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GAMES: [Metacritic's 2004 PS2 Game of the Year] 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. [Rockstar]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 100
Game Informer
San Andreas breaks the video game mold and emerges as something far greater. This is more than a game. This is entertainment at its best. [Dec 2004, p.170]
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Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
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GameSpy
There really is no other game like it, despite there being many imitators, and this is precisely the kind of experience that reminds why, exactly, we play games: to be liberated from the constraints of reality, and explore living, breathing worlds. Few games have come this close to realizing that promise.
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AceGamez
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PSM Magazine
A game that surpasses its genre-defining predecessors in every respect, not just in terms of gameplay, but also in terms of story, characters, and overall fun. It pops many caps in many asses. [Jan 2005, p.58]
100
Maxim Online
So good that it even drew Axl Rose out of hiding (he’s the DJ on the classic rock station, one of 11 listening formats), San Andreas cranks out even more action than "Vice City" as you engage in those wacky gang-related adventures you've grown to love in disconcertingly authentic versions of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.
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Cheat Code Central
It's like 5 games in one: part RPG, part adventure, part action, part racer and part sim. And it does it just as well as the best games in any of those genres...One of the best games ever released on any system.
100
Computer Games Magazine
Somehow, Rockstar keeps the same old ingredients, adds a handful of new ones, and manages to create a great new recipe. [Feb 2005, p.NP-9]
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Gaming Target
Non-linear, absolutely packed with things to do, entertaining radio stations, great missions, great story, great characters, enough diversions to keep you playing for months, so much diversity in the cities that you may never stop discovering new aspects of town.
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Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK
Massively expansive, even over "Vice City." The biggest game ever. [Jan 2007, p.106]
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GameZone
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Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
Shudderingly comprehensive, divinely paced and - despite the million of words already written in feverish anticipation - it has the ability to surprise at every turn. This is PS2's defining masterpiece – a sunspot of rare polished magic from experienced developers working at the peak of their powers. [PSM2]
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GameCritics
This is arguably the most important videogame this year - yes, even more important than "Halo 2" - not only because it's a superbly crafted videogame, but because it's also a bona fide sociological artifact, one that manages to effectively evoke a specific time and place in American history—in this case, a hot and hazy California during the nascent days of hip-hop culture.
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BonusStage
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Game Chronicles
No one should deny that San Andreas is a great storytelling game. It's just that, between gradually caring less and less about the main characters, and performing many game actions that are nearly identical to those of previous titles in the series, San Andreas could easily begin to wear a bit thin.
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games(TM)
Your legacy will be as twisted, as exciting or as brutal as your imagination will allow... San Andreas is an experience as unique as you are. Sometimes, it’s okay to believe the hype. [Christmas 2004, p.98]
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NTSC-uk
Between its towering mountains and vast waters there are surprises, in-jokes and events in San Andreas to fill at least a hundred hours. Should "GTA4" be any more involving, there’ll be no one left to see how GTA5 turns out. Half of us will no longer have the jobs to afford it; the other half will be motoring back and forth in the neighbours’ stolen car, endlessly prowling for prostitutes.
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Edge Magazine
As with previous GTA games there's lots to criticise, but San Andreas survives, scathed but still walking tall, buoyed by the kind of ambition that sees most games crumble under the weight of it all. It's a multi-faceted, multi-achieving experience, a rough-edged but massively substantial landmark. [Christmas 2004, p.78]
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GMR Magazine
There is also a distinct lack of overall polish, mostly noticeable in the smallest ways: ugly character models, cluttered maps (the custom waypoint is a welcomed and downright necessary addition), unnecessarily complex wardrobe management, odd misspellings ("Cobra Marital Arts"), and even repeated references to Los Angeles instead of Los Santos.
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Play Magazine
Bigger and richer in every way - a near bottomless game painted end-to-end with stuff to do, or not. As far as free-form gaming goes, it remains the pinnacle. [Jan 2005, p.57]
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The average user rating for this game is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 600 User Votes Adam W. gave it an8: John G. gave it a10: some guy gave it an8: Sam J. gave it a9: GTA4 gave it a10: Deondre J. gave it a10: Kewkat gave it a10: |
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