Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, United States box cover
Developer(s)	Rockstar North
Publisher(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Engine	RenderWare
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Windows (PC), Xbox
Release	PS2: October 26, 2004; PC, Xbox: June 7, 2005
Genre(s)	Action, Driving
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a video game that was developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto franchise; including previously released 2D titles bearing the Grand Theft Auto name, it is the seventh to be released. It was released for the PlayStation 2 on October 26, 2004 in North America and on October 29, 2004 in Europe and Australia, and for the PC and Xbox on June 7, 2005 in North America and June 10, 2005 in Europe.

History and speculation

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Special Edition game cover

Following the success of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, many gamers eagerly anticipated a new Grand Theft Auto game on the PlayStation 2 in late 2003. Most theories were shot down when Rockstar had given no announcement of a new game by summer of that year. The first hint at there even being a new installment was on October 30, 2003, when Take-Two Interactive announced that an untitled "GTA5" game was set for release in the "later half of the fiscal fourth quarter 2004". By this time, pundits online had two theories about the plot of the game; it would either be based in the city of San Andreas, California (based on San Francisco) in the modern day, or in Sin City, Nevada (based on Las Vegas) in the 1970s, as both would be ideal regarding new innovative ways to commit crimes, and new storylines that could grow. On December 17, and December 21, 2003, Take-Two had registered 10 GTA-related trademarks (GTA5, GTA6, GTA: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, GTA: Sin City, Grand Theft Auto: Sin City, GTA: Bogota, Grand Theft Auto: Bogota, GTA: Tokyo, and Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo). After the information was divulged on January 12, 2004, it seemed likely that most of the titles were either red herrings or possible future incarnations of the franchise.

On March 1, 2004, Take-Two announced in a press conference that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be released Tuesday, October 19, 2004 in the US, and three days later, October 22, in Europe and October 29 for Australia. However, on September 9, 2004 Take-two announced in its third quarter financial results for 2004 that the release date of the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be pushed back to October 26, 2004 in North America and October 29, 2004 for Europe and November 15, 2004 in Australia to allow Rockstar to remove questionable content that would have the game banned there. Nonetheless, the Australian version has been on sale on October 29 and proved to be the multilanguage European PAL (UK) version. In the same release, Take-Two announced a PC and Xbox version would be released on June 7, 2005.

The Xbox and PC ports of San Andreas released on June 7, 2005 in the U.S. In Europe, the release date was June 10, 2005. Similar to past iterations of the GTA games, both versions have higher-resolution textures, the ability to have custom soundtracks from MP3s, and a 30 second instant replay feature. Both the PS2 and Xbox versions also have a 2-player option for certain missions; however, this feature was removed from the PC version.

The Calaveras Enterprise newspaper reported on November 3, 2004 that the Merchants' Association in the real-life town of San Andreas, California has become alarmed about the popularity of the video game, but has conceded that there is little it can do. Also, it turns out there is a retired pastor named Carl Johnson in the real San Andreas (Carl Johnson, the protagonist of GTA: San Andreas, shares the same name).

On July 20, 2005 production of the game was suspended and the game received a revised ESRB Rating of Adults Only, making San Andreas the only mass-released AO console game in the U.S. This was the result of the release of a modification allowing access to the hidden "Hot Coffee" portion of the game. Rockstar has given distributors the option of applying an Adults Only ESRB rating sticker to copies of the game, or returning them to be replaced by versions without the Hot Coffee content. Many retailers pulled the game off their shelves in compliance with their own store regulations that kept them from selling AO games. Rockstar North released a "Cold Coffee" patch for the PC version and re-released San Andreas with a Mature rating. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have also been re-released in a "GTA Trilogy Pack" for Xbox, and a Special Edition for PlayStation 2 that includes the documentary film Sunday Driver.

Details

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Running in Los Santos, PC version. The player's character initially starts out with little money, lack of body fitness and no skills. These attributes may be improved as one continues to play the game. For example, the maximum amount of health will increase if the player exercises frequently

Information about the game began circulating in magazines and on websites on May 11, 2004, including that the game world of San Andreas would be not just one city, but an entire state, encompassing three metropolises (Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, respectively), and the countryside in between. Intercity travel is facilitated not only by a huge freeway system but also by airports and a system of passenger trains, the Brown Streak Railroad, both of which have vehicles that can be operated by the player. In interviews, Rockstar's designers have reported that the map is between four and six times the size of the area in Vice City.

The game is set in 1992. This game has a soundtrack of period artists, as Vice City did, as well as "classic" rap and rock stations and a country station. Many of the missions which take place in the game are fairly obvious imitations of California-based phenomena from the early 90s, such as the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Plot

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Mountain biking up Mount Chiliad, PC version.

Template:Spoiler Set in the early 1990s, the player controls main character Carl "CJ" Johnson, an African American man in his mid-to-late twenties returning to Los Santos after five years residing in Liberty City. Carl left Los Santos after being blamed for the death of his younger brother, Brian, by his older brother, Sean (nicknamed "Sweet"). The murder of his mother causes him to return for her funeral. CJ returns to find disarray in his family and in his old gang, the Grove Street Families (named for their home territory, Grove Street), which prompts him to stay.

