Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Tags: violence, satire, flashback

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes place in 1992 within the state of San Andreas, which is based on sections of California and Nevada. It comprises three major fictional cities: Los Santos corresponds to Los Angeles, San Fierro corresponds to San Francisco, and Las Venturas corresponds to Las Vegas. The environments around these cities are also based on settings within the Southwestern region of the United States. Players can drive up the half-mile (800 m) tall Mount Chiliad (based on Mount Diablo), parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in five counties: Red County, Flint County, Bone County, Tierra Robada, and Whetstone. Other notable destinations include Sherman Dam (based on the Hoover Dam), a large secret military base called Area 69 (based on Area 51), a large satellite dish (based on a dish from the Very Large Array), Vinewood (based on Hollywood) and the Vinewood sign (based on the Hollywood sign) which is located in Mulholland, and many other geographical features. The bridges in San Fierro are based on the Forth road and rail bridges which link Edinburgh, the home of Rockstar North, to Fife although the road bridge is highly similar to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. San Andreas is 13.9 square miles (36 square kilometres), almost four times as large as Vice City and five times as large as the Grand Theft Auto III rendition of Liberty City. The three cities are linked by numerous highways, a train system, and air travel. While its predecessors' areas were limited to urban locations, San Andreas includes not only large cities and suburbs, but also the rural areas between them.
=== Gangs ===
The main character is a member of the Grove Street Families street gang, a set of a gang that also includes the initially-hostile Temple Drive and Seville Boulevard Families. The two main rival gangs are the Ballas and Los Santos Vagos, both based out of Los Santos. The Varrios Los Aztecas also operate in Los Santos. The main gangs of San Fierro are the San Fierro Rifa, led by T-Bone Mendez; the Da Nang Boys, a Vietnamese gang; and the San Fierro Triads, whose leader Wu Zi Mu forms an alliance with Carl. In Las Venturas, the only gangs are the Triads (run by Wu Zi Mu) and the Italian Mafia (consisting of the Forellis, Sindaccos, and Leones). The "Loco Syndicate" appears in the San Fierro mission chain, essentially made up of T-Bone Mendez's Rifa gangsters, Mike Toreno and a pimp Jizzy B. In addition, the Russian Mafia makes a few small appearances in the storyline.
=== Characters ===
The characters that appear in San Andreas are relatively diverse and relative to the respective cities and locales which each of them based himself in. This allows the game to include a significantly wider array of story lines and settings than in Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. The player controls Carl "CJ" Johnson (Young Maylay), a young African-American gang member who serves as the game's protagonist.
The Los Santos stages of the game revolve around the theme of the Grove Street Families gang fighting with the Ballas and the Vagos for territory and respect. East Asian gangs (most notably the local Triads), an additional Vietnamese gang (the Da Nang Boys), and a force of Hispanic thugs working for the local "Loco Syndicate" (the San Fierro Rifa) are evident in the San Fierro leg of the game, while three Mafia families and the Triads who all own their respective casino are more prominently featured in the Las Venturas section of the game.
Like the previous two Grand Theft Auto games, the voice actors of San Andreas include notable celebrities, such as David Cross, Andy Dick, Ron Foster, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda, Charlie Murphy, Frank Vincent, Chris Penn, Danny Dyer, Sara Tanaka, William Fichtner, Wil Wheaton, rappers Ice-T, Chuck D, Frost, MC Eiht and The Game and musicians George Clinton, Axl Rose, Sly and Robbie and Shaun Ryder. Young Maylay made his debut as the protagonist, Carl.
The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition lists it as the video game with the largest voice cast, with 861 credited voice actors, including 174 actors and 687 additional performers, many of those performers being fans of the series who wanted to appear on the game.
=== Plot ===
In 1992, Carl "CJ" Johnson returns to Los Santos after spending five years living in Liberty City when his brother Sean "Sweet" Johnson calls to inform him of their mom's death. Shortly after leaving the airport, CJ is intercepted by a group of corrupt Los Santos Police Department (LSPD) CRASH officers led by Frank Tenpenny, and followed by cops Eddie Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez. Tenpenny implicates CJ in the murder of a cop named Pendlebury, that the Pulaski, Tenpenny, and Hernandez are responsible for, as he was on the verge of exposing him to Internal Affairs, and threatens to frame him for it if he does not work with them.
