Eight months. Eight damn months of waiting and ferocious envy. This is exactly how much time has passed since the release of the Sony PlayStation 2 console, alien to the civilized world. All this time, ordinary PC owners could only listen to the owners of the vile console excitedly talk about their adventures in the state of San Andreas. Some weak-willed comrades could not stand the torment and ended up going broke on the PS2 ( yes, it happened. — Note ed. ). And you know, they can be understood...

But all bad things come to an end, and so does our waiting. San Andreas is out, San Andreas is with us. And this is exactly the game we wanted to see. A game that met all our expectations. And even more...

Carlito's Way

The story of Carl Johnson (CJ for short) - the main character of San Andreas - is presented, as is customary in games from Rockstar North, on an epic scale. Five years ago, Ceejay fled from his native Los Santos to Liberty City. Now, due to the death of his mother, he has to return back. Having landed at the airport, our hero immediately finds himself in a whirlpool of not very pleasant events: corrupt cops accuse him of murdering his colleague and are trying to attract him to “collaboration”, there is discord and scandals in the family, the former CJ gang has lost all respect on the streets and even his own brother does not I'm especially glad to meet you.

What should a simple black guy do in such a situation, who has nothing behind his soul except a family dilapidated barn on the edge of a wild ghetto? Chew snot, whine and get drunk to a bestial state? Of course not! Carl is the character you never dreamed of becoming. He swears indecently, clenches his teeth, fights against circumstances and, of course, defeats them. At the same time, he doesn’t look a bit like the dumb-witted average computer game hero, who is used to meeting any threat to his own heroism with a kick from his boot - Karl is afraid of the corrupt cops Tenpenny and Pulaski (voiced by them, by the way, Samuel L. Jackson And Chris Penn), worries about his brother and is always ready to help his friends. There are so many events in that piece of Sj’s life that San Andreas shows that they would be enough not even for a film, but for a whole series. A sort of “The Sopranos,” but about black people.

After a barrage of criticism from censors and moral fighters against Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, one would have expected Rockstar North to back down, hide the sting of its cynical, no mercy humor away and try to please everyone at once. But, fortunately, lawsuits from the angry Haitian diaspora and the cries of child advocates did not deter the developers. In San Andreas they dealt sleek American society another blow - this time below the belt.

The stuffy ghetto where Sij's family ekes out its existence, the cold and inaccessible skyscrapers of San Fierro, the alluring lights of Las Venturas, which has never heard of morality - everywhere and everywhere the developers carefully expose the most unsightly aspects of the life of a state called the United States of America. Rampant drug addiction, corrupt police officers, injustice of the authorities, street prostitution, hooligans robbing old women, all the delights of life for “white people” and spit-stained slums for the rest - this is the whole of San Andreas.

What’s gratifying is that, while showing “life through the eyes of a simple black guy,” the developers managed not to slide into banal racism. If anyone tells you that San Andreas is a game about black people, then know that he is either just stupid or has only completed three missions, no more. While blacks are tearing each other's throats on the outskirts of Los Santos, San Fierro is divided by the Chinese Triad and the Vietnamese group, in Las Venturas the Italian mafia rules the roost, plus Latinos and the Russian “brothers” are trying to grab their piece of the pie (where would we be without them! ). In other words, everyone is good in San Andreas, and to say that Rockstar portrays blacks as absolute radishes and villains means to belittle the “merits” of their colleagues.

And of course, the blacks are to blame for all this!

A separate item in the list of undeniable advantages of San Andreas are the well-developed characters of all the characters in the story. They are the ones who fill the game world with life, and the existence of Carl Johnson with meaning. A duo of corrupt cops, an always stoned hippie brother, a couple of British musicians, eccentric ladies who prefer S&M to all other joys of life... Having seen this whole farce, even Stanislavsky, without blowing his nose, would immediately say: “I believe!” The boss of the Chinese Triad (about the peculiarities of whose physical condition and character we will not say a word, so as not to spoil the pleasure of your acquaintance) can generally be safely given the title of the brightest NPC of all time.

And what dialogues there are! Spreading quotes, excitedly retelling them to friends, laughing and knocking your heels on the floor with delight - the pearls that the game's heroes regularly give out are worthy of the industry's most important Oscars. And how does our Carlito communicate with his many girlfriends! "Yes darling! Ofcourse honey! Carry on, honey!” - and this in response to vile chatter about new shoes or a sale in the nearest store. For such courage alone, Sidzhey can be, if not loved, then respected.

In San Andreas, even the extras - random people on the streets - are also not averse to chatting. They make caustic comments about Sj's appearance, swear dirty if their car is hitched, they want to sell us drugs or just punch us in the face - in other words, they live and actively react to external stimuli. Karl himself also does not remain in debt and responds to those around him not only with deeds (a baseball bat to the skull), but also with words. True, there are only two answer options: positive and negative. The first sounds something like “thank you, bro, I’m crazy about you too,” and the second – “fuck you (we don’t quote a single word from the entire two-minute tirade, otherwise our magazine will be instantly closed by some adherents of the purity of the Russian language), hornless goat!” After such skirmishes, you understand as well as possible that happiness, friends, is in communication.

