Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Rockstar emphasised the personalisation of the main protagonist by adding role-playing elements. Clothing, accessories, haircuts, jewellery, and tattoos are available for purchase by the player, and have more of an effect on non-player characters' reactions than the clothing in Vice City. CJ's level of respect among his fellow recruits and street friends varies according to his appearance and actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. The player must ensure that CJ eats to stay healthy and exercises adequately. The balance of food and physical activity affects his appearance and physical attributes.[9]

San Andreas tracks acquired skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game.[9] CJ may learn three different styles of hand-to-hand combat (boxing, kickboxing, and kung fu) at the gyms in each of the game's three cities if he is fit enough. CJ can either positively or negatively respond to most pedestrians' comments in the game. According to Rockstar, there are about 4,200 lines of spoken dialogue for CJ when the cutscenes are excluded.[10]

In total, there are 212 different vehicles in the game compared to approximately 60 in Grand Theft Auto III. New additions include bicycles, a combine harvester, a street sweeper, a jetpack, and trailers, amongst others. Car physics and features are similar to the Midnight Club series of street racing games, allowing for much more mid-air vehicle control as well as nitrous upgrades and aesthetic modifications.

There are several different classes of vehicles that serve different purposes. Off-road vehicles perform better in rough environments while racing cars perform better on tracks or the street. Jets are fast, but usually need a runway to land. Helicopters can land almost anywhere and are much easier to control in the air, but are slower. While previous Grand Theft Auto games had only a few aircraft that were difficult to access and fly, San Andreas has eleven different types of fixed-wing aircraft and nine helicopters and makes them more integral in the game's missions. There is also the ability to skydive from aircraft or from the tops of certain skyscrapers using a parachute. Several types of boats were added to the game, while some were highly modified.

Other new features and changes from previous Grand Theft Auto games include:

• Gang wars: Battles with enemy gangs are prompted whenever the player ventures into enemy territory and kills at least three gang members. If the player then survives three waves of enemies, the territory will be won, and fellow gang members will begin wandering the streets of these areas. The more territory owned by the player, the more money that will be generated. Occasionally, the player's territory will come under attack from enemy gangs and defeating them will be necessary to retain these areas. Once all marked territories are claimed for the protagonist's gang from one of the two hostile gangs, the opposing gang can no longer attack. Once the player takes control of all territories from both rival gangs, none can come under attack.[11]
• Car modification: Most automobiles in the game can be modified and upgraded at various garages. All car mods are strictly visual apart from the stereo system and nitrous oxide upgrade, which increases bass and gives the car a speed boost when activated, respectively; and hydraulics, which lowers the car's height by default and allows the player to control various aspects of the car's suspension. Other common modifications include paint jobs, rims, body kits, side skirts, bumpers, and spoilers.
• Burglary: Home invasion is included as a potential money-making activity.[12] By stealing a burglary van, CJ can sneak into a residence at night and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants.
• Minigames: Numerous minigames are available for play in San Andreas, including basketball, pool, rhythm-based challenges (dancing and "bouncing" lowriders with hydraulics), poker, and video game machines that pay homage to classic arcade games. Also, there are the aforementioned casino games and methods of gambling, such as betting on virtual horse races.[13]
• Money: The money system has been expanded upon, compared to previous games. Players can spend their cash on gambling, clothes, tattoos, meals, etc. Excessive gambling loss can force the player to sink into debt, which is shown in negative red numbers. When the player leaves a safehouse, CJ gets an unexpected call, and a mysterious person tells him about his debts. Four gang members suddenly appear and shoot Carl on sight if he does not erase the debt when the mysterious person calls him a second time.
• Multiplayer: Rampages have been modified to allow two players to complete them. The players are both shown simultaneously on the screen, meaning they must stay within proximity of each other. The multiplayer rampages provide such functionality.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes place in 1992 within the fictional US state of San Andreas – based upon sections of California and Nevada as seen in the early 1990s – which consists of three main cities: Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), San Fierro (based on San Francisco), and Las Venturas (based on Las Vegas). Various regions of forest, desert, and small rural towns are scattered in between the major cities.[9] Liberty City, the city featured in Grand Theft Auto III which is based on New York City, makes several minor appearances in the game, most notably during a mission which sees the player travelling there to assassinate a mob boss. The city itself is not explorable and only appears in cutscenes, with the entire mission taking place inside a bistro.