As the story pans out, two of Carl's best friends Big Smoke, who is the fattest of the Grove Street Family, and Ryder, are found out to be working with the crooked Officer Tenpenny and Grove Street's hated rival gang, the Ballas. Smoke and Ryder help the Ballas ambush Sweet, who is arrested by Tenpenny and thrown in jail. Tenpenny kidnaps Carl and throws him out in the middle of nowhere. Carl, knowing Tenpenny is Sweet's only ticket out of jail, continues to do the crooked cop's dirty jobs. Carl gains many new allies in the country, including Wu Zi Mu and the Truth. Eventually, after killing Ryder, he gets wrapped into the affairs of a deadly government agent- Mike Toreno. Toreno assists with the release of his brother, but Carl doesn't want to return home yet, instead, he works with Wu Zi Mu, quickly becoming a lot wealthier. However, Carl realized that this didn't fit his style for life, and after numerous exploits and jobs in two new cities, San Fierro and Las Venturas, Carl finally returns to Los Santos, where Sweet has been freed. Tenpenny, who was taken to court for numerous crimes, is acquitted, sending Los Santos into mass riots. Carl then seeks out Smoke at his crack house to kill the last of the traitors.

Shortly after killing Smoke, Tenpenny appears and forces CJ to load up a suitcase with Smoke's crack money. Tenpenny sets fire to the factory, with CJ barely making it out alive. Sweet and CJ pursue Tenpenny through the streets of Los Santos, finally forcing him off a bridge. Tenpenny somehow survives the wreck, but dies shortly after. The final scene shows the Johnson family reunited, with CJ walking out the door, "fittin' to see the block".

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Main article: List of gangs in Grand Theft Auto series

The characters that appear in San Andreas are relatively diverse and relative to the respected cities and locales that each of them based themselves in. This allows the game to include a significantly wider array of storylines and settings than in GTA III and Vice City.

The Los Santos stages of the game, for example, revolves around the theme of factions of street gangs fighting for turf and respect; this would include Grove Street Families members Carl Johnson, Sweet Johnson, Kendl Johnson, Big Smoke, Ryder, Cesar Vialpando and OG Loc, as well as opposing gangs such as the Ballas and the Vagos. Hippie-related characters, as well as East Asian gangs (most notably the local Triads) and an additional Hispanic gang are evident in the San Fierro leg of the game, while three Mafia families, which control a casino in Las Venturas, are more prominently featured in the Las Venturas section of the game. Other characters of interest include Mike Toreno, a government operative whom Carl would work for, and Catalina, Claude's future girlfriend.

Like Vice City, San Andreas's voice actors includes notable celebrities, including Samuel L Jackson, Frank Vincent, Peter Fonda, James Woods, Wil Wheaton, the late Chris Penn, William Fichtner, Charlie Murphy, David Cross, Debi Mazar, rappers Yo-Yo, MC Eiht, Ice T, Kid Frost and The Game, as well as musicians Axl Rose and Shaun Ryder.

San Andreas is also the first game in the series to include "fuck", "cunt" and "nigga" - profanities and wordings still widely taboo in other media - in voice acting scripts. Liberty City Stories has followed San Andreas's trend by continuing to adopt "fuck" in voice acting.

San Andreas world

San Andreas

Main article: San Andreas (Grand Theft Auto)

The state San Andreas is generally based on the southern portions of California and Nevada comprising three major cities. Where Las Venturas and the surrounding desert correspond to Las Vegas and the Nevada desert; and Los Santos, San Fierro and the badlands correspond Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Californian badlands. Players can climb Mount Chiliad (based on Mount Diablo) , a half mile (800 m) tall mountain casting a vast shadow, parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in three counties: Red County, Flint County, and Bone County, a massive dam, a large secret military base, a microwave dish, and many other geographical features. San Andreas is approximately 17 square miles (44 square kilometers), almost four times as large as Vice City, and five times as large as Liberty City.

Los Santos

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Flying a stunt airplane over the desert region of Las Venturas, PC version. The interface of several modes in San Andreas have been improved, including the addition of flight indicators while on-board an airplane or a helicopter.

Los Santos features landmarks reminiscent of the Watts Towers, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Capitol Tower, the U.S. Bank Tower, and Grauman's Chinese Theater. The city of Los Santos has several important areas, including the gang-ridden Ganton, Idlewood and East Los Santos – based on the N.W.A-era Compton, Inglewood; and East Los Angeles, busy downtown, wealthy Rodeo and Mulholland, and glitzy Vinewood (complete with giant VINEWOOD sign in the hills).

San Fierro

San Fierro features Rockstar's interpretations of the Haight-Ashbury district ("Hashbury"), the gay Castro district ("Queens"), Chinatown, and the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as the city's prominent cable cars and hilly terrain. Several other familiar landmarks have been recreated from the Embarcadero clock tower and the "Big Pointy" Transamerica Pyramid to Lombard Street, and Scottish landmarks such as the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. There is a district known as "Garcia", an ode to Grateful Dead frontman and San Francisco native Jerry Garcia, and San Fierro's City Hall closely resembles San Francisco's ornate city hall.

Las Venturas

In Las Venturas, the player is able to visit and even take part of a casino. One is able to play various casino games such as poker, roulette, and slot machines. Off-track betting parlors are also available in the game's other regions. In addition to gambling, strip clubs are also prevalent in Las Venturas. Many real Las Vegas Strip casinos are faithfully interpreted on Las Venturas' Strip, including the Excalibur Hotel and Casino ("Come-a-Lot"), the Sphinx and pyramid of the Luxor Hotel ("The Camel's Toe"), and the Pioneer Club, with Vegas Vic and Vicki replaced by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City characters Avery Carrington and Candy Suxxx, respectively.

Vehicle modification

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Driving a modified sports car in San Fierro while deploying nitrous oxide to boost speed, PC version.

