the UK ops2 preview
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In my capacity as editor-in-chief of Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine I have witnessed many game presentations. Dull ones, good ones, lazy ones, long, tedious incomprehensible ones, ones that are forgotten before they’ve begun. When I finally emerged from the uber-secret Rockstar meeting room at around 3.00pm US time on Thursday 13 May 2004, I had witnessed the game presentation to end them all. And all I could do was race outside, sit, smoke a fag and try to chasten my racing mind. Momentarily attempt to harness darting thoughts, twisted perceptions and explosive excitement. I had just seen Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I was the first journalist in the world to do so, and it was beyond anything I could have imagined.
So the rumours so astutely collated by the OPS2 team (OPS2#46) were right. And wrong. When we surmised that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas might comprise of a skewed-up GTA-mentalised interpretation of both San Francisco and Los Angeles, we were correct. However, what we could never have guessed was the pure ambition, the almost insanely obsessive nature of the Rockstar teams in both New York and Edinburgh to push, thrust and charge ever forward in the desire to make this instalment of the GTA franchise even bigger, bolder and badder. We’re not just talking one city; we’re not even talking two. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas comprises of three cities, contained within an entire American state. The state of San Andreas. And that doesn’t just mean cities, but miles and miles of interstates, valleys, freeways, deserts, coastline and badlands, all of which you’ll be able to explore. Each of the three cities is around the size of Vice Cit. and with all of the connecting countryside, this brings the game to around five times the size of the previous GTA game. Just think about that for a second. Five times the size of Vice City. More populated than Vice City. More detailed than Vice City. More options, more cars, more weapons, more challenges, more characters, more secrets, more music, more storyline. Now remember how long it took you to finish Vice City. Excited yet? And believe us, this is just the beginning. Read on and feel your mind scream as the implausible, the unlikely and the downright impossible become irrefutable fact.
San Andreas’ three cities stack up like this: Los Santos (Los Angeles) San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). As in reality, each is riddled with individual stylistic nuance, from architectural personality to vehicular population, from mission types through to character’s accents, to what the pedestrians get up to on the street. The detail is laser targeted. And, as you’d expect, this phenomenal detail extends to you.
You’re Carl Johnson; CJ to his friends. Five years ago, CJ left Los Santos for Liberty City after the death of his brother Brian in a disastrous accident. It’s the early ‘90s and now he’s back. The passing of his mother demands his attendance at the funeral and a reunion with his older brother Sweet. Sweet had previously blamed CJ for Brian’s death, yet with both their family and their old gang – the Orange Grove Families – in disharmony, the feud must take a back seat. Sweet and his sister Kendl are rowing, the gang (Sweet, Smoke and Ryder) have lost respect on the streets and are rendered vulnerable by internal squabbling and the ever-present threat of rival gang’s uncompromising hatred. Added to this are a pair of supremely bent cops, Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski, who make it their business to come down on the OGF whenever possible. And come down heavy. So it’s against this discordant background of fear, desperation and foreboding that young CJ is dragged back into a gut-puncturing gang life he’d hoped he’d left behind.
“SWIMMING WE NEVER HAD BEFORE, WE JUST GOT PISSED OFF WITH PEOPLE SAYING ‘WE CAN’T DO SWIMMING’.”
So says Dan Houser, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ vice-president of creative and one of the figures most centrally involved with the creation of this colossal game.
“IT WORKS WELL IN THE GAME. SO IF YOU DRIVE OFF A BRIDGE YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DROWN. BUT THAT SAID, IT’S NOT A SWIMMING GAME.”
So presumably you can now climb out of the window of the car?
“YEAH.”
And does that happen every time you drive into water? You automatically just climb out of the car?
”WELL, IF YOU DON’T CHOOSE TO EXIT THE CAR YOU WILL SINK WITH THE CAR, THEN YOU’LL HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF STAMINA UNDER WATER WHICH YOU CAN BUILD UP. THERE’LL BE A FEW MISSIONS THAT WILL HAVE SWIMMING IN THEM, BUT IT’S NOT GONNA BE LIKE A PSONE ERA ACTION ADVENTURE GAME WHERE EVERYONE WAS OBSESSED WITH SWIMMING PERIODICALLY. DEFINITELY NOT. IT JUST GIVES IT PLAYABILITY.”
So, proving Rockstar listens to it’s fans, it’s in with swimming. But what about that reference to ‘stamina which you can build up’? It turns out that among the myriad additions to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, your characters stamina – as well as other attributes – can be personalised, altered and generally messed about with. For example, now, when you eat, it leaves a marked impression on CJ. If all you eat is burgers he’s going to get fat. So you’ve got to mix it up a bit. Get too fat and you’ll have to get down to the gym and work it off. Yep, you read that right, there’s not a gym in GTA. Indeed, if you get too fat, you literally won’t be able to complete some missions, so keeping trim is pretty important. If you’re fat your stamina and strength will decrease, and not only that, passers by will laugh and insult your porcine physique. And for a gangbanger on the make, that just ain’t cool. As well as control over your weight, you can alternate your haircut. As we’ll explain in more detail later, you can go and get a haircut from your local barber then look in the mirror and check out your style. But will this image change have any relationship with how you’re perceived by pedestrians on the streets?
”YEAH, IF YOU’VE GOT A STUPID HAIRCUT PEOPLE WILL SAY, ‘YOU LOOK STUPID’.”
So if you’ve been to the gym and you’ve got a cool haircut then passing ladies might…?
“THEY MIGHT BE IMPRESSED, YEAH.”
The general idea is that during every mission you embark on, you’ll learn something new. There will be hundreds of different skills to master throughout the game and it’ll take an almighty gaming Trojan to become au fait with them all. House breaking is one such new addition. Details of how this will manifest itself in the game are still to be finally locked down.
“YOU’LL BE ABLE TO DO IT THROUGH A MISSION, AND THEN DO IT WITH MORE FREEDOM.”
There will be many dwellings of differing stature that will be robbable for piles of loot. But don’t assume that it’ll be as easy to raid a home as it is to car-jack a ride. The suburban heists will take a great deal of planning and require a bunch of skills to pull off correctly. A successful burglary will result in a pile of lucci. A botched amateurish effort will result in you getting your afro parted by a shotgun. But what of bigger opportunities, more rewarding ventures, something perhaps for the career gangster?