The game's setting forms part of the Grand Theft Auto series' "3D universe" canon,[14] though unlike previous entries set in this continuity, San Andreas incorporates fictionalised versions of real-life landmarks and environments from the cities and US states it is based upon.[15] It was the largest setting in the series until Grand Theft Auto V's own depiction of San Andreas.

Like the previous two Grand Theft Auto games, San Andreas features several Hollywood actors, musicians, and other celebrities as voice actors, in both main and minor roles.[16] Many of them are West coast rappers, some of which, at the time of the game's release, were famous only in underground music communities and later turned more successful.[17]

The player assumes the role of Carl "CJ" Johnson (voiced by Young Maylay), a veteran member of the Los Santos-based Grove Street Families street gang, who left for Liberty City five years prior in pursuit of a better life, but returns home following his mother's death. The gang is led by CJ's estranged older brother Sean/"Sweet" (Faizon Love), and includes his childhood friends Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris (Clifton Powell), Lance "Ryder" Wilson (MC Eiht), and aspiring rapper Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross (Jas Anderson). Throughout the game, CJ befriends various characters that become important allies, including Cesar Vialpando (Clifton Collins Jr.), the leader of the Hispanic street gang Varrios Los Aztecas and the boyfriend of Carl's sister Kendl (Yo-Yo); hippie weed grower "The Truth" (Peter Fonda); tech genius and RC shop owner Zero (David Cross); blind Triad crime boss Wu Zi Mu/"Woozie" (James Yaegashi); government agent Mike Toreno (James Woods); crooked lawyer Ken Rosenberg (William Fichtner); criminally connected music producer Kent Paul (Danny Dyer); washed-up singer Maccer (Shaun Ryder); and renowned rapper Madd Dogg (Ice-T).

At the same time, Carl comes into conflict with a number of enemies, including the Ballas and Vagos street gangs; the highly corrupt C.R.A.S.H. police unit, consisting of Officers Frank Tenpenny (Samuel L. Jackson), Eddie Pulaski (Chris Penn), and Jimmy Hernandez (Armando Riesco); the Loco Syndicate drug cartel, headed by Toreno, pimp Jizzy B. (Charlie Murphy) and San Fierro Rifa street gang leader T-Bone Mendez (Kid Frost); and the Leone, Sindacco, and Forelli Mafia crime families. At various points in the storyline, CJ works with Cesar's deranged criminal cousin Catalina (Cynthia Farrell), and mob boss Salvatore Leone (Frank Vincent), both previously featured in Grand Theft Auto III.[18] Claude, the silent protagonist of Grand Theft Auto III, also makes a cameo appearance in the game, while Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's protagonist Tommy Vercetti is mentioned.

In 1992, following his mother's murder in a drive-by shooting, CJ returns home to Los Santos to attend her funeral. Upon arrival, he is intercepted by C.R.A.S.H. leaders Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski, who threaten to frame him for the recent murder of Officer Pendelbury (actually killed by the duo for trying to expose their corruption) unless he co-operates with them. After leaving them, CJ reunites with Sweet, Kendl, Big Smoke, and Ryder at the funeral, and learns that the Grove Street Families have lost most of their influence and territories to their main rivals, the Ballas. CJ agrees to stay in Los Santos and rebuild the gang and works closely with his brother and friends to restore the Families' strength. During this time, he also befriends Varrios Los Aztecas gangster Cesar Vialpando after realizing he genuinely cares for Kendl and helps to jumpstart OG Loc's rap career by stealing rapper Madd Dogg's rhyme book. Shortly after the Families' resurgence, Sweet plans to ambush a large group of Ballas. Before he can join the attack, CJ is contacted by Cesar with information on the drive-by shooting, revealing Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal and their association with C.R.A.S.H. and the Ballas.

