Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review

The biggest game ever. In oh so many ways.

Version tested: PlayStation 2

Order yours now from Simply Games.

At a time like this when you've got a game with such massive expectations heaped upon it, it's almost futile trying to offer anything but the most positive comments you can possibly come up with. With Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where we've been fed more pre-release information and preview opportunities than just about any game in history, it seemed impossible that the game couldn't be anything other than absolute mind blowing genius. Everything we'd seen, read and heard spelt out that this was a title so far ahead of the sorry pretenders that there simply could be no other game out there worth playing. The game of the generation. The game to end all games. Technically advanced, bigger, better, even more controversial. But you all know how it works. They would say that wouldn't they? The first commandment in the law of games is 'Thou shalt hype'.

Back in the hood

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 1

But it was not always like this. GTA III slipped out to zero fanfare, and worried PR types pleaded with journalists to not mention the violent aspects of the game, lest the British tabloids pick up on it and demand to have this 'sick filth' banned (only three years late, eh?). Even Vice City emerged a healthy shade of pink, with a mere handful of screenshots to tease us with in the run up to release. The same deal with Manhunt. And then suddenly Rockstar decided to go from one extreme to the other, literally bombarding our mail box with new shots, exhaustive documents going into meticulous detail about the various new features that have been shoehorned into the game. Then followed three preview events, but yet not one opportunity to wrestle the joypad off them; and no opportunity to review the game until the finished boxed copy was finally delivered just three days ago. It was akin to a starving man being forced to watch a culinary dish being prepared, cooked, tasted and savoured in front of him. "Look, smell, but don't taste. We'll give it to you when we're good and ready." Oh the agony.

Somehow we preferred the enigmatic media blackout of old. Leave the surprises to be discovered. Let the word of mouth spread the game's gospel. That's how the last two worked; did Rockstar really need to go to such lengths to effectively spoil a lot of the game's surprises? The game could have hit the shelves today with zero advertising and no reviews and still sold out. It's that type of game. The less we know about it, the more we want to find out what's in there. The pre-release media splurge was a novelty; we thirsted for every morsel to begin with. Of course we did. Everyone did. Towards the end of the campaign, though, we actually couldn't believe quite how much Rockstar was prepared to spill and we politely declined to attend the final preview event for fear of spoiling it for ourselves, never mind everyone else. The very charm of the GTA games was the element of surprise; the exploration factor. Ringing your mates up excitedly reporting on your progress and all the craziness you've come across. Comparing notes. Playing through San Andreas did reveal a few surprises, nevertheless. It's that sort of game. You could write an entire book on the game and still only find yourself skimming over certain elements of it.

Big is better

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 2

But we're not here to exhaustively run through the myriad of things you can do in the game, but more whether they're actually fun and whether the game's really what it's cracked up to be. The first thing that cannot be overstated is that Rockstar really weren't making it up when they said it was a big game. It positively redefines the concept of what constitutes an epic game. There is absolutely no question that San Andreas is in the region of twice as big as previous GTAs. Maybe even three times, depending on what lengths you'll go to. To even work your way through half of the missions alone would take more time than it would normally take to finish two average sized action-adventures. In value for money terms it's hard to imagine another game like it.

Pile on the extras and it's almost too much to comprehend. Pimping missions, Trucking, Driving school, Ammu-Nation challenges, Dating, Territory occupations, and more join the usual distractions on offer such as Taxi driving, Vigilante, Ambulance, Fire fighting and the ongoing quest to find hidden items; in San Andreas' case they're not as prevalent as you'd expect, but seek and you shall find.

As veterans of previous campaigns it's easy to come to hasty conclusions about San Andreas. Your expectations really don't help. What we perhaps expected was more of the same. Much more of the same, with tweaks, technical improvements and the benefit of an entirely contrasting set of scenarios, characters and, naturally for a game set in 1992, the soundtrack. What you don't expect or even particularly acknowledge at the time is how the game lurches dramatically in different directions, often throwing you completely off balance into the bargain, and not always in a positive sense.

From the streets

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 3

You start out, of course, in Los Santos as Carl Johnson - a twentysomething former Grove Street gang member returning to a less than enthusiastic welcome after five years in Liberty City exile. Soon it becomes apparent the game's much less of a clichéd GTA; it's about a low-down bum working his way up the crime tree, and far more focused on the ins and outs of gang culture, the relationships between the 'family' and restoring the gang pride of old. Soon, of course, stamping your authority on the immediate vicinity and taking out frustrations on the rival Ballas gang becomes the priority.

Ruling Los Santos proves to be an early highlight, and immediately sets the game apart from the other GTAs by virtue of its focus on dialogue, narrative and constantly going that extra mile to set the scene - not just via the between-mission cut-scenes, but through regular colourful exchanges as you're driving, and all manner of banter during each mission. As a cinematic experience it goes to inordinate lengths to get things right, with a quite staggering attention to detail providing endless opportunities to truly immerse the player in a convincing environment where every character, every pedestrian feels as part of the day to day life as you are. Check out the huge roll call for the pedestrian voice actors to see the crazy lengths Rockstar has gone to make sure the ambience of the environment matches up to the quality on show elsewhere.

Once again the voice acting and radio stations are simply incomparable to any other game out there. If anything, the musical variety is even greater than before, drawing on a greater diversity of genres, ramping up the DJ humour to almost genius levels of parody and providing an excellent template for the game that no other game has yet to come anywhere near close to matching. Even after 40, 50 hours, you're still hearing fragments of dialogue, spoof adverts and songs that you've somehow never heard. It's the sort of thing you'd be happy to pay money for on its own; that it's such a throwaway part of the game just goes to show how far Rockstar is willing to run with this excellent concept. Sure, the music won't always be to your taste, but somehow in the context of what you're doing it all fits, so you don't mind while the truly cringeworthy "All My Exes Live In Texas" or "Queen Of Hearts" play for the third time that evening, or, if you do, flicking to another of the ten stations is but a mere D-pad nudge away.