”YOU CAN NOW RECRUIT A GANG AND TAKE OVER TERRITORIES WITH THEM AND THEN LOSE TERRITORIES IF YOU DON’T LOOK AFTER THEM. SO YOU’VE GOT THE IDEA THAT BITS OF THE MAP BECOME PERSONALISED TO YOU AS MUCH AS YOUR OWN CHARACTER GETS PERSONALISED TO YOU.”
So with the Orange Grove Families you can take over and dominate certain areas of the map?
”YES, YOU’LL MAKE MONEY FROM THEM IF YOU LOOK AFTER THEM. THERE ARE BITS IN THE GAME THAT ARE MORE GANG FOCUSED AND BITS WHERE YOU’RE MORE OF A LONE OPERATIVE. WE’VE GOT THIS CHALLENGE IN THE GAME WHERE WE WANT TO KEEP IT OPEN AND WE WANT TO PUT A GOOD STORY IN – THE STORIES ARE REALLY GOOD FOR DRAGGING YOU THROUGH EVERYTHING.”
It’s an astonishing thought. If you think about how the Bloods and Crips divide up South Central LA with their dominance over certain areas, and then think about being able to take a fairly dishevelled gang (The OGF) and build them up to a dominant force in the gang community, it’s a stupidly appealing gaming concept and certainly one never seen before. And yet still, this is not all. While the game retains the violent pot pourri of story, mission and extra tasks inherent to the Grand Theft Auto franchise, supreme effort has been made to individualise each player’s experience.
“IF WE’D BOTH BEEN PLAYING FOR A WHILE YOUR GAME WOULD BEGIN TO FEEL VERY DIFFERENT FROM MY GAME. WE MIGHT BE AT THE SAME POINT IN THE MISSION STRUCTURE, BUT YOUR CHARACTER MIGHT LOOK GREAT, YOU KNOW, HAVE ALL THESE GREAT ATTRIBUTES, HAVE A LOT OF MONEY COMING IN BUT IF I’M JUST FOCUSED ON THE MISSIONS, I MIGHT LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF SHIT. IT’S ABOUT GIVING PEOPLE THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE. IT’S STILL VERY MUCH AN ACTION GAME, BUT THERE’S ALSO A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE TO EXPLORE IF YOU WANT TO. AT POINTS IN THE GTA EXISTENCE WE’VE GONE VERY NON-LINEAR, LIKE GTA2 WAS VERY, VERY NON-LINEAR. AND WE’VE TRIED TO GET THE BEST OF THAT [iN GTA: SA], WHICH COMES DOWN TO GIVING PEOPLE THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE AT ANY MOMENT. YOU ALSO GET THE ADVANTAGE OF A STORY WHICH RELIES ON EMOTION AND CHARACTERS. SO THE STORY OPENS UP, IT FEELS VERY NON-LINEAR, THEN IT CLOSES FOR A BIT, THEN IT OPENS UP AGAIN – IT WORKS QUITE WELL I THINK.”
The whole idea of countryside to explore in-between the cities is yet another colossally appealing prospect. Initially, when the notion is suggested, one might even assume that these areas are simplistic, small and perhaps even merely designed to disguise loading times between grander levels. One could not be more wrong.
“WE LOVE, FROM A TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW, THE DRIVING IN THE OPEN SPACES ON SMUGGLER’S RUN. IT’S AWESOME. NOW YOU’LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT IN GTA WITH ALL OF THE GTA GAMEPLAY. WE’VE GOT A SICK NUMBER OF VEHICLES AND SOME THAT YOU CAN’T REALLY PUT IN A TOWN BUT YOU CAN PUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, LIKE A QUAD BIKE. YOU CAN REALLY RACE ACROSS THIS COUNTRYSIDE – IT FEELS REALLY QUICK OUT THERE. WE’VE DONE A LOT OF WORK ON THE DRIVING PHYSICS. IT’S STILL VERY MUCH A CHASING NOT A CAR RACING GAME, BUT ONCE YOU GET IN THE COUNTRYSIDE IT FEELS SUPER QUICK NOW. IT’S ALSO PUT THROUGH THE GRAND THEFT AUTO FILTER, SO IT’S NOT THE FRIENDLIEST ENVIRONMENT. LIKE WHEN TOWNY GOES TO THE COUNTRY, IT’S SCARY AND FULL OF INBREDS AND WHATNOT. YOUR MISSIONS REFLECT IT – YOU’RE MEETING DEGENERATES AND GOING OFF TO DO LOCAL BANK HEISTS. IT WORKS REALLY WELL FROM A STORY PERSPECTIVE. WE’VE GONE TO A LOT OF TROUBLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MORE OUTLANDISH MISSIONS STILL MAKE SENSE WITHIN THE WORLD AND WHERE YOU ARE IN THE STORY. THE COUNTRYSIDE IS CHUNKS AND CHUNKS AND CHUNKS AND THEY’RE BITS TO DO EVERYWHERE. THE MAP LOOKS SUPER ORGANIC, SO IT LOOKS REAL. WE’VE DONE A LOT OF WORK ROUNDING UP CORNERS SO IT DOESN’T LOOK SQUARE. ALSO, WHICHEVER WAY YOU WANT TO CROSS IT – BE IT IN A CAR; BE IT ON A BIKE – WHICH IS ONE OF OUR REALLY COOL VEHICLES – BE IT ON FOOT AND SHOOTING – THERE’S REALLY GOOD GAMEPLAY BUILD NATURALLY INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. WE’VE THOUGHT ABOUT THE WORLD FROM LOTS OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MISSIONS SHOW OFF ALL THE BEST ASSETS OF THE MAP. THE MAP IS SO BIG NOW WE GET LOST IN IT FREQUENTLY.”
When you first see Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, actually witness it, it's bastard impressive. By all means siphon in all the static goodness contained in the screenshots displayed throughout this brutally huge feature. Drink it up and imagine it moving (worry not, we'll bring you DVD footage of this gaming phenomi-beast just as soon as we can). For seeing it moving, experiencing this colossus alive, living and breathing is like nothing you have seen on your PlayStation 2 before. Some magazines use statements like that casually, 0PS2 does not. This is greatness incarnate. Best believe. It's almost frightening - the detail, the population, more dense than ever going about their business. Like 2001's Hal. You actually suspect it might be sentient.
"WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO GIVE THE CITIES MORE LIFE. EVERY PEDESTRIAN NOW HAS A BRAIN. THEY'VE GOT MUCH MORE REFINED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. THEY'VE GOT A LOT MORE UNIQUE ANIMATIONS DEPENDING ON WHAT THE PEDESTRIAN TYPE IS AND WHAT ACTIVITIES THEY DO. SO NOT ONLY WILL YOU SEE A LOT MORE PEDESTRIANS, BUT THEY DO A LOT MORE SHIT. SO THE GUYS YOU SEE IN THE GHETTO AND THE GUYS YOU SEE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE ARE GOING TO BOTH ACT AND LOOK DIFFERENT. IT GIVES IT MORE LIFE THAN IT EVER USED TO HAVE. WE'VE DONE MUCH MORE RESEARCH ON THE CHARACTERS, LIKE WE NOW GO AND DO FASHION SHOOTS TO MAKE SURE ALL THE PERIOD COSTUMES ARE RIGHT. THE CHARACTERS NOW HAVE MORE BONES SO WE 6ET PROPER FACIAL ANIMATIONS AND STUFF."
"WE'VE DONE A LOAD OF WORK TO THE GRAPHICS FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT. WE'VE COMPLETELY RE-WRITTEN THE RENDER PIPELINE. THE DETAIL AND THE SCOPE YOU NOW SEE WE COULDN'T GET BEFORE. LIKE IN THE DESERT THERE'S TUMBLE WEEDS AND SO FORTH, REALLY ORGANIC STUFF. THERE'RE TONS OF UNIQUE INTERIORS, A MUCH MORE DENSELY POPULATED MAP. THERE WERE BITS IN THE VICE CITY MAP THAT WE FELT WERE A LITTLE UNDER POPULATED. AND EVEN IN THE COUNTRYSIDE IT STILL FEELS LIKE THERE'S MORE POSSIBILITY FOR ACTION. WE'VE GOT REAL TIME REFLECTIONS IN MIRRORS, WE'VE DONE A HUGE AMOUNT OF WORK WITH THE LIGHTING SYSTEM. WE WERE PIONEERS IN THE DAY-TO-NIGHT CLOCK SYSTEM. BUT NOW IT'S A LOT BETTER -THERE'S A TOTALLY SEPARATE MODEL FOR ANYTHING IN THE DAYTIME AND AT NIGHT-TIME. SO YOU GET A MUCH BETTER FEELING OF NIGHT AND DAY, MUCH BETTER CONTRAST. THERE ARE SHADOWS, WHICH GIVES US A GAMEPLAY THING WE NEVER HAD PREVIOUSLY, BECAUSE YOU CAN HIDE IN THEM. NOW YOU CAN SNEAK IN A GTA GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME. YOU CAN HAVE A MISSION WHERE YOU COULD PLAY IT BALLS OUT WITH A MACHINE GUN, RUNNING AND TRYING TO BLAST EVERYONE, OR YOU COULD SNEAK AROUND AND PICK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE. IT GIVES A LOT OF CHOICE."
Sneaking in a Grand Theft Auto game? What a brilliant concept. The variety of gameplay will be magnified a thousand fold. If you recall the numerous ways missions were conquerable in GTA: Vice City (assassinating with cars, trucks, handguns, bazookas, by hand - to name but five) the idea of also being able to take it easy and creep about like an urban ninja is mind-savaging. One can't help wondering how this might affect a reckless player, whose catalogue of unchecked violence had managed to deliver a four-star police enquiry all over his ass? We suspect that the cops would still get their man, after all they never seem to bloody give up. That said, for lesser felons, with say just one star's worth of heat, we expect the shadows to provide a welcome respite from the pugnacious attentions of the Five-Oh.
Contemplating Rockstar's recent oeuvre for a second, it might seem like we're talking about incorporating something of the Manhunt experience into Grand Theft Auto!
"WELL, IT'S JUST KIND OF PICKING OUT GOOD THINGS FROM EVERYWHERE. THERE IS A CERTAIN MAGPIE ELEMENT ON EVERYTHING. JUST TRYING TO HONE THIS ENORMOUS BEAST. WE'VE HONED THE PHYSICS ON BOTH THE PLAYER AND THE VEHICLE DRIVING, SO AGAIN IT FEELS A LOT MORE LIKE AN ACTION MOVIE. WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK WITH THE CARS AND THE CAMERA SO IT FEELS A LOT MORE ACTION ORIENTATED, WHILE STILL GIVING YOU GOOD CONTROL."
Control. One of the few slightly niggly elements of the vice City experience. Of course the driving was sublime - a trait which is carried over to San Andreas and even further improved on - but when 0PS2 invited you lot, our most demanding of readers, to email over suggested inclusions for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a few months back, better third-person control was something requested time and time again. Rockstar has been listening to its fans.
"THERE ARE TONS MORE ANIMATIONS, SO YOU'VE GOT A VARIETY OF FIGHTING STANCES AND A VARIETY OF ATTACKS. YOU CAN NOW TARGET WHILE YOU'RE FIST-FIGHTING, AS WELL AS WHILE YOU'RE GUN FIGHTING. WE'VE TOTALLY OVERHAULED THE GUN-FIGHTING TARGETING SYSTEM. TARGETING IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE IN ANY THIRD-PERSON GAME, EVEN A BUILT-FROM-THE-GROUND-UP THIRD-PERSON SHOOTER, BECAUSE YOU'RE LOOKING AT THIS GUY AND HE'S GOT TO LOOK OVER THERE - THE PHYSICS OF IT MAKE IT DIFFICULT. BUT I THINK WE'VE NOW GOT A REALLY ELEGANT SOLUTION THAT GIVES YOU A LOT OF CONTROL."
The current colours that the player's targeting icon revolves through are green, yellow and red. If the target is very healthy it'll be green, if they're of medium health they'll be yellow and if you can kill them with the shot you're attempting it'll be red. Rockstar has evidently done a great deal of work on the hierarchy of who you're aiming at.
"IF YOU'RE IN A SITUATION WHERE THERE ARE INNOCENT PEOPLE AND ENEMIES, IT WILL NATURALLY FOCUS ON THE ENEMIES. YOU'LL HAVE MORE CONTROL THIS TIME, BUT IT WILL ALSO DO A VERY GOOD AUTO-TARGET. YOU CAN STILL FLICK AROUND THROUGH TARGETS, BUT IT'LL MAKE MUCH BETTER FIRST CHOICES THAN IT HAS EVER DONE IN THE PAST. IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S [CURRENTLY] BEING REFINED."