Realizing Sweet is headed into a trap, CJ attempts to save him, but both are arrested by the police. While Sweet is incarcerated, CJ is released on bail by C.R.A.S.H. and driven out of Los Santos, where he is forced to assist with several jobs to prevent C.R.A.S.H.'s corruption from going public. With the Families disbanded and the Ballas flooding Los Santos with drugs, CJ focuses on earning money to support himself, Kendl, and Cesar. He meets and works for The Truth and Catalina. After winning a garage in San Fierro from Claude, CJ travels there with his associates and transforms it into a profitable business. While in San Fierro, CJ works for the local Triads after befriending Woozie, and infiltrates the Loco Syndicate, the Ballas' main cocaine supplier, to destroy them from the inside. After earning their trust, he kills the organization's leaders, as well as Ryder, and destroys their drug laboratory.

Later Loco Syndicate leader Mike Toreno, who faked his death, contacts CJ for assistance, revealing himself to be a government agent. After carrying out several operations for Toreno in return for Sweet's release from prison, CJ travels to Las Venturas to help Woozie open a casino. Facing competition from the Mafia, CJ and the Triads organize a robbery of the rival mob-run casino at which they succeed and its stakeholder Salvatore Leone vows revenge on CJ. Tenpenny orders Pulaski to kill CJ and another C.R.A.S.H. member, Jimmy Hernandez, who was secretly exposing their corruption. After killing Hernandez, Pulaski is killed by CJ. After saving rapper Madd Dogg from a suicide attempt, he approaches CJ to ask him to become his manager and help him rebuild his career. CJ returns to Los Santos and with the help from his associates, he retakes Madd Dogg's mansion.

Toreno eventually honours his promise and helps release Sweet. Although happy to have him back, Sweet berates CJ for forgetting about their gang again, and talks him into helping to rebuild the Families. Meanwhile, Tenpenny is arrested for corruption, but is acquitted in his trial, provoking violent riots across Los Santos. CJ helps Madd Dogg exact revenge on OG Loc and assists with retaking the Families' and the Varrios Los Aztecas' territories from the Ballas and Vagos. After tracking down Big Smoke at his fortress, CJ confronts and kills him over his betrayal. Tenpenny arrives to claim his share of Smoke's money and kill CJ, but CJ survives and pursues Tenpenny with Sweet's help. The brothers' pursuit eventually causes Tenpenny to crash his getaway vehicle in Grove Street, where he dies from his injuries. With the riots eventually over and the Families restored, CJ and his allies celebrate their success in his home. In the midst of the celebrations, CJ leaves to check how things are going around the neighbourhood.

The game's events happen at the start of the 1990s in the fictional state San Andreas, inspired by the states of California and Nevada in the United States. Unlike its two predecessors, which were inspired by just one city, this game has three metropolises: Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, respectively, and the map is three times bigger than the one seen in Vice City.[27] San Andreas had already appeared on the first Grand Theft Auto (1997). However, it was displayed only as a two-dimensional version of San Francisco.[19]^: 54 Garbut said that he did not want the game to be "big for the sake of it" and that he and his team at Rockstar "could have made Grand Theft Auto 3 or Vice City much bigger and simply repeated the same stuff for miles on end, padding out what we had, but no one wants to drive through miles of identical buildings." The goal of the team and Garbut with the game world was to create "depth" in the game's exploration, making each city seem different with each other, even though they belong in the same scenario. He commented: "I want to feel like I can stop at any point and discover new things, I want to feel I can climb onto any roof, I want to get to know the map and recognise where I am".[21] Co-writer Dan Houser noted the development team's effort not to make each metropole seem "toy-towny" or something "square" and opined that the game had "really good gameplay built naturally into the environment."[28]

