Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Launch 419
The first of this year's AAA titles has launched, and the first reviews are in. Gamespot, IGN, and OPM all have looks at the game, and it sounds great. If you want to keep track of the pool-shooting race track driving everything-under-one-roof extravaganza, the GameRankings page is available as well. When you play the game this week make sure and tune in to WCTR News to catch Anchorman Richard Burns, TV's Wil Wheaton. More seriously, reviews aren't the only thing the developers are looking for. Commentary regarding Take Two Interactive's slipping stock is available on CNN Money's Game Over.
Which month is it? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's the end of October, and you think that 'GTA 3.2' is the first of the year's AAA titles?
Meh.
Australia? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:New Features (Score:4, Interesting)
Vice City, while enjoyable, is just a variation on the theme. GTA is the rilla.
GTA Source (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:GTA Source (Score:4, Interesting)
The mall was insane last night... (Score:5, Interesting)
Wait time for line losers= 5 hours
Wait time for me=5 minutes
hard to get excited (Score:3, Interesting)
There's such a thing as too much realism. I mean, who wants to eat and work out and ride a bicycle in a video game? I play games to feel like I'm doing something that I can't do in the real world, and between GTA3 and Vice City I've already done all the crazy shit that I wanted to do.
Finally, the early 90s L.A. setting isn't what I'd personally call fun. If GTA3 is comparable to The Sopranos and Vice City is like Miami Vice or Scarface, then San Andreas is like the LA gangsta scene and that wasn't fictional. Lots of young people really died in the places that movies like "Boyz in The Hood" were about. Yeah, eventually that gangsta rap stuff got to be cliche and Snoop Dogg is funny and all that but it all comes from a place where innocent people died. You can't say anything about Tony Montana is real other than there were Cuban cokeheads in Miami in the early 1980s.
The geek part of me says "ooh, shiny new game" but the rational side says "don't believe the hype."
Reaching out to Rockstar (Score:5, Interesting)
In the previous two games you could stand still, do a 360 turn and pedestrians / cars who were visible a moment ago have been replaced with other pedestrians / cars. Such behaviour might be unavoidable in the PS2 version, but it's seriously annoying in the PC version.
There were some very dumb pathing issues too. A common thing in previous games was to stand under a bridge and watch as police etc., jumped straight off it to their deaths to get you. Or they would drive straight into the water etc.
It's amusing but it screws up some missions too. One mission had you rescuing your buddy from a scrap yard. I did that part and he followed me out. I ran across a bridge and turned around to see him fall straight into the water and drown. The pathing had him make a beeline straight for my character without checking whether he would drown in the process.
Still, GTA games are excellent, but that AI needs work.
What was removed from the leaked copy? (Score:2, Interesting)
However, the one that was "leaked" last week fits nicely on a plain ol' DVD-R. Odd thing, I've put a ton of hours into it and nothing seems missing. Textures are fine, music sounds great, and all the movies/cutscenes are there.
Does anyone happen to know exactly what the differences are?
(oh wait, I admitted to downloading a game, does that mean the moral crusaders are coming after me to mod me down?!)
Love to see GTA: WorldWide (Score:2, Interesting)
It would be a fun change from the FPS's and deathmatches, at the least.
Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:What was removed from the leaked copy? (Score:3, Interesting)
everyone you knew? (Score:5, Interesting)
I can tell you why I like Wil, but if you really want to know why people like Wil, you should just go read his writing.
Now seriously, why is "I don't get it." modded up? Since when was ignorance insightfull?
Re:The mall was insane last night... (Score:4, Interesting)
Empowering (Score:5, Interesting)
Slashdot = intelligent... no really... (Score:2, Interesting)
There's a variety of posts, including users who don't believe that people get review copies of games, others that believe the game destroys PS2's, and polls asking how late someone will stay up tonight playing it. Really engaging conversations.
All I was wanting last night was some help on the game, and all I got was a lousy flame.
Is it just me or is Everyone a racist (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Empowering (Score:4, Interesting)
Compare that to Vice City, where you were making 1k-5k PER MISSION right from go. Going to the clothing store and buying a new outfit is a hard choice. You go in and the shit costs what feels like 'real' money.