Not content with just providing the broadest, most involving, hectically aggressive action possible, through gameplay that's in turn both simple and supremely complex, the Grand Theft Auto games are also uproariously funny. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas upholds this legacy. Pop culture, habitual behaviour, corporate idiocy - all have been torn asunder via astute use of the scythe of satire and the pomp of parody.
"WE'VE DEVELOPED OUR CHARACTERS A BIT MORE AND TO THAT EXTENT IT'S MORE SERIOUS. BUT IT'S STILL VERY MUCH TRYING TO BE FUNNY AT ALL POINTS. THE SATIRE... I SUPPOSE IT'S LEVELLED AT THE BROADER WEIRDNESS OF AMERICA AND AMERICAN CONSUMERISM AND AMERICAN ACTION MOVIES AS WELL."
Yet we've all seen other games attempt humour. The usual result being an awkward silence, a slight reddening of the cheeks and, if you're in the process of trying to ingratiate a non-gamer into the joys of PS2, you've just lost your student- they'll invariably puff at the futility of the dying digital japery, point out that clearly, contrary to your protestations, games are for kids and sod off to make the tea. Other games just aren't as funny as Grand Theft Auto.
"WELL, IT'S BECAUSE WE'VE GOT SIX PEOPLE WORKING ON IT. ME AND ANOTHER FRIEND OF MINE DO A LOT OF THE RADIO STUFF AND WE HAVE TO COMPETE WITH THE STUFF THE OTHER GUYS ARE DOING ON THE SIGNAGE (SHOP LOGOS, COMPANY NAMES). THEY'RE COMING OUT WITH ALL THESE RIDICULOUS SICK JOKES ALL THE TIME - IT'S ABOUT HAVING FUNNY GUYS WITH A VERY DRY BRITISH SENSE OF HUMOUR WORKING ON STUFF AND THE FACT THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO PUSH STUFF. SO THAT'S JUST COMPLETELY GROWN ORGANICALLY... IT WAS EVEN THERE IN GTA1, TO SOME EXTENT, THAT STUFF. [LIKE] SOME OF THE PAGER MESSAGES. GTA2 DIDN'T HAVE IT SO MUCH - WE WERE TRYING TO DO THAT SLIGHTLY FUTURISTIC THING. AND THEN, FROM GTA3 ONWARDS, IT REALLY MANAGED TO COME ALIVE."
But surely during the making of the game even the mighty Rockstar must come up with stuff that's just a bit too risque or maybe just isn't that funny now and again?
"THE GUYS THAT DO THE SIGNAGE CAN PUSH IT REALLY FAR. THEY LOVE THE SCATOLOGICAL STUFF, BUT THEY'RE ALWAYS SO ON THE MONEY. THE PUNS THEY COME UP WITH ARE SO AWESOME. IT'S LIKE 'OOW! IT'S A BIT MUCH BUT IT'S REALLY FUNNY', SO THEY SLIP IT IN THERE. AND A LOT OF THE STUFF PEOPLE DON'T EVEN NOTICE. SOME PEOPLE MIGHT NOT EVEN LIKE THE GTA HUMOUR AT ALL, BUT IT BECOMES AN ACTION GAME AT THAT POINT."
The game is so filled with wildly different play styles. All things to all men in many ways. And yet it remains seamless, it doesn't jar?
Ever bought a game and halfway in, the gameplay changes completely for a section? One minute you're stealthing about, the next you're driving a rally car? Implausible jumps like that can recklessly jolt a player's psyche from within the gaming vacuum, the suspension of disbelief is eroded at its foundations and it all comes crashing down. It just doesn't feel right. So how on Earth do the GTA games avoid this problem? Enjoying a peerless variation in play style, the gamer is at liberty to get involved in a preposterously varied selection of tasks - and yet it never jars?
"WE ARE VERY CONSCIOUS OF THAT BEING THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM. AND SO, STYLING-WISE, EVERYTHING HAS TO FEEL LIKE IT MATCHES PERFECTLY. THE CONTROLS HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE FROM THE SAME GAME, THE ANIMATIONS HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE FROM THE SAME GAME, THE ART DIRECTION HAS TO FEEL LIKE IT'S FROM THE SAME GAME. BUT ALSO THE STORY - WHICH MIGHT BE OUTLANDISH, EVEN WHEN YOU JUST THOUGHT YOU WERE IN A GAME ABOUT BEING IN A GANG RUNNING DRUGS OR WHATEVER - NEEDS TO MAKE SENSE AT THAT POINT. WE DO WANT TO STRETCH STUFF, BECAUSE WE DO WANT TO GIVE PEOPLE A BROAD EXPERIENCE. HERE IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE YOU'RE IN THE SAME GAME. NOW I'M HAVING MY HAIR CUT, NOW I'M OFF RUNNING ROUND IN A CAR... IT ALL FEELS LIKE THE SAME WORLD. PLUS, OF COURSE, YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO IT OR NOT TO DO IT. WE DO SOME SECTIONS WHERE WE GO FIRST-PERSON, BUT THEY MAKE SENSE AS WELL BECAUSE OF WHERE YOU ARE IN THE MISSION. IT'S THE THIRD PART OF A LOOSELY BOUND TRILOGY, THE FIRST OF WHICH WAS SET IN 2001, THE SECOND IN THE MID-'80S AND THIS IN THE EARLY '90S. AND THERE ARE SOME LOOSE CONNECTIONS IN THERE FOR THE HARDCORE FAN. WE FELT THAT THE EAST COAST WAS A GOOD STARTING POINT, MIAMI IN THE '80S WAS GREAT, LA WAS THE COOLEST BIT OF THE WORLD IN THAT TIME (EARLY '90S). WE'VE DONE A HUGE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH ON THE VOICES MAKING SURE THEY SOUND LA NOT NEW YORK. IT NEEDS TO FEEL CALIFORNIAN, BUT STILL PRESENTED IN THAT GTA WAY."
With so much on offer, such a ludicrously vast play area, the range of vehicles, guns, tasks, characters and storylines, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is starting to sound like the only game you'll ever need. Experiencing everything that has been proposed in this feature could take years. Not months. Years. Could it be that in creating the most humungous PS2 videogame ever, Rockstar might actually do itself out of a job?
