First details of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas News
PlayStation 2 News by Rob Fahey
Rockstar's biggest game of the year isn't due to be shown off to the world's press until next month, but that hasn't stopped the company from releasing a few tantalising details about its next Scots-developed criminal tour de force during the E3 show this week - along with a few screenshots.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is set in the early nineties in the fictional city of Los Santos in the state of San Andreas - so Los Angeles, in other words - and draws heavily on the Menace II Society school of West Coast gangsta movies.
The player takes on the role of Carl Johnson, a young black man who escaped from life in Los Santos five years previously, but has now been forced to return to the city (described charmingly as a city "tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption" - sounds like Los Angeles alright!) following the murder of his mother.
Carl arrives back in Los Santos to find his family falling apart and his childhood friends "heading towards disaster," but no sooner does he arrive in San Andreas state than he's framed for murder by some corrupt cops, and must embark on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas.
Don't worry, though - this is less a Boyz N The Hood coming of age story and more a New Jack City all-action affair, because young Carl's answer to his familial and legal problems seems to be, er, to "take control of the streets." So essentially, if framed for murder, the best way out is to become the biggest local crime boss. Makes perfect sense to us.
The setting suggests loads of really bad early nineties music, gangsta rap on the radio and more amusing cultural references than you can shake a heavily bling-encrusted stick at, while the game looks likely to have lost little of the grit and controversy of its predecessors. Plus, the setting gives Rockstar a whole new group of ethnic minorities to get in trouble with once the US media gets a bright idea on a slow news day, so it's all good.
Expect to hear more about GTA: San Andreas next month; the game is due for launch on the PS2 next Christmas, and as with its predecessors, it's a PS2 exclusive for a limited period.
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
|
0
there's a bmx in the shots. so maybe there'll be some hoffman style minigames lurking around somwhere (like the destruction derby ring in vice city).
i hear you'll be able to leave los angeles (or whatever) and head over to las vegas (ditto) too, to set up your own casino. and you'll be able to burgle. apparently it's 4-6 (i.e 5) times bigger than vice city. so we might even see some big mutha truckers style trading engine in there too. it would be just like those boys up at rockstar to have a good stab at a game like that. anyway i'm actually quite looking forward to this after having thought it wouldn't excite me anymore. |
|
0
So. Now we know. San Andreas is NOT Los Angeles, it's a whole state. Los Santos, on the other hand is, to all intents and purposes, LA. The game's two other cities, San Fierro and Las Venturra are based on San Francisco and Las Vegas respectively. There'll be countryside between the three main areas, each of which is roughly the same size as the whole of Vice City
The most significant gameplay changes are a new stamina meter, meaning you need to eat, and massively improved building interiors. You'll be able to commit burglary now, or run a casino in Las Venturra. If you're feeling less ambitious you can just gamble away your ill-gotten gains on the tables in LV. |
|
0
since there are 3 cities there is likely to be a whole state to explore. that means long streches of desert etc. i reckon this could go some way to improving the driving aspect in terms of handling. ai has also apparently improved so you can recruit buddy ai on missions, adding the stratergy elements that were supposed to be a big thing in gta2.
plus there's gambling... gambling! i hope they include some decent fruit machines |
|
0
erm Asmodeus... everyone is entitled to thier opinion but have you actually played any of the 3d gta games. they're no more voilent than metal gear solid or half life. if you were talking about something like true crimes i could understand as that is obviously a rushed/ unfinished piece of work that, imho, is substandard but the gta series hasn't influenced so many developers and shifted so many copies simply because it is politically incorrect or violent. there is excellent technology used to create a fun game there...
|
|
Tiger_Walts
13/05/04 @ 15:27
0
Asmodeus, I don't recall "Custer's Revenge" being a multi-million seller.
|
|
0
4.7 gig on a standard one but they're working on larger capacities. anyway i reckon they might have some new sound compressor. manhunt apparently had about 10 hours of music sound and speech which was streamed through multiple channels. rockstar invested heavily in sound technology for manhunt so they'll want to use alot of what they've learnt. also like El_MUERkO says, they probably didn't use all the dvd.
|
|
0
I've loved both GTA3 and Vice City, but I was kind of hoping to hear a bit more about the new stuff they're going to be putting into this game. The graphics engine looks as though it hasn't changed (imho it's a shame they don't license the Transformers engine from Melbourne House) and the plot isn't all that earth-shatteringly original either.
