Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action-adventure video game developed by games developer Rockstar North in the United Kingdom and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in October 2004,[3] the game has since been released for the Xbox and Microsoft Windows (PC) in June 2005, and has received wide acclaim and high sales figures on all three platforms. It is the best-selling game of all time on PlayStation 2. It was made available on Steam on January 4, 2008,[11] and on Intel-based Macs running a minimum of Mac OS X 10.6.6 in September 2011. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was succeeded by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and was preceded by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
The game is set in the semi-fictional state of San Andreas, which contains three metropolitan cities: Los Santos, based on Los Angeles, San Fierro, based on San Francisco and Las Venturas, based on Las Vegas. Set in 1992,[12] San Andreas revolves around the gang member Carl "CJ" Johnson returning home from Liberty City to Los Santos, San Andreas, after learning of his mother\'s murder. CJ finds his old friends and family in disarray. Over the course of the game, CJ gradually unravels the plot behind his mother\'s murder.
The high-level plot strongly resembles the LAPD Rampart scandal and the game even culminates with a spoof of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.San Andreas is structured similarly to the previous two games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open world environment in which to move around. On foot, the player\'s character is capable of walking, eating, running, sprinting, swimming, climbing (the first GTA game in which swimming and climbing are possible) and jumping as well as using weapons and various forms of hand to hand combat. Players can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, semis, boats, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trains, tanks, motorcycles and bikes. Players may also import vehicles rather than steal them.
The open, non-linear environment allows players 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, they are not required as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and look around the cities, eat from the restaurant, 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 people, pointing guns at people, stealing cars, killing a few people, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.
The player can partake in a variety of optional side missions that can boost their character\'s attributes or provide another source of income. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, such as dropping off taxi cab passengers, putting out fires, driving injured people to the hospital and fighting crime as a vigilante. New additions include burglary missions, pimping missions, truck and train driving missions requiring players to make deliveries on time, and driving/flying/boating/biking schools, which help players learn skills and techniques to use in their corresponding vehicles.
Not all locations are open to the player at the start of the game. Some locales, such as pay \'n spray, gyms, and shops, become available only after completing certain missions. Likewise, for the first portion of the game, only Los Santos and its immediate suburbs are available for exploration; unlocking the other cities and rural areas again requires the completion of certain missions.
Unlike GTA III and Vice City, which needed loading screens when traveling between different districts of the city, San Andreas has no load times when the player is in transit. The only loading screens in the game are for cut-scenes and interiors. Other differences between San Andreas and its predecessors include the switch from single-player to multiplayer Rampage missions (albeit not in the PC version), and the replacement of the \'hidden packages\' with spray paint tags, hidden camera shots, horseshoes, and oysters to discover.
The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked to incorporate concepts from another Rockstar game, Manhunt, including various stealth elements,[13] as well as improved target crosshairs and a target health indicator which changes colors from green to red to black depending on the target\'s health. The PC version of the game implements mouse chording; the player has to hold the right mouse button to activate the crosshairs, and then click or hold at the left mouse button to shoot or use an item, such as a camera.
The player has a gunfight with members of an enemy gang.
In addition, players can swim and climb walls for the first time in the series.[14] The ability to swim has a great effect on the player as well, since water is no longer an impassable barrier that kills the player (although it is possible to drown). For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with multiple gang members. Due to the size of San Andreas, a waypoint reticule on the HUD map can be set, aiding the player in reaching a destination.
[edit]RPG features in character development
Rockstar has emphasized the personalization of the main protagonist by adding many role-playing video game elements. Clothing, accessories, haircuts, jewelry and tattoos are now available for purchase by CJ, and have more of an effect on non-player characters\' reactions than the clothing in Vice City. CJ\'s level of respect among his fellow recruits and street friends varies according to his appearance and actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. Players must also ensure CJ eats to stay healthy and also exercises properly. The balance of food and physical activity has an effect on his appearance and physical attributes.[14]
San Andreas tracks acquired skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game.[14] CJ may also learn three different styles of hand-to-hand combat (boxing, kung fu and Muay Thai) at the gyms in each of the game\'s three cities. CJ can also speak with a number of pedestrians in the game, responding either negatively or positively. According to Rockstar, there are about 4,200 lines of spoken dialogue.[15]
[edit]Vehicles
In total, there are 211 vehicles in the game[16] compared to approximately 85 in GTA III. New additions include bicycles, a combine harvester, a street sweeper, a hovercraft, trailers and others. Car physics and features are similar to the Midnight Club series of street racing games, allowing for much more midair vehicle control as well as nitrous upgrades and aesthetic modification.
