 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Advertisement |
 |
 |
 |
|
DriverHeaven Article |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Introduction Back in October 2004, Sony PlayStation 2 gamers were blessed with another installment in the already highly successful (and sometimes controversial) Grand Theft Auto series. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ripped through the sales charts and received rave reviews from game critics everywhere. While most die-hard GTA fans may already have a copy in their PS2s, some may have opted to wait for the “higher resolution” version of the game to arrive on the PC and X-Box platforms. So let’s take a gander at the PC version of San Andreas and see if Rockstar North made the PS2 to PC transition a smooth one. What is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? If you are a gamer and have not heard about the Grand Theft Auto series, you should hang your head in shame. While the Grand Theft Auto series started out on the PC back in October 1997 however, it was the third installment of the game which placed GTA and Rockstar on the gaming map. Unfortunately, for loyal GTA fans the third installment was not born on the PC, but instead on the Sony PlayStation 2. To say GTA3 was an immense success would be an understatement. GTA3 on the PlayStation 2 was just like what Final Fantasy VII was on the original Sony PlayStation; it was one of the games that gamers will look back on and say: “It made the console what it was.”
Those aren’t
his, but that’s ok. It’s all fair game in GTA.
The Grand Theft Auto series is primarily an open third person action game which has you playing the role of a character situated within a city or region. This installment of GTA takes place in the 1990s on an island called San Andreas. You are Carl “CJ” Johnson who has comeback from Liberty City to attend your mother’s funeral. Unfortunately, things go wrong and you end up with the need to help your gang gain their respect back. The finer details on how CJ will accomplish this task will be discussed later.
Meet Carl Johnson.
He’s usually a nice guy, but you don’t want
to see him angry.
Getting Technical Like all PC games, it is important to make sure your computer meets the requirements set from the developer. Let’s take a look at what Rockstar North deemed to be enough for GTA: San Andreas. Minimum Requirements Windows 2000 or Windows XP Recommended Requirements Windows 2000 or Windows XP If you notice, both the recommended and minimum requirements indicate the need for a DVD-ROM drive. That is because the game is only available on 4.7 GB DVD. So far, there is no CD-ROM version of this game available. Will there be a CD-ROM version? I doubt it since DVD reading capabilities is practically standard these days. Some of you “keener” individuals may also notice that a “Geforce 6 Series” video card is recommended and the absence of any mention of the “Radeon” video card series. This is a “The way it’s meant to be played game” and it just looks (and works) better on a NVIDIA video card. Unfortunate for you ATI users that we have been noticing reports of glitches and performance issues galore on our forums some of which I will verify in my review shortly, hopefully Rockstar or ATI can bring some forthcoming patches to address these performance and stability issues. On another note, Allan aka “Zardon”, has been running this game with good frame rates on his 3.8ghz P4 6800 GO powered (330/1000) Alienware laptop at 1680x1050 with draw distance on full and 1xAA setting in game (which is actually 2x “real life AA figures”). The rig I used to test San Andreas with was: Intel Pentium 4 3.0E @ 3.2 GHz The game ran well with the Draw Distance option maxed at 1280x960 resolution. I did not turn on the anti-aliasing option since my poor Radeon 9800 would not preserve a consistent frame rate when I entered an area with a vast amount of objects. On the topic of technical issues, this game is also a little quirky on stability. The game crashed on me once for no reason at all during the 2nd cut scene. I was able to play through the game for several hours later without a single crash, hopefully it was only a rare fluke. It’s Really Not About The Graphics If you are looking for Half Life 2, Far Cry
or Doom 3-esqe graphical prowess you will be disappointed
since San Andreas was developed originally for the PS2.
Although, you will be pleased to know that the game does
exhibit similar improvements on the graphical front compared
to its original incarnation. Higher resolution textures
and characters are used to take advantage of the PC platform’s
hardware superiority. All your standard PC related resolutions
are available along with widescreen ones for those lucky
enough to own a widescreen LCD such as the Dell UltraSharp
2405FPW.
A few graphical anomalies occurred when I was playing. Certain camera angles would cause the objects in the game to become severely aliased. Fortunately, the game supports in-game anti-aliasing, so those of you have the graphical power to spare can crank that up and get rid of that problem. I also noticed that textures disappeared during some cut scenes. I believe the latter problem is occurring due to my use of an ATI card, rather than a NVIDIA one (Zardon: it is) . Hopefully, this compatibility issue will be resolved in the near future. (This is very similar to how GTA: Vice City was when it was initially released for the PC) The 90’s music is the icing on the cake Since the graphical power of the PS2 does not allow San Andreas to excel to nauseating heights in the visual appeal department, the developers and producers of San Andreas poured their resources into solid audio representation. Everything from the authentic 90s music, to the excellent voice acting was executed without falter. Along with the already outstanding 90s soundtrack spread out various “radio stations”, the PC version of San Andreas allows you to import your own songs and listen to them The sound effects in San Andreas are key to creating a realistic and immersive atmosphere. Each type of vehicle has its own unique sound to distinguish itself. The same goes with each piece of firearm you carry. It is certainly gratifying to hear the barrage from a dual pistol wielding CJ. The background noise too adds to how Los Santos feels on a cool raining night. Unfortunately, all is not well for the PC version of San Andreas. Some of you may experience some sound oddities such as synchronization problems with the voices and the characters during cut scenes. Others may also experience a loud roaring noise, which occurs when you load a game. Fortunately, these types of issues can be rectified with a patch on a later date. Gameplay galore For the most part the GTA experience has not been revolutionized, but instead improved with various subtle changes including a new stats system which allows your character to grow and improve as you progress in the game. These stats add more of a role-playing element into the game, but it does not deter the fun factor at all. Stats include: Respect – Determines how respected you
are in the San Andreas world and how many gang members you
can recruit. On top of those stats, other underlying stats
such as your shooting accuracy and driving ability can be
raised with repeated successful use. For example, if you
repeatedly use the handgun and hit targets with a high success
rate, it will eventually become easier for you. The same
goes with driving your car. Good driving habits, such as
not leaving your car in a ditch with a missing hood, are
rewarded with improved handling.