Pulp interaction

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 4

And as if the pedestrian voices and DJ scripts aren't enough, you get hit by the likes of Samuel L Jackson and Chris Penn making you realise just how good and how compelling gaming narrative can be when you're prepared to hire the right talent for the right price. The constant swearing might not be to everyone's taste, but when you've got a Rockstar game about hardcore gangsters, what does the audience really expect? In truth, some of it does veer a little into the realms of shock for the sake of it, and the way certain characters flit in and out of the storyline doesn't always make for a coherent, logical plotline, but for the most part they're enjoyable, amusing, and energetic, and a lesson to many publishers as to not only use as a plot device, but for pure entertainment and reward for the efforts you've put into playing some often intensely challenging missions.

Perhaps when we say challenging, we mean fascist, as it has to be said that certain areas of San Andreas will have even the most committed fan tearing their hair out to move on from. It's a series complaint, really, that has yet to be addressed. The odd tough mission here and there is fine, too - so long as the player doesn't have to play more than about 10 times. After that, the whole thing becomes a chore and you just want to give up. Worse still is the fact that some of the toughest missions in the entire game are held up as immovable barriers - parts of a linear obstacle course that must be overcome before anything else can move on.

Naming and shaming the countryside segment in particular, more or less all of these missions must be completed in order, and culminate in two particularly nasty point-to-point races one after the other; both set on twisting parthways on the side of a hill. The AI is fairly gentle, if truth be told, but actually not plummeting down into a ravine or into a stream proves a lot harder than many of you will have patience for. What adds to the growing frustration at the point of failure is the realisation that you'll not only have to drive back to the mission start, but if you've wiped out your car, finding another one of similar spec suddenly proves impossible without driving back into Los Santos. While Rockstar intermittently aids players with a 'Trip Skip' feature to avoid constantly replaying earlier sections of a mission, it's less useful than you think, given that most of the time you've lost all your weapons through dying, or, worse, you've got to spend several minutes getting back to the mission start. It's during this second portion of the game in the countryside that you really start wishing Rockstar could simply offer a mission-retry option. To not include such an option gives rise to enormous resentment, boredom, frustration and injury to inanimate objects. No-one really wants to waste so much time when playing a videogame, but Rockstar positively revels in forcing you to go though hoops to do the simplest things.

Falling down

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 5

It's somewhat fortunate then that after only ten missions of cross-country tedium you're back in the somewhat more familiar surrounding of San Fierro. Without wishing to drop any spoilers, the game really starts to go back to its roots, feeling much more like GTA III in structure and purpose after the fairly radical opening two sections. With its undulating terrain and the types of mission you'll have to perform, San Andreas marks itself out as very much an ever-changing game - a game that's almost impossible to judge prematurely because you never quite know where it's going to go next. Sometimes, though, even when you're admiring the brilliance on show, there are some terrifyingly badly designed missions to rile you up again. A special mention has to go out to the sadistic souls that designed the Zero remote control/shooting missions, which were neither fun nor playable in the traditional sense, unless you delight in having to learn entirely new and unwieldy control systems for things that have been more than adequately represented in other games.

Sometimes, though, the faults in San Andreas come down to pure technical issues. While it's true that the visuals are an improvement on Vice City, with far better animation and detail levels, the issue of sluggish frame rate regularly reared its ugly head in the middle of an intense battle or - in particular - fast driving in congested areas. It may well be pushing the PS2 for all its worth, but it comes at quite a heavy price and Xbox and PC owners will be looking forward to seeing such problems eliminated when their respective versions emerge next year - assuming Rockstar 'surprises' us with an Xbox announcement in the coming months, anyway. The age-old issue of targeting still hasn't been solved satisfactorily; although it's a massive improvement over previous versions, the auto-lock constantly fails to engage a nearby target, causing the player to suddenly be twisted 45 degrees away from their intended target for reasons we still can't work out.

Ten million? Easy.

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 6

That said, some of the new additional effects are superb, and the layer of polish addresses many of the concerns over what is underneath quite creaking technology at this point. Just leaving the joypad alone for 30 seconds or so is worth it, just to admire the view as pedestrians go about their business and the camera pans appreciatively - with a huge amount of crime kicking off at all times, rather worryingly...

Pulling it all together, there's no sense in glossing over San Andreas' flaws. There's a sense that some gamers are happy with more, whatever that extra content actually turns out to be. In this case, much of San Andreas' 'more' is padding that frankly we could have done without. The countryside section, for example, was a mistake. Some of the missions elsewhere are simply ill-conceived, and in extreme cases just bar players' progress entirely. The decision to relentlessly persist in forcing players to backtrack often across vast sections of land in order to restart a mission is unquestionably bad game design that punishes the player for arbitrary reasons. Combining these issues with some flawed missions takes the shine off an otherwise amazing package, and, for us at least, means it stops short of being the complete package that was promised.

All round it's still an incredible achievement for Rockstar, and it deserves all the success it's sure to get from this release; but like a band at the peak of its powers that releases an ambitious double album with 30 songs on it, less often turns out to be more. There may be some classic moments on it, but you have to wade through the self-indulgent bits first, and for all San Andreas' pomp and ambition it's not a Be Here Now, but it's almost certainly Rockstar's White Album. Ultimately, if I had a penny for every time someone asked this week 'what score are you going to give San Andreas then?' I'd probably have almost ten pence. Probably nearer 9.9.

9 / 10

Tom's perspective...

Blah. Blah blah blah. Blah di blah di blah di blah. It's all irrelevant. Rockstar's already won. You've already bought it. You're sitting at work knowing there's a copy on your doormat, or perhaps you're glancing excitedly at a plastic bag on the edge of your desk, the DVD-case-shaped contours beaming like the sun-kissed curves of the woman of your dreams. Or, lest we exclude, rippling like the abs of a great hulk of a man. It's ready to pleasure you in every conceivable way.

Said and done

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 7

And when you turn it on it certainly feels like Rockstar has conceived of more than ever before. The narrative is engrossing, the characters believable and well-acted - as Kristan rightly notes, not just in the expected confines of the cut sequences, but also on the streets, in the cars, as you dash around covering your Triad gang boss or talk to your pals on a mobile phone as you tear up Los Santos with a gaggle of gun-toting police bearing down on your back-bumper and motorcycle cops hanging off the bonnet. And there's so much else to do beyond the Final Fantasy-dwarfing depth of the single-player story missions. It touches every base, wraps its fingers around them and squeezes every last drop. It's the biggest, most extraordinary developmental accomplishment this industry has ever seen.