I'm sure they will pull something good out of the bag in the fullness of time, but until then I'm not getting on the hype bandwagon. /half-meh |
|
BLACKSHEEP
13/05/04 @ 16:08
0
Isn't the HDD gonna be used to some capacity. I think if Sony want's to create a user base for the add-on then this is THE game to pack it in!
Really I want the HDD to give me instant Central Station/EyeToy:Chat whatever that Live! takes for granted. A worldwide standard portal you connect to at startup and can choose games to play without having to msn ppl for a match! |
|
0
They will use a dual-layer dvd and so there won't be any space problems
only problem gta games every brought with them was killing dvd drives because of their streaming technology for the huge cities which meant the dvd drive was constantly reading the dvd at all times hopefully they have improved this and are maybe gonna take advantage of the hard drive on PS2 and XBOX to reduce pop-up this time around. Comments? |
|
Segata Sanshiro
13/05/04 @ 19:23
0
There are actual mountains in the game, and yes you can drive up/around them.
Big graphical leap. Better lighting and real-time reflections on cars, windows and mirrors. The game's storyline is going to have a much stronger focus, even when not playing in missions. Its also going to be a bit more dramatic and serious than the previous two storys. You can now rob homes, but you have to plan it out properly or you'll die You can have a group of people with you, helping you perform drive-bys (a four-man drive-by is now possible). Swimming IS finally included! Theres a bunch of new skills to learn that you earn over time, some even from side-quests and minigames. You have to eat to keep proper stanima, but if you eat too much and don't exercise enough, you'll become fat, run slow, and it will make some missions impossible to complete. You have to go to the gym and work off your fat (you'll also be called a "fat bastard" by other people in the game). Improved targeting system, but Rockstar won't say whats been changed, they said that you should think of Manhunt's gunplay. Improved hand-to-hand combat. Rag-doll physics when you shoot people. |
|
0
I think that setting it in early 90's LA is both a very clever and very worrying bit of marketing.
Its clever because it is tapping into the current fascination with hip hop culture. This could well be the first game to successfully do this and combined with its already excisting reputation, this will appeal to a huge amount of people. Plus, it is BOUND to be accused of racism, again, which will create even more publicity and add to its inevitable success. Its worrying because it shows that Rockstar are really looking at making games from a marketing point of view now. Vice City, in terms of its settings, was actually only going to appeal to a certain amount of people, ie people that were born at least in the mid seventies. This alienates a decent amount of people that are potentially going to buy the game, and that's not including kids under 18. And yet it sold an absolute shit load. This has a much bigger mainstream appeal and I dread to think how much it'll sell. I just hope they put the effort in with the game itself. |
|
0
Theres a bunch of new skills to learn that you earn over time, some even from side-quests and minigames.
About time! I always thought the games should have some sort of skill/ability system, perhaps in a similar way to Deus Ex. However, if it's three times the size of VC, they better pack in a lot of variety - one thing I hated about the previous games is that they became repetitive. I'd still like a more opened ended story though, where the way you act and the choices you make determine the outcome. Instead of being able to retry missions, having to live with the consequences would make for a more replayable experience - and if you didn't like the outcome you could always reload! Plus a little empire building wouldn't go amiss. How about buying up a mechanics/garage where you supply them with money/equipment/vehicles and in return you get access to vehicle upgrades/mods, or even brand new unique vehicles. |
|
3william56
14/05/04 @ 07:19
0
/Rockstar's suggested summer shopping list
New camera system New aiming / fighting mechanic New getaway mechanic (not just throwing police cars at you like cannon balls, and allowing car changes and losing pursuers to have an effect) Proper second stick camera control, not that horrible look around Less linear missions More progressive wanted levels vs. cop response (over *** it just gets silly) ... In fact, just keep the basic concept and production values, and totally overhaul the game mechanics please. |
|
Thamuhacha
02/06/04 @ 18:33
0
/checks back to ratchet and clank 3 first impressions comments
/checks back to rednecks in Full Spectrum Warrior comments /looks here in disbelief Are we now another US tard site? It seems so ... EditYes ... 2 links in the same post caused me a problem today. Anyone got a smart comment on that one?
Edited 4 times,
most recently on 02/06/04 @ 19:37
|
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