Rockstar's team did long searches to replicate the different cities in the game. All development members were equipped with a camera in each city where the game is based on, taking photos of various locations. Garbut described the experience: "We had a huge road trip, driving across the States in a convoy of Lincoln Town Cars... stopping off in each city and staying there till we had pretty much photographed every inch. It really was epic. The bravest of us were taken in smaller groups into the scarier areas, right into the heart of LA's gang territory."[21] Dan Houser commented that a group of searchers and artists took photos of every neighbourhood of Beverly Hills, California, and "the nicest casinos" of Las Vegas, besides other more peripheral regions in Los Angeles, as reported by Eurogamer: "[they visited] every trainers-over-the-telegraph-wire ghetto cesspit with couches in the streets and gangbangers cruising past in low-riders, and everywhere in between".[30][31] Various neighbourhoods, bridges and explorable interiors of the game were based on actual locations of each city. For example, urban extensions in Los Santos had inspirations from Compton, California; a red bridge in the map's northwest of San Fierro was inspired by the famous Golden Gate Bridge; the casinos of Las Venturas were influenced by casinos in Las Vegas and have a role in the game's plot.[32] As Dan Houser states, Rockstar planned to build an atmosphere with many perspectives to ensure that the game's missions would "show off all the best assets of the map."[28]

Some players found the maps in Vice City too flat. Dan Houser agreed: "For good driving, one of the things that we missed was hills. It just adds that third dimension; it's not as fun with out."[30] Regarding the game's mountain, the Mount Chiliad, Dan Houser stated: "One of the things that the countryside gives you is a mountain, you've never had a mountain in a GTA game before. The idea of being able to drive from LA, through the countryside, up a mountain and into San Francisco and on to Vegas is just freakish, and it feels amazing!"[31] Garbut expressed satisfaction with the presence of hills, forests and a desert, which weren't in the previous installments: "I love the countryside [of the game]. It feels so refreshing to drive out of the city into rolling fields, past farms and rivers, into the forests, deserts and hills. The mountain is fantastic – it's nearly half a mile [800 meters] tall and it takes just under a minute to fly from its base to the top in a helicopter... and a good deal longer to cycle down." Garbut said that he and the developers used many procedural techniques in grass and plants to give life to the mountain and the field: "There's so much to see. I really don't think any game has achieved this level of scale before while keeping anything like this level of detail. There's a sense of scale in this game that dwarfs the previous two while actually adding to the variety and detail."[21] According to developer John Whyte, the map of San Andreas has an area of 36,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi).[15]

While writing the plot, Rockstar was inspired by events that occurred in the early '90s. The rivalry between the street gangs Bloods and Crips were used as the inspiration for the rivalry between the Grove Street Families and the Ballas—the main gangs of the game—respectively.[33] Sam Houser recounted his fascination with the appearance and the gang members' clothing and his wish to represent it in San Andreas: "Well, what's after Miami in the '80s? Well, of course, the Bloods and the Crips and the LA early-'90s gang-banger culture. I remember being in the UK at the time it was going off and being completely fascinated and terrified by it. Fascinated by how they looked – they dress amazingly – but these guys are all like soldiers, and are treated like armies, and this is very serious, scary stuff."[34] According to Dan Houser, the team was focused on not making San Andreas a game simply about gangs and wanted to connect all the narrative elements while still making sense.[28] DJ Pooh, known at the time for being the co-writer of Friday (1995), was hired to co-write the game to detach the British perspective on Los Angeles gang culture from the script, since Rockstar North was mostly composed of United Kingdom nationals.[19]^: 189 DJ Pooh commented on the script's perspective: "One thing that makes me slightly nervous is the notion that it's a game about gang-banging, which it is not really".[30] In the game's advertising, the Grove Street Families were referred to as Orange Grove Families.[35] The game portrays the crack epidemic, which was the rise of drug use in the major cities in the U.S. between the start of the '80s and the start of the '90s, having an impactful role in the narrative.[36][37]

