Gta: San Andreas
BaconTheory
Join Date: 2003-09-06 Member: 20615Members
Join Date: 2003-09-06 Member: 20615Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">The Review</div> Well I just picked up my copy of the new GTA and I must say that I am in awe. This has to be one of the best and most realistic games I have ever played. For example, you must eat, or your character loses energy. Eat too much and your character gets fat. There are also many other apsects of the game that make it realistic. I personally like the ability to customize cars. I have invested about 10 hours so far and I have only just completed the first area of the game. I can't wait to complete the rest. I give kudos to Rockstar for making one of the most kick **** games out there.
Score: <b>11/10</b>
Please post your thoughts.
Score: <b>11/10</b>
Please post your thoughts.
Comments
I myself have to admit I'm enjoying it a lot too. I'm not done with Los Santos yet(damned BS not being able to shoot those fools on the train for 5 tries...), but the missions just keep getting better and better. And I love the eating/excercise/territory/driveby/dating engine. So much fun <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'm probably too lazy, but you never know.
Literally everywhere i've checked in the UK has been sold out and won't be getting another shipment for a while, so i resigned myself to spending a bit extra to order it online. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-family:Impact'><i><span style='color:white'>San Andreas: </span></i><span style='color:gray'>The Review</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen01.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='color:white'><span style='font-family:Times'><b><i>Reviewed by the eye of: Haze!</b></i></span></span>
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>Grand Theft Auto. One game thats come a very, very long way, from hopeless defeat, all the way to its glorious victory today in the gaming market. Once a overhead view 2d gang game, its now become full blown 3d with storylines. Each installment keeps us amazed, but hot damn, this one takes the CAKE, BABY!</span></span>
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>Probably the first things you notice, is the cussing. Rockstar has broken lose and untied their tounge, and the F word is probably used more than the in this review, giving the game a much more intense and serious atmosphere right off the bat. Which is cool, no doubt. The other thing you'll notice is the graphics, which have been overhauled. It might not be noticeable from screenshots, but there is a magnificent difference you pick up right away when you play this game. I mean, if your perverted like me, you'll notice the breast jiggle right away from your friendly neighborhood hookers and sluts! The amount of detail is amazing, but this is just graphics wise, wait until you actually begin the game.</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen10.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>Besides driving in cars and motercycles, theres other methods of transportation now with the addition of the bike, and the fact that you can go skydiving is just plain <i><b>awsome.</i></b> This is just some of the many new additions of GTA:SA, many of which I haven't reached yet myself! Besides the bikes, you can also trick out a car in a car shop, giving it hydraulics, a new paintjob, nice rims (go for the money sign, people!), different hoods, interior colors, bumpers, side skirts, <b>nitrous,</b> tons of options to create a tricked out, custom car thats completly different from anyone elses! You can also customize yourself, down to the type of boxers you wear, all the way to the color of your shades, as well as the haircut you got and what tattoos you've got on your gangsta skin, the options are endless. You can be Pimped Out Puff Daddy, driving his slick lowridin' wheels, or Homeless Freddy and his mystery machine, it's entirely your choice. Furthering the amount of customization, you have plenty of stats and skills to manage. Hang out at the gym for a buff body, or hang out at the Burger Shot and have the chub only a mom could love, its all <b>your choice,</b> which is one of the greatest appeals of GTA:SA, the customization level, and the non-linear paths you can take to truly creating someone you feel connected to.</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen12.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>But, you probably would like you keep a slightly fit body and that lard under control, because the ladies out there are having an eye for you. Thats right, also included in this sweet deal of a package is the dating game, as one of the many, mini games (haha) that you can engage in. You can pick up a girlfriend, and go out to dinner with her, clubbing, just take a stroll, or if shes the dangerous type, preform a drive by, hand in hand with eachother, against opposing gang members, its really quite fun. Also, besides this, you can go lowriding, or dancing, both done in dance dance revolution style. Or perhaps you'd just like to game on some of the local arcade machines? No problem, theres plenty to offer. Or maybe you'd like to win some cash, huh? How about a sweet game of pool, or a street race with the fellow mexicans down the block? No sweat, its all there, as well as a mean game of basketball or golf, maybe baseball, perhaps you'd like to go bar hopping, to a strip joint, or clubbing though. How about spraying graffitti over opposing gang's grafitti just to rub it in their face? But maybe your the more violent, malicious type? We've got content there for you, too, ranging from shooting contests in your local Ammu-Nation, over to robbing houses at night (an absolute <b>BLAST,</b> sneaking around a sleeping old man and grabbing his 50's television has never been so much fun!), then to gang wars over a ten by ten piece of turf on fifth street in front of grandmas cookie shop, and there is plenty, plenty more side things to do besides these, <i>trust me</i> (Remember I said skydiving back there?). Oh yeah, you can also hop fences now, too, big plus.