Three hundred sunny days a year, an exhibition of chocolate bodies on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, gangsters in “jumping” convertibles, the glitter and cynicism of Hollywood, midges stuck around orange trees, and gunfights outside the window at three in the morning … To see the hottest state of America, no more I need to weave flowers into braids and fly to San Francisco. Rockstar North travel agency will send you there for only $50. From anywhere in the world.
Life’s a Beach
The main character of the game, Karl Johnson named “CJ” – a real nigga, no matter how rude it sounds. Returning home to Los Santos for his mother’s funeral, he again plunges into gangster life and, throughout the storyline, unites his family, showing other clans that the Johnsons must be reckoned with.
In achieving his goal, he is hindered and helped by a huge number of characters: friends, enemies, idiots, etc. Not all characters are well written out, but there are no questions about voice acting. Whether it’s the corrupt cop Tenpenny played by Samuel L. Jackson (Samuel L. Jackson) or the amazing bitch Catalina (from GTA 3
The available territory was sharply distributed in breadth. California with copies of two of its famous cities (Los Angeles and San Francisco) and a piece of Nevada, where a clone of Las Vegas is freely located, fit into the fictional state of San Andreas.
And at first, eyes widen from the abundance of things in this world. First, we learn that CJ acquired personal data, learned how to lose weight and get fat, pump muscles and even … eat. True, the excitement subsides slightly when it turns out that all the new items that are unusual for GTA are just children’s toys, the appearance of real life (fortunately, you don’t need to go to the toilet). In the spirit of The Sims. Of course, diner lovers will eventually turn into walking donuts, and bodybuilding adherents will increase endurance (it allows you to run / swim longer in the “super sprint” mode) and will gladly defile through the streets without outerwear, but you can’t die of hunger here, and heavyweights and dystrophic drive and shoot in the same way.
In addition to purely natural needs, our double acquired the manners of a Barbie doll. Players who get tired of looking at the same shirt can go in for preening Carl – changing his clothes, cutting his hair and tattooing almost all parts of his body (car tuning is not so detailed – a bunch of “body kits”, a modest choice). And in each city – a new assortment. It’s scary to imagine what would happen if a woman were made the main character of SA…
The numerical characteristics of the game once again jumped, reaching the marks of “40+” (weapons) and “200+” (cars, planes, boats, bicycles and motorcycles with ATVs). A found dildo is a lot of fun to beat up the townspeople, using it instead of a bat, and a harvester is good for a bloody harvest. The physics of the car has changed a bit, as has the damage model. But in general, few people were indignant before. But the ancient trick with cars disappearing behind you could be corrected.
Fun for Carl – in bulk. In San Andreas stuffed a lot of mini-games for every taste. For little things, you can have fun playing billiards, roulette, poker, etc. Or spend time on arcade machines, sweepstakes and street basketball Or enroll in a driving school and remember the “Factory driver” mode from NFS: Porsche Unleashed. Someone will surely like the dance analogue of Dance Dance Revolution (including its non-standard version – on wheels). And yet … no, look for yourself – it will be more interesting.
Dessert included professions for those who want to complete the game 100 percent and receive small gifts. Of course, many players are well acquainted with the everyday life of a taxi driver, medic, policeman and firefighter, but … How about a trucker who sometimes carries illegal cargo? a thief who steals everything of value from homes? a pimp (!), delivering girls of easy virtue to clients? The list is, of course, incomplete.
For thrill-seekers, we recommend skydiving and space sex from the infamous Hot Coffee mod. Why not a mini-game?
Management Issues
The graphics in San Andreas are a hymn to juicing. Especially when you consider how old the Render ware engine is and how many games its power has not been used even by half. The correct shadows, which have become a mandatory attribute everywhere, have reached GTA just now. By the way, here they are not nailed, but move in accordance with the sun and other light sources. That’s why most of the brakes on weak systems that easily coped with GTA 3 and Vice City. Vehicle detail and texture sizes have also been increased, although this is not too noticeable. But for the models of people, especially in commercials, the authors can be scolded. Voice acting and excellent animation are crowded in two-polygonal bodies. Square fingers and three pixels of coloring, which San Andreas inherited from its predecessors, did not come close to the standards of 2005.
Let us down and sprite shots. Two frames per flash is negligible. Water with shades did not please us. However, the whole game is deprived of them. Nice effects of hot asphalt and high-speed driving are created with the help of fast software filters and are visible even on defective cards of the GeForce4 MX class. On the other hand, after San Andreas, the visual wretchedness of Vice City is instantly evident.
Things are worse on the audio front. The age-old problem of glitching sound since GTA 3 has not been fixed. We are still advised to look into the DirectX control panel and turn off “sound acceleration”. Very smart, isn’t it? But there is nothing more to complain about.
Traditional radio stations are great – not everyone will like the stars of the 80s and 90s, and yet the licensing managers did their best. Driving down the highway at night in a formidable twin Harley under the brutal K-Rose is an unforgettable pleasure. The built-in player is also present, but it is often possible to set it up (as before) only thanks to a “strong word”.
