Score: 94
Overall User Average: 9.36 / 10 (93.7%)
Gameplay User Average: 9.43 / 10
Graphics User Average: 7.00 / 10
Sound User Average: 8.86 / 10
mentat
Date reviewed: March 2, 2006.
Overall: Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere for the past 10 years you should already know what GTA is all about so I'll spare you the lofty description. Just know that this is by far the best GTA of the 4 (GTA III, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas and the newly released GTA: Liberty Stories) and that it will consume hours upon hours of your time with it's completely addictive and surprisingly fun gameplay.
Gameplay: You play as CJ, ex-gang member returned home after 5 years away in Liberty City. Your mom is dead and your brother and his cronies are all washed up and in need of some leadership and motivation. That's where you come in. It's your job to put your gang back on the map through a series of crimes and random acts of violence. So many improvements have been made to this game it's ridiculous. The best ones though are the ability to travel to vast other locales and cities and the RPG elements such as being able to change clothes, eat meals at fast food joints, build muscle or gain fat, and have girlfriends (well this may be new to people who enjoy traditional RPG's). Really, the list goes on and on. This is one of the few games that acheives true immersion by allowing the player to exist in a world where he can actually do whatever he wants.
Graphics: GTA: SA definitely wont win any awards for best game graphics but it looks way better than it's 2 predecessors. Thankfully since it's on the Xbox it looks alot better than it's PS2 counterpart as well. I for one love the way it looks. It's like rockstars signature style or something. Plus I really do get the feeling that I'm running around in a living breathing environment.
Sound: GTA: SA definitely wont win any awards for best game sound but it sounds better.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 100 %
Sound: 100 %
SPARTAN VI
Date reviewed: December 11, 2005.
Overall: I really don't understand what all the hoo-haa is all about. Given they added some RPG elements to the game, it's the same old casual gamer's delight. I've gone through GTAIII and Vice City, they both felt the same and this doesn't add anything that'd keep my attention.
Gameplay: This game is so "gangsta." Pffft. The culture annoys me the most, so I wasn't a fan to begin with. At least Vice City didn't make me feel like a complete moron. Same old run and gun, missions aren't as repetitive, and some neat RPG elements save this game from being a complete waste of $5.
Graphics: Blech. Is it still 1997? Rockstar needs some new graphics designers, for sure. Pop ups galore. GTA3, GTA:VC, and this... nearly identical.
Sound: Voice acting is pretty ho-hum. I hate gangsta slang. So I'd much rather play with sound off. Other than that, I can't complain.
Suggestions: Ugh.. keep doing what you're doing. You're hitting your target audience...
Overall: 40 %
Gameplay: 50 %
Graphics: 20 %
Sound: 30 %
Rib
Date reviewed: October 3, 2005.
Overall: I never played the PS2 version so it's all new to me and really cool. The game is so open. You do a mission and then just drive around the incredibly big map.
Gameplay: A gangsta running freely in San Andreas. You can do pretty much whatever you want. You have missions and some of them are very rough.
Graphics: Not bad. It is a bit under par for a XBOX game but considering it is a port and the size of the map. Not bad
Sound: I would have prefered to be able to import my own music but still, there is music for every taste. The Dialog in the cut scenes are very good but like it says on the box: Strong languages... LOL
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 50 %
Sound: 80 %
Wolf
Date reviewed: September 7, 2005.
Overall: This game is easily the best of the GTA series to date. it is set in the 90's which is a nice change from the last gta. with the game comes a rediculous amount of new features which add a lot to the playability and feel of the game.
Gameplay: The ability to buy clothes, get hair-cuts, work out, eat, take pictures, paint grafitti, and ride bicycles are just a few of the many new features in GTA: SA. There is a wide variety of missions to pick from, and the cinematics preceding the missions have a really good feel to them. The missions themselves range from smokin a hater and his crew, to stealing guns from the national guard armory. whether you want to complete the missions, or just blow stuff up is completely up to you.
Graphics: The visuals are great, from the player models, to how far you can see in the distance. you can change the look of your CJ by doing a number of things like working out to get muscles, eating a lot to get fat, buying new clothes to look cool, or getting a haircut to look like the man.
Sound: The soundtrack is another terrific feature of the game with lots of past hits from artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and even Tom Petty. the cinematic conversations have a very real feel to them as the amount of swearing is enourmous. The voice acting is pretty good, with an allstar actor as the bad cop, Samuel L Jackson. Rapper Game also make sort of a guest appearance as a drug dealer.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 80 %
Sound: 90 %
xdragon
Date reviewed: September 3, 2005.
