Review of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition

It would be very mild to write that the trilogy of remastered versions of GTA games from the 3D universe was not very successful. From our previous reviews, you have learned that GTA 3 suffers from a combination of extreme technical issues and outdated game mechanics, and Vice City is down and running on the Nintendo Switch. The last piece of the puzzle leaves the most difficult of all pieces, San Andreas.

• Platform:PS5 (review), PS4, XSX | S, X1, Switch, PC
• Publication date: 11/11/2021
• Producer: Grove Street Games (USA)
• Genre: urban open world event
• Czech location: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 23 GB (whole trilogy 40 GB)
• Game time: 30+ hours
• Availability: 18+
• Sales version: digital and box
• Price: 1599 crowns (complete trilogy, Xzone)

Welcome to sunny San Andreas

It’s unbelievable how fast Rockstar Studio was able to release new games at the turn of the millennium. In a time that is truly a gallows time in AAA game development today, three episodes of one of the most important gaming series have been published. And it certainly wasn’t a canapé. GTA3 served as a concept for 3D games in an open urban environment, Vice City a year later added atmosphere and plot cut from eighties action films, and San Andreas two years later came up with nothing more than a completely fictional American state at the head. three giants, cities and large areas.

Compared to the previous part, the story has moved a few years ahead and to the opposite coast of the United States. You fall into the shoes of Carl “CJ” Johnson, returning from his native Los Santos to bury his mother and restore relations with his family (both biological and street). In an unexpected twist, CJ soon finds himself in a criminal maelstrom of gang wars, corrupt cops, triads and conspiracy theories that will gradually lead him to the cities of San Fierro and Las Venturas, copying parts of California and Nevada. Following the example of the previous part, you will gradually go from a petty criminal to the head of a giant mafia empire. And all this under the classic hip-hop of the 90s. Ready-made American dream of every boy who grew up in the ghetto.

CJ Gang Wars will also take it to the cities of San Fierro and Las Venturas.

San Andreas can be described in one word compared to previous works – more ambitious. The game world is much larger and brings an incredible amount of new activities that can keep you entertained for dozens of hours. In addition to the mandatory four tasks of taxi, ambulance, police or fire truck, this time you will also enjoy shooting apartments, aerial acrobatics, swimming, dating or “dancing” lowriders. At one time, the game offered as a big plus the ability to adjust the appearance of the main character – in addition to the traditional change of costumes and hairstyles, you were given the opportunity to improve the abilities of your hero and influence his physique by visiting fitka. or CFS. These changes then unlocked new missions and the other characters responded to CJ accordingly. From a gaming standpoint, it was a fully cut diamond that Rockstar worked hard on for three years, and the game deservedly gained absolute ratings.

Grove Street Families vs. Grove Street Games

The player’s hunger after nostalgia was so strong that Rockstar decided to revive the trilogy and offer it with good old guard tinsel and a new generation of players. In this case, the Grove Street Games studios gave a functionally fancy game, so it was only necessary to slightly improve the appearance, add a few new game features from GTA 5 and then laugh to the penny. Rockstar will add another blockbuster to its belt and reignite the enthusiasm for a continuation of the series. However, Grove Street Games, best known for its botched porting of GTA games to mobile phones a few years ago, shouldn’t be taking on the job. Instead of quick dust, Rockstar cut out rather embarrassment.

Just as CJ anticipated an unexpected twist at the beginning of his story, this unsurprisingly broken remaster awaits the player. Unlike the previous parts of the “improved” trilogy, San Andreas doesn’t suffer from frequent game crashes and frightening FPS crashes (they are still there, but a little less scary). Technical stability at the same time makes it possible to fully enjoy the various “graphic delights”. Most of the characters in the game look downright awful and look nothing like the original. The animation does not match the models, and lip sync often occurs in cutscenes. The game, like the other games in the updated trilogy, suffers from an extreme problem with the rain effect and the overall darkness of the image. Cities converted to pure graphics have lost their vibe, and increased oversight shows the limitations of the original technology (seeing an entire state, including all cities, from a high-rise building is just weird). Loading objects is also a challenge, and sometimes you’ll drive through invisible bridges or watch the details of the environment change right before your eyes. However, unlike GTA3, the original gem is still hidden under the guise of a tech maraston, and if you can ignore these issues, you can look forward to a playable and systemically great game.