So much stands out. Being chased through back-alleys of Los Santos on a motorbike, jiggling your low-rider's suspension with the right analogue stick in time to a hip-hop beat, sneaking into a mansion and knifing guards, racing BMX bikes down the side of a mountain, pinpointing the gas tank on an SUV as enemies spray bullets at you and blowing them all to hell with a single bullet, the first time you get to wield a pair of machineguns at once, flying crop-dusting planes, jack-knifing a flaming lorry into oncoming traffic and leaping out just as it explodes, taking over the gangland street by street, blowing bloody doors off with satchel charges, rendezvousing with familiar faces. Not all is scripted. So many of the things you'll remember about San Andreas most fondly will be of your own design.

And that's to say nothing of the humour. Cluckin' Bell restaurants with their "F***-a-doodle-doos", leading blind men into fire-fights, demented wannabe rappers, comedy allusions to a certain controversial Grand Theft Also you might recall we didn't like, Samuel L Jackson on a bong, "We'll s*** on you from such a height you'll think God himself has crapped on you," virtually every radio advert in the entire game (we've a particularly fond recollection of the ex-army exterminators - "What the hell is that?" "That's my son!" "Looks like Vietcong to me!"); you needn't worry about spoilers. It's almost impossible to be hyperbolic about its merits. There's just so much of everything.

Roll your own

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Screenshot 8

The much-trailed changes largely come off without a hitch, too. The RPG-style elements - bodybuilding, watching your weight, swimming, targeting, etc. etc. - they don't interfere, they just improve, albeit some more than others. One of our biggest concerns was that we'd spend so much time trying to keep CJ healthy that we'd feel like NHS nurses with shotguns. In actual fact, restaurants and burger bars are just a cheap and easy health top-up, and you needn't worry too much about beefing up beyond what's sensible; you'd have to make an effort. And besides, going to the gym isn't just worthwhile for health reasons; it'll teach you new moves, improve your speed and stamina and all sorts. Much is like this - and the stats influence the world around you and its reaction to you. Literally nobody will see and hear everything this game has to offer.

It's not perfect though. Admittedly we had no right to expect that, but it is still a little grating to find ourselves fighting against the camera (particularly while driving) and the targeting system after railing against both and hearing tell this year of how neither would be a problem. And the technical limitations of the PlayStation 2 do frustrate, at least until you come to anticipate them. The game tops out at 30 frames per second, and spends an awful lot of time stooped far lower, while anybody whose PS2 hasn't come out of shrink-wrap this week is going to see the close-up hi-res textures drawing a couple of seconds late from time to time, and there's also a case for complaining about the pop-up. Granted, it's hardly on a par with DRIV3R's utterly contemptible failings in this regard, but there are one or two occasions when a thin but immovable wall springs out of nowhere to block your path as you lurch across a car park in pursuit of a shortcut.

Then there's the question of pacing, frivolity, and difficulty spikes. The story moves on quite swiftly, and sometimes leaves clever ideas under-exploited. Capturing gang territories was proving quite entertaining, then all of a sudden we were booted out of Los Santos and had no chance of building up that side of the game. That's one example. There are weaker elements like the already-chided countryside section that splits Los Santos and San Fierro, and some of the side missions like the trucking and taking out drug couriers drag you all over the map - which takes an inordinate amount of time - for relatively insignificant benefits. And, it has to be said, completing the arduous advanced driving school only to receive a minor stat top-up was almost as frustrating as failing the same mission over and over.

Grandiose

But while it's true that when totted up San Andreas has more faults than the average game, that's only because it has so much more of everything else. We can't stress enough how much fun there is to be had in this game. Everywhere you look. Whether it's jumps (which become more prominent in San Fierro), spraypainting tags, burgling people, dating, or just ripping the city to shreds and fending off waves of cops, SWAT, choppers, National Guard, army, feds and everybody else. One of GTA's perennial strengths has been its endgame - the fact that you're never finished, and even when you technically are you can always still have fun and find new things to do, listen to, or what-have-you. With San Andreas, that's more true than ever, and it's going to take you even longer than ever before to get there. It's no exaggeration to say that you could be still be playing this when the next GTA game comes out, even if it takes Rockstar another two years to finish.

It's not perfect then, but so much of it is so good that you won't care. Sure, you'll curse it until you're blue in the face, your coffee table's upended and your girlfriend's left you, and you may well switch off the PlayStation 2 in disgust from time to time. But you'll always come back, because there'll always be something else, some other fun you could be having with it instead. Whether it's better than GTA III or even Vice City is hard to say. But it's a moot point. It's still essential, even if it doesn't always pack the same amount of fun per square mile, and it's hard to imagine any other game besides the next Grand Theft Auto topping its overarching achievements. You were right to buy it. But then that was never in any doubt, was it?

Order yours now from Simply Games.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy

Comments (131) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ssuellid #1 7 years ago

    The 'Whats News' led me expect an 8.
  • ssuellid #2 7 years ago

    lol, one second apart.
  • statix101 #3 7 years ago

    Still gonna wait for the pc version, as i simply cannot play this type of game with the ps2 dual shock....broke 2 of them throwing them against the wall playing vice city because of the awkard handling and control method...mouse and keyboard is so much more civillised...besides Half life 2 and Halo 2 are gonna be takin all my time up for the next 2mths...
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 15:36
  • countlippe #4 7 years ago

  • tiddles #5 7 years ago

    broke 2 of them throwing them against the wall playing vice city because of the awkard handling and control method

    Top Tip... Set up some cushions on a nearby chair or sofa... then, when you're suitably enraged, you can fling your controller into this waiting landing pad with the full force of your rage, and save yourself a few quid.
  • prettyboytim #6 7 years ago

    Hmm. I wasn't going to get this, and then as I started reading the review I started getting excited about it again, but with the huge difficulty spikes, I think I'll give it a miss for now. Maybe I'll get it later, once it's come out on Xbox and I've got a bit more spare time to play games...
  • dose #7 7 years ago

    So... now you say there's no 60Hz mode?!? Make your mind up....
  • elchuppa #8 7 years ago

    question: I played around 3 missions of Vice City before I decided that I couldn't be bothered with the shitty controls. What are the odds that I would do the same with San Andreas?