Overall: Great game...so much to do...and way more customization than other similar minded titles. While not as frustrating as past titles in the series, to really achieve mastery, youll have to put in a lot of time and effort.
Gameplay: Lots of fun, many hidden things to find...once again customization. Not only can you pimp your ride, but you can be a pimp yourself too. Plus all the extra stuff to enhance and extend your experience.
Graphics: Not much of a step up in graphics for the year to date, but the scope and span of the game make up for it...yet the realisitcally based landmarks and three distinct city areas are very well done, and realisitc enough.
Sound: The sounds of the 90's are alive and well...the guns, the cars, the pedestrians, the bad, the good, the different races that live therein...all brought about clearly and with little dullness. Though, the radio tracks could have been expanded a little for a few less repeats.
Suggestions: Make a new one for the next gen of the consoles...not sure where it would go from San Andreas, maybe some kind of remake...but great job again, and who cares what the f*%$@#! politicians and parents think, they're just looking for a scpaegoat for their mistakes and shortsightedness--rock on Rockstar, keep making it fun to indulge our criminal instincts.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 90 %
Sound: 80 %
wbio
Date reviewed: August 20, 2005.
Overall: This is one of the best single-player games I've ever played. I've said that about every GTA game so far, but they just keep getting better and expanding on the good things in the game. This game has so much replay value just because there's an endless ammount of things to do. This game will probably never get old to me.
Gameplay: Like I said earlier, the gameplay in GTA:SA is some of the best in any single player game I've ever played. The open-ended environments allow for you to do basically anything you can imagine in the game. The missions available for you to do are also very high in number and in fun factor. The only ones I didn't like were the races because I'm not a big racing fan, but there were so many good missions that I didn't really mind a few races. But really, you could play the game for hours on end without ever touching the missions because there's so much to do in this game.
Graphics: The GTA games aren't exactly known for pushing the graphical limits of the consoles they're on and this one is no different. The graphics aren't horrible, but they're not exactly great either. The character models aren't great and neither is the environment, but nothing in the game is really an eye-sore either.
Sound: Rockstar did a great job of gathering music from the 90's to use for this. They basically have any style of music you could want available to listen to while your in the car. The Hip-hop music chosen for the game was great IMO, and really helped set the mood for the gameplay. If, for some reason you can't find the music your looking for on the radio, you can always use a custom soundtrack from your Xbox hard drive.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 100 %
thAshAdyOne
Date reviewed: August 6, 2005.
Overall: A great game overall. If you haven't played the PS2 version...its even more fresh for you. Great Story, great sound, graphics will kick your ass! Hey! And even a black main character...whats not to like?
Gameplay: Unfortunately for me, I DID play the PS2 version. The game was the the story retold and a new button layout for me to catch on to. But I still enjoyed the missions, this time they were better because I actually knew where the hell my buttons were at!
Graphics: Graphics blow its PS2 brother out of the water. I was blown away by the difference between the 2 platforms. Its like comparing Buffie the Body with Oprah...ugh! Rockstar did a great job with the retooling for the XBX.
Sound: Well...my favorite part of any game is how it sounds. First off...if you have a theater system, it already rocks your jaws. Add in my favorite feature of all time, and we got a winner. Yes thats right, playing your own tracks is what makes this game a winner. What's better than doing a drive by on another gang listening to Young Jeezy or some other gangsta &%#^? Nothing...thats what!
Suggestions: PLease Please Please...throw in a little twist or something...the same story told twice is killing me! Or maybe I shouldn't play the crappy PS2 version...
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 90 %
Graphics: 100 %
Sound: 100 %
Ninjermy
Date reviewed: July 25, 2005.
Overall: GTA SA brings new meaning to freedom. The storyline is indepth (although rather farfetched), and the realm of San Andreas is truly amazing. This game brings new meaning to "free will" within a video game.
Gameplay: Kill, kill, kill. That is the whole idea behind the freedom of San Andreas. You can go anywhere, and do anything to anyone!!! With a huge arsenal and vehicle selection, this game will keep you entertained for months.
Graphics: The graphics in SA on xbox are a stepup from the PS2, although they still are not the best. Buildings and vehicles still remain fairly
Sound: The soundtrack is A+. AND you can use custom soundtracks! The sound effects are also very good. Not many flaws here.
Suggestions: Improve the graphics overall
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 90 %
George89
Date reviewed: July 25, 2005.
