A high mark in the controversial Grand Theft Auto series

The Grand Theft Auto series seems to be even more controversial than the near-hysteria surrounding Mortal Kombat I remember from my 1990s youth.  I can certainly understand wanting to keep GTA games away from children, and also most adolescents - but some of the fears surrounding GTA and related games are quite extreme.  Some people are convinced games with any kind of violence will corrupt regardless of who is playing it, even though these fears are statistically unfounded (GTA games have sold in the high millions, with only a couple of isolated incidents where already mentally troubled people claimed to have been "inspired" by it - you can say the same about Beatles albums, where only a lunatic like Charles Manson seemed to be affected badly by them).  And for the life of me, I can't understand people who would want to try and replicate most anything they do on a video game anyway, regardless of how tame or untame the video game is.  I will never want to eat random mushrooms in useless hopes of growing a flying fox tail like Mario in Super Mario Bros. 3, and I will certainly never want to do many of the things GTA characters can in any of the games from the series.  Most video games are only to be played for the fun of challenge, strategy, and reflexes, not something for us to emulate.  Let's do what most sane people do and keep our video games where they belong - as a hobby to play, not as guides to living.

With that preamble settled, onto San Andreas proper.  San Andreas (2004) is the third major PS2 entry from the GTA series, and while there is much debate over which one is the best, I think San Andreas is the best of the PS2 GTA games.  There are numerous additions which make San Andreas more epic and engaging than the previous GTA installments.  One is the absolutely enormous map, which allows for almost unlimited exploring potential.  Your character is also now extremely customizable - you can change his wardrobe at any time by going to clothes shops, which transfer the outfits to "closets" in your safe houses (if you want, you can even strip down and run around town in your boxer shorts), you can give him a variety of haircuts at a barber shop (including outrageous 'dos such as a pink mohawk), various tattoos, make him exercise and learn new attack moves at gyms, pick up girlfriends and take them out on dates, feed your character at food joints, and even challenge pedestrians to friendly games of pool at the scattered town bars.

If those side additions don't impress you, then consider that the controls of this game are much improved compared to predecessors (even though there are still some flaws): your character can now jump higher, actually swim through water (GTA III and Vice City caused immediate death upon entering watered terrain), run faster and longer, and aim more precisely with weapons and melee attacks.  There are also more camera angles to choose from, which make navigation smoother.  GTA III and Vice City often had control issues which frustrated me, but I found San Andreas to be much more intuitive in terms of the game's control features.

Graphically, the game is mostly good.  People are somewhat blocky, but the backgrounds are immensely detailed, which is all the more impressive given how varied and large the terrain is.

Sounds are as good as ever.  You can clearly hear all the effects, whether it's voices (among the voice actors for San Andreas include Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, and the late Chris Penn), punches, gun shots, vehicle crashes, and so forth.  The music radio stations are the most varied yet, including two rap stations, R&B, classic country, "rarer" funk/soul cuts, modern rock, classic rock, reggae, and electronic house.  There is also a talk radio station.  As usual, you can listen to the radio after your character jacks a car, or through the in-game radio menu screen.

RPG elements were added to San Andreas.  As mentioned, activities such as eating are now part of the game, and you do need to feed your character occasionally to keep his strength up; other RPG elements include building up your weapon skills, which take "experience" in much the same way many RPG characters do to "level up" for given tasks.  Some people found these additions unnecessary and annoying, but I enjoyed the extra facets.

While those are all important game categories, the main part of the game holds up equally well.  So who is your character, anyway, and what is the story to this game to separate it from other GTA entries?  In San Andreas, you control a man in his early twenties named Carl Johnson, nicknamed "CJ."  CJ is an African-American who lives in Los Santos, a city based on Los Angeles which includes many surrounding California areas (some places, such as "Ganton" and "Idlewood," are based on real ones like Compton and Inglewood), and is part of the larger nation/state of "San Andreas."  His mother died recently, and he came to Los Santos after spending time in Liberty City.  As you start the game, you learn that Carl's brother, Sweet, is critical of CJ for having spent time away in Liberty City instead of helping out his family and homeboys back in Los Santos.  CJ also has a sister, Kendl, and a neighbor named Ryder.  CJ is skinny, unwise to the ways of the world, and yet quick thinking on his feet; tough and yet not completely without a conscience.  Your job is to build up his neighborhood reputation, restore the power of the local "Grove Street Families" gang, outsmart corrupt police forces, and bring down the obnoxious "Ballas" gang..among many other things.

The heart of GTA games include the numerous missions required to advance the game's story.  While players don't "have" to do the missions, GTA games can get boring and/or mindless in a hurry if your only aim is to wander around town, commit random acts of violence, or just hang around at bars.  There are literally around 100 required missions in San Andreas, taking CJ from Los Santos and beyond as his clout gradually raises and he takes on new tasks.  Overall, I think the game is actually easier overall than the other two primary PS2 GTA games, although a few later missions require you to learn how to fly an airplane.  Most people - me included - found the controls for flying to be very difficult to learn at first.  However, with diligence, I can now do the flying missons with relative ease.  The hardest missions in the game are actually not required to move along the plot and achieve general game victory, although you must do them to technically get 100% game "completion" if that is your aim.  Unrequired missions sometimes serve as side-plots, while others pertain to particular vehicles (such as police cars or fire trucks), racing competitions (which I tend to loathe), and other endeavors.

Characters in San Andreas are a hodgepodge and often entertaining lot.  Besides CJ and some of his homies, there is a paranoid New Age hippie, a maniacal secret agent, two British pals with a bizarre sense of humor, a Latino expert car mechanic, and many others.  Over the course of the game, you will feel like you "know" these people and all their eccentricities.

San Andreas is not without gaming-specific faults - there are some graphical glitches (sometimes you can walk through walls and trees, which disappear as you go through them), and occasionally peculiar control nuances - but it gets a five-star recommendation from me.  I was a latecomer to it and the PS2 in general; my first attempts at San Andreas came in June of 2008.  Progress was slow at first, but I eventually completed it with cheat codes in September.  The game was so absorbing that I tried it again in late October without cheats, beating it again in early November.  This game will really test your diligence and strategic thinking; many missions can be completed or failed through an immense range of tactics and strategies.  Experimentation with this game seems almost limitless.  It's my favorite game thus far of the "3D" gaming era.  If I ever get around to obtaining a PS3, it'll be interesting to see how GTA IV compares.