The first thing that catches your eye when starting up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, — scales. The game world has not just become larger, it has grown exponentially, become prettier, and acquired an incalculable number of small details. Instead of one city, we now have a whole state with three megacities: Los Santos (the real prototype was Los Angeles), San Fierro (of course, San Francisco) and Las Venturas (of course, Las Vegas). Each city is unique and damn similar to its prototype from real life - architecture, style and, if you may, spirit. In terms of size, the megacities of the state of San Andreas are not inferior to Vice City, but besides them there are also vast suburbs with forests, mountains, fields and small provincial towns, each of which is also seething and bubbling with life.

But this time it seemed to the developers that roads alone were not enough; now the GTA hero is a real man-steamboat-plane who feels comfortable on land, in water, and in the air. Which, of course, opens up new avenues for exploration and ways to kill free time. Ride to the airport on a bicycle, jump on a plane, take off, scaring all the surrounding crows, perform a couple of aerobatics, then land on a bridge, jump out of there with a parachute, plop on board a luxury yacht and rush off to the sea to meet the sunrise... and having met, jump overboard, swim two hundred meters and drown. Unless you can’t just fly to Mars.

Should I grow a belly?

The plot of San Andreas, of course, is not limited to just gang wars and squabbles with the police. On the winding path of life, Karl will have to solve a great many very important problems. Tie an Italian gangster to the hood of a car and roll him around in oncoming traffic until he screams in fear? Please! Burn out a hemp field with a flamethrower and escape from the police? Welcome! Steal the latest fighter jet from an aircraft carrier? No problem! The tireless imagination of the screenwriters throws Karl from one end of San Andreas to the other, forcing him to portray either James Bond, or Lara Croft, or even Casanova in general.

But the most interesting things happen outside the story missions - in provincial bars, remote villages and on the streets of big cities. Everywhere and everywhere you can find something to do to your liking. There are several times more mini-games in San Andreas than in previous series. Those who want to squander the money they earned with the blood and sweat of others take it to the casino (where there is poker, blackjack, roulette, the wheel of fortune and traditional one-armed bandits), to the races or to the billiard room. Nostalgic gamers of the “old school” go to slot machines to shed a few tears at the sight of two-dimensional shooters from the eighties of the last century. Those who prefer to relax behind the wheel get a job as a policeman, taxi driver, courier or even a pimp, and fans of the senseless killing of time climb onto a tower crane and try to use a magnet to lift cars passing far below into the air.

Add to this dancing in clubs, night forays in search of a place where something is “badly lying” (CJ sneaking around someone else’s house with a stolen TV in his hands is something), racing over rough and not so rough terrain, hunting for bonuses scattered everywhere And so on and so forth...

Cool? But this is only a small part of all kinds of entertainment. Do you want to change the appearance of the main character? Hairstyle, hair color, clothes, watches, jewelry - just like in, excuse me, The Sims 2. In addition, the character's build also changes in San Andreas. Moreover, this is done not with a wave of the mouse, but with the help of long training. Or lack thereof. Do you while away your evenings in the “rocking chair”, lifting weights and racking up kilometers on an exercise bike? Soon Sij will learn to hit enemies harder and become more resilient. Also, the time spent in the gym will have a positive effect on his appearance - his body will become strong and muscular, which will definitely delight all the surrounding girls. If, instead of playing sports, you gorge yourself ad nauseam (literally) on hamburgers and pizza, then you can forget about your figure and sculpted biceps - a puffing, two-hundred-kilogram strategic bomber named Carl Johnson will be a reward for lovers of fatty foods.

In addition to the already mentioned strength and endurance, Sij is capable of developing many other characteristics, including mastery of various types of weapons, driving cars, motorcycles, airplanes and swimming. As your weapon skill increases, for example, bullets begin to fly a little more accurately, reloading is a little faster, and some types of weapons can be used in pairs to crush adversaries with both hands. It is not necessary to complete any special tasks to improve performance (although there is a shooting gallery and schools for driving various vehicles in the game), many skills grow as you use them intensively (who remembered this? Morrowind?).

Literally a few days before the issue was sent to press, our dear editors learned that the girlfriends in Grand Theft Auto- that is, make love to them. The developers absolutely seriously planned to add sex scenes to the game, but they were still cut out from the final version, considering that it would be too much (San Andreas is already reproached for all mortal sins). However, craftsmen quickly found how to return these scenes back (the code itself remained in the game).

To get your girlfriend into bed, all you have to do is take her to a diner a couple of times and give her a bouquet of flowers - after that she will invite you to her home for a “cup of coffee.” You can drink a cup of coffee in four positions, while an arousal indicator appears on the right side of the screen. As soon as it runs out, the “strawberry” ends. The girl is completely naked during lovemaking, while Sidzhey himself remains in clothes. But you can have oral, excuse me, sex right on the street: if you go up to your passion and press Tab, she sometimes gets on her knees and... does THIS (in other cases, by pressing Tab everything is limited to just a chaste kiss). And who needs it after that? Singles 2: Triple Trouble?

P.S. The mod that includes “strawberry” in the game can be found on our disks in the “ section Play area bonuses”.

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If you wish, you can rush through the serpentine plot of San Andreas in twelve hours or even faster - if you are, of course, an experienced and skillful player. But there will be little pleasure from such a flight - because in this case you will see absolutely nothing. If you try to complete all the additional tasks, spend long hours playing roulette and beating up passers-by, then there is a real chance of losing your life for two days. And how much time it takes to thoroughly study the game world, discover all the secrets and try your hand at all the mini-games is known only to the developers themselves. Playing San Andreas is like riding a wild bull - you can never say with certainty what he will do next.

