I don't see what the hype is all about, horrid graphics, sound effects
and dialogue. The game is set up in the early 1990's, you are Carl
Johnson, An ex-gang member of "Grove Street", Finally returning due to
the death of his mother, He meets back up with his old gang members and
gets back into the "gangsta" life.
You start out recently detained by a crooked cop named Officer Frank
Tenpenny (played by Samuel Jackson) who apparently knows you from your
past experiences in Los Santos. He then escorts you to your old rival
gang named "Ballers" territory, You need to get back to Grove Street...
Fast, You may not be a member of Grove Street now, but the Ballers
don't know that. You then meet up with all of your old buddies, Sean
"Sweet" Johnson (your brother), Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris and Lance
"Ryder" Wilson.
You then try to complete missions based on events happening within the
gang, Although you would most likely be free roaming, Getting used to
the area. The storyline is pretty streght forward for a good hour,
Rebuild the gang to its former glory, Defeat all other rival gangs,
What you would expect to be doing while in a gang. Although, I find
free roaming and building up stats to be the fun part at the beginning
of the game... Yes you heard me right, This game has a little RPG
element built in, You can build up your stats between Shooting skill,
Muscles, Fat, Sex appeal, Stamina, Respect and Breath. You can level
each up depending on what you do (Swimming, Gym, And just shooting
cops). After a while, the story takes unexpected and unpleasant twists.
Graphics can be summed up in one word... GTAIII. Thats right, basicly
the same game engine as GTAIII and GTAVC, It looks like they touched up
the textures a bit on the terrain, but the character models still look
like garbage. Guns in GTASA sound like they were made by the creators
mouths. The Dialogue is okay, Recorded from some famous
actors/rappers.. If only it didn't sound like it was recorded on a tape
recorder.
One major flaw in the game is the shooting system, You basicly target
an enemy and shoot, i was hoping for some Third person shooter action..
the targeting and shoot system is far too easy and gets boring pretty
fast. But the other gameplay options outweigh the shooting system
flaws, Customization in the game has a lot of variety, the muscle stat
bar depends on how strong you character looks and how much damage he
does with each punch, The way you customize you character make is
unique, You have to go to different shops and get haircuts, Different
cloths and Jewelry.
Overall i would say this game is worth picking up (if you havn't
already), The storyline is too long for a rental, The game has too many
flaws to ignore but the fun minigames and the "Last Stands" with the
cops and freeroaming a massive map make this a decent game. If you are
into the whole "Gangster" theme than this is the game for you. Other
than that, I would avoid it entirely and get another freeroaming game
such as Gun or Mercenaries.
