Grand Theft Auto... the name is now famous (or infamous depending on who you ask) in households around the world. Not very many games can create a huge line of people spanning a few blocks upon the night of the release date, but the GTA series has become one of them. The expectations are huge; how can you top the best selling game of 2001, Grand Theft Auto III and the best selling game of 2002, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Well, you give Rockstar North a couple years and that's it, really. Formerly known as DMA Design, Rockstar North has brought us four great GTA games since 1998 and now, six years after the sleeper hit PSOne original, the greatest instalment in the GTA series hits stores and becomes, possibly, the best PlayStation 2 game of all time.

Surely that is impossible; the very best PS2 game? With so many different titles out there? So many genres? Well, I suppose it does come down to a matter of opinion and taste but GTA is certainly the most ambitious game ever seen on a console. Soon I will go over the brand new features presented in San Andreas, but certainly not all of them, as you would see the first twenty-thousand word review ever if I did so. First, however, let's focus on the storyline.

Unlike the previous two instalments of Grand Theft Auto, we now move away from the often glamorous life of the mafia and other high-profile gangs and into the small thug life of Carl Johnson, otherwise known as CJ. Five years ago he left his crime-riddled life of street gangs in San Andreas and moved to another familiar town you might have heard of - Liberty City. Now his mother has been murdered and increasing problems within his old gang and family persuade CJ to return home and try to make things right, thus saving his childhood friends from destruction. However, things just aren't the same anymore. As with the rest of the game, the story is huge, full of multiple missions, branching storylines and a whole lot of well-acted dialogue. Personal preference comes into play when it comes to the story and theme of the game itself, as it isn't like the last two GTA titles but is still incredibly good and well written. If you don't mind the street thug, foul-mouthed setting of San Andreas instead of the suit-wearing Mafia theme of past titles then you'll have no problem. Without ruining too much, the story is more than good enough to warrant a couple of plays through and the mission variety is outstanding and keeps it fresh all the way through. One of the reasons GTA is what it is today is because of the non-linear approach to not just a free-roaming city, but the missions as well. Like before, you're given a specific mission to pull off but not told exactly how to do it. Gamers have complete freedom to come up with their own ways to finish most of the missions, which means playing through more than once will be different enough to be worthwhile.

As you can tell from the titles of the GTA game, the stars of the games are not the characters, but the cities. Whilst I felt Vice City was inferior to GTAIII mainly because the city felt smaller and constraining, San Andreas blows them both away on an epic scale. Just taking a glance at the 21'' x 22'' pullout map included with the game will show you how giant the terrain is. The state spans three cities that are not simply connected via a couple of bridges as in GTA3, but countryside, canyons and farmlands that, when combined, are bigger than the three cities themselves. Before the release, people were understandably nervous about the addition of colossal terrains of nothing but dirt roads, gigantic trees and crop fields. How could this fit well into a game that has always been about creating chaos in a big city? Well, the answer is very, very well. These huge sections of agriculture are perhaps the best part of the game itself and contain just as much life as the actual cities. As you progress deeper into the countryside you'll see great particle effects under your tires along dirt roads, you'll see different vehicles than you wouldn't see in the cities, you'll see tractors ploughing through the cornfields, quad-bikes sitting around waiting to tear up the hillsides and lakes far below the mountainsides. All of this not only makes for amazing sightseeing, but incredibly awesome police chases as well.

The winding dirt roads, multiple corn-fields, giant jumps, railroad tracks, expensive houses overlooking the country, small towns resting peacefully away from the busy and violent San Fierro, Los Santos, Las Venturas... it is all really quite beautiful and breathtaking to look at and explore. Though San Andreas as a whole isn't quite as big as perhaps the portrayal of LA in last years disappointing True Crime: Streets of LA, it makes up for that in depth and variety and is arguably the greatest landmass gamers have even been given to explore in gaming history. There are hundreds upon hundreds of things to not only see but also do in this marvel of a state. Well done Rockstar, well done indeed.

When I say there are a lot of things to do, I mean it. Many areas of the city have basketball courts that you can freely shoot a few hoops on, you can head to the tracks to do some betting on horse races, or gamble in San Andreas' version of Las Vegas, called Las Venturas, where you can also shoot some billiards complete with its own physics engine. You can eat, play retro videogames, work out, swim (underwater, too - eat that Tanner!), fly with over 20 air vehicles and do plenty of other stuff that would take pages to mention. I was constantly impressed with what I found around every corner of San Andreas; little touches and big additions to the game as a whole and, surprisingly, they're all pulled off exceptionally well. In fact, if you decide to explore before heading into the main missions, you may just completely forget about them until you realise that you can't access the entire map just yet. Those of us who love the GTA titles for the pursuits will be very satisfied with the playground they've been given, which makes you forget all about the limited terrain of Vice City.