"ONE AREA THAT I'M HEAVILY INVOLVED IN IS CREATING THE AUDIO ASSETS - I THINK WE'LL HAVE WELL OVER 400 SPEAKING PARTS, WHICH IS INSANITY. THE AMOUNT OF STUDIO TIME WE'RE HAVING TO GET THROUGH AND THE AMOUNT OF WRITING THAT'S INVOLVED, WE'RE MORE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING IT ON THE DISK. THAT'S OUR INITIAL CHALLENGE. WE'RE HAVING TO GO TO DUAL LAYER DVD BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY FILLED UP A FULL DVD." "THIS IS THE THING ABOUT HAVING A VERY AMBITIOUS TEAM. EVERYONE, EVERY SECTION PUSHES THE OTHER SECTION. NOBODY WANTS TO BE THE BUY THAT ISN'T PUSHING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. EVERYONE WANTS THEIR BIT TO BE THE BIT THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER FROM THE GAME. THERE'S A LOT OF INTERNAL COMPETITION AND PRESSURE TO DO THE BEST THAT THEY CAN DO. YOU KNOW, 'HOW CAN WE TIE THAT IN TOGETHER? AND SUDDENLY YOU'RE LIKE 'OH SHIT, THAT NEEDS ANOTHER 10,000 EXTRA AUDIO SAMPLES OR ANOTHER 50 PEDESTRIAN MODELS -OH WELL, IT'S WORTH IT, DON'T LET THE SIDE DOWN...' THERE'S A REALLY GOOD ENERGY LIKE THAT. THE DANGER IS CURRENTLY THE STORAGE MEDIUM (DVD) AND ONE THING WE'RE ALL PRAYING FOR WITH THE NEXT ROUND OF HARDWARE IS THAT THEY DON'T JUST GO, 'IT'S A DVD AGAIN'. WE'VE DONE SOME CLEVER STUFF WITH COMPRESSING IT, BUT WE WERE VIRTUALLY FULL ON THE DISK ON VICE CITY- THIS TIME WE'RE OVER-FILLING THE DISK TO THE MAX."
You'll notice in reading this feature that there's been no mention of one of Grand Theft Auto's signature features - music. This is for good reason. Rockstar ain't talking, in GTA3 the sonic wallpaper ranged from opera to reggae, and in Vice City it crossed all aspects of '80s pop and hip-hop hits.
"CALIFORNIA HAS GOT THE BEST RADIO OF ANYWHERE IN AMERICA. THERE'S GOING TO BE A BIG, BIG RANGE OF MUSIC IN THIS ONE."
There's a similar deficit in information pertaining to the voicing of the game's characters. You'll recall such Hollywood luminaries as Michael Madsen, Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and Lee Majors spitting their verbal darts all over Vice City. And while we can surely expect some big names taking the mic for San Andreas, Rockstar is reticent to elucidate.
"FROM A PRODUCTION POINT OF VIEW WE'RE DOING ALL THAT STUFF NOW, SO IT'S NOT ALL PUT TO BED. AND WE PROBABLY WON'T EVEN MENTION IT UNTIL AFTER THE GAME COMES OUT. BUT TIME SPENT IN A VOICE BOOTH DOESN'T HELP WITH THE QUALITY OF THE INTERACTION. WE USE VOICES BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT A STRONG VOICE FOR A CUT-SCENE - NO OTHER REASON. WE LIKE TO DO IT 'COS IT ADDS TO THE EXPERIENCE, BUT WE'D HATE TO THINK PEOPLE BUY THE GAME BECAUSE SO-AND-SO IS VOICING IT."
So how to conclude? What to say? Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is simply the most important game ever made. Period. It's undoubtedly set to be the most successful of the series. The most played. The most loved, discussed, debated, argued over and analysed. Can you do this? Have you tried that? Have you found this? The letters page of this very magazine are sure to be aflame with scrutiny for the majority of 2005. Prepare yourselves people. The date is set. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas drops on the 22nd of October, 2004.
Now go back to the start, read this again, and believe.
Q&A With Aaron Garbut
You've clearly gone to a great deal of trouble to encapsulate the smoggy, LA (Los Santos) look. What can we expect from the look of San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas)?
We have aimed to make every area feel very different while still belonging to the same cohesive whole. These cities really do sit well together, bringing very diverse elements into the mix. I think it's very important to make sure every area feels unique, not just the cities, but the districts within them. There's nothing more boring than a game that's simply big for the sake of it. We could have made Grand Theft Auto 3 or Vice City much bigger and simply repeated the same stuff for miles on end, padding out what we had, but nobody wants to drive through miles of identical buildings. We might as well just make the cars drive much slower, it'd have the same effect. I want to feel like I can stop at any point and discover new things, I want to feel I can climb onto any roof, I want to get to know the map and recognise where I am, not check an A-Z on the Internet. There's so much depth to the experience of simply sightseeing in this game - there's so much to see, and all of it is interactive. It's not a set to race through; it's a fully realised, compelling world.
How did you go about getting accuracy in the dress styles and mannerisms of the gang members?
We have a full team of researchers in New York, which is a constant help. There's the usual Rockstar attention to detail, which, well, borders on madness. We have various people involved in the project externally who are very clued up in this area. The guys in New York also supplied us with literally thousands of character photographs and also sent across loads of footage from all sorts of sources for us to study. And of course, as always, we obsess over any relevant films.
The architectural study of LA is astonishing. How much and what kind of research went into getting it right?
The entire team flew out to each of the cities, armed with cameras. We had a huge road trip, driving across the states in a massive convoy of Lincoln Town Cars... stopping off in each city and staying there till we had pretty much photographed every inch. It really was epic. The bravest of us were taken in smaller groups into the scarier areas, right into the heart of LA's gang territory. Some of it really was quite terrifying. But it's not possible to really capture the feel of somewhere unless you've experienced it - the areas around bars, clubs and pools are also very well observed. Each building in the game is checked over by researchers to make sure there are no architectural or timeline-based errors, then it's constant refinement until it's time to stop.
How much freedom do you allow yourselves to exaggerate on what actually exists, with particular reference to the more humorous architectural inclusions?
There are no constraints, as long as something fits into the game world without looking out of place or out of time and it looks great and plays well it's in. We have a lot of fun making the game, and I think it would be pretty odd if some of our twisted personalities don't come across in the humour. I think it might say a lot about us, that we tend to obsess on cramming the game with as much innuendo as we can. I think our innuendo per square foot has actually gone up steadily since Grand Theft Auto 3 - possibly our biggest achievement.
How have you managed to improve the graphical treatment of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas over Grand Theft Auto: Vice City?