And yes, friends, the final summary of “Gambling” will be more than predictable. The citizens of Rockstar North have once again performed a little magic. No seriously. They again managed to find the pulse, the rhythm, the beat of life and make the project “real” as much as possible. Yes, even if the gameplay has not changed much compared to the previous parts, players still come to the world of San Andreas with their eyes wide open, they find something new in it and throughout the game they make more and more shocking discoveries.

For many years, competing companies from all over the world have been trying to reveal the “recipe” of Rockstart North, according to which they made GTA. They are trying in vain - there is no recipe here. After all, the developers, as befits real wizards, do not mix donkey, excuse me, urine with the ashes of a Doberman killed on a full moon - they simply create their own little magic. The name of which is Grand Theft Auto...

P.S. And finally, let’s talk about the bad, which was a shame to even talk about in the main article. The graphics in the game... you know, to hell with these graphics. Yes - terrible. Yes - outdated. It’s not pleasing to the eye one bit and, of course, doesn’t stand up to any comparison with the latest PC hits. But Rockstar North has one trump card in reserve - they have always been able to make amazing atmosphere, which can outshine even the most terrible graphics. This happened this time too - you practically don’t pay attention to the wretched and very primitive environment of San Andreas. After all, there are many much more interesting things here.

Replay value - yes

Cool story - yes

Originality - no

Easy to learn - yes

Meeting expectations: 100%

Gameplay: 9.0

Graphic arts: 6.0

Sound and music: 9.0

Interface and control: 8.0

Did you wait? A game of legend, a game of life, a game of discovery. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is capable of wrapping you in its tight embrace for many, many weeks. However, be careful: all this time you will be completely lost to the rest of the world.

There are as many Grand Theft Auto players in the world as there are ideas about how it should be played. Don’t believe the fairy tales that GTA is needed only to chase prostitutes with a chainsaw - if everything were that simple, Rockstar North would have been out of work long ago. In you will watch cartoons and do yoga. You will also have to kill and rob, but not from a good life. Namaste.

Happiness generator

The action of the fourth and fifth GTA, as we know, takes place in a new reality where there was no Claude, no Tommy Vercetti, no CJ. It turned out almost like a restart Star Trek from JJ Abrams or reboots of comic series: the names are the same, the places are the same, but everything is different.

Therefore, returning to Los Santos is somewhat devastating. Remade for a new generation, the city retained some external features, but overall became completely unfamiliar. For example, from old Grove Street, where according to the plot San Andreas Carl Johnson and his gang lived, only a musty courtyard remained, and its former inhabitants seemed to have never existed. Nowadays the purple “Ballas” live here, and if you manage to come here on foot, the guys will rob you throughout the area.

An entire era from the history of San Andreas was simply erased, and the state itself was rebuilt anew. Of the three cities, only Los Santos remained, but it has transformed and grown so much that it has become like a real city.

The new Los Santos is almost more confusing than the new Liberty City. The GPS navigator will become your best friend both in the city and beyond.

THIS IS INTERESTING: references to GTA IV are found at every turn: sometimes cursory mentions (“ There was one guy from Eastern Europe in Liberty City, but he lay low..."), and sometimes characters. And the fact that they forgot about the events is perhaps correct. After the madhouse that ended CJ's story, Los Santos should have been nothing but ruins.

The entire territory (the city itself is the size of the new Liberty City from GTA IV - plus the adjacent countryside with an area twice as much) is for once open from the very beginning: no excuses like “bridges are closed due to a terrorist threat” " And everywhere, absolutely everywhere, you might stumble upon something interesting.

The nature in the suburbs of Los Santos is simply magical. Mountains, canyons, waterfalls, deserts, swamps and plenty of wildlife to hunt (or eat) - the Red Dead Redemption experience was not in vain for Rockstar.

First of all, this is what distinguishes GTA V from its peers in the genre - the sandbox here is so bright, thoughtful and unpredictable that at any moment you can get caught up in history. Bandits steal handbags, motorcycles and cars (and you can help the owner return what was stolen), cops exchange fire with street gangs and rednecks (participation is not forbidden), forest deer run out onto the road (a good deer is a downed deer), accidents occur at construction sites, people swear , fighting...

Each every something happens somewhere in a second. These are not just decorations (after all, you can intervene in any random event), but also not “Potemkin villages” built specifically for you - Los Santos can get by just fine on its own.

GTA is now not just a territory through which you need to drive from point to point according to the plot, from time to time, if you get bored, interrupting for mass murders. Rockstar, having gone through a thorny path of evolution, achieved an almost ideal gaming space, created a real ecosystem, almost without rules and conventions. And also very beautiful and cozy.

After the gray, depressing, depressing Liberty City from GTA IV, Los Santos seems like a true paradise. In which, however, there are too many people, the number of whom you always want to reduce.

Never before in GTA has it been so enjoyable to just drive on the highway. Some Jerry Rafferty is playing from the radio, cars, trees and some shacks are rushing past in a continuous stream, the pre-sunset sun is peeking out from behind the mountains, the car is bouncing on the uneven roads, and it’s as if you can even feel the resistance of the wind - not a game, but a generator of happiness . The last time this happened was last year’s solar race, but it was still a highly specialized race. So, we can say that GTA V has no competitors in generating happiness.

