Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

John Alexander

5 Nov, 2013

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom and published by Rockstar Games. A sequel to the successful title Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002), San Andreas is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto series, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas received wide critical acclaim and sold well on all platforms for which it was released. According to review aggregator website Metacritic, the game was the fifth-highest-rated release for the PlayStation 2. With over 17.33 million copies of the game sold for the PlayStation 2, it is the console's best-selling game.

The open, non-linear environment allows the player to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain cities and content, the player can complete them at their leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, the player can freely roam the cities and rural areas of San Andreas, eat in restaurants, or cause havoc by attacking people and causing destruction. Creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking pedestrians, pointing guns at people, stealing vehicles, manslaughter, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.

For the first time in the series, players can swim and climb walls. The ability to swim and dive underwater has a great effect on the player as well since water is no longer an impassable barrier that kills the player outright (although it is possible to drown). For greater firepower, the player can also dual-wield firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with multiple gang members who can be recruited to follow the player. Due to the size of San Andreas, a waypoint reticule on the HUD map can be set, aiding the player in reaching a destination.