TransFender is a fictitious car modification shop in San Andreas. TransFender ranges in a wide variety of mods for a vehicle from nitro to hydraulics. Most car mods are strictly visual because they only add aesthetic appeal, as opposed to those which improve the performance. Many, but not all, vehicles can be modified in GTA:SA. Common modifications include nitrous tanks, hydraulics, and paintjobs. Vehicles can be divided into four categories: Cars that can be modified but are not low-rider or "street racer" cars can only be modified at a TransFender, low-rider cars can only be modified at Loco Low Co., street racing types are modified at Wheel Arch Angels, and unmodifiable cars (most emergency vehicles and some off-road vehicles) cannot be modified at all. One mission requires the player to visit a low-rider mod-shop and then to use the car in a hydraulics competition.

Crossovers from Vice City

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Police trouble in Las Venturas, PC version.

Many characters, locations and fictional elements of Vice City were kept, sometimes with minor modifications to account for changes that would have occurred in the 6 years that separate both games' fictional worlds. Interestingly, some real-world promotional material Rockstar created for Vice City can also be found in this game. Since characters from Vice City appear and the events of the game are hinted at having really happened, this might indicate that Tommy Vercetti's adventures in Vice City gained considerable notoriety in the following years.

Real-world promotional material

• Action figures of Tommy Vercetti and Lance Vance can be found on the shelves of Zero's shop in San Fierro, as well as the figurines of James Earl Cash, the main character from the game Manhunt.
• Posters featuring the game's box cover art can be seen on some walls, most notably in Denise's room (the Hot Coffee mod is required to get there).

Recurring characters

• Ken Rosenberg still works for the mafia. He became a big shot after the events in Vice City, then lost it all because of his cocaine addiction and went into rehab. When he got out, he was picked as a neutral party to manage a mob casino shared by three families.
• Kent Paul is still a music group manager, though no longer for Love Fist. He now handles the Gurning Chimps.
• Jethro and Dwaine owned the boat yard in Vice City, until Tommy bought it from them. They now hold small-time mechanic jobs in San Fierro.
• Claude shows up as Catalina's new boyfriend, after she "dumps" CJ. CJ beats him in a cross-country race and receives his San Fierro garage as his winnings. When CJ sees how run-down the garage is, he calls Claude a "mute asshole" and a "fucking snake without a tongue".
• Catalina is Cesar Vialpando's cousin and CJ's girlfriend (for a brief time). She is generally hostile towards all men, except to CJ (although she really doesn't show it much). She's a profit-driven lady, who hooks up with Claude just to spite CJ. After she tries to kill Claude in GTA III, he kills her as she tries to escape in a helicopter.
• Salvatore Leone, the big boss of the Liberty City Mafia (until Claude kills him in GTA III) makes an appearance as the Mafia-head of the Caligula's Palace Casino. He provides Carl with a few jobs, until Carl and his crew rob Caligula's vault, which enrages Leone.
• Maria, Salvatore Leone's mistress in GTA III also makes an appearance as a waitress in Caligula's, who Leone takes a shine to.

Radio personalities

• Fernando, the host of the Vice City radio station Emotion 98.3, hijacks the Lonely Hearts Show from its host (and former lover, though their relationship seems to have ended very badly) on WCTR.
• Lazlow, the host of V-Rock in Vice City, started hosting a show called Entertaining America on WCTR after the former host was shot. In between this and V-Rock, it is hinted that Lazlow spent years living on the streets, slept with his best friend's wife, signed up for the army, and did something to his mother that is illegal in most states. He no longer enjoys the rock music he played in the 80s. He also says "I wish I could take phone in calls", a hint at the fact that he will eventually become the DJ for the radio phone-in show "Chatterbox" in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.
• Timmy, one of the characters of the popular sitcom Just the Five of us back in the 80s, can be heard in a radio interview on WCTR News. He's attending a child-actor conference at the Four-Dragons Casino in Las Venturas. In his sitcom ad in Vice City, he played a bad-tempered child who claimed to be a 42 year old investment banker with a rare disease that made him look 12. In the interview on WCTR, we learn that he still looks like a child, although he claims to be 52 years old now, and that he still has the nasty temper his character had on the show. Whether this is real or Timmy can't break character after so many years is unknown. Timmy's show was cancelled and replaced by a new sitcom called My Five Uncles, about five gay men who adopt an orphan girl. This is a parody of the late eighties sitcom My Two Dads, about two brothers raising one brother's teenage daughter.
• During the WCTR show "Gardening with Maurice", someone calls in and asks why so many radio personalities are named Maurice, a reference to Maurice Chavez, a significantly different radio personality hosting the "Pressing Issues" show on VCPR. The show also references GTA III, where a caller to the "Chatterbox" radio station was told by Lazlow "this isn't Gardening With Maurice, that's on later!", to which the caller replied "No, they took him off the air!". Besides, the caller, with whom Lazlow talked to on Chatterbox 2001, calls in the "Gardening with Maurice Show".
• At one point in the WCTR show "Area 53", Wave 103 DJ Adam First calls in reporting a strange incident involving a Domestabot he saw while hang-gliding over the San Andreas desert.
• Jack Howitzer who appeared only as a movie trailer in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the Rambo/Vietnam war movie parody Exploder as Tim, also appears in WCTR promoting his film Special Needs Cop, a parody of Kindergarten Cop
• The hosts of the Opie and Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio and CBS Radio, Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia, make a guest appearance on a radio show. One of them calls in and talks about a church, an ironic reference to their radio show's previous cancellation in 2002 due to a bit called "Sex for Sam" which involved a couple allegedly having sex in a church.