Three people in a car, not counting the dog

When it became known that GTA V would have three main characters instead of one, many had doubts - previously Rockstar could barely cope with just one hero. But doubts disappeared - this is the best thing that could be thought of to diversify the game. In fact, it turned out to be three different GTAs that not only coexist, but also complement each other.

Franklin - a typical correct “nigga”, with a clear value system and an exaggerated sense of loyalty to the gang. He is young, inexperienced, but surprisingly reasonable, steals custom cars and dreams of getting into serious business. He doesn’t like to take unnecessary risks, but he’s ready to do anything for the sake of his friends.

Michael - a seasoned robber who has retired and lost himself at the bottom of a bottle. He, unlike previous heroes, has long had an adult life: a mansion in Vinewood, a garage full of cars, a dissatisfied wife, a daughter who hangs out with porn magnates and lustful showmen, and a post-pubescent son who does nothing but smoke weed, troll hamsters and plays the local equivalent CallofDuty.

A Trevor ... Trevor is just a psychopath (he even has a certificate). He lives in a dirty trailer, cooks methamphetamine, yells obscenities with or without reason, exterminates bikers, and at the first opportunity, hits people in the face (and women, women too!). Absolutely uncontrollable, impudent, quarrelsome and socially dangerous.

Franklin and Michael, although they try to cheat the system, still live by its rules; Trevor, a complete degenerate, an outcast and an asocial redneck, didn’t give a damn about her. Just like some people tend to play GTA by destroying anything and everything in their path, so Trevor lives. And if in the first two you can notice something from C.J. and Tommy Vercetti, respectively, then Trevor is more like Claude Speed ​​from GTA 2, who survives as best he can (and as best he can).

All three, by the will of fate, find themselves connected by a common storyline, which, however, boils down to the standard motive for the series: earn a lot of money and make as many enemies as possible (and then kill them).

Franklin has a Rottweiler, Chop, with whom he interacts much less than he would like. Through the iFruit app for iOS, you can somehow train your dog if you link your device and console to the Rockstar Social Club. This is just dubious pampering.

As in previous parts, the main storyline in GTA V is confusing and torn - but this is no longer perceived as a drawback, but rather as a distinctive feature of the series. But the routine has become an order of magnitude less - mainly due to the fact that you can switch between characters. When, say, Michael has to lay low, we cut to Trevor, who has another massacre or crazy prank on his agenda.

There is no need to remember the mandatory races or the infamous flight school from San Andreas - everything that previously seemed like a boring “filler” remained in GTA V, at best, in the form of an elective. Even the obsessive dates from GTA IV are no longer obsessive. No more " Niko, let's go bowling!”with grievances in case of refusal. If you want to invite your partners for a walk, call them. As a gift, you will receive a touching episode with, say, Michael and Franklin licking themselves. But demand no one will do anything from you.

By switching to a character, you will certainly find him doing something. It's not at all scary to see Franklin walking the dog or Michael smoking a cigar on the seashore. But Trevor...

Day of Reckoning

Many story missions in GTA V are joint for all three heroes, and here the newfangled gameplay feature with switching characters no longer works quite as well as we would like. Yes, you can often choose whether to fly a helicopter as Trevor, parachute as Michael, or cover your partners with Franklin, but in reality there is no choice: the missions strictly follow the script, as long as it is impressive.

Franklin kills those who rush head-on, Michael covers the rear, Trevor blows up helicopters with a grenade launcher - and stuff like that. Or, say, one is flying in a helicopter, another is following in a car, and the third is waiting in the wings in some barn. The illusion of choice turned out to be almost real, and thanks to this the player is always in the center of events, but there are not many unusual tasks where the interaction of characters is well-orchestrated.

Not all three of the heroes go on all missions; sometimes they have to take on drivers, shooters, or a hacker. Among them there are interesting and even familiar personalities - say, Patrick McReary from GTA IV.

The robberies turned out very well. These missions take place in three stages: first, we choose one of two solutions (usually cunning or “head-on”), then we prepare everything necessary for the operation (hijack a garbage truck, steal a helicopter from a military base, get masks and special clothing), and then let's get down to business. During robberies, the most striking and memorable situations in the game occur. Each of them is a real, Hollywood-style extravaganza.

The only problem with robberies is that there are few of them (about half a dozen for a twenty-hour campaign), and in other tasks the development is not so noticeable. Many assignments are characterized by the same design errors that were an eyesore back in the third GTA. Here the last victim is spread out in front of you, you are preparing to finish off the poor fellow, but the timer runs out - and failure! You happen to break the wing of an airplane on a bush half a meter from the marker - and no one cares that you have already landed and you can walk to the goal, start again.

The cops have become much smarter and more dangerous. Over time, convenient ways are found to avoid persecution (although four- and five-star chases usually don’t end well anyway), but at first you’ll think three times: do I really need this car?..

Instead of fighting against these kinds of conventions, Rockstar allowed them to skip the awkward moments after three unsuccessful attempts. However, the problem does not cease to be a problem. Against the backdrop of the state's almost perfect ecosystem, such miscalculations in missions are especially frustrating.

