The game takes place in the early 1990s, when gang warfare was at it's peak in California. The player takes control of CJ (Carl Johnson), a member of a gang called the Orange Grove Families in east Los Santos. The tone of the game is, at times, more serious than in previous GTA titles, but you still can expect plenty of the series' unique brand of humor and satire.
After five years in Liberty City, CJ returns to Los Santos when his mother is murdered. He reunites, with his family, friends, and his old life. Carl's old gang , the Orange Grove Families, is a mess, under attack from both outside and from within. Carl doesn't really want to go back to his old life, but he's dragged back in.
Rockstar has focused on seamlessly blending missions and off-duty events to give the game more of a real-world feel. For example, you can stop in the middle of most missions to do other things on the side, such as recruit your own small gang to go on four-person drive-bys. Furthermore, you can make missions easier by training and improving CJ's skills, such as driving and shooting. Everything in the game now ties together, giving the game world a more even, unified feel.
San Andreas struts along with a sleek new graphics engine boasting realtime reflections in mirrors, cars, and winblows, new lighting effects, and realistics shadows. Even better, the draw distance is twice as far as before in the city and four times that in the country so you can see way into the distance without as much annoying "pop-in."
here's a gameplay revolution for you: at least once every couple of days your character has to eat. If you skip meals he'll become thin and weak, and if you feed him too much he'll get slow and fat. There's a wide selection of different foods and restaurants, so what you eat will count, to. Your weight will affect your physical abilities and how people view you (expect some nasty insults if you put on too many punds). If weight becomes an issue, you can take CJ to the gym to get buff, and the extra strength will pwer up his punches. Bulk up too much, though, and he'll lose some speed.
Get this: San Andreas is five times the size of Vice City. Five times! San Andreas is actually a whole freakin' state comprised of three main cities: the game starts in Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) offers steep hills for the craziest GTA jumps yet, and Las Venturra (Las Vegas) offers casinos and gambling. Plus there's the vast country side between (mountains, freeways, rivers, etc.). The game world is so ridiculously massive, Rockstar, has been forced to switch rare dual-layer PS2 DVD to fit it all on. We saw the full state map in-game, and Los Santos, roughly, the size of Vice City, was only a tiny bit in the lower-right corner. better clear your calendar when this game hits.
-PSM Magazine
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