Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a sandbox-style battle- exploit computer and video game industrial by Rockstar North  in the United Kingdom. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game permission, the fifth original console release and 8  game overall. first released for the PlayStation 2 in October 2004, the game has while been released for the Xbox and Microsoft Windows and has usual wide approval and high sales information on all three platform, and is the best-selling game of all time on PlayStation 2. It was made presented on Steam on January 4, 2008. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was succeed by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and was precede by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Much like the previous and future entry in the Grand Theft Auto chain, San Andreas's critical and profitable achievement has not been without argument. The most notable controversy was over the explicit "Hot Coffee" sex minigame found on the Microsoft Windows game, which was disabled but left inside the game's system. Its finding lead San Andreas to be re-rated in the United States temporarily as an adults only game and was taken from retailer shelf in the US. After the 'Hot Coffee' minigame code was impassive, the game was re-rated as M for grown-up again.

The game is set in the fictional state of San Andreas, which is based on Nevada, California, and Arizona, comprise three metropolis cities,  Los Santos, based on Los Angeles, San Fierro, based on San Francisco and Las Venturas, base on Las Vegas, with desert, rivers, forests and a mountain separating the cities. Set in late 1992,  San Andreas revolves around the gang member Carl "CJ" Johnson persistent home from Liberty City to Los Santos, San Andreas, once learn of his mother's murder. Johnson finds his old friends and family in order. Over the course of the game, Johnson gradually unravel the plot behind his mother's murder while explore his own business venture. Like other games in the series, San Andreas is calm of basics from driving games and 3^rd person shooter, and features open world gameplay that gives the player more run over their playing skill. The game adds a number of facial appearance, such as car customization, and quality personalization.

History

Following the success of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, critics anticipated a new Grand Theft Auto game to follow. The first concrete evidence of a new installment came on October 29, 2003, when Take-Two Interactive announced that an untitled GTA game was set for release in the "later half of the fiscal fourth quarter 2004."[14] Although no further information was available at that point, as to the setting or plot of the new game, there were rumors that it would be based in either the fictional city of San Andreas, California or a Las Vegas-themed Sin City, Nevada.[15]

On March 1, 2004, Take-Two announced in a press conference that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be released on October 19, 2004 in North America, October 22 in Europe, and October 29 for Australia.[16] The first news of the game's content was revealed on May 11, when it was divulged that San Andreas would not be a city, but rather an entire state consisting of three whole cities and the surrounding territory.

On September 9, 2004, in Take-Two's third quarter financial results for 2004, it was announced that the release date would be pushed back by a week. In the same release, Take-Two announced the Microsoft Windows and Xbox versions of the game.

San Andreas was released for the PlayStation 2 on October 26, 2004 in North America and on October 29, 2004 in Europe and Australia. It was released in Japan on January 25, 2007.[17] The Windows and Xbox ports were released on June 7, 2005 in North America and June 10, 2005 in Europe and Australia.

On October 20, 2008 it was made available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace as an Xbox Original at the cost of 1200 Microsoft points ($15.00 USD).[18]

A Macintosh version, made with Cider, was released on November 12, 2010.

[edit] Gameplay

The player driving towards the Grove Street cul-de-sac in Los Santos during dusk.

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 is 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, airplanes, 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. However, 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 also partake in a variety of optional side missions that can also 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. That said, it's possible - given the player's ability to swim which has been added - to enter the other areas ahead of time, although doing so results in the player being immediately attacked by law enforcement. The use of certain cheat codes, however, can remove this obstacle and allow the player to free-roam virtually the entire state at will.

Unlike Vice City and GTA III, which needed loading screens when traveling between different districts of the city, San Andreas has no load times when the player is in transit (which is notable, given how much larger the in-game map is than in the previous games). 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,[19] 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, the Front Yard Ballas.

In addition, players can swim and climb walls for the first time in the series.[20] 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. Also, due to the immense 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 RPG features. 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.[20]

San Andreas also tracks acquired skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling (when skills are high enough, dual-wielding of certain weapons is possible), stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game.[20] CJ may also learn three different styles of hand-to-hand combat (boxing, kung fu and kickboxing) 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.[21]

[edit] Vehicles

In total, there are about 200 types of vehicles in the game[22] compared to the approximate 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 (either alone or accompanied by fellow Grove Street Families members) 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 you get all the territories none can come under attack.[23]

    * Car modification: Most automobiles in the game can be modified and upgraded at various garages. All car mods are strictly visual apart from a nitrous oxide system which gives the car a speed boost when activated; 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.[24] 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.[25]

    * 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. However, for the PC version, there are also online multiplayer mods called Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas and San Andreas Multiplayer (SA-MP) which allow players to connect with hundreds of people online through various servers and fan-made game modes.