Intro
First of all, I’m now what I call a part-time gamer but back in October 2004 I was a full-on addict and GTA San Andreas was the game that defined my gaming habits like most people who played it around that time. There was no game like it before on the PS2 console and there were a lot of things to do that kept me occupied for many hours for weeks and months and years of playing it over and over. I played the first one on PS1 and had fun but still thought it lacked something and the next instalment fulfilled all that I love about gaming and wasn’t like the old skool retro games I played as a kid on the Nintendo, Sega Master Drive, and the games on the computer at school. At that time the graphics were good for the time and looking back now I can’t believe how well the graphics are compared to when the game came out in 2004 when everything was tech-savvy and futuristic but they still looked good and I was impressed but not looking back. With me I like a game with lots to do it has to be entertaining in some way and it must have random bits I can go and use at any point and San Andreas had all that and more everywhere you go there was something new and for activity-wise, it had too much to do and was overwhelming. I remember when I was looking up stuff online I came across the guide and there were pages and pages of tips and tricks and a guide also going in the game shop the book was quite thick in fact it was like a bible I wouldn’t be surprised if some people called it a bible as there was so much to look at you couldn’t do it all in one day. At one point I photocopied or at least tried to and it would have cost me over £40 as I didn’t have the internet at home back then and I really didn’t know what to do at first it took some time to get used to the controls and also following the map to the destination and it was really hard right from the jump, but yeah over £40 on paper if I did which I can’t remember what was I thinking I could have bought the book for a bit more I can’t remember how much it cost, to be honest. installment.
Jetpacks
After you finally get to the Countryside after meeting that crazy witch Catalina and you are at the strip you will get a mission where you find a jet pack and you have to escape out of Area 69 and you get to keep it which is fun to travel around flying in the sky and causing mayhem whilst hovering and is also handy for getting around as it’s a long drive to the start where you start out at Pop’s Smoke House I used it where ever I went and even did a few missions with it when it was time to escape just as long as the helicopters are not on you. The jet pack was one of the top highlights of the game and I couldn’t believe they would put it so far in the game I could have done with that in the beginning when I was being shot out by the street gangs and obviously traveling around I don’t think you are aware how many cars I flipped over on the way to the country I lost my temper a few times actually quite a lot as I had to restart the whole mission or journey again I mean the mission where you have to steal a truck in the country with that ridiculous turn that would unhinge the container and people chasing you too damn it was hard. Same within Area 69 that was such a hard level I don’t know how I survived it to be honest especially lifting off in the jet pack with all the people shooting you whilst you escape. obviously.
The Radio Stations
Without the soundtrack, it wouldn’t have been as zoned out in the game and I liked all the stations even the country station K Rose which ain’t my favorite but a station I would put on after running through all of the other stations. It has all my favorite childhood songs I was bought up with and a good selection and my favorite from the GTA series. My favorite stations are Bounce, Radio Santos, Playback, and CSR in fact I like them all but they are my best stations to drive to or be chased. It’s not just the music though it’s the commercials and radio hosts that really light up the station and every station have lots of funny moments even though it can be dark weird and forbidden at times. The weird thing is I never got bored of that and always laughed or found new bits that made me laugh hysterically and at times it put me off and I would die or crash the car where I was concentrating too hard it definitely made me concentrate much harder and I would pass the missions easier when I’m zoned out listening to the radio and concentrating at the same time. Just three of my favorite genres are house, Reggae, and Funk and there is a lot of good tracks from those genres which I could listen to all day not exactly but I can keep coming back to them and listening to them day in day out with rests in-between.Â
Packages
When I’m bored and I feel like doing a hunt I spent time looking for packages that are scattered around the city. I was impressed with the idea of finding them even though it was hard without the map that would tell you where to find them and the ones I already found were hard to remember what ones I already got until later games where it was marked out and a lot easier. I never found all the packages as I said it was hard to know which ones I already had and that was the downside in the quest but I spent hours looking for that one package and without the internet, I didn’t find most of them but I had fun and spent lots of time looking for them hopping out vehicles and avoiding the police and gangs on the streets the radio was the only thing that got through the journey but most of the time I would give up and look for the next one it was frustrating but fun at the same time. What I liked was there were types the package and the horseshoe was two of the collectible items you had to find what I didn’t like was the fact I looked and looked only to find out it was on a high roof the whole time and you would need to get the helicopter and still find it on a side ledge you had to risk your life to get only to die but I was in love with the fact of going on a hunt for the collectibles and wished I didn’t collect them before I had the map but there was a lot of side missions to do so it wasn’t that bad.
The Strip
Wow, how impressive the strip is all the lights but more importantly all the stuff you can do I spent most of my time at the strip especially at the casino and at the flight school which was one of the most annoying things to do in the game but was fun kind of at the same time. How I struggled with flight school but passed most of them eventually but the last couple took me forever to do and I was stressing a lot again it was fun, especially at first but the more you try the more annoying it got. My favorite part is going to the casino and spending and losing/winning lots of money on the real games that I really enjoyed even though I’m not much of a gambler I still enjoyed playing Black Jack and Poker on the machines and tables. I feel that was another highlight of the game and was hard getting there and was worth spending all the time there to make up the time I spent getting there. The missions were good there and are where the heist happens with Catalina I think it took me ages to do the Strip levels and thought I would never get past them but I did eventually with all the I ain’t going quit attitude but wow they were hard missions the more you get into the game the harder it gets but with the cheats which are another key factors to the game unfortunately but yes what I would have done without the cheats I would be out the window but I’m a lot better now playing it more recent but it was too unforgiving at parts but what a game. Â