Grand Theft Auto San Andreas – Hands on Xbox Preview, pt. 2

Introduction | Hands On Gameplay | Xbox GTA:SA Screens & Trailer

Fans of the GTA series are in for one massive game with Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. The actual size of the game is three times larger than the last GTA: Vice City game. In fact, you are about to explore not just three cities… but an entire state. Now the characters have changed from the last game so meet Carl Johnson “CJ to his friends”. Five years ago CJ fled the mean streets of San Andreas. Now, due to a death in his family he must return to the place where it all began for him. As if a death in his family was not enough, he also finds himself back on the streets trying to clear his name for a murder he was framed for; so CJ must go back to the life he tried so hard to escape from, and old habits die hard.

Gamers will not only go through the normal missions that fans of the GTA games are familiar with, but this time around CJ will have to find time to work out and stay in shape. He will actually change his appearance while the game goes on. If he works out, he will keep those ripped muscles and stay in shape. If he slacks off with his exercise routine, he will gain weight and this will hinder his missions. The game also takes a new route when it comes to those great vehicles. This time around you can pimp out any ride CJ gets his hands on, and the amount of different vehicles available in this game is staggering. From a peddle bike all the way to a hovercraft it’s in this massive game. For those wondering about the helicopters and planes? Yes, they are back and fully loaded for destruction as well as the vigilante missions and the rescue missions with the cop, fire and ambulance vehicles. Of course the game would not be a GTA game if there was not plenty of violence and the ladies of the night. The Xbox version will feature high resolution graphics and the load times are incredibly fast. In fact, the build we played had almost no load time, it was virtually seamless. When entering an indoor area for example, there will be a very slight delay of about 1-2 seconds, this is pretty impressive.

Also new for the Xbox version is the Radio custom soundtrack feature. You pick the songs from your custom soundtrack and they will play complete with those wild commercials. The new game will have more voiceovers from celebrities including Axl Rose as a heavy metal DJ, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlie Murphy, Peter Fonda and Chris Penn, just to name a few. The game features a wide range of music of it’s own from artists like Guns & Roses, Snoop Dog, DR Dre and more. Other voices featured as additional DJ’s are George Clinton and Chuck D. We got the chance to play a build of the game that was fairly close to gold, and everything looked well done and ready to ship to retail. The graphics look great and the things you can add (like tattoos) really make this one stand out above the rest of the series. When compared to the PS2 version you can see more detail not only in the characters and the cars, but the environments as well, it’s a step up on just about every level. A deeper story line and a massive state to roam will have fans busy for a long time. Take a look at the screen shots and game features. San Andreas hits stores in early June and it looks as though Rockstar will certainly have another major hit on their hands, sorry PlayStation owners, Xbox wins again.

Features:

• Two-player co-operative mode available for certain objectives.
• Experience dynamic weather including rain, fog, sunshine and hazy smog.
• Professional voice acting provided by Samuel L. Jackson, David Cross, Peter Fonda, Ice T, Charlie Murphy, Chris Penn, Young Maylay and James Woods.
• Includes songs by Dr. Dre, Tupac, Stone Temple Pilots, Compton ’s Most Wanted, Boyz II Men, Guns and Roses, Snoop Dog.
• D.J. services provided by Chuck D., George Clinton and Axl Rose.

Exclusive Features to the Xbox version:

• Customizable Soundtrack
• 30 Second Instant Replay Feature
• 480p 16:9 Progressive Scan
• Dolby Digital 5.1
• High Resolution Textures
• New Lighting/Shading Models
• Increased Draw Distance

Rockstar has really ramped up the Xbox version of the game. While we were at their studio in New York they explained to us how this is possible. When they originally built San Andreas they did it using the highest possible resolutions and settings, and then basically (in my terms) toned it down to work on the PlayStation 2 hardware. Now that they are getting the Xbox version ready, they are working with the same set of tools they had for the PS2, so this game definitely is not considered a ported title, it’s a full fledged rework of the base code. With the Xbox hardware, they were able to add in some better graphic profiles, better lighting and shading, and increased draw distance. Get ready GTA fans, this one will have you playing for months.

Ready for the good stuff, check out section 3 which has very new, and very cool trailer, and some San Andreas Xbox Screenshots.

Filed under: Previews

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