Making Vice City was a very intense process. We went directly from finishing Grand Theft Auto 3 into Vice City, a very short project in a single year. We didn't have the luxury of a lot of time to take stock. It was very much a case of knowing what we had to do and simply doing it to the best of our abilities. This time around the extra year gave us that opportunity. We were able to take a step back from Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City and really look at what was working and what wasn't - across the board - not just visually.
Lighting has always played an important role in the look of our games, and this is one of the main areas we focused on. We now have a completely different set of lighting for day and night. The entire map slowly shifts from one to the other, neon bleeds onto the streets, streetlights light buildings, the shadows from the sun fade to moonlight. There's a great deal more richness to the lighting. We've used various compression techniques to up the detail of all our models, from the map to the cars and pedestrians. We've also made the game a lot sharper, added to the weather effects and crammed the game with as many special little touches as we could manage, and then added some more that we couldn't...
What can we expect from the visuals of the countryside, and in particular the (now legendary) mountain?
I love the countryside. It feels so refreshing to drive out of the city into rolling fields, past farms and rivers, into the forests, deserts and hills. The mountain is fantastic - it's nearly half a mile tall and it takes just under a minute to fly from its base to the top in a helicopter... and a good deal longer to cycle down. We're using a lot of procedural techniques for grass and plants, which bring both the mountain and the countryside to life. There's so much to see. I really don't think any game has achieved this level of scale before while keeping anything like this level of detail. There's a sense of scale in this game that dwarfs the previous two while actually adding to the variety and detail.
We understand that shadows now feature more heavily as both a visual technique and a workable play device. Can you explain in more detail how they work?
With the new lighting system it has been possible for us to get a much more coherent-looking light into the game. There are now obvious areas of shadow - behind buildings, beneath bridges, wherever the radiosity solution places them as it simulates real sunlight. When we had this in place it became very apparent that the lighting for the cars and pedestrians would have to reflect this. This has added loads to the atmosphere - there's nothing like catching a glimpse of gang members hanging about in a dark alley. There are elements of gameplay that use this - we borrowed from Manhunt, where the player can now hide in the shadows, escaping his enemies and then pouncing on them as they run past.
What We Saw
WELCOME TO GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS
Our first glimpse of GTA: SA is of CJ. He's standing, swaying slightly, and his jaw is moving in a slow circular motion. He's chewing gum. The character models look much more detailed than in previous incarnations. CJ's just hanging out, sporting the trad vest and baggy slacks combo, so beloved of the Compton massive. The corrupt cop pairing of Tenpenny and Pulaski have picked CJ up at the airport, but rather than escort him to the safety ofhis family home, they've dumped him in a rival gang territory. He's got to get out, and quick. So, and for the first time in a GTA title, he swipes a BMX. Rapidly tapping X to peddle he's off, and as he picks up pace he starts swaying from side to side to pick up momentum - it's a startlingly realistic animation that while surprisingly new, immediately seems just so GTA.
All the familiar screen furniture is there. The yellow arrow above objectives, the blue type on screen outlining your mission, even the electronic aural stab that coincides with a successful achievement returns. Perfect. It feels like home. The draw distance (basically how far you can see into the distance on screen) is now double that of Vice City in urban environments and four times as far in the countryside. It looks spectacular. The Los Angeles vibe is all there on the screen - hazy smog at odds with a crystalline light unlike any to be found on Earth. This is the LA you've seen in the movies. This is the LA from movies like Colors, Menace II Society and from TV shows like COPS. The sporadic thud of the b-ball on a distant court, the sportswear clad menace of groups of surly young men, the air thick with strident hip-hop loops, the beading of sweat as your reddening forehead does battle with the blazing sun and loses, the blinding light refracting from low riders' gleaming bonnets. Be in no doubt, this is LA. You can almost smell the Turtle Wax. CJ reaches the cul-de-sac where he grew up, where his family lives and his gang are based. Objective achieved. Mission over. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is about to begin...
"SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND, SIR?"
After getting home we are treated to a cut-scene showing CJ hooking up with old mate Ryder, a loose cannon who's passionate about the gang. (Their chat takes place in front of a poster for a fictional movie called Badfellas - sharp-eyed players familiar with previous GTAs might remember seeing this Goodfellas homage before.) It turns out that the owner of the local pizza emporium has disrespected the Orange Grove Families by erasing their gang graffiti tag from his walls. Ryder wants CJ to join him on a trip over to the pizzeria to teach the owner a lesson, so they hop into a pick-up truck and off they go. On arrival, but before the pair enter the pizzeria, players will be given the chance to get CJ a new haircut. This is an early example of how the game will enable players to occasionally perform side tasks while on a mission. Rockstar is keen to blur the line between being on a mission and off as much as possible, so expect more of this kind of stuff further into the game. So CJ pops into the barbers, greets the man with the scissors and hops into the chair. Now the barber will go to work - he tinkers with his clippers in front of CJ's face so you can't see what's going on, then he steps back. A '70s-style afro and 'tache accessory are revealed. You can now choose to accept this look or reject it. If you reject, the cycle continues until you find a style you want. In this instance, a modish flat top is selected and you can view it in the shop's big mirror. Suave!
So now it's out of the barbers and, after a quick bout of verbal ridicule from Ryder about your hair, it's into the pizzeria. Walking in, the detail of the place is astounding - particularly of note is the super shiny flooring which reflects back your image. It's now down to CJ to distract the clerk by ordering some food. Here, unlike previous games, you have choices too. Three different meals are proffered by the counter lad, each bigger than the last - as the price gets larger so does the nosebag. Here CJ selects the biggest pile of grub, 'The Full Rack' before trying to calm down an increasingly irate Ryder. But it's too late, the pair have underestimated the pizza boy's balls and he is soon brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun, and he shoots, forcing our heroes to leg it. So it's back in the truck for the drive back to the neighbourhood. Mission ends.
OG... THE ORIGINAL GANGSTERS
CJ is hanging with the members of the Orange Grove Families. They're planning to hit local gang The Ballas in a drive-by raid. CJ, being young and only just back in the gang-banging game, is given the task of driving. All four members of the gang pile in the motor and off they go. When The Ballas are sighted hanging out by the side of the road, Sweet, Smoke and Ryder all automatically lean out the car brandishing firearms. As the car is driven alongside the rival gang, all the OGF guys adjust their posture to keep a good lock on their targets. They open fire and a ferocious gun battle ensues. Winston Churchill said, "Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." Such is the feeling here. As the player, it is important to keep weaving the car back and forth up and down the road to prevent incoming Balla bullets from riddling your drive. The animation of the OGF is sublime. As the car passes The Ballas, Sweet and the boys lean backwards, two out the window and one out the roof - it all just looks so damned real. With that group of Ballas offed, it's on to finding the next group, but... the firefight has caught the attention of the local cops and a chase ensues. Not wanting to end up in the slammer, a detour via the old GTA classic, the Pay 'n' Spray, is in order. Notable here is the cleaning off of the mudded car into a pristine example of automotive excellence. The change of appearance, as before, befuddles the cops, they lose interest, you head home. The Orange Grove Families have proved they are back with a vengeance, but every time an Orange Grove guy goes into Balla territory from now on, there is sure to be trouble. Mission ends.