Inhabiting the world of San Andreas are plenty of area specific pedestrians and vehicles, bringing the world to colourful life. Familiar vehicles with new looks await you, as well as a plethora of brand new toys to play with, including some that don't quite belong on the roads. Airport luggage carriers return, as well as bicycles, police motorbikes, farm tractors and a whole lot of other surprises. Boats, planes, trains and automobiles are everywhere and better than ever, each with unique specifications for handling, speed, acceleration, weight and so on. All of these also look very appropriate for the early nineties setting the game uses; you'll see cars from Vice City that have upgraded looks and controls, plus now you can even modify certain vehicles (be careful not to wreck them though, as it costs boat loads of money for those mods). Bass boost, new bumpers, rims, nitro and hilarious hydraulics are only a few of the modifications available.

And it's not just the vehicles that are customised, either. San Andreas' main character CJ, as you most likely have heard by now, is completely customisable in many ways, giving him almost an RPG feel. First up is his look; dozens of clothing shops await you around town that include pretty standard but good-looking selections. Similar to Fable, the many civilians around the state hilariously comment on how you look. They'll put you down if you dress in cheap, ugly clothing or they'll show you some respect for high-profile expensive clothing. Multiple barbers can all offer different hairstyle choices as well, ranging from common haircuts to slightly wacky but convincible.

CJ's appearance also changes depending on your own actions. If you don't eat or work out you'll become very skinny and your own gang will start to 'hate on you'. Eat too much and you'll become large and slow, causing even more ridicule. Heading to the gym for exercise and balancing it all out will buff CJ up and let him run further without getting tired, but slightly slower.

Secondly, CJ's statistics can all be increased and all you have to do is play the game your way. If you like to ride bicycles often, your cycling stat will increase and you can pedal faster and bunny hop higher. If you swim a lot, you'll start to be able to swim faster. You can also lose weight by running, swimming, or biking a lot. Biking also increases your muscle strength, driving cars increases your driving abilities, while riding a lot of motorbikes increases a stat for that as well. You can also gain ranks for each weapon in the game; for instance, if you love to use a pistol, then eventually you will be able to perform new abilities with that gun; shooting quicker with more accuracy and also duel-wielding that weapon, so picking a weapon to specialise in is very much worth it. CJ's stats can be checked with the simple push of a button and can be increased and decreased, including the max health bar. The new system works beautifully and it's nice to simply be riding your bike around town and be notified that you're increasing your muscles and cycling skills. It makes everything you do feel like you're working and earning something without trying and without even particularly aiming for that goal, but making all your actions feel important.

Finally, CJ comes equipped with a whole lot of new abilities. On the customisable side, CJ can learn sets of new hand-to-hand attacks to do battle with by training at certain gyms (assuming your physique is impressive enough). Training at a new gym gives you new abilities, which replace your old ones. Aside from fighting moves, you can now climb over objects much, much easier and even climb up and leap over fences for quick getaways. In short, exploring the world on foot isn't nearly as dreadful as it may have previously been.

The artificial intelligence has been greatly improved over both the previous instalments. Pedestrians, whilst still stupid (and sometimes they're so funny it's like they're intentionally dumb) are smarter in specific areas. For instance, civilians you steal a car from don't just get out and run, or get up and simply walk away. Most of the time, they attempt to take their vehicle back if you're still within range. If you shoot a car in the hopes of scaring the driver off to take it, you're going to be surprised; most of the time they use common sense and speed off to get away. Police no longer only go after you and you alone either; often you'll see them shooting or chasing down other thugs, or even having high speed pursuits with other cars as they whiz by you. The AI has also been improved slightly while pedestrians are driving as well. If something goes down nearby and they start to fear for their life they won't stick around; in fact they drive off even faster than before, usually causing huge pile-ups and other humorous problems. Unlike a lot of games that include highways, the vehicles driving them in San Andreas use tremendous high speeds while traversing them - that means getting out of your car to get another one is a bad idea here and simply stopping your vehicle in the centre of the road is going to cause a lot of problems.

Another new and surprising addition is a mode that was kept unexpectedly quiet up until the release date: two player mode! Now, as you know, none of the PS2 GTA games have a main menu of any sort; you just jump into the game and go. Throughout the state of San Andreas you'll find icons that indicate a two-player mission of some sort. Walking over to it and then pushing a button on the second controller initiates the two-player mode. Missions range from killing a certain amount of people within a certain time limit to just exploring the city at your own pace with no limit. It's quite fun and there is no split screen thankfully. Players run around the area with a large camera angle from above, though you can't stray too far from each other. The view can be zoomed in on either player at any time and once you both get into a car together the second passenger is free to aim and fire a gun at anything in the way. It's far from perfect, which may be why the mode lacked any hype, however it's still lots of fun and is clearly a taster of things to come on future generation machines. Unfortunately once one person dies, gets busted, or the mission ends you return to where you started, but with just one player. At least you don't go all the way back to a hospital or police station, however.