  • groovychainsaw #9 7 years ago

    fair review, methinks.... been playing for about eight hours and feel like ive only scratched the surface....
  • prettyboytim #10 7 years ago

    tiddles: Top Tip... Set up some cushions on a nearby chair or sofa... then, when you're suitably enraged, you can fling your controller into this waiting landing pad with the full force of your rage, and save yourself a few quid.

    Yes. Yes, that's exactly what I thought when I was playing GTA:VC - However, the combination of my rage and the fact that the controller was still tethered to the PS2 when I threw it meant that I narrowly missed my sofa and hit the wall just above it...

    Suddenly Tommy Vercetti could only walk in circles...
  • Blerk #11 7 years ago

    Excellent review! Finally, someone has the balls to talk about the niggles instead of repeating the press releases verbatim. I very much hope this is sitting on the doormat when I get home. :-)

    Anyone who's already played care to comment on the 16:9 mode? Does it still stretch the bitmaps in a nasty way, or have they fixed that since Vice City?
  • Big-Swiss #12 7 years ago

    Finally! I love it! I need it! gimme gimme gimme!

    too bad, here it isn't available yet, not even the preorders arived yet at any of my friends house. Tomorrow they say, thats what we get for living in the middle of mountains!!!

    I really can't wait to play this!!!
  • mash the x button #13 7 years ago

    I don't want to start the fanboy slanging match again but x-box bods please note:
    Sony does have rival/bigger games than Halo, and they know when to release them as well. Halo this Halo that, GTA will sell just as many for sure. I doubt I'll play it though, not my style:)
  • Machiavel #14 7 years ago

    I'll wait as well - will go home and carry on playing Vice City at the point where I got bored (all the property and aimless job crap) - on the Xbox version. Till next year, San Andreas!

    (Spelling pedant: parthways ;))
  • Feanor #15 7 years ago

    I could die a happy man if someone from Rockstar could give a decent explanation of why there is no Mission Restart option. The one thing I cannot stand in videogames anymore is having to waste my time because of a dopey designer decision. It's one thing to have to do a mission over and over because it's tough. It's quite another to force the player to f**k around, wasting their life, just to have the privilege of restarting the mission.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 15:57
  • oneiros #16 7 years ago

    Y'know, if I hadn't immediately scrolled down to the bottom of the page, I'd have been surprised by that 9 - the review makes it sound like a 7 or 8...

    No matter; GTA's really not my thang.
    Edited by 2 at 29/10/04 @ 16:05
  • krudster #17 7 years ago

    Yes, please - a reasonable explanation for that would be really great.
  • UncleLou #18 7 years ago

    Oh, alright, thanks for the heads-up, the "backtrack to restart missions" and difficulty level kills it for me.
  • pjmaybe #19 7 years ago

    Bizarre...!

    A strange review sort of almost trying to put across that it's too damned frustrating to be fun, but from sheer scale alone deserves a 9...

    Er, OK - As Tom said though, doesn't matter - we're all sat here with a copy in our bags or sitting in our PS2s at home - and if the chart next week doesn't reflect this, then I really will be incredibly shocked.

    Peej
  • krudster #20 7 years ago

    There are some genius moments in there that we plan to elaborate on in a mission by mission breakdown later on. For now it's a great game with issues that few people are seemingly brave enough to mention even exist. God forbid that there might actually be *things wrong with San Andreas*! Some way down the line when everyone's had a chance to play it, we might have a reasoned discussion about this.

    I actually stayed up all last night playing this, incidentally.
    Edited by 2 at 29/10/04 @ 16:03
  • valli #21 7 years ago

    If you die or get caught during a mission, a taxi will wait for you and take you back to the mission start point. That's how it worked in "Vice City" anyway.

    Blerk: all bitmaps get stretched when in 16:9, just like before. :(
  • tengu #22 7 years ago

    It seems fine to me from the brief play I've given it thus far, not really any better or worse than Vice City. But it has the added bonus of Samuel L Jackson! That cat is just cool on legs!
  • cubbymoore #23 7 years ago

    I've played about three hours of it, and I've managed to do THREE missions, even the beginning bits are bewildering for me. And I completed Vice City in about 25 hours, which I hear is pretty quick. I've got a feeling this could be more difficult than I anticipated.
  • Feanor #24 7 years ago

    "like a band at the peak of its powers that releases an ambitious double album with 30 songs on it, less often turns out to be more."

    Sounds a lot like The Smashing Pumpkins double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, except more was more in that case.

    I think when I was younger (I'm 26 now) I would put up with games that wasted my time without being so worried about it. But now when I'm in an unneccesary, time-wasting part of a game I always start thinking - there must be something more fun or productive I could be doing instead of this. I still got enraged sometimes by how difficult the missions in Midnight Club 2 were, but because that game let you restart any level in two seconds I persevered and managed to get to 100% complete. I never would have bothered doing that if restarting wasn't very quick and easy to do.

    And I would imagine that games that waste your time unnecessarily must be far more annoying for games reviewers who have deadlines to meet and reviews to write.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 16:10
  • markypants #25 7 years ago

    The bits I've aloud myself to read are good. 9/10 seems like the general review for this game.

    Good stuff guys. I particularly liked the way you broke it down into 2 opinions. That is a really helpful device when reading game reviews.

    Now. If only Simply Games had delivered today I could be playing this already!!!
  • krudster #26 7 years ago

    Unless we've really overlooked this, there is no longer a taxi ride back to your missions. Why take it out R*?
  • Mr_Sleep #27 7 years ago

    Hopefully they will have corrected a lot of those problems by the time it gets to the PC. I hope they get the conversion right like they (mostly) did with Vice City.

    I am almost tempted to buy a PS2 for this but nothing is worth that much devotion...apart from upgrading my PC more and more and more and more until it runs a small african country.

    Good review too.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 16:06
  • cubbymoore #28 7 years ago

    /also ignores THATinkjar
  • cubbymoore #29 7 years ago

    Yeah I died on the first bike mission and searched for about five minutes everywhere for a taxi :S
  • pjmaybe #30 7 years ago

    "Some way down the line when everyone's had a chance to play it, we might have a reasoned discussion about this."

    Now THAT'S a good call Kristan. I managed about 2 hours on this and couldn't even begin to feel qualified enough to say "it's the best game ever" or "it's a pile of cash-in shite" - there's simply way too much in there to snap-review it - so when did you guys get your review copies if it's not too rude a question?