Other

• The popular fictional drink Sprunk, a parody of the carbonated lemon-lime drink Sprite found all around Vice City, is still being sold in San Andreas. Sprunk cans resemble grenades, owing to the marketing tagline given for the beverage, which says it has an "explosive, bursting" flavor. It could be that the name refers to "spunk" meaning "courage" or "gusto", implying that it is also an energy drink. Another billboard in the game suggests that Sprunk also refers to spunk, which can be a synonym for ejaculate. Another theory is that Sprunk comes from the ebonic words: crunk and sprung, making Sprunk.
• The donut shop Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts, mentioned in a radio ad on Flash FM, still exists. Some pedestrians mention Rusty Brown in their chatter. Also, an unused restaurant that shares its name has been found in the game's code.
• The game console Degenatron', mentioned in commercials and interviews on Vice City radio stations, is still remembered. On the show Area 53, Marvin Trill accuses the console of implanting subliminal messages in the brains of people in the 80s. This is almost certainly a reference to the Polybius urban legend of the 1980's.
• The Domestibots sold in radio ads in Vice City, still exist. It seems they rebelled and escaped human oppression, and now live hidden in a remote camp. One of them calls in on the Area 53 show.
• A franchise of the Vice City radio station V-Rock is still around, and still uses the old V-Rock triangular logo and the vulture mascot. However, it's not a radio station anymore. It is now the V-Rock Hotel in Las Venturas.
• Love Fist, the fictional hard-rock band, seems to have split and disappeared from the public eye. They are still remembered though. On the radio station K-DST, the host Tommy wonders "Whatever happened to Love Fist?", and CJ hides the specs of the Caligula Casino behind a Love Fist poster. Jezz Torrent can be heard in a radio ad for the Epsilon Tract sect, crediting the group for aiding him in giving up drugs. Love Fist is a reference to the sexual practice of fisting. Similarly, Jezz Torrent is a corruption of Jizz Torrent. This reflects the humor of the popular UK adult comic Viz, which provides the basis for many of the puns and colloquialisms used to humorous effect in the game.
• Specifically, Viz comic's "Profanisaurus" section describes the full meaning of phrases such as The Camel's Toe, and words such as "Jizz" which are referred to in the game.
• Similarly, British slang is used as the inspiration for further puns in the GTA series. Notably, certain vans in Vice City which are signed "R S and L Bows" are referring to the crude UK phrase "to know one's arse from one's elbow", or to have a basic level of common sense. "Juank Air" and "Wang Cars" are also a straightforward pun on a common UK insult.
• Maps of Vice City can be found in the trash cans outside the Clucking Bell of Angel Pine.
• The Tiki statues that symbolized the hidden packages found all over Vice City is now the sign of a store in Los Santos.
• Candy Suxxx, the porn-star, is still making movies. Two of her movies can be found in the Las Venturas sex store. A picture of her can be seen on the box of "Return of the Anaconda", and she is mentioned by name on the box of "That Can't Be Legal!: 80's Pornstar's Finest Yo!". Also, pictures of her are found on the walls of some of CJ's safehouses and she is also placed as a neon sign on the Old Venturas Strip located in Las Venturas. There is also a billboard in Los Santos promoting her new movie "Vinewood Callgirls".
• Vice City characters featured as playing cards in the poker machines of Las Venturas include Lance Vance (Jack of Spades), Candy Suxxx (Queen of Hearts), Ricardo Diaz (King of Hearts) and Tommy Vercetti (King of Spades).
• The tag line of the movie "Exploder", a popular movie that was advertised on radio stations and billboards across Vice City, is still popular. Lazlow says I'll cry when I'm done killing during an interview on WCTR.
• The packages that symbolized the packages found in GTAIII make an appearance as packages in a later mission.

Gameplay features

Many new features have been included in the game. New vehicles include bicycles (which feature a new control scheme), trucks with detachable trailers, police motorcycles, operable tow trucks, combine harvesters, quad bikes, airplanes, VTOLs military jet fighters and trains. All of the nearly 200 cars are nicely detailed with most of them having real car resemblance.

New to the player's character is the ability to swim and climb up and over short walls and fences. For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with several gang members. The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked with concepts from another Rockstar game, Manhunt, including improved target crosshairs that change colors from green to red to black, depending on the target's health.

Rockstar has emphasized the personalization of the main character. Clothing and accessories (which players can buy at some of the game's many clothing stores), haircuts and tattoos are now available for purchase by CJ, and have more effect on NPCs' reactions than the clothing in Vice City. Players must also ensure CJ eats to stay healthy, obtaining food from fast food restaurants such as Cluckin' Bell, street vendors, diners, bars and nightclubs. The balance of food and exercise has an effect on his muscularity and appearance. If CJ eats too much in a short period, he will get sick and throw up; if he overeats periodically, he'll get fat and move more slowly while on foot; if he fails to eat, he will become less muscular and, eventually, will lose health. San Andreas also features skills, in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game. CJ may also learn three different styles of unarmed combat at the gyms in each of the game's three cities. Los Santos' gym will teach boxing, San Fierro's gym will teach martial arts and Las Venturra's gym will teach street fighting techniques.

A new activity that continues the Grand Theft Auto series' tradition of controversy is home invasion. Under cover of night, CJ is able to sneak into a residence, and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants.

Numerous minigames are also available for play in San Andreas, including basketball, pool, rhythm-based challenges involving dancing and hydraulic vehicles, and video game machines that pay homage to classic arcade games such as Gyruss, Defender and Gradius, in addition to the aforementioned methods of gambling.

Another improvement to the game is the AI. No longer can the player beat a pedestrian to death on a busy street in broad daylight and have bystanders not do anything: while most pedestrians will flee or duck for cover, some armed civilians and enemy gang members will attack CJ, and friendly gang members will shoot at and pursue his opponents. This would make the previously mentioned home invasions more difficult than one would expect because the occupants will resist, and in some cases, draw weapons.

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The in-game character creates graffiti. Rockstar's interpretation of the Nuestro Pueblo can be seen in the background.