CJ returns to his former home on Grove Street and reunites with his brother Sweet, his sister Kendl, and members of his old gang, Big Smoke and Ryder. Finding that the Grove Street Families (GSF) have lost much of their territory while he was gone, CJ decides to stay in town. Working with the others to re-establish the GSF, CJ restores the gang to power, by helping to reunite the various Grove Street sets who had previously splintered, allying himself with Kendl's boyfriend, Cesar Vialpando, leader of the Varrios Los Aztecas, and they drive off the rival Ballas and Vagos. In doing so, CJ regains the respect of Sweet, who was disappointed that he had left Grove Street after the death of their brother, Brian. While en route to join Sweet for a showdown against the Ballas, CJ is called by Cesar, who tells him to meet with him outside a garage where they see Big Smoke and Ryder meeting with Tenpenny and a group of Ballas, learning they were responsible for his mom's murder, explaining their suspicious behavior. CJ then rushes to Sweet's aid, who is wounded, and kills The Ballas, but cops come. Sweet is imprisoned while Tenpenny takes CJ into the countryside and dumps him there. With the GSF in shambles, Big Smoke and Ryder, now openly allied with the Ballas, take over Los Santos and flood the streets with drugs.
Exiled in the countryside, CJ is forced to carry out favors for C.R.A.S.H, under threat of Sweet being transferred to the cell block where Ballas affiliates are housed. He also works with Cesar's cousin Catalina to make money by carrying out several heists in the area. He also befriends a hippie named The Truth and a blind Chinese-American Triad leader named Wu Zi Mu. After winning the deed to a garage in San Fierro in a race against Catalina and her new boyfriend, CJ goes there with The Truth, Cesar and Kendl to get it up and running so they can make a living. While in San Fierro, CJ crosses paths with the Loco Syndicate, Big Smoke and Ryder's drug connection. CJ infiltrates the organization and identifies its leader, Mike Toreno. CJ kills Ryder and the other Loco Syndicate leaders, Jizzy B and T-Bone Mendez, and shoots down Toreno's helicopter. CJ then destroys the Syndicate's drug factory.
Soon after, CJ is called by an unknown man using a digitally distorted voice and encourages CJ to meet him at a ranch in the desert. There, CJ finds Mike Toreno alive, thus revealing Toreno as the caller. Toreno reveals that he is actually a government agent spying on criminal operations and enlists CJ's help in several shady operations in exchange for Sweet's freedom. Meanwhile, CJ travels to Las Venturas, where Wu Zi Mu invites him to become a partner in the Four Dragons Casino, where the organisation is facing problems from the mob families that control the city. Seeking to wrest control of Venturas from them, CJ helps Wu Zi Mu plot a robbery of the mob's casino and gains the mob's trust through various jobs for mob boss, Salvatore Leone. Eventually the heist is carried out successfully, earning the Triad a place of power in Las Venturas, although causing the mob to distrust CJ. CJ also encounters rapper Madd Dogg, from whom he stole a rhyme book to help rapper OG Loc become a name in the business. After rescuing Madd Dogg from a suicide attempt, he asks CJ to be his manager once he returns from rehab.
Tenpenny, fearing his arrest is inevitable, tasks his partner Pulaski with killing CJ and disposing of the body of Hernandez, whom Tenpenny found out was informing on them to Internal Affairs. While CJ is digging a grave for Hernandez, Hernandez, alive but wounded after being hit in the back of the head by a shovel by Tenpenny, manages to attack Pulaski, leading to him killed. Pulaski flees, but CJ kills him.
Madd Dogg returns from rehab, prompting CJ to return to Los Santos to get his music career started again. Toreno contacts CJ for 1 last favor, destroying spy ships in the area, and finally has Sweet released from prison. Now rich and successful, CJ attempts to cut Sweet in on his businesses, but Sweet becomes angry that he ran away and let their home be taken over by rival gang members and drug dealers to make his fortune. While CJ helps Sweet once again kill the rival gangs, Tenpenny is arrested and tried for felonies that he has been charged with, but the charges are dropped due to lack of evidence, prompting a citywide riot. CJ helps Cesar regain control over the barrio and also regain territory for his gang, so as to have enough power to obtain knowledge of Big Smoke's whereabouts.
Sweet soon learns that Big Smoke is holed up in a fortified crack den in the city, and seeking to stop the flow of drugs on the street, he and CJ go there to confront him. CJ enters the building alone, fighting his way to the top floor and confronting Smoke. CJ attempts to reason with Big Smoke, but the latter engages CJ in a gunfight battle. CJ wins and Big Smoke confesses that he betrayed The GSF in order to see his opportunity of power and money before dying. Just then, Tenpenny appears, holds CJ at gunpoint and steals Big Smoke's money, intending to use it to leave the city. Tenpenny escapes and CJ and Sweet pursue him. During the pursuit, Tenpenny loses control of the truck, driving off the bridge over the Grove Street cul-de-sac and crashing at the entrance to it. CJ and his friends watch as Tenpenny crawls from the wreckage and dies of his injuries.