Overall: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the latest and greatest Grand Theft Auto game to hit the streets. As the fifth GTA game, it boasts the largest map, over one hundred missions, and a huge list of new things to do and see. Taking you from the gritty streets of Los Santos, to the wide-open acres of Flint County, to the sprawling city of San Fiero, to the dusty deserts of Bone County, and finally to the glitzy streets of Las Venturas, San Andreas takes you on a wild ride filled with excitement, twists, turns, and a lot of fun.
Gameplay: San Andreas is indeed the jack of all trades. If you thought you could do a lot in Vice City, just wait until you play San Andreas. The core gameplay involving driving and shooting is still here, but what really makes them more fun this time around is the variety of locales and the intriuging storyline. Besides the driving and shooting, missions will now also test your skills at things like stealth and swimming.
The shooting system this time now lets you do manual aiming as well as lock-on targeting. This is a welcome addition, especially since there are many missions where precision is key. What I really love about this GTA game though is that i can have a blast when i'm not even doing the missions. There is just so much that can be done in this game that i can't even fit it all into this review. For starters, here's just a taste of what you can do when not doing missions: go go-karting, street racing, off-track betting, gamble at casinos, base jump, triathalons, workout at the gyms, get a tatoo, get a haircut, rob houses, participate in gang wars, go on random crime sprees, explore the main part of the map that is about 6 times larger than Vice City (and that's not including the miles upon miles away from land you can go into the ocean).
But for the story, you'll play as Carl Johnson (CJ for short). As CJ, you've returned to your hometown (Los Santos) because of the recent death of your mother. Once there, you tumble into roller-coaster of a ride that the story takes all the way through the state of San Andreas.
Graphics: So now there's the graphics. On one side, many people will initially say that this game doesn't look nearly as good as most other Xbox titles, but for them, i have some points to make. First off, this game is a port of a PS2 game...and that should be self explanatory. Plus, SA actually looks better than Vice City in my opinion, with shinier cars, better effects, you can now enter many building in the game, your character is customizable, and a map that is about 6 times larger. The game isn't a visual masterpiece, but it does just fine--and the gameplay is so much fun, you probably won't care.
Sound: And then of course there's the sound. As for the good, the voice acting in this game is absolutly amazing. With talent including Samuel L. Jackson, and all the voice overs for the 100+ missions, this sends the game up on a high note audio wise. The sound effects in the game are also good, but what i was actually a little disapointed about was the soundtrack. Compared to Vice City's radio stations, San Andreas' radio didn't seem like it had as much time put into it. First off, the soundtrack offers mostly rap, some rock station, a talk show station, and a few other things. Though the songs included in the game were good, what i didn't like was that there weren't enough. My two favorite stations in the game when i started were Radio X and WCTR. Radio X is a rock station, and what disapointed me was that i kept hearing the same songs over and over and over and over and over and...well, you get my point. This would be fine, but in Vice City it seemed like the music stations had a lot more songs. So then i decided to check out the talk show, WCTR. In Vice City, i loved how the talk shows had so much content that i usually was listening to someting new. But in SA, i kept hearing the same talk shows with the same interviews over and over and over. This is something that i was a little dispointed about, but there's always custom soundtrack--and the voice overs are so good, that the sound overall is great.
Suggestions: The game really needs a new engine. GTA III's is getting old fast.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 90 %
Snowblind
Date reviewed: July 11, 2005.
Overall: The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto 3 and it's more then worthy sequel, Vice City. You play as Carl "CJ" Johnson, a gangbanger who's been away from all the action going down in San Andreas. Carl's mom and younger brother have been killed so it looks like Carl's coming home to bury his deceased mother. Along the way, CJ is framed by Officer Tenpenny(voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) and his ass-kissing partner, Officer Pulaski for the murder of another Officer. So now it's up to CJ to clear his name and take control of the streets. Is San Andreas God's gift from Heaven like all the PS2 owners have been claiming it to be for the past 9 months, or is it a poorly made game just looking to push the envelope with gangs, murder, car theft, and of course, hookers?