The player can also voluntarily enable CJ to conduct dialog with a number of pedestrians in the game, including drug dealers, prospective girlfriends, and fellow gang members. CJ's level of respect among his fellow Grove Street gang members varies according to his actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. Rockstar claims that CJ has a total of about 4200 lines of spoken dialog.

A two-player cooperative mode has also been added for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Two-player icons are found in several key locations in the San Andreas world. Setting foot on one of these icons and pressing any button on a second controller starts up a series of special objectives similar to a "Rampage" in previous Grand Theft Auto games. Two human players will be able to go in a car or on foot. Both the players are required to remain on the same screen and within a reasonable proximity of one another.

Weapons

The weapon selection in San Andreas is approximately the same as in Vice City, with a few additions or replacements. Just like in Vice City, weapons are categorized by type, and the player can carry only one weapon in each "slot" at a time.

• Slot 1: Hand: bare fist, brass knuckles
• Slot 2: Melee Weapons: baseball bat, shovel, cue stick, katana, golf club, nightstick, knife, chainsaw
• Slot 3: Handguns: 9mm pistol*, silenced 9mm pistol, Desert Eagle
• Slot 4: Shotguns: pump-action shotgun, sawn-off shotgun*, combat shotgun (SPAS-12)
• Slot 5: Sub-Machine Guns: TEC-9*, micro-SMG (Mac-10)*, SMG (H&K MP5)
• Slot 6: Assault Rifles: AK-47, M4 Carbine
• Slot 7: Rifles: hunting rifle, sniper rifle
• Slot 8: Heavy Weapons: rocket launcher, flame thrower, heat-seeking rocket launcher, minigun
• Slot 9: Explosives and Incendiaries: hand grenade, tear gas grenade, Molotov cocktail, remote satchel charge
• Slot 10: Handheld Items: fire extinguisher, spray paint, camera
• Slot 11: Gifts: flowers, a cane, dildos, and vibrators which can be given to CJ's girlfriends
• Slot 12: Special Items: thermal/night vision goggles, parachute
• Slot 13: Etc.: detonator

* denotes weapon can be dual-wielded

The Introduction

The Introduction, a machinima video, was provided in a DVD along with San Andreas standalone soundtrack set, as well as the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition re-release for the PlayStation 2. The movie chronicles the events leading up the events in San Andreas, and provided insight on the development of the characters of the game, to the point when Carl learns of his mother's death in a phone call from Sweet and returns to Los Santos.

Criticisms

PC Port

Much like earlier Grand Theft Auto games, some PC users have strongly criticized Rockstar for not substantially reworking the console-based controls for the mouse/keyboard computer gaming. Many users have discovered that a mission requires the user to press three or more keys at the same time, something the typical keyboard is simply unable to do. The best way to solve this problem is to use a PlayStation 2-style USB joypad. This way, the console-based controls can easily be mapped to joypad buttons. The resulting gameplay is virtually identical to the PS2 version.

The most salient example of this issue is in the mandatory flying-oriented missions. In one of the most infamous missions in the series, the player must circle an airfield. Because the mission was designed for a console game, some PC users believe that three hands are typically required to complete the mission under a mouse/keyboard setup: one to control the camera, one to control the plane, and one to control commands such as landing gears, weapons, and precise flying controls. However, most people should be able to effectively fly a plane with the default controls after some practice, as they will rarely need to control the camera in mid-flight. Some will require the joypad however and in any case, being able to control the camera effectively, as with a joypad, is likely to make the mission easier for many players.

Another example is in the "Vertical Bird" mission, near the end of the game. The player must fly an extremely fast plane, aim and fire missiles at 4 ships and 3 armed aircraft, launch countermeasures, and then land the plane safely. Some are finding that, without another person to control one or more aspects of the plane, the mission is essentially impossible. While some have completed this mission by remapping the entire control scheme, some players have found that the effects of "key jam" - the inability of a keyboard to understand more than 3 simultaneous keys - preclude this as a viable option. However, the difficulty of this mission is often overstated. It is fairly simple to take on each of these targets individually - the difficulty occurs when one attempts to engage them all at once and in the wrong order. In addition, launching countermeasures is usually an unneeded feature, as missiles are easy to shake off. The aiming of your weapons is also automatic provided you press a certain key, which locks on to the target. For the ships, one can switch to VTOL mode so as to hover while destroying them.

One mission, "Stowaway", is impossible on some PCs unless video quality is dropped to the lowest setting (640x480, 16-bit color), as the plane will otherwise always leave the runway well before you reach it. The mission can be completed without that: If you start your bike and thrust CJ back, so the bike can accelerate on the back wheel - you should have no problems getting on the plane. Even if the plane "jumps" up the runway. A similar problem also exists in missions that require dancing or lowrider car bouncing. Unless the resolution is set to minimum, the visual cues for when to move will be out of synch, so rendering success or failure a matter of luck.

Another performance issue with San Andreas is that the game engine is not efficient at producing smoke effects. As a result, the frame rate can drop dramatically when you are in a situation where fire is present. The most noticeable missions in which this is apparent are the mission where you have to rescue a girl from a burning building, and the final story mission of the game which takes place in a torched factory. This mission is made more frustrating as you are being attacked at the time.

A new criticism of San Andreas lies in its camera. Previous editions of GTA games had the camera 'slaved' to the player. In San Andreas, however, the camera is freeform. As such, a number of players have complained that this new 'feature' makes much of the controls more complex than is required. There is an in-game cheat that allows players to drive-by through using the mouse camera, but doing so will harm your record in the in-game statistics. However, you can still fully complete the game. However, others feel the freeform camera is a very powerful tool once the player is used to using it, and some find it difficult to go back to the fixed camera of Vice City and GTA3 afterwards.

