Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas

[sharky_ob]

Ditto - still playing it and still not on 100%. I've yet to collect the vast majority of spray tags, horseshoes etc, complete the Chiliad Challenge or do the race-bowl mission in San Fierro.

I still play the game regularly and actually had a long session on it yesterday afternoon. I'm constantly noticing bits and pieces I hadn't noticed in the previous 150+ hours of playtime such as a car showroom in north San Fierro with a huge glass frontage where you can drive a car straight through it from the 2nd floor. I must have driven past it hundreds of times but never noticed it before.

For me, there's no other game like it - the way it can keep me playing nearly 12 months on without getting slightly bored. I can easily lose myself in the amazing game world, whether its exploring the countryside areas on a trial-bike or just simply taking a break and watching the sunset over the desert.

Roll on Liberty City Stories...

Strange you've never noticed the window, you have to drive out of it on one of the missions!!

[Concept]

240 hours!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

I want to play this again, the game is genius!

I would have liked to have replay key missions too. The reason I haven't is because it kind of contradicts the 'whole living a life inside of a game' theme which GTA feeds on in repeating what's already happened. And I suppose it's quite easy to become attached to your save after you've invested a lot of time into it.

But San Andreas does offer the depth which could very easily extend to double that.

For me, there's no other game like it - the way it can keep me playing nearly 12 months on without getting slightly bored. I can easily lose myself in the amazing game world, whether its exploring the countryside areas on a trial-bike or just simply taking a break and watching the sunset over the desert.

Roll on Liberty City Stories...

Yeah... there's so many things to do, and the world is so non-linear upon completing the main missions (once everything's been open) that the lifespan is more or less infinite. It's a very liberating feeling (which San Andrea's more accurately conveys than any other GTA) to have so much choice and freedom at your disposal. I think I may have mentioned this before, but the denisity you can pack into an hour's play 'here and there' is immense. Flying, parachuting, dancing, taking photos, playing pool, taking part in triathlons, street races, gambling, shopping for clothes and junk. The amount of customisation and options the game offers means the experience never stagnates... it's very, very rich.

And unlike many other games of this type, just walking about and being inside it's world is a pleasure. I think I've done more exploring on foot, and watching the world pass me by more than any other GTA put together in San Andreas. It can both sustain dipping in and out casually, and drenching yourself in what it has to offer... there are still stories (like when such and such a thing happened) and sights (even though UFOs aren't confirmed in the game, I saw some floating objects in the deserts of Las Venturas) to be had which mimic the way in which we personalise our day to day lives. It's possible to create tales to tell and form your own myths in San Andrea's world, which I think is a very subtle and deceptively complicated thing to achieve in creating for players to take hold of.

I can honestly see myself canning Liberty City Stories just as much due to the access the PSP will provide in being able to enter its landscape.

[Dogg Thang]

I must get back to this. I never finished it - the game is just so vast. But, man, was I enjoying it!

[Concept]

Horribly vast to begin with.

When I first started San Andreas, I don't think I'd ever been intimidated so much by a game's size, but like life again, you get used to the locations. I can't tell the map street for street like I can with Liberty City, but you get a sense and a feel for locations so you eventually know your way around. It's a great sense of accomplishment to eventually get on top of the game, when you consider what a hulking mass it is.

[spagmasterswift]

The things I've done in SA, so many great memories and I haven't even visited the last part of the map yet (well not officially anyway). With the amount of freedom on offer to explore and try out different things I spent hours every night messing around and have done too few missions (well official missions anyway). I must go back for a holiday soon.

[muse hunter]

personally i believe andreas was a huge disappointment, it lacks the character that made vice city great

[Atticus]

My favourite memory in San Andreas, though scripted, was very basic but very effective. It was simply driving The Truth all the way to San Fiero through the night while Freebird played on the radio, and arriving in a brand new city, full of brand new possibilities, just as the sun was coming up.

I've only finished the game on a mission/story front. Still have more than 50% to complete. Some day.

[icarus0]

Strange you've never noticed the window, you have to drive out of it on one of the missions!!

I really can't remember that. I completed most of the missions last year which is why I probably have no recollection of it. Honestly, I have trouble remembering what I did this morning let alone 12 months ago...

But my original sentiment stands though - the game world is just so vast and dense that I still notice little things I never spotted before.

As Concept explained so much better than I ever could, I can find real enjoyment in just wandering around and watching the world go by. For example, on Sunday I somehow found myself in el Castillo del Diablo (the abandoned village in Bone County) and just spent ages exploring the area in almost complete silence watching the sun set over the desert and the sky change colour from orange through to purple.

I wasn't sure if it would be possible, but the developers were able to build upon GTA 3 and VC and offer a far more complete and realistic game world. Apart from being able to customise CJ and buy food etc., little touches such as increased traffic flow at certain times of day, specific messages from DJs depending on time of day/weather conditions, police chases going on around you and pedestrians reacting to each other and CJ just added to the experience you were involved in a living, breathing world.

