Don't freeze yourself. If you're waiting for GTA4, just take a trip into the past.
If you've gone through the trouble of getting a PS2, there are a few games that you really should have for the experience. Along with Burnout 3, Psychonauts, Katamari, and Rez you should definitely get GTA San Andreas. Besides the amusement you'll get & it's ability to push your ps2 to the limit, GTA SA will keep you busy for longer than it can take to finish all those other great games.
San Andreas is old enough (four years, can you believe it?) that I wasn't originally going to write a review, but that was before I realized that this is one of the best games of all time and still frequently shows up on the GamespotTop 10 between the releases of other super fanboy titles like Brawl, Halo3 and other brightly colored boxes. Also, when we consider that Manhunt 2 was neutered, we may never see a San Andreas Stories, and have a longer wait for GTA 4 (just kidding... I hope), I figure allot of gamers will be going into the back catalogue and this game is well deserved for a second (okay, third, fourth.... fifth?) spin or first look as the case may be.
Why? Well, while we often find games that try to be everything to everyone, it's extremely rare that these games succeed in making even one element of gameplay enjoyable. GTA San Andreas not only accomplishes where the others have failed, but brings to gamers some of the best shooting, racing, and flight simulation you can get on the ps2. It has even more gameplay elements but I didn't want to make this whole review a list.
In fact the biggest problem most people find with this game is that the PS2 has a hard time keeping up with it which does become noticeable when roads, cars, and environmental elements (like trees & huge casinos) fill in around or right in front of you during moments of extreme speed like pop-ups on a porn site. I would say this occasional glitch is a fair trade for the absence of loading screens when traveling around the huge map and is much more welcome than the "slow down" or other glitches that can occur when hardware is outmatched or the software not thoroughly tested. If things like that bother you, get the PC will be able to keep up, no problem, provided you have a halfway decent PC.
That's not to say that there aren't other problems, in fact going through them will take allot less time than raving about all the great things they got right. My own peeve (if I had to have one) is that they included a pretty good 2p system but only allow you to take advantage of it at certain map points. I would've liked to have my wife or a friend join me for a mission or two where you have to have another character with you anyway; especially when you consider that the AI for these characters is one IQ point below the chimp they cloned Bush from. I still of course hired as many gang members as I could to follow me into hostile territory because they would sometimes get shot at instead of me. This of course backfires at times when they step right in between you and the gang banger you're mowing down, effectively saving the enemy's life. I would like to say that the AI improved for escort mission but I can't so I'll just thank the fates that there are surprisingly few traditional escort missions in this really looooong game. It would've also been nice to have the option of split screen on the free roam 2p but I guess I should be happy that there's any sort of 2p in a game this big.
Another fault is that, as with all GTA games, GTA: SA has a glitch or two that might give you problems with gameplay. Some are silly things you probably won't even notice (like saving at the mansion before the last story arc will stop you from playing the basketball minigame) but then you also have your typical GTA game-ending (sux 2 B U: start again from the beginning) glitch. Luckily I've never used cheats in this game (and saved) so the riot cheat didn't ruin my game just like I thankfully never saved at Cherry Popper's while playing in Vice City. I would imagine that R* has an army of play testers that happily explore every option in the games for minimum wage, so it is a bit surprising that these problems still show up. At least with San Andreas none of the game ending (start again from the beginning) glitches happen when doing something the designers would've intended for you to do in the first place so it's not as big a problem as it has been in previous GTAs.
It never bothered me (also being a Sims fan) but allot of people get upset about the RPG elements of the game. I can understand being annoyed by the everyday grind being thrust in the middle of an action game but I never felt that these elements interrupted or ever came close to overwhelming the core game values: racing, crashing, gunning, & running. You do have to eat in order to not starve to death but even if you're warned at the beginning of the longest mission, you can wait until you're done having fun before stopping at a fast food joint. On the bright side, this is the first GTA where you can play as a thickmuscled bruiser, big fatso or a really skinny crack-head. You can also work out to raise stamina and muscle, but you can let these things happen naturally while you run/swim/bike around the state if you don't feel like going to the gym for what's essentially weight lifting and treadmill minigames and yes they are about as interesting as they sound.
Your gun skill improves after a while too but you can't really complain about that: where else in GTA can you upgrade to double-fisted uzis, handguns, & shotguns. Other RPG/Sims elements allow you to change clothes, get tattoos, and different haircuts which are all kind of fun (and once again, entirely optional) but can take a really long time to change and ends up being a bit sluggish when you compare it to the rest of this fast paced game. Still, it can be fun to change around your character's look especially if you're trying to make him look as absurd as possible: try the afro, hockey mask, and leisure suit combo for a laugh.