To places I haven't been

Few games handle additional content as well as GTA V. Rockstar, knowing full well that many players will not notice half the side activities, secrets and cute little things, built a real paradise for explorers. You will be reminded that there are scuba gear in the game in the only story mission, and you can easily miss this moment. But if you don’t miss it, you’ll discover a whole underwater world with its secrets, valuable loot and biting sharks.

The shooting remains unremarkable. It exists, it works – that’s it. But almost normal “stealth” appeared. It is high time!

Flying by helicopter on your next errand, it’s hard not to notice another interesting place and make a mental note “ stop by in your free time" It’s even more difficult to resist stopping by during work hours: there’s so much going on around you that it’s almost impossible to concentrate on one thing. At home, there are programs and cartoons on TV (we’ll talk about satire, of which there’s really a lot in GTA V, separately, because it’s simply impossible to retell local jokes), and there are dozens of interesting pages on the local Internet.

In addition, you can indulge in yoga in the yard, and if you don’t like it, go to the nearest, say, tennis court. Mini-games like yoga have almost no practical value: they improve the characters’ parameters, but this has minimal effect on the course of the game. But the main thing is that such classes exist, and they are entertaining. So let them be.

Included with the collector's version is a map with secrets marked on it (the marks are visible only in ultraviolet light). The electronic version of the map is easy to find on the Internet.

To make life in Los Santos even more like the real thing, Rockstar is trying to instill in players a sense of private ownership, and in some places it even works. Each character has a personal car: Trevor has a redneck and always grimy pickup truck, Franklin has a “boyish” sedan reminiscent of a Lancer and a stolen green motorcycle, and Michael has a resemblance to a prestigious Audi A6.

These are the only machines that make sense to improve: they won’t go away and will always be with you. Tuning the engine, transmission, etc. is expensive, and the occasional car can easily disappear if you don't put it in the garage (and sometimes), money down the drain. You can also invest money in real estate, like in Vice City, or play on the stock exchange.

The cars are more different from each other than before, but they have been simplified enough to control so that you have to crash less often.

NOTE TO BROKER: all over the world, the price of shares of various companies primarily depends on rumors and scandals, but in GTA V everything is much simpler and more brutal: we buy shares of some local developer, then go to the main competitor and... kill everyone. The competitor's shares are going down the drain, and the price of our developer's shares is growing rapidly. It's amazing how, because of the actions of Trevor, Michael and Franklin, another financial crisis did not break out in Los Santos...

Grand Theft Auto was the first computer game of the late 20th century to implement the principle of freedom of choice. The player was free to choose the further development of events: follow the classic scenario or create his own, freely traveling through the game world. Freedom of choice in the virtual space was an innovative solution of that time and ensured the game a guaranteed increase in popularity.

Players had to start a new life as a criminal trying to survive in the criminal world of the 90s. Contract killings, robberies, struggles for power and money have now become commonplace events, which only become saturated with new colors with each game level.

Below you can read an overview of this game and its history. Also on our website you can download GTA 1.

Realism of the first GTA: pros and cons

The capabilities of computer technology in the 20th century leave much to be desired. In this regard, the game developers did not place much emphasis on graphic effects. For normal operation of a 2D game, a gaming platform with a 100 MHz processor, a video card with 1 MB of memory and 16 MB of RAM was sufficient.

The realism of the game world was achieved through an approach that was unconventional for the 90s. The GTA developers carefully studied and analyzed the criminal activity of their time. The data obtained became the basis for creating a unique scenario reflecting existing reality.

The immersion effect in the game environment was enhanced by using existing cartography. The game developers took New York, Miami and Los Angeles as a basis. In the vastness of Grand Theft Auto they became known as Liberty City, Vice City, San Andreas.

Not all players thought about who exactly took part in voicing the speeches of the Grand Theft Auto characters. Among the announcers there are very interesting and very famous personalities - Jonah Hill, Mile Madsen, James Woods and many others.

GTA 1 storyline

It follows the classic scenario: the player earns the required number of points and moves to the next level with expanded gaming capabilities. Points in the first GTA are money. They can be spent on various services and fun, delaying the completion of the level indefinitely.

Points are awarded to characters for participating in the life of the criminal world. Their number directly depends on the severity of the crime. For example, killing a policeman brings you 1000 points or more, but crashing into someone else's car can earn you only 10.

Players do not have to follow the classic scenario. They are free to do whatever they want: go in any direction, choose any color of car, find a hobby and act according to their own principles. However, to get new features and bonuses, it would be a good idea to follow the instructions of the scriptwriters.

The character of the first GTA receives new tasks using telephone booths. They are scattered throughout San Andreas, Liberty City and Vice City. The missions are so varied and eventful that you never get bored. Participation in showdowns between crime bosses and bank robberies can attract the attention of the police and lead to unpredictable consequences.

Armament and transport

In the first GTA, players have access to a modest arsenal. It included a grenade launcher, pistol, flamethrower, machine gun and body armor. Extra lives, a score multiplier, and a prison key are available as additional bonuses. Players can also bribe the police or use a badge to reduce the attention of law enforcement agencies on their person.

The game character somehow attracts the attention of the police by hitting pedestrians, participating in shootouts and other illegal activities. If you fail to escape from the law enforcement officers, the player will have to lose his weapon, score multiplier, armor, or be killed for resisting arrest.