DECREASE THE PEACE
The final section of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas demonstrated to OPS2 was the most action oriented of the lot. The mission is called 'Reuniting The Families' and it tells of an arranged sit-down with all the heads of the local gangs in an effort to patch up their differences and avoid a war. When the gang rolls up at the hotel which is to serve as the meeting place, Sweet enters as the OGF representative. All of a sudden a police chopper appears over the car park and cops begin to abseil down to the tarmac below, guns blazing. The remaining members of the OGF pussy out and leg it, leaving CJ to enter the hotel in a valiant attempt to save Sweet. Here we see some strident shotgun work, as within the building police continue to abseil down from balconies, trigger fingers blurring, hot lead fluming from their semi-automatic nozzlery. A good blast from a shotgun will put down a cop, and we see a new, more robust targeting mechanic at work (for more on this, head back to page k5). The more cops G downs, the better his accuracy gets - as is indicated sporadically via a percentage in the top left of the screen. Also, you'll now be able to strafe in a GTA game, making combat much more intuitive and eliminating the drastic fumbling that sometimes occurred while being drilled from all sides in Vice City. A dying gangster points CJ in the right direction and after hooking up with Sweet, the pair leg it out to a car driven by Smoke, pausing only to shotgun the helicopter into a gnarled smashed mass of twisted metal.
What ensues next is a riotous war chase, with Smoke taking the wheel and you (as CJ) shooting at the pursuing cop cars in first-person mode. Aligning the crosshair on the speeding cars, you shatter them with gunfire and, as always, a good tactic is to target the tyres. Then, startlingly, a cop jumps on the back of your ride, so CJ is forced to gatt him at point blank range. But another cop leaps onto the bonnet. Smoke takes a turn down a tight alley and another police helicopter is blocking the way, its rotor blades pointed to the ground creating an impassable barrier of deadly spinning metal. A split-second decision is needed. Smoke fires the car at the copter, the pair leap out at the last minute and the last image we see of San Andreas is of the bonneted cop getting bloodily shredded by the whirring rotor. Christ! Mission over.
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US PSM preview
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E3 2004: Hundreds of dazzling new games were on display, but to the disappointment of thousands of attendees, the biggest one, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, was nowhere to be seen. Well, that's because the only copy was with us in a secret room upstairs — sorry, guys!
A world away from the noisy, overcrowded convention hall, we sat surrounded by Rockstar's top brass in a cool, quiet room on a comfy couch. The lights turned low, we anxiously awaited our first glimpse at new Grand Theft gaming goodness. We would be the first in the world to see more than just screens, to experience the actual game running on a PS2. Long seconds ticked by... and then...
Y'know, I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves. Before we give you guys a detailed play-by-play of everything we saw, you need a general rundown of what GTA.SA is all about.
A Different State of Mind
Get this: San Andreas is five times the size of Vice City, five times! San Andreas is actually a whole freakin' state comprised of three main cities: the game starts in Los Santos (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) offers steep hills for the craziest GTA jumps yet, and Las Venturra (Las Vegas) offers casinos and gambling. Plus, there's the vast countryside in between (mountains, freeways, rivers, etc.). The game world is so ridiculously massive, Rockstar has been forced to switch to a rare dual-layer PS2 DVD to fit it all on. We saw the full state map in-game, and Los Santos, roughly the size of Vice City, was only a tiny bit in the lower-right corner. Better clear your calendar when this game hits.
Not only is Rockstar pumping up the quantity of locations, but they're increasing the quality, too. There will be virtually no "filler" areas in the game — every alleyway and intersection will somehow be interesting, with a much greater level of detail. Furthermore, despite the game's amazing size and scope, there will no longer be any annoying load limes while travelling from one area to the next, no long pauses while driving across bridges. In fact, the game only pauses while entering an indoor location, and even then the wait is only a quick couple of seconds. For this reason alone, we'd like to go ahead and give Rockstar our $49.
Missions, Story & Structure
The game takes place in the early 1990s, when gang warfare was at its peak in California. The player takes control of CJ, a member of a gang called the Orange Grove Families in East Los Santos. The tone of the game is, at times, more serious than in previous GTA titles, but you can still expect plenty of the series' unique brand of humor and satire.
Rockstar has focused on seamlessly blending missions and off-duty events to give the game more of a real-world feel. For example, you can stop in the middle of most missions to do other things, on the side, such as recruit your own small gang to go on four-person drive-bys. Furthermore, you can
improve CJ's skills, such as driving and shooting. Everything in the game now ties together, giving the game world a more even, unified feel. There are tons more interior locations this time, and the developers at Rockstar have gotten serious about making each one worth a visit You'll be able to eat at restaurants, rob houses, gamble in casinos and loads more. You'll also be able to buy and build property to a much greater degree than in Vice City.
To create more realistic character animations for the cinema scenes, Rockstar built the biggest motion capture studio on the east cost. Also, the developer teases that we'll see familiar characters and locations return from past GTA games, and even more references will be mentioned. All of the characters in the game, from prime contacts to street filler, now have "brains" as Rockstar puts it. This means that everyone will react more realistically to whatever is going on, and you can expect to get a lot more out of people watching. An average pedestrian will have roughly six times as much dialogue as in vice City.
As fat as the game's basic structure goes, here's one last bit of intriguing info: for the first time in the series, the game will automatically adjust its difficulty if the player gets stuck. We were a little concerned about this at first, worrying that failing a mission a few times will result in the game letting us breeze right through. Rockstar assures us, however, that the adjustments will be minimal and almost entirely invisible to players. Their goal here is to make it possible for more people to reach the end of the game rather than get hung up on frustratingly impossible missions.