Although some gaming websites like GameSpot have praised the graphics in San Andreas, there is some criticism of the graphical aspect of the PC version of the game. The engine used for the game is essentially the same as the engine used for Grand Theft Auto III. When the game came out for PC in early June 2005, titles such as Half-Life 2 were already available. Compared to what was possible at that time, the game looked slightly dated, but nevertheless better than the console versions.

The PC version of the game also provides many graphical options. The game has a visual effects option which can set the details of graphic effects in the game. Low will disable all detail shadows, real time grass/stems, and will lower the quality of highway signs and smoke. Medium will give objects real-time shadows (such as vehicles, buildings, and trees) and will make smoke a higher quality. Grass is also rendered in real time. High will give CJ a real-time shadow in addition to the improvements in "Medium." Very high will give every character in the game a real-time shadow in addition to the improvements found in "High." Graphic effects are on par with the Xbox version of the game. Also, real-time shadows aren't rendered at any setting in 16-bit color mode.

Leaks, the "Hot Coffee" scandal, and controversy

Main article: Hot Coffee mod

Six days before its release, a leaked edition of the game, along with its manual and its cover, were published illegally, DVD images of which are still available via a number of P2P networks. Similarly, around the time of release of the game in the UK, a leaked PAL version of the game was published.

In mid-June 2005, a file modifying the game dubbed "Hot Coffee" was released. The name "Hot Coffee" refers to the way the released game alludes to the unseen sex scenes. In the unmodified game, the player takes his girlfriend to her front door and she asks him if he would like to come in for "some coffee." He agrees, and the camera stays outside, swaying back and forth a bit, while moaning sounds are heard.

After installing the patch/mod, users can enter the main character's girlfriends' houses and engage in a crudely rendered, partially clothed sexual intercourse mini-game. Patch codes that allowed the scenes to be accessed in the console versions were subsequently found. The fallout from the controversy resulted in a public response from high-ranking politicians in the United States and resulted in the game's recall and re-release.

Myths and easter eggs

San Andreas is distinct from the first two PlayStation 2 GTA games in its easter eggs and player-propagated myths. Shortly after the release of the game, several message boards sprouted claims of alleged Bigfoot sightings, and several alleged photographs were released, all of which have been proven to be faked.

Mysterious map

File:GTASA MysteriousSanAndreasMap.jpg

The mysterious map

There is a "restricted area" in the desert at the Area 69 military base, which is a parody of the real world Area 51. This led to more speculation in the fan community about UFOs and aliens. A large map of San Andreas, found in Mike Toreno's home and in a diner called the "Lil Probe Inn" (a cameo to "The Little A'le'Inn" located in the tiny town Rachel, Nevada which is the nearest settlement to the real world Area 51 made famous for displaying a time capsule received from the production crew of Independence Day), has markers scattered randomly across the state. Fans initially thought the map was a key to the UFO appearances; however, Rockstar claims the map means nothing. Area 69 is a reference to the 69 sex position. The number 69 is also found on all airport runways in the game (despite the fact that it is not a valid runway number), on various price tags, and is part of the name of the San Fierro 69ers, a football team in San Fierro, San Andreas, clearly based on the San Francisco 49ers.

The single obvious and confirmable presence of living extraterrestrials in the game comes during the mission "Stowaway", in the form of a group of "Men in Black". Encountered onboard a cargo plane, these black-suited characters (clearly based on a popular urban legend/UFO conspiracy "theory") proceed to attack the player and shout out numerous utterances signifying their contempt for the inferior human race ("Carbon-based buffoon", "You evolved from shrews!" and more). This is most likely a parody of the agents in The Matrix.

There are also numerous reports of what is supposedly UFO sightings on one of the games radio stations "WCTR". On certain parts of the news on this station the anchorwoman mentions as one of the headlines "Strange lights seen over the desert". There is a possibility that this is somehow linked to the UFO rumor but it is not yet confirmed (It may also however be a reference to the jet booster in the game which is taken to an aircraft base in the desert).

Even though there seem to be no UFOs near the Area 69 besides the fake one in the "Lil Probe Inn", you can find an easter egg to the northwest near the El Castillo del Diablo. There is a hole between some rocks that has 6 bodybags inside it with a Bobcat parked near it. However, even this is something that can be easily explained. It has nothing to do with aliens or conspiracies. In The Introduction film (which can be seen when you purchase the soundtrack), there are two Mafia members who have just dumped the bodies in the hole, and even mention that they got rid of those "problems". A typical thing to do for Rockstar Games, since they like referring to the movies that inspired the games. This easter egg is a simple reference to Casino, in which both Sam Rothstein (Robert DeNiro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) mention the fact that the mobsters get rid of their "problems" by burying them in the desert. Since Las Venturas is based on Las Vegas, and there are missions where you work for the Mafia, it is not strange that Rockstar included this. One spot on the map also is pointed in the forest areas of San Fierro, some fans thought the infamous Bigfoot was hiding here.

Ghost cars

The ghost cars were infamous, but brought hope to the fanbase. They are cars without visible drivers moving with damage that isn't repairable. They do not take damage like other cars, staying intact until they eventually explode, and they cannot be taken to mod garages. A very possible reason for the Ghost Car is that whenever you drive near a place where a car should spawn, and if it spawns on a hill it will roll down the hill. Thus if the Ghost Car spawns on the side of a hill it will roll down.

There is a ghost car that exists in the remote forest region of Back O Beyond in Flint County, which is a beat up Glendale, and reportedly there are two found in a trailer park near the Lil' Probe Inn and another in a construction site somewhere in San Fierro.

