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Tuesday 21 September, 2010
10/20/2010
San Andreas begins with a brief explanation of what is going on in CJ's hometown. As an ex gangbanger, CJ has been away from the local gangs for five years. On his way home from the airport, CJ's taxi is pulled over by police, who clearly are familiar with who he is. This is only the beginning to one of my favorite games of all time.
Having not played GTA:SA for several years, this was a great refresher for me. I spent many hours cruising all over the largest playable map I had ever seen in a video game. Thats what originally impressed me about San Andreas. The sheer size and ability to do absolutely whatever you desire. While the choices are limited in the beginning, (riding a bike instead of flying a jetpack) the game begins to unfold slowly. I played through several of the beginning missions, because the choices are so limited and I had almost completely forgotten the story of the game, because once you beat it, you have little desire to play over.
The first missions are simple, from getting a haircut to "tagging" turf, to eventually doing a drive by on another gang, missions just slowly release to the player the amount of detail that has been put into the game. You have to work out to maintain your physic, eat to maintain energy, sleep, etc. While some of these things were novel and fun the first time, I remember them becoming rather painstaking later in the game. I already am bored with running down Grove street in order to work out and increase my strength and stamina for running.
Now I realize why this game was so controversial. When I was younger I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now that I play the game, listen to the dialogue as well as look at everything together as a whole. Drug use, shooting, running over people, all are not things anyone under 18 should experience. I'm not against violent video games, but I definitely understand the arguments.
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