There are several different classes of vehicles that serve different purposes. Off-road vehicles perform better in rough environments, while racing cars perform better on tracks or on the street. Jets are fast, but usually need a runway to land. Helicopters can land almost anywhere and are much easier to control in the air, but are slower. While previous Grand Theft Auto games had only a few aircraft that were difficult to access and fly, San Andreas has 11 airplanes and nine helicopters and makes them more integral in the game\'s missions. There is also the ability to skydive from aircraft, using a parachute. Several boats were added, while some were highly modified.
[edit]Other additions and changes
Other new features and changes from previous Grand Theft Auto games include:
Gang wars: Battles with enemy gangs are prompted whenever the player ventures into enemy territory and kills at least three gang members. If the player then survives three waves of enemies, the territory will be won and fellow gang members will begin wandering the streets of these areas. The more territory owned by the player, the more money that will be generated. Occasionally, the player\'s territory will come under attack from enemy gangs and defeating them will be necessary to retain these areas. Once all marked territories are claimed from one of the two other gangs for the Grove Street Families, that gang can no longer attack. Once the player takes control of all the territories, none can come under attack.[17]
Car modification: Most automobiles in the game can be modified and upgraded at various garages. All car mods are strictly visual apart from the stereo and nitrous oxide upgrade which increases bass and gives the car a speed boost when activated respectively; and hydraulics, which lowers the car\'s height by default and allows the player to control various aspects of the car\'s suspension. Other common modifications include paintjobs, rims, body kits, side skirts, bumpers and stereo system upgrades.
Burglary: Continuing the series\' tradition of controversy, home invasion is included as a potential money-making activity.[18] By stealing a burglary van, CJ is able to sneak into a residence at night, and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants.
Minigames: Numerous minigames are also available for play in San Andreas, including basketball, pool, rhythm-based challenges (dancing and \'bouncing\' lowriders with hydraulics), and video game machines that pay homage to classic arcade games. In addition, there are the aforementioned casino games and methods of gambling, such as betting on virtual horse races.[19]
Money: The money system has been expanded upon, compared to previous titles. Players can spend their cash on gambling, tattoos, meals, etc. Excessive gambling loss can force the player to sink into debt, which is shown in red negative numbers. When the player leaves a safehouse, CJ gets an unexpected call and a mysterious person tells him about his debts. Four gang members suddenly appear and shoot Carl on sight if he does not erase the debt when the mysterious person calls him a second time.
Multiplayer: Rampages have been modified to allow two players to complete them. The players are both shown simultaneously on the screen, meaning they must stay within close proximity of each other. The multiplayer rampages were removed from the PC version of the game. While multiplayer modes were absent on the PC version (as with the previous games), third-party modifications like Multi Theft Auto and San Andreas Multiplayer provide such functionality.