    Peej

  • Blerk #31 7 years ago

    Blerk: all bitmaps get stretched when in 16:9, just like before. :(

    Argh! Arse biscuits!

    The 'taxi' to take you back to the start of the missions in VC was almost entirely useless. What's the point of being taken directly to the start of a mission if you've just died and have lost your good car, all your weapons, your bullet-proof vest, etc.? You ended up buggering off to get all that stuff again anyway. I never used it.
  • Tipsy #32 7 years ago

    I tend to save a fair bit then just go back to a previous save if I fail a mission or die - I guess the lack of a retry is something I've got used to.
  • mcmonkeyplc #33 7 years ago

    Ah this means Halo 2 will get 8 then :p

    /Waits for xbox version

    /Still hasn't finished vice city

  • krudster #34 7 years ago

    The US boxed copy turned up tuesday morning. Have done very little other than play it since...
  • Feanor #35 7 years ago

    It's funny, Blerk. If the game is going to let you come back from the dead, why doesn't it let you come back from the dead with all your good stuff at the start of the mission you just failed? Maybe Rockstar live in a fantasy world where everyone has 10 hours of free time per day and nothing better to do than slog thru their games!
  • tengu #36 7 years ago

    Hey, inkjar, what have you said to piss everyone off then?
  • Blerk #37 7 years ago

    I reckon abusing the staff and accusing them of not actually playing the game they're reviewing is probably a pretty good way of getting your post deleted, tbh. :-)
  • valli #38 7 years ago

    What's the point of being taken directly to the start of a mission if you've just died and have lost your good car, all your weapons, your bullet-proof vest, etc.? You ended up buggering off to get all that stuff again anyway. I never used it. Indeed, worthless feature.

    Again, the taxi showed up in VC in front of the hospital OR the police station. It had a huge pink arrow on top of it, hard to miss.
  • tiddles #39 7 years ago

    Yes. Yes, that's exactly what I thought when I was playing GTA:VC - However, the combination of my rage and the fact that the controller was still tethered to the PS2 when I threw it meant that I narrowly missed my sofa and hit the wall just above it...

    Now THAT'S why the Xbox is plainly superior to the PS2... those little plugs near the ends of the cables neatly pop free, allowing the hurled controller to sail perfectly towards its landing zone...
  • TheDifficult3rdAlbum #40 7 years ago

    > Who here thinks 'THATinkjar' has a business card on it with a Rockstar logo on it..?

    Turns out he has a business card with a Future Publishing logo on it.
  • Pac #41 7 years ago

    I tend to save a fair bit then just go back to a previous save if I fail a mission or die - I guess the lack of a retry is something I've got used to.

    Same here, that way you end up with a stupid amount of weapons. And you're next to the garage where you hopefully stashed a decent mode of transport.

    What really got me in Vice City was the difficulty level in one car race towards the end which I tried about 50 times. What a pain in the arse.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 16:42
  • Killerbee #42 7 years ago

    Great reviews. I will definitely be getting this game - just not until I've finished Vice City. :)

    I'm disappointed to hear about the difficulty spikes and the endless trawling around. Shame they've binned the post-arrest/death taxis because they were a great idea that only needed tweaking so you could stop off at the nearest Ammu-nation on your way to the mission. Or alternatively, why not have the cabbie sell you stuff?
  • hulahoops #43 7 years ago

    I'd guess that the decision to not allow mission restarts is because they'd have to save far too much data.
  • sir_tripod #44 7 years ago

    I recently sold my PS2 along with my GTA3 + VC. I loaded up VC (which I didn't complete on the PS2) for the PC. With a resolution of 1280x1024x32, better graphics, minimal loading times, no slowdown, no "fog" (unless it's foggy weather) and custom audio tracks, the PC version is the mutt's nutts.

    Sure the PS2 version is out now but I think I can wait for the new version next year. Still, ask me again in a week... d;-)
  • Sid-Nice #45 7 years ago

    Blerk I've played it on a 42" widescreen and it looks absolute shite. The collision is piss poor, I was on a BMX traveling about 5 mph up hill brushed past a lamp post and down it went. I'm not impressed, if the game wasn't a Christmas present for my son, then it would be going back. Not only did I have to buy the game but I also had to purchase a new PS2 as my eldest son the PES man, took our other PS2 to his flat. I just can't get into this version of GTA, I wouldn't bat an eyelid if I never played this again.
  • Mr_Sleep #46 7 years ago

  • WriterUK #47 7 years ago

    Kristan's review got me a little down, but Tom's perked me right up.

    Either way, it's still going in the PS2 when I get home. Trust Amazon, folks, that's all I can say.... :)
  • hp_on_toast #48 7 years ago

    It seems like people are finally getting wound up with naff controls and framerate - I know I wouldnt mind rockstar keeping the draw distance the same as VC and doubling the framerate rather than just doubling the draw distance (couldnt we have g police draw distance sliders).

    A couple of Q's for anyone who has played this - the screenshots show roads and pavement less populated than in GTA3/VC- is this really a driver/getaway ghost town experience? And also, has the cop/wanted system changed / made more detailed - a few screens ive seen have shown "police arriving" countdowns and I was wondering if that was normal or some mission specific section?

    BTW, roll on GTA: Sherwood Forest

    word has it it'll have h05r35 in it...
  • Sid-Nice #49 7 years ago

    Rebus
    29-Oct-04 16:23:50 I do hope your son is over 18 anyway, Sid.

    No he's nearly 10. :)
  • Stevas mkII #50 7 years ago

    Yeah, Sid, Rebus is right: I hope the son you got the game for is over 18.

    Otherwise you know what might happen - impressionable youth, and all that.

    He'll be out there trying to knock over lamposts with his BMX in no time.
  • pjmaybe #51 7 years ago

    HP - it didn't seem AS populated as GTA 3 but then I didn't find Vice City to be overly stuffed with cars..

    Sit down for a mo with something heavy to shoot vehicles with and you can still pile 'em up at a junction though, which is nice.

    Peej
  • matrim83 #52 7 years ago

    What about the physics?
    I mean I don't really expect Havok or anything but its not the same old everybody dies and falls down the same way is it?
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/04 @ 17:35
  • krudster #53 7 years ago

    The Trip Skip feature that is alluded to here is next to useless and appears on one mission only to disappear for the next.