</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen05.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='color:white'><span style='font-family:times'>Let me elaborate a bit more on the turf war aspect of the game, since its really a major not-so-mini-game that you would probably enjoy participating in. By all means, you dont even have to touch it with a ten foot long pole, but its certainly worth a try to get hooked, which you will, no doubt. The entire city is divided into "turf," just like in real gangs. On your map there are colored shapes, be it squares or rectangles, that represent the area owned by a gang. You can bring a couple of your own guys along with you (you can talk to people now, and also invite fellow gang members into small groups to raid places or just hang, and the number depends on your respect stat, which goes up when you kill enemy gang members, help capture turf, complete a mission for them, etc, etc...) and walk into an enemy gang's section of turf, and start busting some caps in some unfriendly arses. Once you kill a couple enemy gang members in their turf, a war will occur on that turf, between you and the gang of guys you brought (ranging from three to twenty) and the enemy gang, making the area on the map switch from the color of the gang that owned it, to a flashing red area indicating a gang war occuring there. Waves of enemys are thrown at you, and they have weapons ranging from baseball bats, to assault rifles, so you have to keep your guard up. If you survive all the waves (which is NOT easy, let me tell you), that turf becomes yours, your respect stat goes up slightly, and you gain some money, which you can pick up back at your safe house. However, you're not the only one throwing the punches. Rival gangs will invade you as well, and these areas will flash red as well. You can go and help defend this turf, or leave your homies be and let them take care of it on their own, which they certainly can, but they probably wont have as well of a chance of winning without you rather than with. Your rival gangs invade eachother too, so its not you against everyone. Turf will constantly be changing hands throughout the game, and you'll never control the entire city, so guns up, balls out, cowboy, theres some fun to be had here!</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen06.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='color:white'><span style='font-family:times'>Once you get a weapon, you'll immeaditly notice a change in the way the combat works than previous GTA's, if you've played them. The aiming system has improved greatly, allowing for free aim with all weapons. Just wiggle your right analog stick while your locked onto a punk, and you'll enter free aim, a crosshair drawn on your screen in a counterstrike style, where while crounching and not moving, its much more effective. But the lock on system has been improved greatly, so you wont have too much problems with locking onto innocents anymore, and you'll find yourself using it much more than free aim, dispite what you think while you read this review. During combat, you can crouch down and move around while crouched, hunched over, which is useful for moving between traffic and taking cover from bullets. You can also roll side to side, great for rolling out of cover, popping a cap, then rolling back. Its absolutly fantastic, and combat is actually enjoyable now. Also, combat comes with skills as well, including weapons skills, like pistol skills, SMG skills, micro auto skills, etc... so you'll be more accurate if you get those skills built up with firing that weapon type. Another huge add-on is the drive by shootings. Gang members and allies lean out of cars or spin around on the back of a motercycle and fire at nearby enemies, blastin' all of them at high speeds, which is useful for starting a gang war, or just getting the hell out of there in an action movie manner, tons of fun, you'll find yourself shooting innocent pedestrians with gang members in your car just so you can have an awsome chase scene from the police.</span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen17.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>The story is pretty much your standarded GTA story. Carl Johnson's (CJ, your character, the main man) mother has been killed, and hes comming back to the old city, San Andreas, to see whats going down, where he gets involved with plenty of other things. But its not just the story that really wows you, its the structured parts of the missions. They're just so much fun, so much more varity than you've ever seen. Hell, I had a mission (very small spoiler.. doesnt hurt to read it) where these new russian fellas moved into town, and myself and my bud Big Smoke went to check them out. He tells you to wait out front while he goes in, and he'll yell for help if he needs it. He walks in as a fine lady walks in front of CJ, standing outside, as he starts to sweet talk her "need some company?" but is shortly cut off from the sound of smoke's voice "MOTHER ****ERS!!!" and plenty of gunshots inside. He looks at the woman and hesitates slightly, but jumps inside shortly, into the largest gunfight I've ever seen. Your pinned down in a lobby with smoke, exchanging fire against over fifteen of these russian fellas. After the intense firefight and clearing of the lobby, you move outside where you once again engage in a large, hair raising firefight. After this one is over, smoke hops on a bike and tells you to follow, where you hop on back, and the chase begins. You both speed along the streets as you gun behind the bike as smoke drives, trying to gun down the russian followers in bike, cars, and trucks as you weave in and out of allyways and oncomming traffic. He takes a detour through a sewer outlet area, to try and shake the followers, but it only shakes the truck -- for a short time that is. Eventually this mission escalates into a hairrasing chase scene, with a ton of huge explosions and lots of bullets. Another mission is where your once again with smoke, only this time your driving and hes gunning, and your chasing after a train, smoke gunning the guys on it, and trust me, the missions get tons better than these. They're just amazing, absolutly major kudos to the guys at Rockstars, absolute geniuses! You will <b>never</b> have a dull moment, that I can <u><i>garentee.</i></u></span></span>