[edit]Synopsis
San Andreas
— Fictional state —
State of San Andreas
Country United States
States San Andreas
Cities Las Venturas
Los Santos
San Fierro
Area code(s) 342 Los Santos (323/424 Los Angeles)
514 San Fierro (415 San Francisco)
207 Las Venturas (702 Las Vegas)
Website Official San Andreas website
[edit]Setting
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes place within the state of San Andreas, which is based on sections of California and Nevada. It comprises three major fictional cities: Los Santos corresponds to Los Angeles, San Fierro corresponds to San Francisco, and Las Venturas corresponds to Las Vegas.[14] The environments around these cities are also based on settings within the Southwestern region of the United States. Players can drive up the half-mile (800 m) tall Mount Chiliad (based on Mount Diablo), parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in three counties: Red County, Flint County, and Bone County. Other notable destinations include Sherman Dam (based on the Hoover Dam), a large secret military base called Area 69 (based on Area 51), a large satellite dish (based on a dish from the Very Large Array), Vinewood (based on Hollywood) and the Vinewood sign (based on the Hollywood sign) which is located in Mullholland, and many other geographical features. Interestingly the bridges in San Fierro are based on the Forth road and rail bridges which link Edinburgh, the home of Rockstar North, to Fife although the road bridge is highly similar to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. San Andreas is 13.9 square miles (36 square kilometers),[20] almost four times as large as Vice City, and five times as large as the GTA III rendition of Liberty City. The three cities are linked by numerous highways, a train system, and air travel. While its predecessors\' areas were limited to urban locations, San Andreas includes not only large cities and suburbs, but also the rural areas between them. It also has a fictional version of the Nellis Air Force Base[citation needed] called ingame the Verdant Meadows Airfield.
[edit]Characters
Main article: List of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas characters
The characters that appear in San Andreas are relatively diverse and relative to the respective cities and locales which each of them based himself in. This allows the game to include a significantly wider array of story lines and settings than in Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. The player controls Carl "CJ" Johnson (Young Maylay), a young African-American gang member who serves as the game\'s protagonist.
The Los Santos stages of the game revolve around the theme of the Grove Street Families gang fighting with the Ballas and the Vagos for territory and respect. East Asian gangs (most notably the local Triads), an additional Vietnamese gang (the Da Nang Boys), and a force of Hispanic thugs working for the local "Loco Syndicate" are evident in the San Fierro leg of the game, while three Mafia families and the Triads who all own their respective casino are more prominently featured in the Las Venturas section of the game.
Like the previous two GTA games, the voice actors of San Andreas include notable celebrities, such as David Cross, Andy Dick, Ron Foster, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda, Charlie Murphy, Frank Vincent, Chris Penn, Danny Dyer, Sara Tanaka, William Fichtner, Wil Wheaton, rappers Ice-T, Chuck D, Frost, MC Eiht and The Game and musicians George Clinton, Axl Rose, Sly and Robbie, and Shaun Ryder.[21] Young Maylay makes his debut as the protagonist, Carl.
The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer\'s Edition lists it as the videogame with the largest voice cast, with 861 credited voice actors, including 174 actors and 687 additional performers, many of those performers being fans of the series who wanted to appear on the game.[22]
[edit]Plot
Grand Theft Auto series
fictional chronology
2D universe
1961 – London, 1961
1969 – London, 1969
1997 – Grand Theft Auto
1999 – Grand Theft Auto 2
3D universe
1984 – Vice City Stories
1986 – Vice City
1992 – San Andreas
1998 – Liberty City Stories
2000 – Advance
2001 – Grand Theft Auto III
HD universe
2008 – Grand Theft Auto IV
– The Lost and Damned
– The Ballad of Gay Tony
2009 – Chinatown Wars
TBA – Grand Theft Auto V
In 1992 when Carl "CJ" Johnson returns to Los Santos to attend his mother\'s funeral after five years living in Liberty City following his brother Brian’s murder. Upon returning, corrupt C.R.A.S.H. police officers Frank Tenpenny (Samuel L. Jackson) and Edward "Eddie" Pulaski (Chris Penn), whom Carl has had history with, apprehend him and threaten to frame him for a fellow officer\'s murder unless he assists them in their illegal operations.
Carl returns to his former home on Grove Street. Carl reunites with his brother Sweet (Faizon Love), and fellow gangsters Ryder (MC Eiht), Big Smoke (Clifton Powell), and OG Loc to reestablish Grove Street Families as the predominant gang in Los Santos. Carl, Ryder and Big Smoke begin intercepting shipments of weapons, waging war with rival gangs "Ballas" and "Vagos" for turf, and reducing the influence of crack cocaine among Family members. Carl also begins helping OG Loc establish a music career by ruining the career of prominent rapper Madd Dogg (Ice-T). While working to re-establish the gang, Carl begins mending relationships and gradually earning back respect from his family and allies especially earning back respect from Sweet, for leaving Los Santos