In the aftermath, CJ's family and friends arrive at the Johnson house for a meeting. Madd Dogg announces his first Gold record. As his friends and allies celebrate their success, CJ turns to leave.

Review: That goes to show you just HOW MUCH thought and detail was put into its production.While this "GTA" title is a massive improvement over the previous two, it doesn't just surpass them in terms of graphics and gameplay, it surpasses them by building on the many things that made them great in the first place, and then some.I've been a massive fan and player of the "GTA" titles on the PS2 since the revolutionary "Grand Theft Auto III" was released in 2001 and its 1980s prequel/sequel "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," which dropped in the early fall of 2002."GTA: SA" puts a lot of its focus on Carl "C.J." Johnson, who returns to the city of San Andreas and the minute he steps off the plane, he runs into trouble.
Talent, that's the first thing I want to say, to be able to make so much in 1 year must take a lot of talent and dedication, and to make fun out of so much must take even more talent.Look at other games like Half-Life 2, that game took Valve 6 years to make and it is a lot smaller than San Andreas, Valve might have some laid back lazy developers who take their time.
I think Rockstar and Valve are about the same size of company and even though Valve made a new engine for Half-Life 2, you would expect it to take less than 6 years to be made, same is true for Doom 3.Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is probably the biggest game ever made.After Vice City and Liberty city you'd think they might run out of passion, ideas, or powers.
I mean don't they get tired of making such a huge game every 2 years, Valve and id Software will probably not release a new game for the next 6 years and Rockstar releases such a big game every 2 years.Apart from it being insanely great game and a lot of fun, this game is HUGE, I can't think of any game bigger than this when I write these lines, you have 3 big cities, connected by big country side and deserts with a lot of nice areas to find in the desert and the country side.Other games of 2004 and 2005 like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry Battlefield 2, are all big games, but none of them is as big is San Andreas.And none of them allow you the amount of gameplay opportunities as San Andreas allows you to play, you can be everything you want, a cop, a medic, a firefighter, taxi driver, thief, pilot, pimp, train driver, construction worker, gambler, gangster, lover, valet.
Also, the voice talents -- Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds, to name but two -- were the best of any of the games so far.GTA San Andreas is good because it has a lot of new additions.
Also, it shows he has a nice sense of humor about himself.The rest of the radio stations are classic - the commercials are hilarious, the songs are the best yet (I prefer rock music but those who like rap will love it too - it's got plenty).Overall this is another great GTA game with its own pros and cons.
Young Maylay who plays C.J. is not a known actor to me but from seeing him voice the part of the character he makes a great job of it and there will most likely be possibilities for him in the future.Overall, the game is by far the most addicting one I have EVER played in my life and Rockstar have done a brilliant job of it.
I hope if a next series is made (which I think is likely because of good sales of San Andreas) it will have the same sort of feel and offer even more playing hours for thousands of people across the world.
Like Swimming, Playing Basketball, Riding Bikes, Shooting Pool, There Are Too Many New Features To Type Here Not To Mention That The Game Is 5 Times Bigger Than Vice City And NEVER Loads Outside.
GTA San Andreas is what I think of when I think of the perfect game, it's perfect in every way, has a perfect story, a great feel, a life feeling, it's world is beautiful and loving, every character matters, this game isn't just one small plot to keep you entertained, this is magic, where should I begin, well for starters LS is a perfect feeling that we can all relate to, the world feels and is so big, when you're in LS before going up to Ryder's house you can just feel that Las Venturas is far away, you can see Ryders house and everything you look at gives you that feeling that we all love, no matter how old the graphics are looking at stuff feels real and it's amazing, the story has a lot of build up, for example you don't just start off guns blazing, it doesn't introduce to you everything about the characters straight away, you already know them and you learn more about them through the game, to top it off everything in this game is unique, the gun store, unique, the world, unique, the characters, defiantly unique, I could go on for ages.
The videos in San Andreas aren't the best but because of hilarious vocabulary and great variety of characters it is sure fun to watch them.Game-play is also quite good.
Multi Theft auto San Andreas race mod is because of that and kick-ass map editor one of the best GTA multiplayer mods ever made.Even though it isn't perfect it is still a good game and worth playing..