    It's fine if you're happy with losing all your weapons etc, but for those that like to reload in their saved game to keep them, you're never going to see a Trip Skip (this being the presumed replacement/compromise for the absence of Taxis to pick you up after being Wasted etc).
  • Pac #54 7 years ago

    Anyone got a high score for that crappy Gyrus clone that is sat under the TV in CJ's house?

    Or or you all too busy performing hit and runs on innocent lamp posts with your BMXs?
  • ERG1008 #55 7 years ago

    I'm not getting this until Monday. :o(
    At least I'll get something done this weekend & our lass will still be talking to me. :o)
  • Sid-Nice #56 7 years ago

    He's already done that Stevas and came off second best. I don't think preventing my children from playing San Andreas would change their life pattern. We are alreay the local mafia. My eldest son is notorious, he was ram raiding at 15, the only problem, was that he only had a mountain bike. :)
  • urizen #57 7 years ago

    'For now it's a great game with issues that few people are seemingly brave enough to mention even exist. God forbid that there might actually be *things wrong with San Andreas*!'

    Well done - I feel strangely closer to buying it now than after the unconditionally adulatory IGN review.

    Good job!

    /heads off to see if it's arrived in his country yet...:(
  • Jontacular #58 7 years ago

    My eldest son is notorious, he was ram raiding at 15, the only problem, was that he only had a mountain bike. :)

    You must be very proud!
  • L0cky #59 7 years ago

    I'll wait for the pc version so I can ram lamposts with my bmx with better controls x)
  • Stevas mkII #60 7 years ago

    I'm hoping EG review Halo 2 from the perspective of someone who wants a kick arse single player story driven FPS, with the added bonus that it pretty much ROCKS online, but then that's just because I believe that there are a lot more Xbox owners out there who care more for the single player aspects of the game than how much the online ROCKS.
    I think it's pretty obvious that the online will ROCK. That the online would ROCK is beyond doubt. It was a given that, online, Halo 2 would ROCK.
    But then, how many people loved the first one because of how much it ROCKED online?
    Exactly.
  • Hicksy #61 7 years ago

    Thank you EG - I will definitely be getting this on x-box :)
  • tiddles #62 7 years ago

    He's already done that Stevas and came off second best. I don't think preventing my children from playing San Andreas would change their life pattern. We are alreay the local mafia. My eldest son is notorious, he was ram raiding at 15, the only problem, was that he only had a mountain bike. :)

    I blame Animal Crossing.
  • Teeth #63 7 years ago

    Been playing this today, it's good fun, somehow I'm not loving it as much as the other games. Too much extra stuff, perhaps. Dunno. Have to see how it goes. BMX stuff is great.
  • Teeth #64 7 years ago

    Funny you should mention animal crossing, actually, as I was thinking that this is becoming more nad more like it with all the little mini games like basketball and club dancing etc. How long before you have inconsequential characters in the game with whom you might converse, send letters, sell drugs to, do drive-bys for? Who knows.

    Perhaps this should be the last GTA game.
  • tyTY #65 7 years ago

    9/10??? OK maybe but common this game is as perfect as can be! The only thing that is romotely bad is that the car and bike hanling could use some work.
  • Errol #66 7 years ago

    Two great reviews. Great reading.
  • krudster #67 7 years ago

    I have no complaints with handling at all - once your skill stats level up, you're capable of practically anything. Give me a decent frame rate and a mission retry thankyouverymuch!
  • Royal Fool #68 7 years ago

    I like the game so far, but the graphics are pissing me off. Either the game is sickeningly overbright during the day hours or crazy blue during the nights.

    First when I popped the game in and watched through the intro and all that I just thought 'Why the hell does this game look so bad compared to all my other PS2 games?'.

    Why is the game so dark, why doesn't the brightness feature fix it at all, why do I have to risk permanent eye blindness during the day (Yes, I tried tweaking the TV settings, it helps a bit but the game is still hurting my eyes) and why is there no 60Hz mode?

    Come on Rockstar. I was expecting this to be a bit more polished effort than this. :(

    The gameplay is ace so far, though.
  • barchetta #69 7 years ago

    Slightly off-topic but is the new PStwo quieter than PS2?
    Had an old one B4 Xbox and it was pretty wheezy (as is the big black yankee tub'o'lard).
    The HDD issue doesn't bother me but fancy buying this (GTA:SA) and ICO so reckon the the new form factor is the one to go for. (Tesco has this and GTA:SA for £130 and not sure I can hold out!).
  • Royal Fool #70 7 years ago

    Yes, that is my ******* nr. 1 complaint: The game looks absolutely awful on my TV. I have a very good 29" Sony Trinitron set, this is the worst-looking game I've seen on it.
  • valli #71 7 years ago

    Slightly off-topic but is the new PStwo quieter than PS2?

    It's dead quiet, since it doesn't have a fan. The only moving parts are the two motors in the DVD drive.
  • Homer Simpson #72 7 years ago

    Well if it doesn't have a fan won't it overheat?
  • Foregone Reality #73 7 years ago

    ..Mmm...

    Naaa...

    /imports a copy of Mario Kart DD instead
  • barchetta #74 7 years ago

    Yeah - looked too thin thin to have a fan but surely not liquid cooled? I know the PSU is external but doesn't the 'emotion engine' give out a fair amount of heat - or is it sulking? ;)
  • bungalooBunny #75 7 years ago

    Not even EG managed to escape the 'live up to the GTA hype' bandwagon.

    Got it a couple of days ago, it's a good game like all GTAs but it sure feels old. The graphics look dated and the gameplay overall feels a bit tired, kinda 'I've been there before' sort of thing.