I'm sure as the game continues, money becomes less of an issue. But I'm very pleased that they did successfully map the relative poverty level of "the hood" so that the player didn't have thousands of dollars to begin with.
I do have one problem with the game however, and it's a problem that I'm surprised slipped through QA & product evaluation.
In a very early mission, you take a baseball bat, and you have to fight multiple enemies. The manual does _not_ tell you how to switch targets when in 'lock on' mode. In a mission that happens several missions _after_ that one, you are walked through shooting a gun, locking on targets, and cycling through all available targets.
-1 : failing to document the target cycle controls in the manual
-1 : ordering the 'tutorial' missions such that the useful knowledge comes after the mission when you would first need it.
Still, total score: 98/100.
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
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In regards to GTA:SA, changing the language would be akin to air brushing out George Burns' cigars. The player is essentially role playing a character in an historical environment, and the language is part of it. Editing out specific words from a game with drive-by's, corrupt cops, drugs, etc. seems a little selective to me.
You certainly didn't read my post terribly well, I said I wasn't one to be easily offended, in fact I tend to offend sensitive people, I cuss like a sailor. Yet still, parts of San Andreas's language offended me.The more I think of it, the more I realize it wasn't the story/mission parts that bothered me. What was getting on my nerves was the constant random shit that you'd hear when walking/running/riding/driving/etc. A lot of it was beyond pointless, and it didn't help to establish a feel for the era/area. I'm quite sure that not all 1990s residents of Los Angelas cussed everytime they opened their mouth. Keep in mind not all the background chatter is caused by you, you'll hear NPCs yelling at each other as well. If it was only triggered by your rude/criminal actions it'd be understandable.
Basically it feels more like Rockstar went overboard and the cussing has ended up being there for shock value, not authenticity. That alone is pretty offensive. In any case for someone like me who cusses as much, or more, than the game characters do to end up being sick of the constant cussing and want to mute it says a lot about how they've used it in-game. I simply don't get offended easily, and this is the first GTA game to manage to offend me. (Actually it's the first game or movie to offend me.) At this point I'll probably rent it to spend some more time with it and see if the gameplay overcomes what I've felt watching it (admittedly for only a few hours). Maybe I'll get used to it, but I don't know. I came away from that session not terribly interested in the game and I'd been looking forward to it for months and was excited as hell to get to see it the other night.
And as far as having a less-cussing option, it's not the same. In this case you still get to present the work in its full glory, but for those less inclined to hear the language (or those sick of hearing it constantly) you can give them a break. After all would you rather stay true to your 'vision' or sell more games? Personally I think a game company would want to sell more games, if it tanks they'll lose money on it. (Granted that's not very likely with this series.) Air-brushing out George Burn's cigars would also be acceptable in the right context, say on a DVD that used multiple angles (or just came as a set with two versions) so that those that wanted to see it in its original format could, but those offended by smoking could also enjoy it. It's not censorship when the consumer is left with both options. After all nearly every movie release presents you with a choice of a modified movie (full screen) or one in its full original form (wide screen). Very few releases offer both versions in one package and I don't see many people saying that's a problem.
Re:Not just more of the same (Score:3, Interesting)
The graphics and sound have dramatically improved, multiplayer has been dropped, and the game has been split and sold in separate chunks... yes the first GTA had Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas all in one!
Most people probably never got past Liberty City in the original game, so it was wise to split them up... oh and creating content for the GTA3 series is allot harder than doing so for the GTA1 series.
It really bothers me how much gamers and critics ignored the first GTA. Critics bagged it as a gimmic and gamers ignored it. Hell, the Gamespot reviewer of GTA3: San Andreas even goes as far as to say
when multiplayer has been in GTA since 1998. Just imagine if movie critics were this ignorant of history. "The concept of a non-linear storyline in a movie is pretty mind-blowing"! Yup, they would be laughed at. I guess the game industry still has allot of growing up to do.
Re:Is it just me or is Everyone a racist (Score:2, Interesting)