If you look at the San Andreas DVD (using a computer with a DVD drive) and go to the folder titled data and open the vehicle file you can see a list of info and program details of the cars on the list (very bottom) are 2 cars: the beatup Glendale and the beatup Sadler. That is why the Ghost Car is always beatup, because it is a completely different car.

Plane crashes

Several WWII planes crash occasionally throughout San Andreas, and disappear seconds after doing so. Those that occur most often are crashes into Mt. Chiliad. Crashes also take place in other areas, including the lowland. This was programmed intentionally by Rockstar, when the planes spawn they are not being flown by anyone, they are programmed to fly straight. Many players are often close to where the crash happened, and some claim the aircraft crashed just next to them either in a car or other vehicle, and still survived.

Another theory as to why planes crash so often is that the planes were programmed to fly a certain height above the player at all times, so when, for instance, the player is on a path on the side of Mt. Chiliad, planes will fly overhead, and into the mountain. This is backed up by the idea that jet planes will not crash due to their altitude (Though a jet crash is arguably possible if shot at).

Debunking the myths

Weeks after the myths had begun, and search teams formed, an e-mail message was received from "Mouthoff@rockstargames.com" and posted on several fan forums. Many questioned the authenticity of the letter, but upon further inspection, it did indeed seem to be from Rockstar Games.

After the initial letter, it is assumed that the address received many letters from fans, as it soon switched to an automated response system. The first automated return letters had a minor typo in it which led many fans to believe it was not an official Rockstar employee. Shortly after these claims were made the address owner soon issued a new return letter that validated new claims, but denied some of the ones in previous letters. This pattern continued, and some speculate that it is just a plot of Rockstar to create more publicity among the fan community.

The most important claim of the letter was that Bigfoot was false, and is not present in the game. Having been the shining light of the many search teams, many fans were dismayed. However, the letter mentioned that there was something in the woods.

Many rumors of Pigsy (from Rockstar's Manhunt) or Leatherface-type character (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) soon sprung up. Many of these claims were unsupported by video or picture evidence, and soon lost credibility with the community. The most popular picture of a masked man holding a chainsaw in one hand turned out to be nothing more than a picture of CJ wearing a gimp suit and an ice hockey mask.

The letters also detailed the idea of UFO landings in the game's desert. Though this is often thought to be plausible by fans, no reports or claims have been made.

There are also flying orbs that frequent the San Andreas skies. Many fans claim these to be Rockstar's implementation of UFOs, while others point out a much more terrestrial explanation: Rockstar used the same style to animate commercial air traffic in Vice City (bright lights, contrails, etc) but forgot to modify the names of the aircraft. This leads to mass-less 'airplanes', with active running lights, flying in the sky. Rockstar has not said anything about the orbs, and its intentions with them are still unclear.

Some fans soon found objects within the game's textures, such as deer and what they claim to be dinosaur skin. This would support one of the early claims that fans made in the very beginning of the game, of animals in the woods and an appearance of a dinosaur. Oddly enough, with the disproof of Bigfoot, many of these people took back their claims, saying that they may have been mistaken. However, it should be noted that in computer games occasionally textures can be misplaced by addons or sheer glitches, and so these oddities may have happened.

Easter eggs

There are also the commonplace Rockstar Easter eggs, such as hits at competitor games, or the classic signs. Billboards in Los Santos poke fun at the rival game True Crime: Streets of LA by calling it True Grime: Street Cleaners Most easter eggs appear in San Fierro, mostly dealing with the Golden Gate-inspired bridge and the video game and movie series Resident Evil (ZomboTech). These and other myths in the game have brought a new level of depth to the GTA games. Currently, many Easter egg-seeking search parties have websites with further information.

Like all 3D GTA games, San Andreas contains Cock suckers "underworld", an in-game limbo popularly dubbed "Oblivion", or "Blue Hell", though it is not always blue it has been known to be black or even red. The name Hell part is derived from the fact that if you go in unprepared, you will most likely find yourself falling for some time before you reappear above the city. Aside from Blue Hell, there is the interior hell. Many unused and cutscene only interiors can be found here, such an incomplete model of Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto III, and secret interior spaces. The partial Liberty City model is used in the mission "St. Mark's Bistro," where CJ flies back to Liberty City to do a hit for Salvatore Leone. Only a small portion is solid though. The interiors for the girlfriend's houses can be found there also. Much like Liberty City, many cutscene and unused interiors have unsolid areas also.

Many in-game pedestrians die in what seem to be bizarre suicides, although these may be due to oversights in the scripting of the pedestrians' movement rather than intentional Easter eggs. For example, photographer NPCs may take pictures and then drown themselves. In what some call a hint at Rockstar North's own Lemmings, pedestrians will sometimes appear on a ledge and walk off to their deaths.

A corporate building called "ZomboTech" (Sinister Zombie Virus Research Corporation) in San Fierro is a joking reference to the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil franchise. This has started unconfirmed rumors of zombies late at night in San Fierro and this is false, there are no zombies. If you want to find the building, it is in downtown, just up the road from the construction lot. It is the building with the giant DNA strand model in the center (this is one of San Fierro's "Photo Ops"). Another popular but unconfirmed myth is that CJ's mother and other ghosts may appear in photos taken in graveyards. Though no ghosts have been proven to exist in the game, there are "ghostly" occurrences. For example, the cemetery in Los Santos mysteriously becomes covered in graffiti at night. The graffiti ("Grove Street 4 Life") disappears once the sun comes up, this is mainly for those with sharp memories though, as at the start of the game, Sweet mentions that a lot of Grove Street gang members are buried there. There are also other gangs' graffiti around the cemetery. Also in the cemetery, is a crypt containing a television, recliner & pizza boxes - in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Spike had a similar set-up.