    It's still GTA, so it is a good game but a 9 is way too much for me.
  • Tyronne #76 7 years ago

    After spending a good few hours playing this today after picking it up for 30 quid in tescos the only 2 main complaints I have at the moment are the natural slow down when the screen is busy and the washed out textures...however g.t.a 4 on the ps3 should put those two niggles to sleep for a while.
  • deepmenace #77 7 years ago

    agree with u guys on the gfx front - i think this doesnt look as good the gta3.

    the colours are arse.

    its like lookin at gta3 thru tinted specs.
  • chronom4n #78 7 years ago

    from the tone of the review, i was expecting EG.net to give the game between 7.5 to 8.5.. Although upon reading it through it beats PSM2's figure of... R U Ready if u do not know already....99%!!!!!! NOW THAT IS TAKING RATINGS TOO FAR IN MY OPINION. Hopefully the issues that are blightlng the PS2 should be resolved for the xbox version. I hope and pray!
  • commander dixon #79 7 years ago

    9/10 ? as good as H&D2 ? ;)
  • Feanor #80 7 years ago

    You know, severinio, the front page of gamerankings says this as of one minute ago:

    GTA: SA - 98.2%
    Halo 2 - 97.0%
    Half-Life 2 - 97.0%
    Ratchet & Clank 3 - 97.2%
  • Royal Fool #81 7 years ago

    I'm currently at Madd Dogg's mansion.

    OG Loc = One heck of a funny character, rivals Fernando and Lazlow in my honest opinion. =)
  • Dizzy #82 7 years ago

    9? Oh well... at least you list the good/bad point.

    A nice solid 8 IMHO
  • mcmonkeyplc #83 7 years ago

    So as good as pro evo 4 then :p

  • BartonFink #84 7 years ago

    Jeybus there is tard all over these GTA threads.
  • BartonFink #85 7 years ago

    So have they sorted out the aiming on this one? It was a pain in the arse on the previous two.
  • cubbymoore #86 7 years ago

    BartonFink "Jeybus there is tard all over these GTA threads."

    Heh, what tards?

    /pats "ignore unregistered users" button
  • Feanor #87 7 years ago

    I forgot we had that option, cubbymore. I'm going to ignore unregistered users from now on, even though it seems the twists of Halo 2 have been spoiled for me already. Fucking dumb fuck cunt fuckers.
  • BigAl #88 7 years ago

    well said Feanor, just signed up so I could ignore the tards too.
    Edited by 1 at 30/10/04 @ 06:11
  • squaylor #89 7 years ago

    Can't play this for a year!! Hmmm...unless I buy a console over here.... ;)
  • L0cky #90 7 years ago

    '/pats "ignore unregistered users" button'

    heh, now I remember why some posts don't make sense x)
  • BartonFink #91 7 years ago

    Hmm ignoring the question eh!

    So have they sorted out the targeting?
  • Scimarad #92 7 years ago

    Bloody hell, the characteres in this game are morons! This guy comes back from an apparently better life on the other side of the country and within seconds his IQ appears to have dropped by 90% and he's practically begging to be let back into this crappy gang lifestyle he previously escaped. What a total twat!

    Please tell me there's a 'vigilante' mode...I just feel like I'm on the wrong side in that game.


  • igol #93 7 years ago

    My copy of San Andreas keeps crashing, especially in crowded areas with lots going on. Has anyone else experieced this? I got my ps2 about 6 months after launch so it is a bit old. Has anyone with a new PS2 had the same problem? I’m just wondering if its worth me buying a nice new pstwo.
  • Decoded #94 7 years ago

    No problems here on my ten-month old PS2. Perhaps you do need to replace the console.
  • onezeonx #95 7 years ago

    only problem i have with my ps2 is everytime i put a ps2 game in.......i feel its overrated and pretty poor :)

    ahwell pro evo saves the day...........4 now

    p.s killzone sucks honestly (a big dissappointment)
  • Kavvy #96 7 years ago

    I get the "can't read disk" error about once every two minutes, I'm going to shop my Aqua PS2 for one of these new fangles jobbies.

    The "Just Business" mission is fucking torture, I'm going out for a romantic meal now and all I can think of is finishing this damn mission.

    Should be interesting, must remember not to call wife CJ.
  • rebelradiouk #97 7 years ago

    im playing the game 2 player at the moment.
  • googlymoogly #98 7 years ago

    I agree that there should be a 60hz option, but the good news is you can grab a disc called Ultimate Cheats for GTA San Andreas over at www.codejunkies.com. It's a fiver including delivery and one of the disc's many cheat codes forces the game to run in 60hz mode, which is faster. Sorted. :)
  • cubbymoore #99 7 years ago

    Would that improve framerate issues?
  • code:ninja #100 7 years ago

    Well, having got one of the remaining copies from my local Blockbuster yesterday (they sold 40 before 2pm), I was pretty happy to caress the box whilst telling myself "No - don't open it yet - you have to eat first".
    I've got so many fond memories of the previous games - they are the perfect solution to a rainy day.
    Anyway, after making myself the quickest meal in history I load it up and...hmm.
    doesnt seem any different...oh...oh thats cool. within minutes a whole load of things become apparent. Its a huge game, theres loads to do, and wow it looks like its gonna be fun.
    I played this game all afternoon and night yesterday and intend to continue that trend today (although I am meant to be cooking a sunday roast!).
    The control system is fucking retarded, but I'll forgive rockstar for that because it always feels like its my fault at the moment.
    I've seen a few major bugs so far though - there was a car driving underneath the road, with just its roof sticking out - which was bizarre. when it got stuck in traffic it blew up. I found it funny, but perhaps its not as polished as it could be. How long would it take to fully test this game before release??? I'll let them off I think.
    It is flawed, but I don't care, I'm really enjoying it at the moment, and two-player missions?? can't wait.

    Anyway, thats my bit for today.
    I'm off to have breakfast and start playing.
  • urban #101 7 years ago

    9

    it took me three days to get finished with the first lot of missions on the first island, just moved onto the second and ....it works out to be about 1 hour per percent of the game completed.

    so roughly...its gonna take you about 50 hours to complete... the missions, then another 50 to do everything else. then ofcourse you could get fat and run around naked and do the game again..its so fugging good !
    Edited by 1 at 31/10/04 @ 15:01
  • DDevil #102 7 years ago

    Why is it, all the women that are walking around SA, does CJ get it on with an absolute minger?

    Just asking...
  • Syrette #103 7 years ago

    ^he can't be serious. it just wouldn't be right.
  • Bezzy #104 7 years ago

    At 22:44 hours (all clocked in the last 3 days, and not counting time I reloaded so that I could have a few weapons back, rather than trek around for them - uhg) I am roughly half way through Sanf Fierro. I kick your ASS.

    I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a long, long way to go, though, and I can't really play during the week.

    Love the territory system. Hate the animation driven menus.

