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Sunday, February 26, 2023 3:39:12 PM

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review (iby)

Justice for GTA: Trilogy

Short summary:
Buy this game if you also have a nostalgic attachment to them. I brought it at half price. However if you are experiencing this game for the first time, proceed with purchasing but just know that these games haven't been shown love or attention needed to make them enjoyable. I still prefer the welcomed upgrades in this edition over the original games so I will continue to play this version.
Some of these reviews on GTA San Andreas are extreme left or right. They either have a troll comment with a positive recommendation given or they are hating on the game without balance or explanation. Which is IRONIC because they have given bad reviews but their playtime is extremely lengthy. I'm here to provide a balanced review with some details of what you will enjoy and what issues you will face.
Full Review:
I have been playing San Andreas for the last few weeks and I have noticed so many bugs from the beginning of my play-through. These bugs are not game breaking (meaning you can progress through the story) but rather a disappointment to this majestic title. Let me explain.
The game looks visually pleasing and the upgraded textures are a welcome. The new weapon wheel, radio wheel, world lighting, controller support, mission restart and fake building interiors are much welcomed to allow this game to feel modernised. Which is why I would always prefer this game over the original but it is a real shame that Rockstar put such little effort to bring these 3 titles to a polished standard even after Grove Street Games (a mobile game developer) had failed to release these games in a playable state. GSG is not at fault because they are a small team who did their best to execute and meet the given deadlines to launch these games. Rockstar decided to give these classic, nostalgic and generation defining games to a team who is incapable of being able to serve these games the attention and level of skill required to bring them to modern standard. It really frustrates fans who love these games and want to experience their glory once again 20 years later.
In this section of my review I will go through some of the issues that still exist in this game. Before I start, these are my PC Specs:
CPU Ryzen 7 7700x
GPU RX 6950 XT
I am playing the game on MAX settings
I play on a 34" Ultra Wide monitor (21:9 aspect ratio)
Issues:
*edit:*
There are 3 game impacting things which no body has really mentioned online or in reviews:
- You cannot shoot/snipe someone out of their vehicle. There's an invisible glass that wont break. You also cant shoot someone off their bike. If they are in a vehicle it is almost as if they are safe from all bullets. Some missions need you to shoot people off bikes and now you need to blow up the whole vehicle to kill them.
- I play and switch between Keyboard & Mouse and Controller. When I use KBM, I notice that it is EXTREMELY difficult to look upwards and downwards EVEN if i increase my DPI and in-game sensitivity settings. This issue and the issue above were not present in the original game which makes it even more frustrating.
- The last thing is related to LOD which is an extension of my point below. Whilst driving, if you spin your camera around to look back and then spin it back to look ahead, cars near by will stay but cars at a moderately close distance will disappear. If you press the scroll wheel (or R3 on controller) to look back no cars disappear. The fact that this even happens is disappointing.
*end edit*
-LOD (level of detail) especially at a distance is awful. Buildings look like a mount of clay. Then as you get closer it will load in correctly in higher LOD.
-Perfomance stutters every once in a while. I play on 165hz and it is smooth for the most part but a few stutters happen randomly.
-21:9 ultrawide screen is supported but sometimes the HUD (heads up display) is adjusted perfectly and other times it is stretched or miss placed. The cutscenes will have black bars (reasonable) but sometimes the cutscene is more to the right making the left black bar thick and right black bar thin.
-Fences + thick bushes which split the road in two, do not cause collision upon contact. You will walk/drive right through them.
- The fog isn't significant to allow similar feeling to original title. It barely exists and you can see the whole 3 cities from the Maze Tower. Disappointing because the fog added a level of mystery to the far distance and made the map feel bigger. Now it feels weird seeing how small the map is when in reality it isn't that small.
-On a lot of roads especially motorways, there are weird pop up textures from below the ground. They look like palm leaves in shape and car tires in texture.
-When destroying lamp posts or traffic light poles, they will fall straight through the ground.
-Lighting in cutscenes sometimes can be too dark so some characters cant be seen. Most cutscenes look exceptional however.
- Limited amount of cars on motorways and sometimes not a lot of NPC's in areas where the original game had plenty.
-CJ's hand misplacement- for example when using the gym tools, riding a motorbike or when drinking soda.
-Certain character facial expressions and textures look poorly designed.
-When you are driving and passing buidlings, details continously pop up even though I am playing on Max settings. This is extremely frustrating especially for vegetation that pops up because there are so many more loading in real time rather than at a distance.
-The radio wheel and weapon wheel lack colour, distinction and personality
-The aiming/aim assist system is so bad. They should've used the aim assist from gta 5 which can allow you to free aim if you want. Rather than having it as either always a free aim OR always strong aim assist.
-Some fan favourite & nostalgic radio tracks have been removed.
-THE MOST IMPORTANT TO ME IS NO CO-OP HOT SPOTS :(
If i remember more I will add them but these are my main complains. I have been on a roller coaster of hope, disappointment and then back to the realisation that these games will most likely never be touched again.
Sad when you realise that Rockstar could have done so much more to the games that have filled so many childhood memories. These 3 games literally set the industry standard for open world and they still hold up even after 20 years.
Rockstar to cut off the hand that fed them is truly a shame.
I hope my review has been helpful.
Thank you for your time.