<img src='http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/screens/screen08.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'>Well, Rockstar has done it again. They've rasied the bar three fold this time for other developers to try and compete with, and trust me, they'll have a hard, <b>hard</b> time to keep up if Rockstar keeps dishing out. I recommend <i><b>everyone</i></b> gets this game, you are missing <i>out</i> if you dont.. hell, I'd buy a PS2 just to play this, dead serious, its that good. Between all the new additions, mini games, customization, outstanding missions, overhauled graphics and combat, its a no brainer to pick this up.</span></span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:times'><b>Pros:</b> Everything. New additions, great missions, fun combat, buy this game <i>now.</i></span></span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:times'><b>Cons:</b> I'm nitpicking, but it stinks that the police <i>still</i> dont go after people that shoot at you and start the fights.</span></span>
<span style='color:red'><span style='font-family:times'><b>Rating:</span><span style='color:yellow'> <u>O</u> <u>O</u> <u>O</u> <u>O</u> <u>O</u></b></span></span>
<span style='font-family:times'><span style='color:white'><b>Note:</b> However you do see police on the road in their cars chasing after other gang members, who are leaning out of their cars and shooting at the police. Also you see police chasing people on the sidewalk, so you no longer feel like you're the only bad guy there.</span></span>
Too bad its another 'mod' they need to get a new engine, this one is getting so old you can almost see the wrinkles :/
It looks absolutely awesome.
I agree with you mostly Ha.Ze, but I have my own set of dislikes:
The draw-for-hi-res area is MUCH too low, and the game doesn't perform as well as it should. Hell, I'd even go back to zones if it would increase my FPS and draw distance.
Other than that, I'd say that the handgun sounds(aka, most pistols, most SMGs, most micro SMGs, many many more) sound like pop guns. I'd rather go back to GTA 3's sounds of a Pistol sounding like it could take any sucker out if you've got the skill.
And for a like: The missions, are frankly, the absolute MOST BALANCED I've played in a long time. On most(except the train with BS one), you'll be like "I hope the end isn't much farther from now."- and litterally within 30 seconds it ended. And the missions are scripted in such a way now that they are just amazingly fun. You honestly get the feeling of "Oh s***!" all over the place- and I could swear Rockstar is in your head. Sometimes I'll be thinking "I hope I don't gotta drive..." and then I have to do a "Shoot everyone and let the AI drive". Or the other way around. I swear, they KNOW YOU with this one- its awesome.
Which reminds me.
After watching Super Size Me at my friend's house (meh, kind of a boring moving), we played some GTA:SA. I walk into a Cluckin whatever it's called and get some food. Joking I say "HE FORGOT TO ASK ME IF I WANTED TO SUPER SIZE IT!!!"
I jump over the counter in the game and start beating the guy that I ordered the food from. lmao
We all had a good laugh. >:]
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Well, I've had it since Monday night and have been playing it quite a bit. Here are my thoughts, feel free to share your own:
Pluses:
*Overwhelmingly enormous world. And I've only seen a 1/3 of it!
*It's a lot deeper, more like a real city. More cars (notice they're flat-shaded, perhaps to get more on-screen?) and people around at any given time. I love how on the big highways cars pile up if there's a wreck.
*You get more stuff (money, guns, garages) sooner than you do in Vice City
*SWIMMING! You just KNOW there's gonna be some sort of underwater explosives-planting infiltrating mission somewhere.
*And everything else great about GTA games.
Minuses: (These are really minor to gameplay but they still bug me)
*IMHO the gun sound effects are AWFUL! Being from Wisconsin I've shot a lot of guns in my life and I've never heard a pistol that sounded like an Atari 2600 trying to imitate a cap-gun. Granted no movie or videogame has guns that sound completely realistic (they'd have to invent speakers that make your ears ring all the time) but it's almost like this game goes completely in the opposite direction and makes the guns really quiet, almost understated. Are the Tec9's silenced? What is going on? I don't understand. Really distracting!
*Granted I haven't listen to everything yet but the radio stations/commericals aren't as funny. (Again, IMHO) They go more for vulgar than humor and seem to be imitating the ones from Vice City rather than being fresh and new. As soon as I heard this took place in 1992 I was REALLY hoping for some overblown Rush Limbaugh-esque radio host but NOPE. I mean, they had a right-wing politician in Vice City named Alex SHRUB, where's this sort of thing in San Andreas? Oh, they have a gardening show - what's that got to do with ANYTHING?