[Rossco]

My favourite memory in San Andreas, though scripted, was very basic but very effective. It was simply driving The Truth all the way to San Fiero through the night while Freebird played on the radio, and arriving in a brand new city, full of brand new possibilities, just as the sun was coming up.

I've only finished the game on a mission/story front. Still have more than 50% to complete. Some day.

Yeh stuff like that is just amazing. I might even start the game again as I havent played it for MONTHS and hardly remember much so going through it all again, opening up new things would be fun!

[Spatial]

My SA memory still has to be getting hideously lost with Catelina on the back of a quad bike and ending up in hilly part of Los Santos when I should have been heading back to her hideout.

She gave me such an ear bending it was almost real - a simple touch yet brilliantly executed.

[Destrukticor]

65 hours

millions of memories

100%

a game i enjoyed as much as any other ive played for a while

[Concept]

At last!

Finished the beast. I'm particularly chuffed considering I barely touched a guide (only for the seashells/horseshoes/photos) in completing it, even though I admittedly took just a bit longer than Destrukitor.

I never thought in a million years when I started the game that I'd be able to get on top of everything it had to offer and finish it. The world was just so damn big to comprehend at the beginning - I probably see this as the greatest achievement I've managed in terms of challenge this generation (that NRG-500 challenge was a nightmare ><).

But yes, I agree with III_r0ssco_III.... a truly stunning game that's offered hundreds of memories, thoughts, atmospheres... and one that I can see myself still playing routinely until the next console sequel.

My favourite memory in San Andreas, though scripted, was very basic but very effective. It was simply driving The Truth all the way to San Fiero through the night while Freebird played on the radio, and arriving in a brand new city, full of brand new possibilities, just as the sun was coming up.

I remember that part (after destroying the Truth's crops I think)... it was great, due to the fact that San Fierro feels very different (I know it's based on San Francisco but it feels Liberty-cityish) compared to Los Santos/Las Venturas. You're suddenly confronted with another sprawling urban playground.

I wasn't sure if it would be possible, but the developers were able to build upon GTA 3 and VC and offer a far more complete and realistic game world. Apart from being able to customise CJ and buy food etc., little touches such as increased traffic flow at certain times of day, specific messages from DJs depending on time of day/weather conditions, police chases going on around you and pedestrians reacting to each other and CJ just added to the experience you were involved in a living, breathing world.

In particular, I love the way the pedestrians comment on your appearance such as the clothes you're wearing, your haircut, how skinny or fat you are which were thoughtful touches. I also thought it was fantastic how people approached you to initiate conversations rather than the other way about, which to me seemed to be a very clever reference to reversing Shenmue's communication dynamic.

My SA memory still has to be getting hideously lost with Catelina on the back of a quad bike and ending up in hilly part of Los Santos when I should have been heading back to her hideout.

She gave me such an ear bending it was almost real - a simple touch yet brilliantly executed.

Heh. She's one of my favourite characters in the entire series. There are even rumours of her returning in Liberty City Stories, and I wouldn't mind seeing her return in a future GTA (perhaps Rockstar North could come up

->Open Spoiler<-

with a story where she survives the helicopter crash at the end of GTAIII, and is stuck in a coma at hospital for years afterwards, a la Kill Bill.

).

[icarus0]

Well done sir.

I would love to reach that magical figure but there are still a few challenges I've got left to do that might prove too frustrating for me - the NRG-500 and Chiliad challenges spring to mind. No doubt I'll persevere with it though; I somehow feel that after playing and enjoying it so much over the last year, I somehow owe it to the game to get a 100% rating.

Just out of interest Concept, what is your criminal ranking score after all that playtime?

[HaHaUK]

My hat goes off to you Concept, im only 75% in, with all the mini-missions and games left.

[Concept]

Cheers guys.

icarus0 - I found the last two Chilliad challenges extremely difficult as well, especially when I inevitably ended up falling off my bike just before the end. On one particular occasion, I got so pissed off that I decided to unload my SMG into what I thought were bystanders beyond the finishing line, only to find they were the cyclists themselves. That should improve your positioning somewhat.

Don't you just love multi-faceted emergent gameplay?

It's also possible to do the same thing in the stadium 8-track arena, though when you use a rocket launcher, remote explosives or a minigun to destroy the cars, they seem to respawn next lap. As for the NRG-500 challenge... a lot of it (as you know) revolves on luck, though what I would say is make sure to stand up on your bike before you go up the basin... that way you get much more air where you can control your bike into hitting the difficult-to-reach coronas. It also helps if you hit driving up the basin at an angle.

My ranking (I don't know if this is good or bad) is 19958 hoo-rider... though since the 120 hour mark I haven't really been playing the game to cause as much devastation as possible. I've mostly been involving myself in non-violent side-missions/exploring etc.

San Andreas is definitely worth still investing the time... a couple of days ago (and something I forgot to mention) I discovered something new whilst taking photographs. If you approach one of your crew holding the camera, then it's possible to hand it over for one of them to take a photo of you, whereby the viewpoint switches to theirs through the finder. Small, near invisible touches like that are all over the place if you look hard enough.