Arguably the most impressive thing about GTA and perhaps the explanation of the series' massive success since its PS2 debut, is the incredibly good presentation. Having no main menu makes the game feel even more open and huge and has a bigger impact than people may realise. The radio stations, pedestrians, real-time weather and days, working traffic systems, police patrolling, aeroplanes flying overhead and taking off from airports, it all contributes to the series' overall presentation and feel. You can give players a huge city to drive in but take all of this stuff away and the game would feel empty and shallow. Rockstar once again has done a brilliant job of giving the game a strong pulse and putting players in a huge, highly detailed and lively city. The menus from the pause screen all feel familiar yet different and are easy to navigate and get where you want; as before, saving the game is not a matter of pushing start and going to 'save game' but instead finding specific points on the map.

Another staple of the GTA franchise is the memorable characters presented in every game. Though my personal opinion is that the characters here aren't nearly as likable or memorable as the likes of Donald Love, El Borro, or Tommy Vercetti (thanks to the amazing job Ray Liotta did) just to name a few, they're still fitting to the story and offer a lot to the game. Each character also balances the other out quite well and there's a good mixture here, especially the two crooked cops Tenpenny and Hernandez, plus the eccentric and hilarious OG Loc. The dialogue for each character is well written and fits the game exceptionally well, although some gamers will without a doubt be turned off by the theme of the game. Four letter words run rampant and if you're not familiar with the slang a lot of stuff may go over your head, but not enough to cause you to lose track of what is happening.

If any one part of San Andreas could be the downfall of the game, it'd be the graphics. Despite not looking bad whatsoever, the frame rate is very unstable and users running on an older version of the PS2 will run into various problems with textures not loading and pop-up issues. Basically, most of the graphical issues from Vice City remain but they're not nearly as bad. Things still pop up in the distance, textures may be slow loading at times and when a lot goes on the frame rate can get quite choppy, but not so much that the game becomes unplayable. During the story sequences of the game (before every mission), characters often look blocky and basically a little odd. These are the prices we must pay, however, due to the aging PS2 technology and the fact that this huge state known as San Andreas can be traversed with absolutely no loading times, except in door areas. And really it's a small price to pay.

Both GTA3 and Vice City used a bothersome and sometimes headache inducing system called Trails, which basically added a blur effect to anything and everything, covering up the otherwise bland graphics. You could turn them on and off but the games just didn't look that great with them off and though they looked awesome with them on, it was hard to look at during high-speed chases and numerous other moments. San Andreas has completely scrapped them, for the better. In fact, the graphical effects in this title are far superior to anything GTA conjured up previously. On hot days you'll see an intense heat in front of you in the form of lots and lots of orange sunlight and heat waves in the distance. The sunsets and sunrises during hot times are absolutely blinding! Stormy days are accompanied by incredible looking mist effects on the ground and a grainy effect to portray harsh rains; it really does make you think you're in the middle of a huge tropical storm. The weather and atmosphere vary from location to location and help set the cities apart from each other even more. Overall, with everything going on at one time and absolutely no loading times, San Andreas has just about squeezed as much as it possibly can out of the ol' PS2 and that it has achieved so much is nothing short of astonishing.

If you've played any modern third person game lately, such as Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, you'll know that using the right analog stick to rotate the camera and direction you run has become essential to third person games. Going back and playing Vice City after many other third person action titles feels a little odd and thankfully San Andreas has fixed this. Simply moving the right stick no longer puts you in first person view; instead it conveniently rotates the camera around just as it should. Other than this, the controls remain just about the same as before, with a few tweaks here and there. It is still sometimes a little hard to fight, run and do exactly what you want quickly but luckily the controls are usually very responsive and nothing is too much of a problem. A little getting used to may be needed if you play lots of other third person games. Also worth noting is that fans of using the D-Pad for movement and driving are out of luck, as that controls the radio now. Analog is your only option here.

Lots of nagging issues you may have had with Vice City and GTA3 most likely still remain in this game. The combat feels odd and is extremely basic, almost a button-masher, but the ability to learn new attacks, sneak into houses, rob and then pawn valuables, plus Manhunt-like stealth kills, are all nice additions. Pay 'n' Sprays still get rid of your wanted level, even if the police see you go in one or your car colour doesn't even change. A new issue to nag on is the fact that looking at and deciding on new clothes takes a great deal of time; CJ slowly models each different article of clothing you select to look at, and it takes him a quite a while to do so. Classic PS2 users will have lots of issues with pop-ups, textures and frame rate due to the game just not loading them quick enough.

