more. In short, everything that made the first four iterations of the game (both 2D and 3D games) great was included and then the icing was added to make it even greater.
One of the elements of the GTA series as a whole that is cool is how they always have characters that are connected in some way to characters in all of the other games. This was further expanded upon in GTA: SA. The success and notoriety (Hot Coffee anyone?) of San Andreas was wholly responsible for the resounding success that GTA IV has enjoyed. Yes GTA IV is a great game in its own right, but San Andreas set a new bar for the series, and that is without yet mentioning the open ended sandbox style game genre. Any game following a success like this is bound to get a few sales off of name recognition alone.
I cannot mention GTA: SA and not give props to the soundtrack. I loved listening to awesome 90s classics in R&B and Hip Hop. I loved driving around just to be able to hear the stations! And since we all know I love my movie stars and celebrities, I also need to comment on the impressive list of notable celebs lending their voices to the game. Most notable (IMO) were Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda, Charlie Murphy, Chris Penn, Ice T, Chuck D, and The Game.
GTA: SA revolutionized gameplay and replayability. There is so much to do and accomplish in the game that you can literally sped months of gameplay finding new walls to graffiti up, cars to jack, airplanes to fly, trains to commandeer, the list goes on and on. Yes people, getting that 100% completion is well worth it. Even though the graphics are seriously outdated, the gameplay and antics displayed in this game make this game one to check out if you still have not. There is good reason this game has sold over 21 million copies to date.