Rated M for Strong Language,Violence,Blood,Sexual Content and Drug Use.Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is one of the greatest games of all time.This game is almost perfect.Everybody I know likes this game.The graphics aren't too good but they are not too bad either.I have the PC version of the game.The gameplay is excellent.There is plenty of stuff you can do in the game such as get tattoos and haircuts,Go to stores,dance at nightclubs,date girlfriends or basically kill and maim cops and pedestrians.This is not the newest Grand Theft Auto game.The newest one is Liberty City Stories.I have not played that one however I hear it is not as good as this one.The soundtrack to the game while not as good as the one in Vice City does have some very good songs on it.It has songs by Dr.Dre,Eazy-E,Ice Cube,NWA,Ozzy Osbourne,Depeche Mode etc.There are more vehicles such as jets.My only problem with this game is that vice city was more fun to play over and over again.In Vice City there were very few difficult missions.There are not too many difficult missions in this game but the ones that are difficult are really frustrating and hateful.I beat GTA Vice City three times already.I only beat San Andreas once.The game is about a man named Carl Johnson(or CJ) who goes back to his neighborhood to find his mothers killer and reunite his old gang.Doing this takes him all over the state of San Andreas where he meets plenty of different characters.San Andreas is an excellent game and I suggest buying it.Also if parents are worried about the hot-coffee mod you wont find it in the game.If you child is impressionable or young don't get him this game.10/10.
The Vice City came out which was a bit of a let down as the Citys were far too similar and you hadn't felt like you had unlocked a great deal...also after a while the whole driving around novelty had worn off and you were sick of going back to the start of the mission if you failed it.San Andreas....well just about everyone I know gave it about 2 weeks and just left it saying it got far too repetitive and boring.Also why aren't the taxi's in off the first GTA3 when you died etc it would take you back to where you started.....
But he arrives to his brother's house...San Andreas it's better than GTA3, which was, it could seem, ideal computer game, and Vice City, which was a very short, and it was, IMO, total piece of...
It is noticeable that Rockstar has spent some time fixing the jaggedy-edged graphics in Vice City to come to the smooth and amazing graphics of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
i have played many games during my time as a gamer, I've played consoles from the NES onwards, and out of all the games i have ever played, this is the single worst game of them all, i know I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate mail after this, but i don't care the story, as it goes, has no real running continuity, the "huge" map is as it says a large map, made up of large areas yes i will give it that, but the vehicles generally suck, the only vehicle that gives the game some sort of playability is the harrier, which isn't even that great being a big fan of grand theft auto from there humble beginnings way back on the play-station, i brought this game, after the success of 3 and vice city.
i made a mistake, the game play is no where up to the caliber of 3 and vice city, the graphics have improved a little, but are no where near as good as they could be for the time it was released, and the many side missions, soon dry up and become boring and repetitive.overall if you want to buy a good game, steer clear of san andreas, if you want a free roaming game with hours of re playability look else where all from me ~Matt~.
I THINK THEY ARE BLOODY BRAINDEAD!Just some of the cool features this game has: · You can fly planes · You can KILL people · You can slit peoples throats' · You can steal cars · You can run people over · You can go in a gun shop and buy a shotgun to blow someone's head off .You can get money and than You can go in casinos and gamble · You can get a rocket launcher and BLOW UP STUFF, INCLUDING PLANES AND CARS ETC.Basically, this game is the best game ever madeso far.rockstar games are working on GTA 4 which is based on ONE Island ONLY, not three like San Andreas, and you can't fly planes so IT SUCKS.
Arguably one of the best game of the franchise Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, was milestone for it technical and storytelling achievement, for the most people including Me San Andreas was the game that made most of my childhood , spending hours and hours and never getting bored,It had a skill system that was way ahead of it's time and a fully costumisable character based on what he eats ,and how long he works out was a game changer although now in the gaming industry it's not a big deal any more San Andreas made it popular and was improved by many more developers over the year and the aim assist in the game was again a game changer,these functions became one of the crutial elements for an open world game over the coming years, fans of the game always tend to compare any other instalment in the franchise with San Andreas.
Story wise San Andreas doesn't fall back it has the best storyline in the franchise hands down it never quite failed to impress in ever mission you were playing with a good amount of likeable characters it compels you to play further for more information on the story,it is a truly wonderful game and would highly recommend anyone to play it it will be worth your while.
I won't spoil much more cause I think it may be best if you just play the game to know how much content there is in the game to keep you wanting to come back for more.With all these costumes, missions, weapons, vehicles, cheats and secrets to find, San Andreas has incredible lasting appeal whether your playing by yourself or with a friend.
There's definitely lots of fan service in the game but gameplay is also just plain fun and anyone who is into a good solid free roaming game should have a blast with Grand Theft Auto San Andreas..