Real-life events that involved police officers also inspired the events in San Andreas. The Rampart scandal of the Los Angeles Police Department, which concerned various cases of police corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit at the end of the '90s, was one inspiration.[38] Another one involved a tumultuous manifestation, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, when a jury absolved Los Angeles police officers, three white and a Hispanic, accused of aggression against Black driver Rodney King after a high-speed chase.[37][39]

For the writing of the game's narrative, Rockstar got influences from Hollywood films with varied aspects of the story and characters. Dan Houser describes that the team watched "hundreds of movies to get the California vibe into the game",[31] while Garbut says he and the team had always been interested in "any relevant films".[21] One of these inspirations came from the film Boyz n the Hood (1991), with references to the gangster style from the '90s.[40][41] The presentation of gang rivalries in Menace II Society (1993)[40][41][42] and Colors (1988) influenced the portrayal of gangs of Los Santos.[43] Sean Penn, brother of Eddie Pulaski's voice actor Chris Penn,[44] is one of the main characters of Colors.[45] The action movies Con Air (1997) and Terminator 2 (1991) are referenced in the "Reuniting the Families" mission, when CJ tries to save his older brother Sweet in a motel while being chased by the police.[46] Other influences and similarities come from movies such as New Jack City (1991)[40] and Juice (1992).[47]

As part of the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition re-release for the PlayStation 2 and the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack, a DVD was provided containing a short 26-minute-long film made through San Andreas' game engine. The film, titled The Introduction, incorporates locations from both the game and Grand Theft Auto III, and focuses on events that take place before the start of the main story, providing insight into various characters from San Andreas prior to CJ meeting or reuniting with them. Most key plot details from the game are explained in this film, such as the downfall of the Grove Street Families; Big Smoke and Ryder's betrayal of the gang and alliances with C.R.A.S.H., the Ballas, and the Loco Syndicate; CJ's life in Liberty City; C.R.A.S.H.'s murder of Officer Ralph Pendelbury; Kent Paul and Maccer's arrival in San Andreas for a concert tour; the circumstances surrounding the construction of the Mafia's casino in Las Venturas; and the fateful drive-by shooting that kills CJ's mother Beverly and determines him to return to Los Santos.

Alongside the short film, the DVD also included a live-action documentary on the custom car culture (featured prominently in the game) called Sunday Drive.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sold 2.06 million units within six days of release in the United States.[73] In the United Kingdom, it sold an estimated 677,000 copies and grossed about £24 million within two days,[74] and sold over 1 million copies in nine days.[75] It was the top-selling game of 2004, with 5.1 million copies sold in the United States,[76][77][78] and over 1.75 million in the United Kingdom.[79] The game generated $235 million in revenue in its first week.[80]

By March 2005, the game had sold over 12 million units for the PlayStation 2 alone, making it the highest-selling game for PlayStation 2.[81] The game received a "Diamond" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[82] indicating sales of at least 1 million copies in the United Kingdom.[83] As of 26 March 2008, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had sold 21.5 million units, according to Take-Two Interactive.[84] The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition lists it as the most successful PlayStation 2 game, with 17.33 million copies sold for that console alone from the total of 21.5 million in all formats.[16] In 2011, Kotaku reported that, according to Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had sold 27.5 million copies worldwide.[85]

Wikinews has related news:

• Video game's secret sex scenes spark outrage

In mid-June 2005, a software patch for the game dubbed "Hot Coffee" was released by Patrick Wildenborg (under the Internet alias "PatrickW"), a 38-year-old modder from the Netherlands. The name "Hot Coffee" refers to the way the unmodified game alludes to unseen sex scenes. In the original version of the game, the player takes CJ's girlfriend to her front door, and she asks him if he would like to come in for "some coffee". He agrees, and the camera stays outside, swaying back and forth a bit, while moaning sounds are heard. After installing the patch, users can enter the main character's girlfriends' houses and engage in a crudely rendered, fully clothed sexual intercourse mini-game. The fallout from the controversy resulted in a public response from high-ranking politicians in the United States and elsewhere and resulted in the game's recall and re-release.