One thing that has been worked on, however, is the aiming system. Whilst it is not entirely different than before, you can now use an over-the-shoulder view to aim your gun anywhere you like with precision and this adds a little challenge to the other wise easy aiming system. The only difficult thing about aiming is getting the exact target you want; though it works better than before with targeting the biggest threat, the fact that it throws the camera all around when you switch targets can really throw you off if you're moving around a lot at the same time. In the end it works a lot better than previously but still feels like it could use some tweaking. The colour-changing reticule for how much damage the enemy has left is a nice touch. The weapons available to use are in classes like in Vice City - you can only hold one weapon of a certain class and there are about eight or so classes in total. Melee weapons, handguns, automatics, rocket launchers and throwable weapons are a few of the many classes available. Old favourites like the sniper rifle, chainsaw and shotgun join the brand new remote detonator, shovel, sex toy and many other worthy additions. And yes, I said sex toy. Please don't ask... please don't ask why it was in the Police Station HQ showers, either.

Everybody who played Vice City knows that the music played a huge role in setting the tone of the Eighties for the game. Classic tunes from that era blasted through your car stereo system as you drove along the beach in the blazing sunlight, making it truly feel like it was an Eighties setting. The same can be said about San Andreas' tunes but they don't have quite the same impact that Vice City's did. It could be because they just aren't as nostalgic or because the time frame on the songs' release years and when the game actually takes place is a little off. Either way, the soundtrack is still very good and has something for everybody as usual. From new and old rap, classic and grunge rock, house dance music and even country, you'll find a variety of classic songs to cruise to, and yes, there is a talk radio station as well, featuring the likes of Wil Wheaton (better known as Ensign Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation), Andy Dick, and, of course, Lazlow (while he played a large part in writing the commercials and speech on the radio, his on-air role is considerably smaller than before). Just hearing his voice brings back those wonderful memories of the amazing station known as Chatterbox though... *sigh* How I miss my Chatterbox!

Ahem... moving on. The voice work outside of the radio station is, for the most part, very good. Some of the thugs you meet in the game aren't anything to write home about, but standout roles by Chris Bellard (aka up and coming rapper Young Maylay), Samuel L. Jackson, Jonathan Anderson, Peter Fonda, James Woods and minor roles by Ice T, Chuck D, David Cross, Andy Dick, Axel Rose and others round off star-studded and well performed voice work.

The vehicles sound great for the most part, as do the guns, though if memory serves me they sound different than they did in Vice City and for some reason lack much impact. It may be realistic but a lot of the guns sound too much like paintball guns for my tastes. They're passable though and more than get the job done. Explosions sound similar to before but with even more impact to them, which is good, as they seem to be much more frequent, especially with the cars.

I've already gone on too much about the game but I really can't help mention some other little details thrown into this massive world. For starters, the radio quality differs from car to car; some have massive amounts of bass while others are nothing but treble. Radios can also be heard quietly in the background of shops around town, each having a specific station playing. Entering towns has absolutely no loading and flows amazingly well, but what if you don't feel like going anywhere and you just stand around? Even then something is going on. In fact, the camera starts to move around and the heads up display goes away completely; whenever something happens in a nearby area, the camera moves around and zooms in on it, allowing you to watch the happenings of San Andreas without even touching your controller. Just about everything that moves you can take; quad-runners, luggage carriers, forklifts, planes, boats, bikes, tractors - the amount of variety and options here is staggering. The entire game is staggering; it's absolutely huge and there's something to do everywhere you go. Things you never imagined being here will probably be in the game, and there's plenty I haven't mentioned that you'll be surprised by. Sky diving, anyone? Trust me, there's some huge discoveries waiting for you out there... and I haven't even touched on the ability to recruit gang members to follow you around and steal rival gang turf on your own free time!

Though there's plenty of morality issues in San Andreas and it's certainly not for the young ones (more so than both previous games), the story is solid and enjoyable throughout and will have you doing plenty of missions full of variety and endless fun. Even if you don't like the story, exploring the mammoth state is worth the price of admission alone and there's loads to do other than what the main missions offer. Sure there's some graphical issues, some animations are poor and seem to be missing frames or are just too fast, etc, etc, but no amount of problems could really hurt this game and the good things it has to offer. Rockstar has outdone themselves and their competitors once again, raising the bar on just about every aspect of gameplay. If you have a PlayStation 2, you should have San Andreas. No excuses, other than being under 18!

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).