This game had it all - Action, good story, brilliant free roam game play.There are so many features in the game that i will list them to make it short and easy - start some Gangwars and take over their turf,get new Haircuts, Tattoos, fly Jets?Planes all around the city, Swimming, Holding 2 guns at once, go in the Casino's and gamble playing Russian roulette and poker and other gambling games, Playing Pool, Playing Basketball, Recruiting gang members, Riding Bmx and Mountain bikes, Night vision and Thermal Goggles, Robbing houses after dark, jump off the tallest building wearing a Parachute, Dance in clubs, Illegal Car racing, Car MOD( add nitrous oxide), Get a Girlfriend, But your own houses and mansions, go to the Gym and becomme muscular, Get a Jet Pack and fly around San Sndreas, Get a Quadbike and ride through the countryside.There are a few more that i cant remember off the top of my head, but hell just play the game to find out.
Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Gameplay: 9/10 Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 8/10 Challenge: 8/10 Overall: 8.5 (of 10)-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ There are always tons of things at your disposal at any given time + Very varied and realistic cities that truly capture the essence of their real-life inspirations + Great sense of humor throughout, especially from the game's in-car radio and dialogue + Some very interesting characters to meet as you progress through the game + Almost none of the gargantuan expansive playing environment feels wasteful + Some of the missions are truly thrilling and rewarding + The superbly-constructed gameplay will devour well over 100 hours of your timeControls are clunky, especially during shootings and when trying to position your player Some voice-overs are derailed; radio stations get repetitive over the game's course Frame-rate issues, lag, and low-polygon renders are sometimes very notable Certain missions seem borderline impassable, mainly due to lax controls-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=ConclusionGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a beautifully envisioned spectacle that deserves at least one try for the amount of creativity that went into it; rife with cultural references and its stellar sense of humor, San Andreas glows of the effort that went on behind the scenes at Rockstar North.
Anyway here are the pros and cons Pros: Very large and realistic Gta like world -Great storyline and excellent dialogue -Interesting and funny characters -addicting and fun -lots of things to do besides doing missions and just killing random people -makes u want to play over and over again -lots of mini-games -Great voice acting -Funny talk shows and radio stations Cons: Pedestrians and other characters act like rag dolls when they get shot, always fall in the same position -guns sound like weak toys -reloading could've looked a bit more realistic.
Carl Johnson travels all over San Andreas to set things right for his family and his 'hood.Overall, this probably the best video game ever made, if not one of, because it manages to expand on everything previously achieved and then it can still further innovate.A must-buy and must-play.What they nailed this time: Great size, more vehicles and a great voice cast; including Samuel L.
I have been to L.A several times and San Francisco and the way they managed to make an exact replica of those two cities e.g in Los Santos aka Los Angeles the Santa Monica pier and the airport also in San Fierro the golden gate and the bay bridge don't forget china town all though i haven't been to Las Venturas aka Las Vegas but what I've seen its pretty well done like the strip and the desert.In my opinion its a highly recommended video game and if you buy it you wont be disappointed there's always you-tube for previews but the storyline is brilliant unlike Vice City/Stories its all bout cocaine and revenge but unlike San Andreas its also bout revenge on someone called Officer Frank Tempenny and his Goon Officer Eddie Pulaski they frame him of homicide even though its obvious Carl Johnson didn't.While he does that he and his gang Grove street families try to come back up by battling on the streets of L.S against Los Santos Vagos and The Ballas.
When I got this game for Christmas in 2004 I was so excited once I played it I was hooked, the things I liked about the game was the ability to ride bikes climb over walls and fences and also SWIM yes swimming a big difference to Vice City I noticed and also the varieties of cars, motorbikes,boats and also planes but best of all it had to be the gun power such has AK-47s,sniper rifles and also regular handguns.Casting was also interesting with celebrities like Samuel L Jackson, Chris Penn, Frank Vincent and voice talents from Charlie Murphy and Kid Rock each voice suited the character with their personality and characterAll in all this is a good game especially if your into RPGs and shoot em up games its one of my favorites so would rate a perfect 10/10.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the best game I've played in my lifetime.
Each one -- the LA-like Los Santos, the neon gambler's delight of Las Venturas, and the Frisco-clone San Fierro -- is huge, not far off the size of the cities in previous GTA games.
GTA San Andreas= Best Game Eva. I truly don't know what to say except, you will NOT want to put this game down once you've started playing.
I have played first-person and third-person games, and these games are good but not like GTA San Andreas.
I liked VC's 80's epic soundtrack more than SA's, but overall, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the most involving of all the GTA games.