GTA:SA

[Danny]

I'll be starting my reviewing on this game once I actaully get a copy which will be on the 29th (UK realise date), but don't exspect the review intill a couple of days later!

I get 4 days to play the game since I was given them off by my boss randomly lol

EDIT: Spelling

[Danny]

first impressions...

It's a very addictive game, finding it hard to put down. Not played a game for as long peroid of time at once like GTA:SA.

This game is much, much harder and more down to earth the it's prequals. Money actaully means somthing in this game and can be used for all manor of things from buying weapons to pimping out you're ride to the mondane things like buying clothes and buying food which will make you fat if you eat to much which i find quite funny because it's quite hard to dodge bullets and run away fromthe cops when you're a size of a house lol.

The gameplay is manly based around gang warfaire and you earning respect from the other gangs just like GTA2 which just so happened to be my fave' GTA. "Drive By's" are common place with civillians getting cought up in the cross fire for unsuspectingly wearing rivial gang colours while street fights also happen but not to often because the police like to get involed to once trouble flaires up. (which on a completely unrealted note police now have police now have police bikes)

Not all missions give you money which i found cool. Some are done for respect which I thought was a great idea specialy since respect translates into how many "hommies" will walk around with you.

The storyline is also much more thought out than the last two games which is nice, i won't spoil it for you but a lot of the cut scenes are quite humorus in a non over the top way. The sound in this game is top from the music right down to the crunching of metal every time you whack into another car.

The rain has changed to a more realistic looking(but some say poorer looking but I like it) and R* also has gotten rid of the blur effect/tracer which I think is a good thing and apreantly the reason for this is because it was to save memory so that the programme can use it's predictive loading function wich elliminates the *you're now in vicy city* screens instread there will be a momentary frame drop then every thing is peachcy think this is a great idea because it keeps the gameplay flowing.

well thats all i can write for now, not bad for my first day, and so far I would recommend this game to anyone since it's imrpoved much more than it's prequeal...

well i'll be back in a few days to write up some more...

[Mogwa]

Thanks for the review, Danny. I haven't purchased the game yet, and after reading your opinions, I may not. The first GTA was a blast because it was a unique experience totally unlike anything I had ever played before. I especially loved the open ended design that allowed me to wonder freely and commit outrageously silly acts of anti-social mischief without suffering the consequnces, if I was skilled enough to pull them off.
But GTA2 was something of a disappointment. There were far too many boring "cheap shot" missions that ranked up the difficulty simply to extend game play time. And the number of cops you had to deal with was ridiculous. Talk about a police state. Eventually, after dealing with all the frustrating timed missions, I gave up trying to finish the thing and just rode around the beaches, running over pedestrians, listening to music and jumping the dunes.
Sounds from your review like GTASA may be just more more of the same, especially when it comes to the enhanced difficulty level. I hope that isn't so. Are the missions well designed? Do the cops swarm you in a scrum a second after you've disturbed the peace? Can you still enjoy the game without devoting hours and hours to linerally completing the plotted tasks? Are all the expanded locations locked? If I can just putter around the way I did with the first installment of the series, I'll pick up a copy. Otherwise, what time I have to spend playing games will go elsewhere.

[Danny]

Yeah the storyline is very well thought out (the main character CJ seem's like a reall human as supposed to a machine) and the missons are much better , some of which are really fun to play. One of which involes flying a R/C bi-plane (called "the red barron") which has a machine gun and you have to destroy various targets, fantasic!! (much better than the R/C missons on vice city!)

This game is not just simple "more added" it's "more added and then some" there is a lot of stuff to do in this game and the gang thing now having played the game a lot more is semi GTA2 like but GTA:SA is still better because they thought the whole gang system out properly thus the reason why the missons are much better because you are only doing missions for your gang but you can make the other gangs hate you more by taking their turf etc.

I would at least recomend renting the game out and if you feel it's upto scratch buy it. (although you may to rent it out for a awhile this game is freakin huge!)

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

A very well written review but i personally was disappointed SA. I adored GTA:VC but this it just seems to lack any of the magic that made me fall in love with VC the soundtrack is dreadful (ok differnt time and setting than VC) i never could find a track i like so i just turned it off.

What there is of a story is poor and the ending is terrible. All of the characters are all shallow. Its great that its got all of the activities (pool, arcade etc) but it dosn't do any of them particularly well jack of all trades master of none comes to mind. But the worst part for me were the missions they had obviously ran out ideas after VC. An example being the racing missions. If i wanted a rockstar racing game i would have bought Midnight Club.

The protection missions ive done them in gta 3 and gta vc i cant be bothered with them in this. Also the Terrotory aspect was one of the most absurd things ive seen in any game let alone the GTA series i resented the fact that it had to be done to get the last few missions.

The first two cities were dull with the only saving grace being las venturas which after you've played a few games in the casino gets just as dull as the first two cities. Im sure there was other things i hated but i cant remember them at the moment. There were some good parts of the game such as the wider range of vehicles and the modification aspect aswell as the planes which were great and the seamless way in which you could move from city to city.

Also the various cameos and references were great however i think the fact that 2 years on im still playing vice city but i havn't played SA in 3 months says somthing.

I know this view of the game isn't in line with the vast majority of people but i wanted to get my thoughts about it off my chest.

