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Mar 2nd, 2010 at 11:06:10 - Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas (XBX) |
The thing that is most striking about San Andreas is it's ties to gang life. This was the first game in which you played as an African American character, only he wasn't connected to the mob or any other high organized crime group. He is a gangster who has just been released from jail. The game synopsis reads thusly, "...it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets" This is a game of revenge which probably attributes largely to its popularity. Stories of revenge have been wildly popular all throughout history. Going as far back as Hamlet and even further into the Greeks. Movies like Kill Bill and the Godfather always garb our attention and they are praised for their cinematic and theatrical mastery. Revenge, however, is something that is all too real. I was watching a documentary on street gangs in Oakland California a few days ago. Every killing triggered another killing. Gang members were all too happy to brandish their weapons and threaten anyone who was trying to invade their territory. What is happening in San Andreas is a real situation happening all over the country, especially in the 1990's in Southern California, where the game begins. I suppose it is fair to say that San Andreas is a fictional game. The things you can do in no way mirror real life. People, however, are killed on the streets everyday as a result of gang violence. The situation in which the game takes place is all too real, and for whatever reason, the people of America love being a small part of the action.
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Mar 2nd, 2010 at 10:52:42 - Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas (XBX) |
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was one of the best reviewed games for the PS2. When it came out it was considered a landmark in the GTA series offering players a variety of choices to make and a playing space that was far bigger than any previous games in the series. As of 2007 Grand Theft Auto San Andreas had sold over 20 million copies worldwide. No Grand Theft Auto game would be complete without some amount of controversy and San Andreas is absolutely no exception. My mother never let me get Grand Theft Auto games. Being the eldest of 3 siblings I was rarely allowed anything that had questionable content. My parents were certainly determined to bring me up "right". Their morals and values somehow changed however when my 13 year old brother one day came home with a copy of San Andreas. To this day still I will never understand how my mother gave in. When I was 13 the mere thought of me playing a game like that was completely out of the question. The first experience I had with this game was watching my brother play it many years ago. Granted, my memory is hazier now than it was then, but I remember being quite surprised. This seemed like a world where you could do absolutely anything you wanted. Where innocents and pedestrians were mere obstacles that you could either avoid or hit on your way to the drive thru. Spending the first few years of my life in Long Beach California and making subsequent trip back down to SoCal, made me laugh at how realistic the setting looks. I could fully believe that you are in east LA. The game is meant to do that. I can absolutely see how this realistic madhouse of a world would be appealing to the general public. Indeed the pleasure was written all over my brother's face as he drove a tank through the streets of pseudo-Las Vegas and blew up everything in sight. The game is all about sensationalism in an otherwise realistic setting. It was by far one of the maddest games I had ever come across.
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rysemm has been with GameLog for 14 years, 9 months, and 2 days |
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