GTA: San Andreas screenshots

[Marek]

As you probably know, GTA: San Andreas will feature three cities, connected by highways, with desert and forests in between the cities. These areas will feature their own sets of missions.

Here's what it's going to look like:

It's nice to see some shots that look decidedly different from the previous two games.

Oh, and seen this?

[b0b]

They're clearly working up to some kind of GTA MMO type thingy.

This is good. I also find it hard to envisage a future in which San Andreas does not in fact kick all the ass..

[Marek]

Yeah no kidding, this game is set to be huge. I'm normally left cold by claims of sheer quantity, but in the case of GTA I'm really excited. I'm easily impressed by enormous virtual landscapes with nice sunsets (such as those in Morrowind) but what makes it special in GTA is the ability to cross that landscape in a range of fun ways, and not having to walk for hours.

I imagine airborne vehicles will be a lot more interesting in San Andreas, if at least you're allowed to fly between the three major cities at high speeds, and provided that this mountain has a secret entrance at the top that can only be reached by helicopter:

[b0b]

Sort of reminds me of Interstate '76 - I loved just caning it across the desert, drifting some cannoned-up muscle car back and forth across a thin strip of tarmac while scenery whipped past at 150mph..

I'm all for games that give you a sense of scale..

[Jake]

I76 ruled. Hilariously great soundtrack too. One of the few all live soundtracks from the mid-90s, "Outlaws" era. Except a funk band instead of Clint Bajakian and his guitar.

[Chris]

Wow, this is rather surprisingly but also completely awesome. I have nothing more to say. Hooray Rockstar!

[Huz]

  Marek said:

...but what makes it special in GTA is the ability to cross that landscape in a range of fun ways, and not having to walk for hours.

I hope they have some sensible mechanism to help you out if you smash your car up along the way, like possibly a "hang yourself" button. Ever lose your car in the middle of the airport in GTA3? Weep.

Speaking of losing your car, I hate the thing where GTA3/Vice City 'forgets' about cars and things behind you. Most annoying feature ever. I hope they sort that shit out, at least for the PC version where lots of memory should at least give it some kind of hint of what to plonk down there when you re-enter an area.

However, this rolling countryside stuff does in fact look excellent.

[Pappa]

Heh. I'm having a hard time trying to grasp how incredibly awesome this game will be. One of the few games I'm excited about. I played the third game to death (although I got tired of Vice City after a short while).

[manny_c44]

I can't wait to hijack a combine and then spend 6 hours driving it back to the city! Total Mayhem!1!!

[MrHoatzin]

  Dogman said:

Speaking of losing your car, I hate the thing where GTA3/Vice City 'forgets' about cars and things behind you. Most annoying feature ever. I hope they sort that shit out, at least for the PC version where lots of memory should at least give it some kind of hint of what to plonk down there when you re-enter an area.

My most favourite car-loss scenario happened when I had to...

  Reveal hidden contents

...assassinate the head mafioso. I got a Stinger of some sort, I remember it was blue, and I parked it by the stairs in the little alley that gave me a great overview of the front of the club.... so I waited about five minutes for the bodyguards to clear around the corner and him to run out, so I shot him, I was proud to have done this horribly complicated mission full of goons with a single bullet, but when I got back down from my nest the car was gone.... so I had to run back to the metro station and take the train home from an assassination, as there were no adequately fast cars around. It was hillarious.

[MrChlorophyll]

  Dogman said:

I hope they have some sensible mechanism to help you out if you smash your car up along the way, like possibly a "hang yourself" button. Ever lose your car in the middle of the airport in GTA3? Weep.

C'mon people, this is Idle Thumbs here. Ya'll should know that the key will be to stick out your thumb and jack the poor, kind soul of his station wagon.

[Marek]

More new stuff at GameSpot.

[Chris]

Holy crap that looks good. This is debuting on PS2??

[Marek]

Yep. The way its looking I bet there's some kind of catch. Like ... needing TWO PS2s to run it.

[Huz]

  Marek said:

Yep. The way its looking I bet there's some kind of catch. Like ... needing TWO PS2s to run it.

The fog, the fog! It looks like it's rolling in from the ocean. And not leaving.

Oh man, it still looks great.

[Marek]

That would be LA smog? (bleached?)

[Chris]

  Marek said:

Yep. The way its looking I bet there's some kind of catch. Like ... needing TWO PS2s to run it.

[manny_c44]

I wonder what kind of nauseating filter effect they'll cook up for this outing.

I remember how rockstar was bragging how GTA 3 was the end of the playstation 2's capabilities, that they'd reached the limit. Looks like they changed their minds.

[Nick]

*cream*

[Jake]

I really liked the "bad 80s video camera" light trails in Vice City if that's what you're referring to with "nauseating video effect." That plus the red/orange color blow out effect when you look at the sun = extreme win in my mind.

[Jayel]

GTA games are great. I recommend'em to everyone I meet on the street.

San Andreas thing looks great too. Much better than Pacman.

[manny_c44]

  Jake said:

I really liked the "bad 80s video camera" light trails in Vice City if that's what you're referring to with "nauseating video effect." That plus the red/orange color blow out effect when you look at the sun = extreme win in my mind.

Vice City was a big improvement from the first (it also had that light bloom off of the windshielf effect, which was nice), but I was thinking more along the original GTA3's "I'm a stroke victim in Las Vegas" visual filter. I think it was either to mask the frame rate or the aliasing.

[Simon]

This is going to take absolutely ages before it hits PC or Xbox, isn't it? I can't wait. My brother's even considering buying a PS2 to play it. The whole in-between cities twist sounds great, and it has bicycles now too.

Where to go from here though? They've now re-made all the cities from the original - Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas. I suppose they could re-do GTA London but it seems to have less potential that the big American crime-hives we've seen since GTA3.

[Jake]

There's always um... Chicago? Um... during prohibition... ¬ Ok or not.

[MrHoatzin]

London would be cool — cops there wouldn't have guns, though... you would have to make some sort of mechanism that would make a simple gun a heavy-duty weapon like the granade launcher was in GTA III — or why not Lima? Or Moscow? Or... Vatican?