Another thing that gets complaints (but never bothered me) is the camera. It's very smooth, graceful, and cinematic but when you're making a tight turn in a high speed car chase it can take a little too long going back to center. The reason it never bothered me is because flicking one of the drive by buttons will pop the camera back to center. Also, when you compare it to previous GTAs, this is the first time you can smoothly move the camera in every direction while running, driving, and piloting; you can actually see where you're landing. So depending on your point of view, the camera work in this game may be better worked or not but I think most would say it's better as it's the first time YOU have complete control over the camera at all times.
The only other complaints this game gets are from racists (some of) who claim to not be racist despite the fact that they also claim to be turned off by what they tend to call the whole "ghetto theme"; though I suspect they're turned off by any theme deeper than a Dutch toilet. These are usually the same people who believe the game is infested with five rap stations because of course any music made by black people is rap. But they aren't racist. You can try explaining to them that most of the music on master sounds and bounce (old school soul & funk) were made before rap was even invented but that won't stop them from disliking black people. Of course I shouldn't define these people as racist (and I don't really think they are all dangerously psychotic Nazi/KKK racist) because of all this as they could just be ignorant and/or narrow minded. Of course I'm open to the opinion that I myself, as well as the makers of the game, could very well be the racists. I have to admit that I get a big kick out of doing drive by's while listening to the most inflammatory gangsta' rap as well as Rockstar's theories about the healing powers of fried chicken.
What I don't understand about many of the San Andreas haters (and there are a few gamers who claim to not like this game), is that most of them are Huge fans of GTA Vice City, which is almost the same game. San Andreas just has more of everything Vice City had. So I can see maybe not appreciating the story or setting as much as the earlier game, but gameplay wise, I don't understand how someone can hate one but love the other. I think Vice City was an amazing game too but San Andreas is understandably better when you consider it was built on the shoulders of Vice City. The other haters are just fans of Jack Thompson and the 700 club and we don't really have to worry about those idiots.
What is it about this game that's so amazing? Everything. The racing, piloting, running, and gunning all run very smoothly, are allot of fun, and are oftentimes quite controllably cinematic; that is, cinematic without being God of War/Simon Says: quick time event simple. In other words you wont be asked to repeatedly tap the shoulder buttons to execute an execution or get away from an explosion. You're in complete control at all times of the gameplay. Anything that you liked from previous GTAs but thought there should be more of, they've made more of: more (types of) vehicles, more weapons, more missions, more cities, more collectables, and... well...more of everything.
The story's cut-scenes are acted out by the game engine and impeccably voiced by an super-talented & fitting celebrity cast which includes James Woods(government accessory), the late Chris Penn (a fat white crooked Cop), Charley Murphy(the pimp), Peter Fonda (the old Hippy), Ice-T (the gangsta rappa), and so many others you should just go over to IMDB and look it up if you care. Probably the best voice performance belongs to Samuel L. Jackson who's the voice of the dirty cop (a real Otto Waterhouse type) who sets the games events in motion with a tasteful amount of self loathing he tries to pass on to you. The story itself is engrossing and surprisingly deep. My favorite part of it is that it expands far (some would say too far) beyond the typical GTA revenge & get rich quick story theme. Even if it gets a bit broad and drifts into side-quests that never connect back to the main conspiracy plotline, these interludes usually mock an event, conspiracy theory, or urban myth from the time period. If you were socially conscious around 1992, parts of the story and DJ banter will have you slapping your knee plenty.
Speaking of the radio, this game incorporates one of the best soundtracks (if not best, certainly the most eclectic) in video game history and in case you want to understandably question my taste, some of the other games that belong on my list are Rez, Katamari Damacy, GTA Vice City (Stories), (the original) Alex Kid (what.... it got in my head), and Cowboy Bebop: though it never went to print the game based on the anime of the same name was going to have the music from the show (as well as two new Seatbelts tunes we will probably never hear) and that's good enough for my list. The fact of the matter is that even (and perhaps especially) if you are a pickup driving, confederate sporting, hood wearing, Fox news watching, southern fried racist, you should have no problem finding a radio station that's up your alley: perhaps the country style K-Rose. As I'm a fan of pretty much any type of music (except for maybe that post-modern short wave radio feedback crap, if you can really call that music) I'm satisfied with anything that comes on. There's both modern (well...as modern as 1992) and classic rock, rap, funk and soul stations along with a country, reggae, house music, and the usual talk radio station. The songs that are played on these stations often add to the cinematic and sometimes comedic effect of the game. Unspoiling Spoiler-My favorite moment of music-action sync was probably when I had some goomba strapped to the hood of my car causing him to scream along with the sax squealing from the JB's "Grunt" or maybe stealing a military jet & getting into a dogfight while listening to "Freebird." Once again, if nothing is floating your boat, you can always get the PC version and make your own radio station.
