With GTA3 and VC it seemed like the mission structure was a case of extremes. The missions in SA have their downsides but they’re not quite as flawed. For starters, the missions are much more forgiving, encouraging you to press on. Beforehand, I felt that the missions were a little too unforgiving, kicking me while I was down instead of pressing me to go forth. Now when you fall behind in a chase mission you won’t immediately fail, you’ll have the chance to catch up and redeem yourself. I'm especially pleased with the new "Trip Skip" feature that seriously relieves some of the frustration brought forth by failure. Whenever you fail a mission you can choose to warp to the mission location instead of having to drive there all over again. You'll still need to go to the person who gives you the mission, but you won't have to waste your time scrambling all over San Andreas.
San Andreas follows the basic groundwork laid forth by
Grand Theft Auto 3. You’re free to roam around the landscape and cause havoc at your own discretion and in my book, this is still the game’s main attraction. You can still take on the role of vigilante or ambulance driver, but you’ll have some new side-missions to partake in as well. The most prevalent is the home invasion aspect of the game that allows you to rob people in the middle of the night. This affords you bonuses that otherwise wouldn't be available to you. Since the game takes place in a quasi Los Angeles setting you'll have to deal with gang territory as well. Throughout the course of the game you will be able to take out other gangs to expand your territory and expand your reputation throughout the land. As you clear out more territory it'll give you more safe zones to operate in which you won't come under fire from rival gangs. This also gives you more backup as you can now recruit gang members to help you in certain missions.
As you perform various actions in the game you'll be rewarded with increased proficiency in those fields. If you spend an exorbitant amount of time on a bike you'll increase your ability, giving you better control over your vehicle and access to new maneuvers. My favorite is the fact that you can improve your shooting proficiency. As you cap more enemies your ability will increase. When your gun skill increases you will be able to target enemies from a further distance and dispose of them easier. They're not just cosmetic either, you can definitely feel the difference as you progress in the game. At the beginning your driving will be a little haywire as you slide all over the place. By the end of the game you'll be taking turns like Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run.
If you squint for a bit you might be convinced that you’ve stepped in to
Grand Theft Sims. You’ll have to accommodate the needs of your character while ensuring that he lives a good and healthy life. He’ll get hungry now but eating too much will cause him to get fat. For this you’ll need to work out to ensure that he maintains his tip-top thug form. He can also gain muscle mass now which is useful for melee combat and impressing the ladies. Speaking of ladies, sex appeal now plays a role in how well you can pick up on girls. This is formulated by a combination of your physique and the type of clothes that you’ve outfitted yourself with. You can purchase clothes from a wide variety of locales, each of which cater to the surrounding area. For the true pimp you’ll want to head over to Rodeo and pick up a swanky suit while all those poor sucka MCs can pick up tracksuits in the ghetto. If that’s not enough you can add tats to most parts of the body and choose from a wide variety of haircuts. I know it’s not integral to the gameplay but I’m glad that the developers allowed this level of customization. It’s nice to be able to use my own embodiment of the street thug instead of someone else’s preconceived notion. It’s a shame that you can’t add gold fillings and some bling-bling though. I would have loved to perform drive-bys while holding Lil Jon’s diamond-encrusted chalice.
When the game is firing on all cylinders it has no peer. We’re talking intense shootouts, high speed chases through busy traffic streets and other high-pressure situations. I’ve often chastised the developers for their poor mission structure in the past, but I feel that they’ve finally gotten it right in this entry. Most of my favorite missions came towards the end of the game but there is some great action to be found in the beginning as well. There’s a particularly intense level featuring Smoke as he takes on the Russians. There’s an awesome shootout in an office building followed by a spectacular chase through the aqua duct. I can honestly say that it’s one of the best situations I’ve ever seen in a video game. Just make sure to have some patience with the game, it'll be well worth the wait. The beginning missions are the weakest of the bunch and it takes a little while for the game to really get rolling. I'd say that the game doesn't really start displaying its "Game of the Year" potential until you get into San Fierro, the second city of the game. When you get there, make sure to hang on tight because you probably won't be able to let go.
Page 2 of 3