*Again back to the radio stations. There isn't as much variety and the music they play is a little out of place. "Queen of Hearts" was a 12-year old song in 1992, yet it plays on the radio? There's a Pearl Jam song I'm pretty sure wasn't out in 1992. And although I could be wrong a lot of the rap is newer than 1992. Granted some (well, a LOT) of the music in Vice City was too old for 1986 and a lot of 1985/86 stuff was missing (like Walk Like an Egyption, Danger Zone, the Power of Love, all smash hits that year) it didn't seem to have the musical timeline amnesia that San Andreas does.
If a game takes place in 1992 you should hear "Under the Bridge" (Red Hot Chili Peppers) "Life is a Highway" (Tom Cochrane, you'd THINK that sound would make it to a GTA game, I mean, "life is highway???") "Damn Wish I Was Your Lover" (Sophie B Hawkins) Anything REM, NIRVANA, where the heck's the NIRVANA for crying out loud??? I remember 1992 well and don't think one hit song from that year made it into the game. That'd be like making GTA: Wind City that takes place in 1996 and not playing Hootie and the Blowfish, Alanis Moriessette or No Doubt.
Sorry, as an avid karaoker who is well aware of what songs were popular when (which helps when judging which to sing based off the audience) this game's soundtrack misses the mark BIG TIME.
But again, these are all audio-related problems. Everything else is cool!
-BEn<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I eagerly await a PC release. Motorcycle stunts in GTA:VC and flying the Dodo in GTA3 are still some of my favortie ways to waste time. If I'm lucky SA might run on my system with all the settings cranked down.
However, the thing with radio stations is you need to pay with licensing, and some artists wont want their songs on an M rated game...although, I'm sure it's more of a record label decision. Then you also have prices based on the popularity of the songs, too.
Then they also have their target audience too...but pffft and stuff.
Sounds interesting enough...it actually sounds like some of the concepts are ripped right out of Fable - before they were dropped. Plus, swimming is always a bonus.
I was doing a suicide run off of a peir, but it slipped my mind that you could swim mlol. So much for that lil event.
Oh ya, the cinematic camera kicks the utmost of assery!
lol
Utter ownage, Especially stealing the Learjet knockoff (I'm far too early in the gfame to be let into the airport legally) and fly to Vinewood. Once your over the border, you violate parole and a damn Fighter missiles my **** back to the stone age, leaving me on foot, trying to escape country bumpkins packin' 12 gagues and drivin Broncos.
Once i got the Dodo all the way to downtown Vinewood before they shot me down, i landed on the roof of a building. The sky went dark, the sounds of police sirens stopped, and it reminded me of a scene from Dawn of the dead, Except this time the black dude didnt have a shotty.
This game is making me reconsider purchasing a PS2....
and im the broke one with a computer in the shop
The music: Ah who cares, its 90s music, whatever. We know its not all from that era, but it sort of fits the feel. Like he said, hardcore kariok-what, he'll get picky with that. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> His only concerns were the sounds of the guns (ipinion) and the music, not of all which takes away from the game any.
Hope you all liked the review, I just reviewed the new things that were in the game, not the usual GTA stuff.. jacking cars, this, that, packages, etc...
I agree with you mostly Ha.Ze, but I have my own set of dislikes:
The draw-for-hi-res area is MUCH too low, and the game doesn't perform as well as it should. Hell, I'd even go back to zones if it would increase my FPS and draw distance. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I've never really seen the police go after someone that shoots <i>at</i> you and starts the fight, but I've seen the Balla's getting chased, yeah. Hopefully that will happen to me soon, Quad!!!
The FPS isnt a big issue unless you cause something that really does the bogging.. I remember I piled up at least thirty cars on eachother with tons of people getting out and yelling crap at me, but thats the only slowdown I've experieced. I do agree, however, with the draw distance, but I've only really noticed it when I'm speeding down a road at fifty million miles an hour and the game just cant keep up with me. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> Otherwise its great.
Which track?
one thing I noticed [other than the blatany mustang 5.0 rippoff car] is that you can finally do doughnuts and "sideshow" on intersections with a sick enough whip <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I can't wait to get my hands on this game, I think the spraying over of the tags is a good thing instead of hidden packages.
not to mention when your burning rubber the rims speed up or slow down realistically <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Top notch.
Please note Tetris et al. are not 3rd person, and MGS is by no means "casual" unless you've played it far too long... like me..
60 tags sprayed and nothing to show for it
I think my favorite GTA moment so far was flying through some underbrush and careening off a cliff hundreds of feet in the air, and soaring down on my bicycle staring at a huge open plain and a sleepy country town just before dawn. Quite simply one of the most impressive sights I've ever seen in a game, too bad I had to almost die to get it.