Where’s Our Old Street Again?
When "Rockstar" released "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" in 2004, the gaming world shook. After the massive success of "GTA III" and "Vice City", expectations were through the roof (I remember my friends and I eagerly waiting for this game), and the developers promised to make it bigger and better. And they delivered. But the real question is—did that actually make the game better?
The main protagonist, Carl "CJ" Johnson, returns to his hometown of Los Santos after receiving news of his mother's death. After a series of unpleasant encounters with old acquaintances—including corrupt cops and former friends—he gets caught up in gang warfare. Betrayals, rivalries, and epic heists unfold in the best traditions of a gangster action flick.
At some point, the story moves beyond simple turf wars and expands into a grand journey across the entire state of San Andreas. CJ ends up in San Fierro and Las Venturas, taking on missions for the mafia, the military, government agents, and even some crazy hippies. The scale is impressive, but the storytelling didn’t particularly captivate me—too many uninteresting side quests bog things down.
While "Vice City" still felt like an arcade game, "San Andreas" leaned more into realism. Now, CJ could eat and gain weight—overindulging in burgers would make him fat, while running and hitting the gym would make him stronger. You could level up skills like driving, shooting, stamina, and even swimming (yes, finally, the protagonist doesn’t sink like a rock—oh, how that annoyed me in previous games). Customization was also expanded—tattoos, hairstyles, outfits, accessories—all adding a bit of personal flair to CJ. There was also a gang territory mechanic—taking over rival neighborhoods in Los Santos granted bonuses but also forced you to constantly fend off enemy attacks.
But in my opinion, many of these mechanics felt unnecessary and tedious. Constantly managing weight, grinding turf wars, and wasting time on skill training got old fast. I gave up on it quickly, though I remember one mission required lung capacity training—so I had to go swimming in deep water just to progress.
"Rockstar" has never been stingy with vehicle choices, and "San Andreas" certainly delivers—dozens of cars, bikes, boats, and even planes are available. You can steal, customize, and even skydive. Weapons are also plentiful: brass knuckles, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and even a chainsaw. However, shooting felt somewhat off compared to its predecessors—something about the gunplay just didn’t sit right throughout the game.
San Andreas isn’t just one city—it’s an entire state. Los Santos is inspired by Los Angeles, San Fierro mirrors San Francisco, and Las Venturas is a neon-lit take on Las Vegas. Between them lie miles of roads, forests, deserts, and small rural towns. On one hand, the variety is great—you can take a break from city chaos and go biking through the mountains or speeding down highways. On the other hand, long road trips often feel like a dull driving simulator. Sometimes, it feels like *Rockstar* simply expanded the map for the sake of size without filling it with truly engaging details.
Another new feature was dating—CJ could start relationships with different women. Giving them attention would unlock perks like free health recovery or car repairs. But the actual dates? Just walking into a café or driving around town—not exactly thrilling gameplay. It wasn’t my thing.
You could also recruit gang members for shootouts with rival factions. In theory, it sounded like a great idea, but the AI was so bad that allies often got stuck in the environment or walked straight into gunfire.
Everything in this game screams scale and innovation, but for me, "San Andreas" remains my least favorite entry in the series. Clunky character models, a bleak color palette, a disjointed story, questionable mechanics, and an overload of unnecessary features. Sure, many consider it a masterpiece, but to me, it was more disappointing than groundbreaking—especially when compared to other *GTA* titles. Still, it’s worth playing.
7 out of 10