Players have access to a variety of civilian and official vehicles that can be stolen without much difficulty. Considering the character's occupation, not a single car can last long. Depending on the model, the vehicle can withstand 20 to 40 pistol shots before exploding.

The first version of Grand Theft Auto was released in 1997. Only by March 2011, very interesting details about the final stages of development surfaced. According to unconfirmed information, documents were published in 2011 that indicate that the game could be called Race Chase. What had a decisive influence on the choice of game remains a mystery to this day.

From 1997 to 2008, GTA 1 appeared on different continents, adapted for 4 gaming platforms - Windows, MS-DOS, Game Boy Color, PlayStation. Initially, the idea was to release GTA, which would also be adapted for Nintendo and Sega Saturn. This idea was not destined to come true.

Official releases

Over time, telecommunication systems began to develop and official and fan sites of the first GTA were gradually formed. Using their interface, users were able to exchange information about upcoming releases almost instantly. The “picture” was only distorted by unreliable rumors and speculation of incompetent people.

The situation changed when the developers made official statements about the release of versions of the game adapted for different platforms. For many years, specialists from Tarantula Studios, Visual Sciences and DMA Design, which is now known as Rockstar North, Leeds, worked on them.

Official releases of the first GTA for Windows and MS-DOS took place in 1997 in Europe, 1998 in America, 1999 in Japan. From 1997 to 1998, a version adapted for the PlayStation was gradually introduced. For the Game Boy, GTA was released a little later - in 1999 in America and in 2000 in Europe. The latest release is the STEAM version, which appeared for MS-DOS and Windows in 2008.

Due to the high realism and criminal events in the plot of the first GTA, publishers and developers had to make a lot of efforts to obtain permission to distribute it among the gaming community. The game was assigned strict age restrictions with categories from “15+” ​​to “18+” according to studies of the BBFC, ELSPA, OFLC rating systems.

After receiving the necessary permits, the first GTA began to actively spread and gained popularity at an impressive speed, bringing success and multimillion-dollar profits to its creators. The success of the first part of the game served as the basis for the release of entire series of 2D and 3D modifications of GTA, which are popular to this day.

5 minutes to read.

The Grand Theft Auto series of games from the popular company Rockstar won the hearts of computer game lovers a dozen years ago. Starting with the first generation consoles, everyone knew what GTA was, even if they themselves had never taken on the passage.

In 2004, the most successful and striking part was released, called “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”. The stunning atmosphere and complete freedom of action made the game a true classic of the genre, which all developers subsequently began to focus on.

It would seem that not so long ago “GTA: SA” looked great on PC, but phones were not suitable for games. But thanks to the sharp increase in the capabilities of mobile devices, the game was also released on Android.

Owners of phones and tablets received a full-fledged and official port, which, in addition to everything else, turned out to be of very high quality, which can rightfully be considered a real rarity. So why do we love the GTA series of games so much? We will try to analyze the main advantages of the “San Andreas” part, which can force those who have not yet been touched by it to become familiar with the game.

Game process

The first thing a user buys San Andreas for is its addictive gameplay. It’s worth noting right away that in GTA no one limits us in anything. In addition to tasks, we can freely move around a vast territory and do whatever we want.

There are still people who don’t know the storyline of part of San Andreas, since they came in simply to travel around the map or arrange a shootout with the police. Even this captivated me for many hours, not to mention completing quests that were done in a rather original way.

The quest system in San Andreas, like in most games, is divided into main missions and side missions. Some of them even have freedom of choice, which is very unusual for a game of that time. But this is not the most important thing. The basis of the game is the atmosphere of a criminal city, which is filled with intrigue and treachery, which can be seen as you progress.

Plot

San Andreas is a city divided into several quarters, each of which is ruled by its own local authorities. Some are fighting for their lives and want peace, while others are trying to seize power in the entire city. Groups regularly clash with each other, killing each other for the slightest offenses.

CJ is an ordinary guy who arrived in the city to join his friends, who are members of one of the most peaceful gangs, as it seems at first. But later it turns out that everything is not so simple and gangster life demonstrates its pitfalls. The main character is immediately captivated by an adventure full of shootouts, car thefts and fights with the police. And all this for the sake of order on the streets of San Andreas, despite the cruelty of the methods.

Graphics and music

It is unlikely that the visual component of the game for Android and iOS can impress anyone at the moment, since ten years have passed since its release. But even after a while, it looks nice and fits perfectly with the GTA style, which, by the way, is at a high level even by today's standards.

The huge San Andreas looks amazing, from the villages on the outskirts to the skyscrapers, the roof of which almost every player loved to climb. Android has completely adopted the graphics from the original, only slightly modifying and optimizing them, so this should be quite enough to enjoy the gameplay on a mobile device.

Rockstar's corporate identity has always been visible to the naked eye. This had a particularly strong impact on the entire GTA series. This is due to a set of wonderful soundtracks that stick in your memory from the first launch of the game.
Just remember the main menu with this relaxing and slightly pathetic motif, which fans still clearly remember. The Android version has completely retained the musical accompaniment, which can be considered a big plus of the game San Andreas.