[Shane R. Monroe]

My kid (me too) are whores for GTAIII/VC ... my kid played SA for about week - if that, and dropped it. I played two or three missions - dropped it.

I didn't appreciate the Over-Urbanization ... and, as with every game I've played 2 or 3 incarnations of, I'm bored of the genre. I got bored of RTS after the first couple Command & Conquer games. I got bored of FPS after Half Life 1. It just happens - and it was bound to happen with GTA 3D.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

yeah i think boredom was a big part of it. I didn't have the same motivation to play it as i did with VC. It was like watching a bad film just fast fowarding to see the end. But i know ill still buy the next one :o

[jamcat]

Does the game let you turn on your fellow gang members and kill them? That would be cool. Get the respect of some thugs only to set them up and kill them.

But anyway, the ghetto thug theme is getting tired out.

I would rather see Rock Star do a terrorist version of GTA. Think it would be more fun to play a terrorist for once instead of the typical ghetto thug out for bling bling. Be cool to grow your terrorist organization, plot attacks, carry out suicide & car bomb attacks, kidnappings, and what not. Some may say a game like that would be in poor taste, but hey, so is GTA.

[Qill]

I can't play those kinds of games. For some reason they make me physically ill. I think it has something to do with looking around quickly with the mouse. I never got nauseous with racing games or Asheron's Call, though.

[TripHamer]

Half Life 2 is the first game that makes my stomach turn. Never had that problem before with FPS'. I usually can play for an hour or two before I have to stop.

I like GTA:SA but it's missing something and I can't put my finger on it what it is. Also, way too much swearing. I also miss getting the hidden packages. You can find (i think) clams and respray other gang tags to your own, but no packages. One of the things I learned about GTA 3 and VC was to find the packages first, do rampages and then missions in each section. You can just almost do that with SA, sort of.

[Nectar]

I can't get into it. The novelty's worn off. The game just feels like a chore.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I like GTA:SA but it's missing something and I can't put my finger on it what it is. Also, way too much swearing.

Yeah way too much, its not needed.

I thought the GTA squad would label me a heretic. Sacralige they'd cry.

[jamcat]

When the ghetto thug fad dies, I wonder what tasteless thing Rock Star will do next. Maybe a Illegal Alien game that lets you play as Mexicans trying to get into the US. Or as border guards trying to kill them.

Or maybe they'll do a sim game like Prostitution Tycoon.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

When the ghetto thug fad dies, I wonder what tasteless thing Rock Star will do next. Maybe a Illegal Alien game that lets you play as Mexicans trying to get into the US. Or as border guards trying to kill them.

Or maybe they'll do a sim game like Prostitution Tycoon.

hahaha it wouldn't surprise me. I really cant think of anywhere else it can go. GTA: world tour maybe?

[Qill]

I want GTA:Las Vegas. I want a game that has a very accurate recreation of Vegas

[jamcat]

hahaha it wouldn't surprise me. I really cant think of anywhere else it can go. GTA: world tour maybe?

Maybe GTA: Stone Age. Cave men doing drive bys in little Flintstone cars.

or

GTA: The Amish Clans. With all new horse & buggy drive bys.

Or they can take thug gaming to a whole new level with a game that takes place in prison. Yeah, the goal would be to earn respect from inmates while trying to avoid getting your ass being used for "deposits" on your way up the ranks of prison life.

[Qill]

Maybe the mouse could be a bar of soap, and you have to hold the mouse button down. If you let go of the button, the soap drops or something

[jamcat]

Hahaha! That would be a amusing mini-game indeed. Or using the mouse to "tongue wash" inmate Bubba's schlong just to get a smoke. It would play like those decathalon games. Just keep up a good motion with the mouse without rasing the GAG-O-METER. Hehehe. Now if you want a pack of smokes instead of just one, you'd have to left-click to swallow.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Or they can take thug gaming to a whole new level with a game that takes place in prison. Yeah, the goal would be to earn respect from inmates while trying to avoid getting your ass being used for "deposits" on your way up the ranks of prison life.

deposits, hahahahaha sounds like fun. But the schlong thing went too far lol :D

[jamcat]

Of course it would be more fun playing a female thug in a all women jail. They can call that GTA: Dyke City. :)

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

You could use the cheat to spawn some interesting "weapons" ;) . They could have put a prison mission in the real GTA: SA so many missed oppurtunites.

[jamcat]

Yeah, just think a mission to break Martha Stewart out of jail. GTA: The Martha Stewart Living Edition. :) Of course she's already getting out of jail.

But if Michael Jackson goes to jail, there is a game there.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Moonwalker to Asswalker .... The Michael Jackson Incarceration Story

Barbara Wawa can host.

[Darksol]

Moonwalker to Asswalker .... The Michael Jackson Incarceration Story

Barbara Wawa can host.

I was thinking more about an adventure game where you would have to infiltrate Neverland and then save the kids with the format being like Shadowgate or Uninvited or Deja Vu. It would have very scary concepts associated with it too.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

GTA: SA has just hit the 12 million mark, Making it one of the most succsesful games of all time. It also means that rockstar profits have risen 74%. Wow the GTA brand is so strong now that if i tattooed GTA on to my ass i'd sell at least 500,000 copies any one want to make pre orders?

[jamcat]

The GTA series will become like the Tomb Raider series - pumped out every year with nothing really new added. Just $50 "expansion packs".