Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas... a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers. Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

Various user reviews

This 10-year-old game gets a nice face lift, but it's disappointing that the Xbox 360 can't handle it smoothly.

A good way to experience a great old game.

How do you follow up a runaway success like 2001's Grand Theft Auto III? Rockstar North responded a year later with GTA: Vice City, a game that took the gameplay of its predecessor and expanded it considerably. At the same time, Vice City gave the series an extensive and amazing stylistic makeover, drenching the experience in the sights, sounds, and attitude of Miami, Florida from the mid '80s. So where do you go from there? You take it statewide. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas expands the series' concept to encompass three entire cities, as well as the countryside between them. The gameplay similarly expands, packing in some explosive set pieces and amazing action-movie-like thrills while maintaining that same remarkably fun, freefom GTA feel. In short, Rockstar has done it again. San Andreas definitely lives up to the Grand Theft Auto name. In fact, it's arguably the best game in the series.

Ben Griffin provides context and commentary followed by the full, original text of our GTA: San Andreas review, published in the July 2005 issue of PC Gamer UK.

Although PC gamers have to deal with all sorts of headaches foreign to console gamers (tech-support, compatibility, outrageous video card costs, etc.), they have historically slept well knowing their platform offered the best that gaming had to offer. At least, they did until Grand Theft Auto 3 hit the PS2 in 2001. Even though the first two GTAs appeared on the PC, neither could hold a candle to GTA 3, one of the most revolutionary titles of all time. Is it any wonder PC gamers seemed so bitter?

Given the endlessly bad press it receives, you'd almost think Grand Theft Auto was the ruin of Western civilization. But while its hooker-beating and indiscriminate violence come up every time some culture critic wants to rag on digital entertainment, gamers have their own reasons for liking it. Reasons like limitless freedom, unfettered exploration and infinite possibilities for running over old ladies at high speeds. And with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you'll get more of that stuff than most people can handle.

Is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas OK for your child? Read Common Sense Media's game review to help you make informed decisions.

Rockstar Games Presents Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Sony PlayStation 2

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 26 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2 console, and on 7 June 2005 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox. It is the seventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series, and the first main entry since 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It was released on the same day as the handheld game Grand Theft Auto Advance.