Wednesday 20 February, 2008

GAMEPLAY

So I've played a bit more and after some more exploring, I've realized just how huge this game is. Not only is the starting city big, but once you play through the missions in this city, you move out into the country, and then into the other cities. I love just driving around the huge countryside aimlessly. I love the feeling of discovering something very discreet in this huge game. The voice acting and story just get better. Twists and turns keep the story interesting, and the writing can be really funny. The missions can be either really fun, or super frustrating. Having to win a race in a low-rider to progress the story can get very frustrating. These cars are the most sensitive things I’ve ever seen. You touch anything and the car freaks out. Many times I’ve been feet from winning, and then something pops into view and freaks the car out. Other than these small annoyances though, the game remains fun. The system of having to eat and work out definitely adds another layer to the game. You can get caught up just trying to make your character look cool.

DESIGN

The design of this game has a few flaws, but the vastness and scope of it kind of makes up for them. There are some missions that are frustratingly difficult and that is mostly due to the lacking controls. Driving and everything can be fun, but combat in most forms is very clunky and not that fun. Shooting degrades to auto targeting and holding X. And melee combat is definitely lacking. They tried to add some moves to improve the old combat in other GTAs, but it is really tacked on and doesn’t add much. However, the story in San Andreas is the best yet and the game is one of the biggest games I’ve seen. Even after the story is over, there are still collectables, races, secret vehicle missions, and the ability to just mess around. The story is where the game shines. The great voice acting cause the characters come to life. You begin to truly believe them. When major characters betray you, you actually feel betrayed. The designers were very ambitious and did make a great game, but they focused so much attention on the story and game world, that they forgot to fix a lot of the problems that the previous games had.

Try to get more in depth with your analysis covering some of the other aspects of the game, perhaps levbel design, or sound, along with gameplay.