Control

When discussing the Android and iOS versions of GTA, one cannot help but talk about controls. If PC owners at one time could freely play on the keyboard, then the phone can somewhat ruin the gaming experience. For those who immediately thought that playing on a small screen was uninteresting, we can immediately say that this is not so.

According to most, this is a matter of habit, since playing a similar game on a smartphone for the first time will really take some getting used to. Undoubtedly, San Andreas for Android and iOS is perfectly optimized and will not slow down at critical moments, but at first you will still miss the right keys.

GTA for Android and iOS uses standard virtual joystick control, which is located in the lower left corner. The panel on the right contains action buttons, such as punching or jumping. If the game starts to freeze, it is recommended to lower the graphics quality in the settings. This will provide good performance, but will not affect the beauty of the picture too much.

Bottom line

Having discussed in detail the part of the series called “San Andreas” for Android and iOS, we can draw conclusions. The game is obviously worth a look. It will appeal to both new players who have never encountered the series before, as well as users who completed the game a long time ago.

The familiar atmosphere will easily immerse you in a feeling of nostalgia, and freedom of action will allow you to simply walk the streets and do whatever the player wants, if there is no desire to go through old tasks again.

Hi all. Gamebizclub team is in touch. Today we present to you a detailed review of GTA 5 - one of the best games of recent years and also the highest quality simulator of gangster life. This game was released on April 14, 2015, and from that moment on, there probably isn’t a gamer who isn’t at least a little interested in it.

From this article you will learn:

The whole world is at your feet

Let's start, perhaps, with the storyline, which from the first minutes draws you into the game headlong. Check out its official trailer.

The prologue throws you into the thick of things, namely a bank robbery located in North Yankton. Here you have intimidation of clerks, and explosions, and shootouts with hated cops, and only three minutes have passed since the moment you launched the recently installed toy.

After the prologue, the main development of events begins - you begin the passage as a black boy, Franklin, who dreams of big money and trades in the notorious thefts for the owner of a local car dealership.

It would seem to be a cliché - in all games of this franchise we start playing as a simple gangster and try to develop faster. However, not everything is so simple - as the gamer progresses, he has the opportunity to play for two more characters - the calm and calculating Michael Townley de Santa, as well as the hot-tempered and, perhaps, the most charismatic of the entire trinity, Trevor Philips.

So, the presence of three main characters, instead of one, is already something new, but the developers decided that such an innovation would not be enough, so a lot of different entertainment appeared that are available in parallel with the passage of the game, for example, games on the stock exchanges during Lester’s tasks - thanks to the cunning manipulations in the style of Jordan Bellfort (we sincerely hope that you know about such a magnificent schemer) can raise colossal sums on LCN and BAWSAQ, such as: by the end of the storyline, all three characters can earn themselves about 6 billion dollars, or even more .

The natural question would be: “Why such amounts?” The answer is extremely simple - this is Grand Theft Auto 5, with all its tunings, prostitutes, bars, and no one canceled the purchase of real estate (although, of course, they really wanted to: Dan Houser in his interview for Game Informer, ten months before the release of the game on the shelves, complained that the acquisition of real estate would be eradicated from the series, however, fans of the franchise turned the tide).

Real estate, by the way, costs incredible amounts of money, for example, for a golf club, a gamer will have to fork out $150 million, and this is not the only property - as many as 27 real estate properties are available throughout Los Santos and Blaine County. Of these, only two will be given to the character for free; the remaining 25 will have to be purchased for heavy bags of cash.

Among other things, one cannot fail to note the very atmosphere of the game - the majority of Russian (and, most likely, all NON-English-speaking gamers) are tearing their hair out and are indignant at the lack of Russian voice acting.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, learn English, because RockStar does not give permission to translate Grand Theft Auto V into other languages.

In principle, this is understandable - it’s hard to imagine how localizers will convey the character, charisma and accents of the characters. Although subtitles in Russian are present in the game.

The staging of cut scenes, the development of dialogues, everything was done with a bang. I’m very pleased with the whimsical humor, as well as references to other interesting things in the real world - it’s no secret that the developers are warming to Easter eggs.

Three bandits - three cheerful friends

We talked briefly about each of the characters, but came to the conclusion that a barely noticeable mention is not what the main characters deserve.

Let's start with Franklin - a fairly typical character in such games, he makes small, and, of course, illegal earnings, with the help of “brothers from the area.” The guy is open to adventures, and feels confident behind the wheel - his special ability is to slow down the passage of time while he is behind the wheel. This, by the way, helps a lot in passing various kinds of turns, evading police raids, and in general, a very cool skill.

Michael De Santa, born Michael Townley, is Trevor's old friend and accomplice, now a man who wants to retire from everything. Mike's calm and measured life is interrupted when they try to steal a car from his house. Further, events for him begin to get tangled up in such a tangle that your headphones getting tangled in your pocket is just a child’s prank. You will often be asked to shoot for this guy, and the good news is that he shoots excellently. If it’s really bad, you can slow down time and deal with opponents in the manner of Max Payne, however, you won’t have to jump and do other acrobatic sketches, after all, Mr. Townley is no longer 20.