Gameplay: San Andreas is arguably the greatest Grand Theft Auto game ever. The game play is solid. Everything you know and love from the past 2 GTA games are return including a boatload of new features. There's a new shooting mechanism, for instance, that has the camera placed over your shoulder but allows free look. Basically, it's an improved version of Manhunt. In San Andreas, you can jack numerous types of vehicles including cars, boats, motorcycles, planes, and helicopters. Hell, that's not even including the sub-category of vehicles like Quads and BMX bikes. The vehicles control nicely, although there is a problem with drive-bys. You have to press down 3 buttons(that doesn't include using the L-Stick and right trigger to drive)to do drive bys and it is a very hard task. What happened to the other control scheme like in Vice City were the A button was used to accelerate and so forth, this problem should've been taking care of. Rockstar has made the Planes easier to control now, as well. New to San Andreas, is the ability to go to clothing stores and choose what you want to wear, instead of just going around and collecting one whole outfits like you did in Vice City. Your also required to feed CJ and make him excercise. CJ can be molded into whatever you want him to be. Do you want him to be a muscular, intimidating, badass? Or how about some fat slob who can run about as fast as grass grows? Whatever you want to make of him, then go for it. Your appearance does, however, effect how people act towards you. The replay value is one of the greater things about San Andreas. Off the top of my head you can play pool, play basketball, break into someone's house and steal whatever loot is inside, perform pimping missions, race, skydive(yea, they put parachutes into GTA now...),and do lowrider missions. Oh yeah, there's also the normal Taxi, Cop, Ambulance, and Fire truck missions as well. There's always something to do. San Andreas is HUGE, you could fit Liberty City and Vice City in it and still have ton's of room. Also, there are no loading times other then the start-up one and the lesser ones you get once you enter a building. The game maintains a decent frame-rate and only slows up once you have about 20 cars on the screen from an explosion of some sort. Overall, San Andreas's gameplay keeps you wanting to play more and doesn't get boring for a while, which is how gameplay should be.
Graphics: San Andrea's visuals are not ground-breaking, but it does have it's moments. There are some blocky textures here and there and some of the character models could have used the work but hey, this game isn't (or couldn't be, for that matter)supposed to be Doom 3 or Splinter Cell. I don't remember the Mars Facility in Doom 3 being as big as San Andreas. So you know the graphics aren't going to be as ball-bustlingly good as one might hope. One big problem however is pop-up. What is pop-up you ask? You know when buildings, foliage, and other manmade structures just pop up from out of no where in games like GTA? That's pop-up. I never experienced it on my Xbox (which I got in 2003) but once I brought it over to a friends whose Xbox he had just received for Xmas to play. Pop-up was more horrible then you could ever imagine. Normally things pop-up when they're about 500 feet away from you but in San Andreas, things pop-up about 2 inch's away from you. This makes it mind-blowingly frustrating in races and such when trees just appear out of nowhere just before you smack into them (Yea, I drive on sidewalks and run into trees, streets are for sissies.).
Sound: Amazing, just amazing. The A-list of celebrity voice actors are top-notch, ranging from Samuel L. Jackson to David Cross. Also, the radio stations are done exceedingly well. The licensed music really sets the mood for the early 90's in which San Andreas takes place in. Rockstar even went a step further and enabled custom soundtracks which you can now mix with commercials to give a real feel to it.
Suggestions: Like with Vice City, add another control scheme, drive-by's are hard enough. Also, do something about the pop-up, it's just plain horrible in San Andreas.
Overall: 90 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 60 %
Sound: 100 %
ALC
Date reviewed: July 5, 2005.
Overall: The most addictive GTA title to date. Absolutely ENORMOUS game with respect to the map, story and sheer volume of stuff to do! A (very) long awaited port from the PS2 version doesn't offer anything new beyond tuned graphics, but it's still a superb game.
Gameplay: The new targetting system is quick to pick up, and works beautifully in conjunction with the brand-new experience system. Once you reach Hitman level with your wide range of weapons, the gameplay hits new heights.
The vast explorable map offers a huge variety of vehicles as you might expect, the biggest new difference since vice city is the new catalogue of aircraft. There's much more of an emphasis on flight in this game which I LOVE.
Graphics: While the graphics are way better than the PS2 version, (especially noticeable is the draw distance), the game still doesn't look fantastic. There are some cool reflections and the sunsets look pretty just like they did in vice city, but the game still could use some polishing graphically.
The leap from ps2 to xbox isn't nearly as noticeable as it was for Vice City. I feel like Rockstar Vienna handled it a little bit better.. Maybe you could blame it on the sheer amount of stuff in the game! It kills me that these games don't come out on the xbox first.. I bet they'd look great
Sound: The guns sound more realistic, explosions and stuff seem virtually unchanged from the days of gtaIII. Full voiceovers and lots of ambient noises are what we'd come to expect from the busy streets in these games. Custom soundtrack support is ESSENTIAL in driving games, I was a bit disappointed and confused to see that you can no longer skip tracks like in vice city. I mean, if you could do it in the 80s.. why not in the 90s?
Suggestions: Beef up those graphics, and for the love of GOD implement an online mode.
There's nothing quite like the multi-theft-auto mod for the PC version.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 80 %
Sound: 90 %
Jorge
Date reviewed: July 4, 2005.
Overall: best gta game yet with plenty of stuff to do. You can take weeks of play into this game and you wont be near the ending.