The January 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly included a story on the San Andreas rumors. The CEO of Rockstar, Terry Donovan, denied the existence of Bigfoot: "There is no Bigfoot, just like in real life." Rockstar also denied the existence of CJ's mother's ghost, as well as miscellaneous rumors. In the next issue of EGM, a subscriber sent in a photograph of such a mythical creature appearing on his game in the countryside. The magazine called the creature a Yeti instead of Bigfoot.

Following the Epsilon Program website, a website about a made-up religion in San Andreas, and related "clues", players have been looking over San Andreas for the Epsilon cult and its meeting locations. Epsilon appears to be closely modeled on the Church of Scientology.

Players have found pedestrians who talk about Kifflom (the Epsilon Program's "deity") in San Andreas, such as a barber and backpackers. It has yet to be proven that these comments are intended for any purpose other than adding flavor to pedestrian dialog but even one of your girlfriends from San Fierro, Katie, a nurse obsessed with death who practices martial arts, refers to the group on one the many random comments when you take her out for a ride/walk by saying: "Those Epsilon nut-jobs freak me out". Epsilon has scientifically ridiculous beliefs, such as "The World is 157 years old", and hidden information that one can only read if one pays money to the Epsilon Group (despite the fact that the "Epsilon Tract" has not even been written yet), popular celebrity endorsements (Jezz Torrent claiming the Group aided him in giving up drugs), an openly shameless leader. The player can also hear about the Epsilon Group in the WCTR radio show Entertaining America with Lazlow in which the host interviews Epsilon's founder, Cris Formage, who refers Kifflom as well.

One of the biggest easter eggs in the game is located on top of the Gant Bridge in San Fierro which is based on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. On the top beam located on the south side of the bridge is a sign that says "There are no Easter Eggs up here. Go away." Alongside this, not as well known as the Easter Egg above, there is an easter egg hidden within "Blue hell" that gives you access to previously unreachable tattoos for CJ.

In the mission "Mad Dog's Rhyme Book," if you sneak in without being caught, you can hear someone playing Driv3r and slagging it off. This is most likely due to the fact that in Driv3r, the player had to kill 30 "Timmy Vermicellis" which is a parody of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The "Timmys" in Driv3r all wore water wings, a dig at Vice City, because Tommy could not swim.

The very first mission you must complete that gets you into San Fierro is called "Are You Going to San Fierro?". The mission that takes place right after it is titled "Wear Flowers in your Hair." It is also known that the only radio station that the station itself is located in San Fierro is called "SF-UR"(San Fierro Urban Radio) which is a Techno, or a "House" music staion. During the mission Wear flowers in your hair, you meet three people, Zero and the two body shop workers. what most players did not realise is that you never comit any acts of violence with these people, or use never through out the game see them fire a weapon. "Are You Going to San Fierro" obviously meant you are offically allowed into city limits, but other than that, the first two San Fierro mission titles have almost no relevance to the game. However, it does have one major tie that is never pronouced at all during the entire game. The song "If You're Going to San Francisco" by Scott Mackenzie had been re-done as a techno-remix by "Global Dj's". the chorus is the same as the original version with minor changes, as it gives the secret of the subtle easter egg. With the important lyrics bolded, the chorus goes "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair,if you're going to San francisco, you'll meet some gentle people there." this shows that A)the meaning of the second mission in San Fierro, B) that you meet three people that are non-violent characters in the game,and C) Since the only station to be located in San Fierro is a techno/House music Station,and the techno is the most recent and possibly most likely even made before 1992, this shows the purpose of the Techno station to be located in San Fierro. The is also one last easter egg hidden in the song which is right after the chorus in the techno version, it is made to appear that it is saying "in the streets" as if it would be part of the last statement in the chorus threre fore creating the statement "you'll meet some gentle people there,In the streets..." This is relevent because in the mission "Wear Flowers in Your Hair" you must pick up your three new allies. As you arrive at your destination, notice that they are either on the side walk or parrallel and very close to the sidewalk, thus bringing meaning to the statement. This is the biggest and most subtle Easter Egg in the whole entire game know to this very day. Yeah so they went and had a cocksuck

External links

Official pages

• Official San Andreas site
  • Teaser sites
  • Epsilon Program - Teaser site 1 - Scientology or Epsilon Team parody
  • Maccer.net - Teaser site 2
  • Cluckin Bell Happy Chicken - Teaser site 3 - Taco Bell/KFC parody
  • FearItDoIt.com - Teaser site 4 - self-help/inversion therapy parody
  • eXsorbeo.com - Teaser site 5 - Game Boy parody
  • Forgotten Legends of West Coast Rap - Teaser site 6 - covers Madd Dogg's fictitious record label, Blastin Fools Records; also covers OG Loc and Forth Right MC

Reviews and wikis

• GTA Modding Wiki
• GTA: San Andreas guide at StrategyWiki (previously hosted by Wikibooks)
• San Andreas PC reviews on GameRankings
• San Andreas PS2 reviews on GameRankings
• San Andreas Xbox reviews on GameRankings

Fan sites

• GTASanAndreas.net - Part of the GTA Network
• GTA-SanAndreas.com
• San Andreas Multiplayer - Multiplayer Deathmatch + other Modes for San Andreas
• Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas - Multiplayer Racing for San Andreas
• Grand Theft Auto: SA
• GTA Ireland
• The GTA Place
• The GTA Underground
• PlanetGTA
• San Andreas Heaven

Modding sites

• GTA Garage - Part of the GTA Network
• GTAGaming
• GTASAMods.com
• GTATools - GTA file editors
• GTA Projects
• GTA LVS
• SAFiles

Other resources

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at IMDb
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at MobyGames
• GameFAQs page on San Andreas
• Speed demo