Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Announced

It took me forever to beat the helicopter mission, but it was worth it because the third one was so fun.

This is WAY better than Vice City, which I thought i would never say when i first started playing it. I couldn't resist typing in ROCKETMAN and flying around between missions. Now I'm piloting helicopters to "Freebird" and "Eminence Front". I flew over to Las Venturas and there was a sand storm that looked so cool. The environmental effects in this game are awesome. Too bad the draw distance really becomes noticable when you are flying. I'm sure someone's modded that...

I also tried CRAZYTOWN, which is hilarious, and BLUESUEDESHOES which makes Elvis be everywhere.

Probably my favorite computer game of all time.

I love flying through the mountains or in the desert, where the sky is filled with deep neon red fog. I think over by the aliens or whatever crazy stuff is coming up later the sea was radioactive green. This game looks pretty damn amazing. I'm playing it in Windows 7 at 1920x1200x32.

There's a free tool called iZ3D that will run this in red-blue oldschool 3D and it looks pretty great. But i can't play it for long. It's good to turn up the brightness when you do this.

Definitely play the flying missions in 3D. It's like controlling a real 3d model airplane hovering in front of a diorama inside your computer screen.

Some really good car mods for this, my favourite is the Ken Block rally car. There's mods that improve the textures too

OH MY GOD the motorcycle-to-the-plane thing in the desert

I don't know if you got it on the first try (I did ::Smug::), but apparently if you fall out, there's a cut scene to CJ falling onto a parked car.

LOL i didnt get it first try but the other times i got hit by the exploding barrels.

I have to stop playing this. It's too good.

After doing the jetpack missions (!!!!) i flew around and took Denise on a bunch of dates. I want to get the pimp suit. Afterwards I went to the airport and stole a jet and flew above the clouds! And then when I got to Los Vegas i skydived out and landed in a parachute right on top of the arch in front of my casino.

Wow, this is really amazing. Best videogame of the 21st century.

One of my favorite ILX posts is on this very thread.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Announced

They tweaked the flying controls on the David Cross missions for PC, i think

omg pplains i used to say "space gangster... awaaaayyyy!!" years and years ago whenever i'd fool around with the jetpack and totally forgot it came from that post, amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4a9ppLMx3I

This game has some great deep cuts

Ok i did the Hydra mission holy shit. Dogfighting and blowing up shit Afterburner-on-molly arcade action. Amazing. Every time i get tired of stuff or stuck on a mission and almost get bored w the game they throw in these amazing Michael Bay-style missions. So good!

I just finished the game. Great ending. I only have 69% complete so I'll spend a bit of time trucking and being a paramedic and finding all the hidden sub-games I overlooked. I still haven't played basketball and i really want to! Every game should have a jetpack like this. Best jetpack controls ever.

So, V is taking place in Los Santos? Here's hoping CJ makes a comeback tho they'll probably go with a whole new character.

I really like the RPG elements in this, by the end you feel like you've done SO MUCH and you can see all the rewards of that hard work. Starting out with a nothing but a crappy bicycle and ending up with a mansion and your own personal helicopter.

The hydra disappeared from my airport but i read you just have to run around until it spawns. I want to try flying over restricted airspace and engaging in dogfights with heat-seeking missiles. That mission was just out of nowhere and SO much fun to play.

by the end you feel like you've done SO MUCH and you can see all the rewards of that hard work. Starting out with a nothing but a crappy bicycle and ending up with a mansion and your own personal helicopter.

I had forgotten about that sense of accomplishment and progress it gives you. Tremendous game.

They could do a level-by-level remake for the PS3 and I'd pay $120 bucks for it. Change nothing.

flying school. seriously, i will cry.

iirc some of the races and schools were made easier by rolling in first person? might be misremembering tho

dancing on the beach mission was the hardest thing i've ever had to complete in a video game. i hate dancing in the real world, never mind anywhere else.

it makes my shoulders ache just thinking about it.

This game is the greatest of all time. CJ is a brilliant character, missions were brilliant and the insane sense of accomplishment. All fantastic. Played it again on PS2 recently (finally finished missions). I missed aiming with mouse but other than that much prefer to rubbish old PC I played it on originally.

Catalina is such a fun NPC.

Grove Street 4 life!

would love to play this again but couldn't stand playing on pc. gta3 only just coming out on psn so this prob not in my immediate future.

dancing on the beach mission was the hardest thing i've ever had to complete in a video game. i hate dancing in the real world, never mind anywhere else.

it makes my shoulders ache just thinking about it.