For dessert, Trevor Phillips is a drunk, a murderer and just a good person who gets very angry at the slightest mention of his Canadian accent. In his assets he has a friend Ron and an employee of the Chief - a sort of analogue of Walter White - the guy fights off attacks from competitors on the laboratory, which his friends proudly call Trevor Philips Industries, where Trevor spends a lot of time. Often, when switching to Trevor, you will find him in mental anguish - he will drink, climb on roofs, yell at everyone and beat up those who have distinguished themselves. They can periodically go on a rampage, providing incredible resistance to damage that the Hulk himself would envy.

After all three get acquainted, the incredible begins - torture, surveillance, chases and even work for the government, if you can call it that. And what are Trevor’s love urges worth? Such a subtle picking of girls probably looks very nice for such an ambitious Mr. Phillips.

By the way, there are a lot of moments with sexual overtones in the game, so in order not to injure your relatives, perfect the art of instantly turning off the monitor, or master the tactics code-named “Alt+Tab”. Hundreds of words are on the tongue, but it’s impossible to pick just one, since the action taking place on the screen is almost impossible to describe in words.

New Features

Gameplay is the strong point of most games in this series, so for the purposes of this review, it would be wrong to ignore it. Since Grand Theft Auto V is already the 15th game released by the developers within this franchise, our editors anticipate a reasonable question from the reader: “What can surprise this game?” and we declare with all confidence: “Everyone! Absolutely everyone!” Now in order:

• A huge world, completely open to exploration and interaction with it: often rushing along the highway, or exploring city alleys, you will meet random people who need your help. What’s more remarkable is that some of them will more than repay your kindness, while others will even be ready to go to “deal” with you.
• On PC and nextgen consoles there is a first-person view, and now GTA can be positioned as the most complete life simulator of all existing ones.
• Switching between the main characters - during the game you can change one character to another at any time (if, of course, they are already open). Each of them has their own family, home, and life itself, into which you are literally thrown into as the game progresses. This can only be prevented by completing a mission or being chased by the police, but this is understandable, the artificial intelligence will not escape the chase for you, and it will not complete the mission.
• For the first time, a game of this scale and type is equipped with an online mode, which will allow you to enjoy the game online with your friends. And if you create riots, the character will be assigned the status of “unreliable player” and he will be able to play on servers only with the same hooligans.
• Lots of entertainment in case you get tired of playing: tennis, a strip club, an amusement park and much, much more.
• For those who like to easily get a lot of money in multiplayer mode, there is now a donation; in total there are four types of purchased cards costing from 100 to 700 rubles.
• LS Customs showrooms offer a wide range of different parts and accessories, making car tuning more than entertaining.

In addition to all of the above, I would like to talk about the implementation of such missions as plot robberies - here the gamer really has somewhere to roam.

For example, you yourself select a team to carry out this work, and it happens that thanks to certain decisions made during a free walk around the colorful Los Santos, you have additional accomplices. When planning heists, there are several options for completing them; as a rule, two ways are available - like Agent 47, do everything quietly in the first couple of minutes and then run away, or have fun on the ground, blowing up everything in your path.

And, of course, next-gen graphics - nowadays, looking back at the more boxy releases of the series of games under discussion, it’s hard to say that GTA used to stand out due to its graphical performance, the emphasis was on gameplay and interactivity, but now all parameters are implemented at a high level . You can praise the picture endlessly; even the reflections, light and shadows are executed at the highest level.

The entire GTA series is distinguished by the presence of interesting moments, and the fifth part is no exception.

The amazing interactivity of the game world is breathtaking - your antics are constantly mentioned on radio stations, and some are even broadcast on television. And the variety of actions outside the plot is literally limitless. For example, the opportunity to purchase real estate, which allows you to complete additional tasks in order to get even more money. As we indicated above, for misconduct in multiplayer mode the player is “sent” to servers for unreliable gamers, but even here there are some interesting things - such an offense is the only opportunity to receive a cap with the inscription Dunce (stupid).

The iFruit mobile device app appears in GTA 5. With its help, you can buy cars and tune them. Franklin also has a dog, Chop, which can be trained through this application. The dog can be taught various tricks and commands: sit, lie down, give me a paw, etc. Training helps develop your dog’s skills: it will listen and help you better, and it will use its scent to find the nearest hidden object when you take Chop out for a walk.

Rockstar Games also decided to make fun of the traditional way of the modern world - most of you are probably into social networks - there is LifeInvander for you, please hang out as much as you want in the virtual analogue of VKontakte and Litsokniga. Online shopping is also available and, of course, what changed the world! The thing that made a splash! Let’s not bore you with intrigue – selfies! Now you can photograph not only what surrounds you, but also your loved one.

To be or not to be

If you are still wondering: is GTA 5 worth playing?, then our answer is clear - absolutely! And in order to dispel all doubts, let’s summarize the positive and negative aspects of the game:

1. A huge game world with a high degree of interactivity.
2. Excellent realization of the surrounding world and the objects that fill it.
3. Lots of options for spending time, even if the missions are over.
4. Online mode.
5. Colorful dialogues and picturesque cut scenes.

In its full form, this list will consist of dozens of items, so we will leave the opportunity to add to it to your taste, dear readers.

We were not able to identify any disadvantages, since the toy is implemented at the highest level.

Eventually

I can describe this masterpiece for an infinitely long time, so we definitely advise you purchase this wonderful game, because it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.

This concludes our review; we sincerely hope that this article has provided comprehensive answers to all your questions. Subscribe to blog updates and leave your feedback in the comments. Bye everyone.