Gameplay: i think the gameplay is incredible. you cant finish this game... its got loads of hours of gameplay and i think its just amazing.
Graphics: the visuals as in any other GTA game ar way down. i mean things trespass, its slow and the frame rate sucks.
Sound: the sound is kick ass. the game and sound is black oriented but you still got a classic rock station and it also has some kick !&%$@#* heavy metal tunes
Suggestions: games are great... bust up the graphics... intensively bust them up cause they trully suck
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 100 %
SamSmith
Date reviewed: July 4, 2005.
Overall: finally, Xbox gamers get the game that ps2 owners hailed as The Best... but is it the best? well, no doubt it is good, and it is innovative.. and i like that. in my opinion it is overrated, but it does have a lot to offer and if you seek a game to pass the time, with a lot to see and do.. then GTA san andreas might just be the game for you
Gameplay: gameplay follows the same plan that was set out in GTA3, go here, do a mission there, drive this, blow up that... but this time it expands upon it. with the ability to ride bikes, fly planes even parachute! they have even managed to impliment a multiplayer feature..but i feel that it is still missing something, and that something is Online Play.
when i am able to play in a MMO gta thats when gameplay gets a 5... until then il stick with a 4
Graphics: We were promised with improved graphics with the xbox version, and yes they have been improved.
but they are still under par, especially for xbox. characters are very blocky, and their hands look like gloves... and the game in general is slightly grainy.
it is a pity, because the xbox is capable of much more than this.
but the sheer size of the game justifies the lack of spark in the visual department. they are just about acceptable, but you dont play this game for graphics.
Sound: GTA San An sounds great! and there is a great choice of radio stations with some very catchy tunes.. you will find yourself humming along with them in no time. One major advantage with the xbox version is that you can play your own custom tracks from your harddrive, which is always a plus...
the only complaints about the sound is that there are some repeated sounds by characters, and some environment sounds dont sound as convincing as you would like them to be. but the pros outweigh the cons. it gets 4.5
Overall: 80 %
Gameplay: 80 %
Graphics: 40 %
Sound: 90 %
Young_Fledgling
Date reviewed: June 20, 2005.
Overall: This game is really one that can truly stand out of a space cluttered with clones (Mercenaries, maybe Twisted Metal). It's a fine game that will go down to be a classic.
Gameplay: There are a ton of things to do in this game. You can drive around, you can kill people, you can go on missions, you can go on missions with friends for co-op (FINALLY!). The basic things like climbing and swimming have finally been added to make the game a lot easier. Oh and I forgot to mention, you can pick up hookers. Yeah. Shoulda saw that coming. Anyway, they also added a new RPG-esque system of game-play, where you have to actually manage your character like you would manage yourself in real life (per say). You have to eat right, you have to work out, or else you become a fat slob who can't do have of the missions he's sent on. Also, if you eat too much fast food, you throw up (Super Size Me anyone?). This adds a pretty deep element to playing this game as to where you don't have to always go around and shoot people or do missions. This game lasts a good long time, not only because it takes a while to make it through the main story, but because it's so dang hard! It took me 60 hours to finish the whole thing! It's all very fun and rewarding to do, because it defines true video games. Being very realistic but yet crazy enough to know not to imitate (I don't know what you parents are talking about). I really had a fun time with this game. A true game to stand the test of time.
Graphics: This is the only area where there are some true faults. The graphics, especially now on the Xbox version, are not up to par with other games. You'd think that now that you're putting this game on the Xbox, you could change some stuff. But alas, they haven't changed a thing. You don't see many of the characters move their lips when they're talking during cut-scenes! How does that work? Are they all master ventriloquists? The animations of the actual characters are well done, and so are the explosions. And for a game like this, that's a very good thing! I don't blame them for not updating because there's a ton of things for this game, but still, after so long of a change, they've gotta do something! They're still okay, but nothing outstanding.
Sound: This is keeping the trend that Vice City set. I mean the whole decade specific music. This game features a lot of music from the '90s, when rap was in it's infancy, and Guns 'N Roses reigned on top of the rock world. I loved all of the songs you heard on the radios while driving, so I give them big props for that. There are a ton of celeb voice-overs in this game, from James Woods to Samuel L. Jackson (THE MAN!). All of these are pretty well-done and pretty funny at times. The sound effects sound incredible! The explosions sound real, the gunfire sounds real, the cars thumping...well you get the idea. The sound is very very well done and is probably the best overall sound area I've ever reviewed. Again, not much change from the PS2, but that's definitely not a bad thing.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 80 %
Sound: 100 %
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