    If you've been judging this game based on "a couple of hours", then holy shit, you have the attention span of a carrot. a man-day of play in, I'm STILL waiting for new features to open up.
    Edited by 2 at 31/10/04 @ 23:06
  • Nause #105 7 years ago

    When do the tutorial stop and the game start ?
  • Siv #106 7 years ago

    San andreas is the best game i have ever played it has got good graphics and a excellent storyline
  • Mr Richard #107 7 years ago

    Due to reasons, I've just picked up my copy, so I've yet to play it. However, I noticed in the review on here that an old PS2 might struggle with pop-ups and textures, something that III and VC was prone to on mine. Anyone actually experienced this first hand?

    Worried that I'll have to shell out for that slate they call the PStwo since I picked my PS2 up months before the UK release. I'm surprised it's lasted this long.
  • bungalooBunny #108 7 years ago

    LoL @ Azuma


    Anyways... will this topic reach 200?
  • code:ninja #109 7 years ago

    Wow Azuma ! that's nearly as good an idea as mine!

    I was going to download crap off the internet onto CD and sell it as "Internet Volume 1,2,3,4..." etc. - for people who didnt have a modem!!


  • Mr Richard #110 7 years ago

    I have this disk what upgrades my posts from 'slightly informative' to 'cutting edge funny'. It even places things like "full stops" in, corrects spelling and adds hilarious quips... you bunch of brats!

    In the meantime, my SA activity started last night in a fury of uncertainty as the graphics reeked of PSone and the camera kept spinning around in front of my face. I like neat changes to a game series like this, but taking away the first-person view with the right analogue was annoying and all that black-talk is just wrong.

    I, like most of us socialites, will progress slowly as we continue our real life and thread SA in around it. Don't know if I can be arsed though. Maybe I’ll sell it and wait for the Xbox version so the better graphics will enhance my gaming and make my life more complete. Like a king.
  • Kavvy #111 7 years ago

    Dammit the countryside is feckin HUGE!

    I spent an hour riding around on a Sanchez last night and when I looked at the map I had travelled about 1/3 rd of the way from the mountain to the river by Los Santos.

    Too much to look at, too much to do, shit... shit... overload! Pleasure overload!

    Meh.
    Edited by 1 at 02/11/04 @ 12:43
  • Mr Richard #112 7 years ago

    Yes, well, it's obvious the next GTA will be set in the UK, like GTA: Donlon, or GTA: Dristol, or GTA: Boncaster... all names sounding very similiar to UK cities, but not. What's the point in a GTA rip off like The Getaway if it's not as good as GTA?

    Talking of good, 'they' should add, like, the Ghostbusters into a GTA title, thus making it easy to go around bustin' ghosts and riding around in a converted ambulance, sirens blaring.

    Still, I'm curious about the 'No Fly Zone' near the north of the map. SA's very own Area 51? This makes me think that Mulder and Scully will be in the game and I can pretend to be them.
  • wattoo #113 7 years ago

    ah GTA:UK

    Landon – Thieves, Pretentious Pillocks and Miserable bastards
    Madchester – Twats, Drunkards and Twats
    Glasgee – Subtitles, Drunkards and Fights
  • Aga #114 7 years ago

    It's old Roamer, old. Someone wanted to find out how much they posted. Probably their employers
  • Mr Richard #115 7 years ago

    Dude, everyone knows scope means nothing if the graphics don't look kick-ass.
  • gamesb*tch #116 7 years ago

    Whatever, Grand Theft FIFA 2005 isn't it, frankly...
  • tyTY #117 7 years ago

    San Firio sucks, Las Ventures rules
  • Kavvy #118 7 years ago

    Or they could just go and play something with the kick ass graphics and no scope, no replay value, no advances in video game technology.

    Oh, that'd be Doom 3 then.
  • Mr Richard #119 7 years ago

    I too am becoming ever more daunted.

    As the game opens up and more thing become available to do, it just seems overwhelming. It's not so much that I don't have time to play it, I don't have time to begin to start to get in to it, to concentrate on it.

    F*ck!

    Sorry. But it's annoying.
  • tengu #120 7 years ago

    And you can also kill yourself with a dildo, Dom, so you be careful with those things, okay?
  • tengu #121 7 years ago

    Actually, Dom, you're right, I don't have anything 'down there' except my colostomy bag I have to wear since that industrial accident that saw my penis and left butt cheek removed in a horrific encounter with a pane of glass.

    I hope you're happy you made fun of my short comings!
  • Dom's ass #122 7 years ago

    Dom, fuck yourself up your ass!!!
  • Dom's ass #123 7 years ago

    Lol, I always knew it was small and you wouldn't last long!!
  • Mr Richard #124 7 years ago

    The poor frame rate, pop ups, disc errors and 'god awful' AI are easily ignored. It's already been mentioned but the plot plus the freedom plus the realism makes the whole thing compelling. You stop noticing it after a while. Plus it doesnt happen often enough for it to be such a big bother. Plus the sheer size of the game makes my mouth water like a dribbling 'tard.

    Think of it like the geeky chick at school. Take her specs off and she's really fit and stuff, proving the big titted, blonde 'popular' one is just boring and rubbish.
  • Mr Richard #125 7 years ago

    A few people have mentioned some text that pops up, during play, saying: 'Error. Cannot read GTA:SA disc' or words to that effect.

    It should really say: 'Error, bitch. Can't yo nigger word mamma ho disc, fool'
  • Mr Richard #126 7 years ago

    The amber light is a myth. It was started by Jack McToogie back in 1818 when he mistook his green shoes for his orange ones because he was a bloody drunk Scots.
  • earvin #127 7 years ago

    Do this version have all of the swearing in it?
  • Madder-Max #128 7 years ago

    the disc read errors only start occuring after a stupid amount of time continuously playing, so cut that down and make up for it by tring out yer new skills in the real world and see how the police compare....
  • jimhead #129 7 years ago

    PIE PIE PIE PIE oh yeah I LIKE PIE

    my name is niko lewis
  • babiswad #130 6 years ago

    This game is a pile of boring, overlong, uncontrolable, graphically weak cliched crap.
  • Bloodloss #131 4 years ago

    jimhead
    17-Jan-05 19:14:20

    my name is niko


    This man can predict the future!
  • okn #132 4 years ago