― not_goodwin, Tuesday, July 31, 2012 6:04 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

the dancing stuff is made easy if you just tap your foot to a steady beat and hit the buttons to that beat, instead of trying to slam the buttons as soon as they appear onscreen. its all about rhythm!

reading this just reminds me of what a dud gta4 was

that's the secret to every rhythm game ever er xp

when i decided to do the ps2 back catalogue a couple years ago i never bothered with a gta, is this the one to go for

oh yeah

this is THE game to get for ps2

I'm playing this on PC and I got pretty used to the controls. Flying a plane (or especially a helicopter) is still a pain in the butt but I've managed to figure it out more or less. The helicopter camera sucks times infinity. Driving any car or vehicle is pretty nice, using WASD to steer and the right mouse button to break. The camera's a bit slower than VC on centering from behind the car but with a mouse you can swing it around and look over hills and curves you are about to hit, which is nice.

I beat the game, i loved the characters and the storyline and all that. Now I'm left with a huge world with lots of races i can enter. I don't think I'm going to get 100% because I just don't care and for the moment this game has entertained the crap out of me. Spending hours looking for those missing horseshoes sort of seems like it would take away from what a cool experience that was! I wouldn't mind going back and playing some of those missions over again but sadly you can't just scroll through a list and pick one out. I'd play the one where you hijack the Hydra and dogfight with other jets. Also the one where you ride a motorcycle onto an airplane.

Samuel Jackson was awesome in this. Peter Fonda too!

I still haven't seen any tanks in this, oddly enough. Mental note: buy a bunch of weapons, stake out the pirate ship, start blowing up cars and don't stop 'til I've gotten a tank for myself.

I just finished The Lost and Damned and it's weak, watery Methadone compared to this. Gotta get a PS2 and a copy of San Andreas. And Katamari Damacy.

ballad of gay tony is a lot of fun in what it adds, but the missions are mostly just more "duck behind a thing, waste 50 guys, run to next room, repeat". otoh there's helicopters that shoot missiles so.

L&D and gay tony were good but they reminded you how little life and creativity they put into the missions/story of the main game imo

<i>I still haven't seen any tanks in this, oddly enough.</i>

Fly south with your jetpack into Area 51 from the northeast, staying between the eastern fence and the row of garages. There's a tank in the last or second-to-last garage. Jack it, drive it to your hangar at the airstrip, then book it on foot to the tower to save your game & get rid of your wanted stars. Repeat until you have many tanks.

This works on ps2, no idea of vehicle spawns are different for pc.

doing the vigilante missions in a tank is hilarious and a piece of piss

I really liked the BoGT, but I thought the emphasis was on the characters & the dialogue, to the point where it took away from the sprawling fun of San Andreas.

I just hope in GTA5 they figure a better way to balance the two, or to provide the great interaction and a good city without constraining it.

Also, ten bucks says they actually hide Sasquatch in the forest this time.

Also, I like the run of protagonists who are relatively self-aware that they're psychopathic killers surrounded by idiots and who remark on the bullshitness of their situations.

now try MTA

THANK YOU! Tank vigilante coming up!

I also LOL at CJ's date dialogue, which is either "Oh, wow!" and "That is so interesting, I'm just gonna listen."

saints row 3 is the closest i've come to experiencing gta: san andreas joy since san andreas. i think it's relatively cheap now too. great game.

GTA4 is so underrated now. It's weird.

Gta4 is an amazing game in its own right. But from a purest gta player it sold out on a lot

The main thing that turned me off IV was the constant social maintenance. I hate using a phone, checking emails, etc., in real life as it is.

I feel like you guys were playing it wrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax36Rct3W5I

i just remember being outraged at how un-interactive the game world was, it was like this huge sprawling city with three open businesses, two of which were identical

Yeah that bugged me too.

I missed the leveled power-ups that came with doing certain things. If I'm going to drive a cab or fire truck or ambulance, I want stat bumps or gear for doing so much of that. Same with collectibles; give me new shit if I grab 50 whatzits for doing so much.

Waitamin, there weren't even ambulance/firetruck side quests in IV, were there?

no there weren't. Vigilante missions but you got NOTHING for completing them.

GTA IV was incredibly unrewarding compared to San Andreas. Also far too po faced.

Even though i beat the game, there is still plenty to do, as I only have 78% completed. Finding the missing horshoes and stuff will be a pain, but i just found SAMA. San Andreas Mission Analyzer. AWESOME!

What is it?

Reads your savefile and gives you a rundown of your completion status on all missions in the game.
Shows you the unique jumps that haven't been done on a map. Optionally also shows landing zones and camera positions for the jumps.
Shows you the gang tags, snapshots, horseshoes and oysters that haven't been done on a map.

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=220426

I have one missing horseshoe in my saved game. The pay off is brilliant but I refuse to go all around again finding them. Very frustrating.