You won’t
be rewarded for driving like that.
By looking at the stats alone, you can see many new possibilities are available in San Andreas. Now you can swim, ride bicycles and acquire girlfriends. Although, these stats are not necessarily mission critical, it can lower the difficulty of missions, which specialize in such activities, such as swimming. Missions in San Andreas can be obtained through various non-playable characters in the game. When you complete a mission the overall story for the game progresses and eventually you will unlock the other two cities. Several classic GTA missions are present in San Andreas, such as follow the trail of “bread crumbs falling from the back of a van”, but the game does spice up the missions a bit by taking advantage of the new game play abilities. For instance, there are a few missions which require you to sneak around and silently dispose of your rivals. Gameplay additions such as this are definitely welcome to the GTA series. On top of missions and
the occasional optional missions, there are many
other things for CJ to do in San Andreas. CJ can spend his
time acquiring property, go on the now standard “vigilante
missions” when he acquires a police cruiser. Other
little trinkets include scavenger hunts where has to find
hidden items littered throughout the San Andreas state in
order to unlock specialty items or abilities. CJ can also
spend time trying to win over some of the ladies of San
Andreas. Each one of these ladies are attracted to a certain
“style” of CJ. One could be more attracted to
fatter CJ with high sex appeal. In this case, you will have
to get CJ to gain a few pounds and then try to woo your
way into winning CJ’s special senorita. Winning over
these ladies usually unlocks a special ability like slight
police immunity or something along those lines. I will leave
it for you to find out what they do.
The vehicles in San Andreas come in all shapes and sizes. This is what the game is known for, after all. You have your standard set of cars from sports car, muscle cars to family sedans. With certain cars you can obtain body kits and other modifications to “pimp” it up. You also have your selection of trucks as well. Not only are there a lot of vehicles modeled after popular real-life 1990s counterparts. San Andreas has a nice selection of naval and aerial vehicles. Harriers, helicopters, and boats of all shapes and sizes makes you wonder if the “auto” in “Grand Theft Auto” is an appropriate name for the series anymore. If you recall under the system requirements, a dual axis controller is supported and “required”. Although, it is not absolutely necessary to use a controller to play the game, it does make activities such as flying helicopters and planes a whole lot easier. I personally used my PlayStation 2 to USB converter and I successfully re-created the default PS2 mappings on my official PlayStation 2 controller. During San Andreas’ trek from the PS2 to the PC, it did leave one small, but noteworthy gameplay mode behind; the two-player co-operative mode. On the PS2 (and newly released X-Box) version of San Andreas, there were certain areas and/or missions where a 2nd player may join in on the fun. These moments were rare on the PS2 version of San Andreas, so PC fans are not missing a whole lot. Box Art and Presentation: We wanted to add this primarily because the packaging of GTA: San Andreas really is a cut above the norm. The DVD comes supplied in a hardbacked book type inner case with an outer removable cover, you get a poster with a map on one side and a 75 page+ booklet with descriptions of all the areas of San Andreas with a tourist "city" guide. It really is very well presented and a lovely addition to this wonderful free roaming epic title from Rockstar.
Future of Grand Theft Auto Every single Grand Theft Auto game is jammed packed with hours upon hours of content. GTA: San Andreas is no exception. If one was to go through the game without doing any side-missions, roughly 50~60% of the game will be completed. So you can see that the game has a lot of things to do if you wanted to get a 100% completion rating. Although, the lack of co-operative multiplayer was on the PC, the introduction of this mode in the PS2 and X-Box versions shows promise of what future GTA installments will hold. It makes sense to see the franchise add more of a multiplayer component. Conclusion The Grand Theft Auto series has come a long way since its 2-D top view days. With each installment, Rockstar sets a new standard for the franchise. Aside from a few technical issues mainly on ATI hardware, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas retains the same gangster and fun-filled essence of the PlayStation 2 version. The Grand Theft Auto series
isn’t just about capping ass, sleeping with the ladies
of the streets or stealing some rides. It is about living
the life of a criminal in a specific time and place. In
many ways, San Andreas is a time capsule of life of a west
coast gangster in the 1990s. Everything from the music,
scenery and the lifestyle was re-created masterfully by
Rockstar. Do yourself a favour and get a copy of this great
game and spend some quality time representing the west coast.
Looking for a
good time? GTA: San Andreas delivers it in many ways.
Gameplay
– 19/20 Overall Score 92/100 92/1
|
|
|