Wikinews has related news:

• Stores drop game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" after given 'Adults Only' rating

On 20 July 2005, the ESRB, which establishes content ratings for games sold in North America, changed the rating of the game from Mature (M) to Adults Only (AO), making San Andreas the only mass-released AO console game in the United States. Rockstar subsequently announced that it would cease production of the version of the game that included the controversial content. Rockstar gave distributors the option of applying an Adults Only ESRB rating sticker to copies of the game or returning them to be replaced by versions without the Hot Coffee content. Many retailers pulled the game off their shelves in compliance with their store regulations that kept them from selling AO-rated games. That same month in Australia, the Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked its initial rating of MA15+, meaning that the game could no longer be sold in the country.[90]

In August 2005, Rockstar North released an official "Cold Coffee" patch[91] for the PC version of the game and re-released San Andreas with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Version 2.0), allowing the game's earlier M rating to be reinstated. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have also been re-released with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed in the Greatest Hits Edition, the Platinum Edition, and the "Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Pack".[92]

On 8 November 2007, Take-Two announced a proposed settlement to the class-action litigation that had been brought against them following the Hot Coffee controversy. If the court approved the proposed settlement, neither Take-Two nor Rockstar would admit liability or wrongdoing. Consumers would be able to swap their AO-rated copies of the game for M-rated versions and may also qualify for a $35 cash payment upon signing a sworn statement.[93] A report in The New York Times on 25 June 2008 revealed that a total of 2,676 claims for the compensation package had been filed.[94]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was made available on the digital distribution platform Steam in January 2008, and received a notable number of updates after its launch. On 7 November 2014, an update caused controversy after 17 tracks from the soundtrack were removed due to expired licences.[104] Other drawbacks of the update included removal of widescreen support (which was later fixed via another minor update), and certain regions being incompatible with older saves. Both old and new owners were affected by the update, unlike with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, where only new owners were affected due to a similar update. Additionally, the game received native support for XInput-enabled gamepads and the removal of digital rights management software.

Gameplay as seen in the iOS version

A port of San Andreas for select iOS devices was released on 12 December 2013.[105] It was followed closely by ports to Android devices on 19 December 2013,[106] Windows Phone devices on 27 January 2014,[107] and Fire OS devices on 15 May 2014.[108] The upgrades and enhancements from the original game include newly remastered graphics, consisting of dynamic and detailed shadows, greater draw distance, an enriched colour palette, plus enhanced character and car models.[54]

In 2008, the original Xbox version was released on Xbox 360 as an emulated port, and part of the Xbox Originals line-up. However, in late 2014 it was removed from the Xbox Live Marketplace and replaced with a port of the mobile version on 26 October 2014, the game's tenth anniversary. It featured HD 720p resolution, enhanced draw distance, a checkpoint system, a new menu interface, and achievements. While it introduced many new features, around ten songs were removed from the HD version that were present in the original due to licensing issues, and numerous new bugs were introduced.[109] A physical release followed on 30 June 2015 in North America[110] and 17 July 2015 elsewhere,[111] under the "Platinum Hits" banner ("Classics" in PAL regions).

San Andreas was first released on PlayStation 3 in December 2012 as an emulated PS2 Classic. This version was also removed in late 2014, leading to rumours of a PS3 HD release. However, this was not the case at the time, and the PS2 Classic later returned. In early November 2015, the game was re-rated by the ESRB for an upcoming PS3-native release. The HD version was released on 1 December 2015, replacing the PS2 Classic on the PlayStation Store, and on physical media, gaining instant "Greatest Hits" status in North America.[112] There has also been a PlayStation 4 version released, though unlike the port for the PlayStation 3, it is the PlayStation 2 game running via emulation, although it still has trophies and some songs edited out due to licensing restrictions.

An enhanced version of San Andreas, subtitled The Definitive Edition was released alongside Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2021; versions for Android and iOS devices are also in development. The Definitive Edition replaced existing versions of the game on digital retailers,[113] but later restored as a bundle on the Rockstar Store.[114] A virtual reality version of the game is in development for Oculus Quest 2.[115]