But what is it in GTA that keeps us engrossed the way other games can't? What is it about San Andreas, Vice City, and Liberty City that keeps us coming back for more even after 100% completion? I think the answer is different for everyone and therein lies the true answer. I like causing all sorts of chaos with all the bonuses 100% brings. My wife sometimes likes to just drive, fly, or boat around taking in the sights and doing crazy stunts. But a buddy of mine probably gave the best answer to the "what is it about gta" question. Hooty (no relation to the band) describes it as a crime novel you write yourself. All the elements are there, you just have to decide which ones you want. You can be as brutal or as sneaky as you want. You can be a pimp, drug dealer, vigilante, ladies man, and be them whenever you want while making up your own narrative. The missions the game gives you are a good value but the missions you give yourself are priceless.
After playing a couple of GTA games you do start to get used to the different types of missions they usually feature and though they may never make the RC missions enjoyable (and this one has "Supply Lines": the worst RC Mission ever; I'm just thankful its a side task), San Andreas once again takes these old missions and all new ones to a whole new level. While many are recycled or re-worked from Vice city or GTA3 there are many new multilayered missions that require you to infiltrate, blast, assault, getaway, and/or sometimes to cause the most amusing mayhem in a variety of ways. If that doesn't impress you, the sheer number of story missions (123 to be exact; though to be honest, two or three of those missions only require you to watch a cutscene or drive from A to B) should be enough to overwhelm you. If not, there are enough side missions, dates, challenges, and gang wars to keep you busy until your ps2 melts from sheer exhaustion.
Maybe that's the biggest problem with this game, it's just too damn good. It's so good that it seems to have made me far more picky about video games than I ever thought I could be. I find myself turning my nose up at what are probably fantastic games, all because it does not have one or another element from San Andreas. Most recently I picked up Resident Evil 4 for the Wii (deified by some as the best game ever) and while I have a great time with the TPS part of it, I keep getting the feeling that there should be more in there than blasting Spaniards. It's all very beautiful and scary (so scary I can't even play it with my wife around; she starts screaming bloody murder every time a farm tool flies out of nowhere) but predictable and linear. I feel penned in, unable to make my own choices. I can't help but feel like the bitter child of a bitter divorce: why can't I climb over that fence, San Andreas lets me climb the fence. Why do I have to keep making space for ammo, San Andreas lets me carry as much ammo as I can find. I'm sure I'll get over it eventually but for now it seems like I'll have to wait for GTA4 to to get this big-a-kick out of a game. And maybe I shouldn't be in a rush. There are a vast amount of horrible games out there that people just keep buying for some reason. Maybe we should start expecting more out of the developers. It's not like these games are cheap. Perhaps any game you spend $50+ on should keep you fully engrossed for a couple of months the way a GTA can. Am I out of line?
So, what is there to do when you've played through to 100% and it's time to start a new game? Well if GTA 4 STILL isn't out, try and find another game that's just as engrossing but for the love of god, DON'T get a GTA clone like a Driver, True Crime, or Getaway. They will only frustrate and disappoint you. Ever since GTA 3, other publishers have been trying to mimic the style and of course the success of the GTA series. Almost all of them have failed miserably. Even going back to earlier GTA games can be a bit painful after playing San Andreas. Whenever I pop in Vice City for example, I keep wondering where the rest of the map went and why the lazy goomba will only jump 2ft. in the air. Now I want to go into that game and find (besides Vice City) another city or two, swampland, and a Disney size amusement park.
I don't want to give you a complete feeling of doom. Before long, after finishing GTA SA, you'll want to start again from the beginning. A friend of mine started it over the moment he finished the story missions, but we can just attribute this to an excessive personality. If you do want to play through again, I highly recommend getting a modable (version1.0) version of the PC release where you can mod in the stuff they took out (like the notorious hot coffee) as well as additions (maps, missions, and more) made by other talented gamers. Besides, there are a couple clones you might like: if you don't mind exchanging criminal skills for superpowers, you'll probably like Hulk Ultimate Destruction. A military buff might like Mercenaries. If you're a Potterhead like me, you might get a kick out of the Order of the Phoenix (which I also reviewed here) game even though it's shorter than Umbridge's wand and the collectable rewards aren't very rewarding. Even if you're a die hard gang(sta/ster), you still have the Godfather; and I recommend the Wii version for that one. The problem is that if you're expecting something with the same size and length of GTA SA, you're just going to be disappointed with the posers. Once you go black, you really can never go back.