Other Cool Bits
San Andreas struts along with a sleek new graphics engine boasting real-time reflections in mirrors, cars, and windows, new lighting effects, and realistic shadows. Even better, the draw distance is twice as far as before in the city and four times that in the country, so you can see way into the distance without as much annoying "pop-in." Here's a gameplay revolution for you at least once every couple of days, your character has to eat. If you skip meals he'll become thin and weak, and if you feed him too much he'll get slow and fat. There's a wide selection of different foods and restaurants, so what you eat will count, too. Your weight will affect your physical abilities and how people view you (expect some nasty insults if you put on too many pounds). If weight becomes an issue, you can take CJ to the gym to get buff, and the extra strength will power up his punches. Bulk up too much, though, and he'll lose some speed.
What's New
WHAT & WHEN
Shipping in October, the game is set in 90's San Andreas, a state containing versions of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and miles of countryside in between (deserts, mountains, rivers, and miles of interstate freeway).
YOU ARE...
Carl Johnson ("CJ"), who returns to his old east Los Santos gang, the Orange Grove Families, after spending the last several years in Liberty City.
Now You Can...
Eat at restaurants (and get fat)
Work out at the gym to get buff
Improve your character's skills
Get haircuts
Ride a bike (tap X to pedal)
Wear lots of new outfits
Buy and build Buildings (much more to this than in Vice City)
Gamble at a casino
Break into houses to steal cash
Swim (crashing into water is no longer instant death)
Dual-wield multiple gun types
Recruit your own gang to help
Do four-person drive-bys
Lots more still a secret
Improvements
Five to six times the size of Vice City
Crammed onto a rare dual-layer PS2 DVD
No more loading between areas
New graphics engine
35-50% more polygons on-screen
Longer view distance
Real-time reflections
New lighting effects & realistic shadows
More detailed textures
More realistic animations
Each character has a "brain" (better AI)
More (and better) indoor locations
More mini-games
Improved gun targeting (Manhunt-style)
Better hand-to-hand combat; more fighting stances and attacks
Each weapon now offers a vastly different play experience
New "Impact Animation System" (rag-doll physics)
Much wider range of vehicles
Improved vehicle physics
Vehicles get rusty and dirty as time goes by
Back To The Life
CJ returns home to pay respects to his late mother, but gets pulled back into the gang life he left behind
five years ago. Up against cops, rival gangs and internal strife within his own crew, will CJ be able to beat the odds and stay alive long enough to make his mark in San Andreas?
How Would You Like Your CJ?
For the first time in a GTA game, players will be able to customize their character to their liking. Here's
just a sampling of the many different aspects you'll be able to change:
Hairstyle
Physique
Weight
Driving Skills
Clothes
Possessions
Weapon Skills
Character
Relationships
Start a small gang
Characters
Here's a quick look at the first few members of what's sure to be an enormous cast of characters...
CARL JOHNSON (CJ):
After five years in Liberty City. CJ returns to Los Santo when his mother is murdered. He reunites with is family, friends, and his old life. Carl's old gang, the Orange Grove Families, is a mess, under attack from both outside and from within. Carl doesn't really want to go back to his old life, but he's dragged back in.
SWEET JOHNSON:
Sweet, CJ's older brother takes a leadership role in trying to return the Orange Grove Families' former glory. Sweet blamed CJ for their younger brother Brian's death five years ago, causing a rift between them that's just starting to heal.
BRIAN JOHNSON:
CJ's ten-year old brother Brian died in a tragic accident, sending CJ to Liberty City for five years.
KENDL JOHNSON:
Kendl has been at odds with her brother Sweet in recent years, adding to the family's disarray.
RYDER:
An old friend of CJ's, Ryder has a very short fuse and a serious mean streak.
SMOKE:
This big boy is a part of Carl's old crew and a long time friend of the Johnson family.
FRANK TENPENNY & EDDIE POLASKI:
These flirty cops know CJ back from his stay in juvenile hall, and start causing trouble for him the moment he returns to Los Santos.
OLD REECE:
Carl's old barber. CJ can stop by Reece's any time he wants to fash a new fade or fro.
CESAR:
This Latino character remains a mystery, but we've seen him decked out in an undershirt and baggy slacks with arm tats, a buzz cut, a lowrider and a .45.
THE FLATS & THE BALLAS:
CJ and his gang, the Orange Grove Families, mean to take back the turf these rival gangs have taken over.
Missions
So there we were in the dark, quiet room above the E3 convention center, about to get our first look at the year's biggest game. The PS2 powered on, and there was CJ staring straight at us outside his home in east Los Santos. CJ has just arrived at his old neighborhood after being picked up at the airport by his "old friends" Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Polaski. These crooked cops dropped CJ off in a rival gang's turf and CJ had to steal a bike and pedals his ass out of there. Now safely back in his own neighborhood, CJ visits Ryder, a former member of his crew. Here we get our first look at one of the new mission-intro cinemas.
Ryder is already furious about something when CJ walks in. Ryder spots his old friend...
RYDER: "Man, what're you doin' here?
CJ: "Yo, I'm seein' my homie!"
RYDER: "Hey homie - hey, it's good to see you back, man."
CJ: "Oh, no homie love, no hug?"
[they hug: CJ notices Ryder has a gun]
CJ: "Yo, why you armin' yourself, man?"
RYDER: "Man, some liquor store keeps paintin' over my graffiti, man! My writin' is beautiful! Teach the owner a lesson! This is the Families' hood! You down?"
CJ: "I'm always down."
RYDER: "Yeah? Hmm... let's go, homie."
CJ and Ryder get into a pickup truck and head for the Well-Stacked pizza parlor, but, on the way, CJ decides he needs a haircut. This is an example of how players can now stop and do side things during a mission. CJ parks on the curb and enters a barbershop where he's greeted by Reece, his old barber. CJ sits in the chair and Reece gets to work, showing him how he would look with various different hairstyles. CJ settles on a flattop.
When CJ walks back outside, Ryder makes fun of his new haircut. Ryder, who had been leaning back on the truck, waiting with arms folded, now motions for CJ to follow him across the street to Well-Stacked Pizza. He tells CJ to walk up to the counter and order a pizza to distract the clerk. CJ checks out the menu - the "Buster" isn't enough food. The "Double Deluxe" is getting there, but not quite. CJ settles on "The Full Rack", a meal that can satisfy any appetite. He puts down his cash and starts to eat. As he does, Ryder pulls his gun and walks towards the counter to scare the clerk for some cash. CJ decides he doesn't want any trouble and tries to talk his man down when the clerk, realizing what's about to go down, pulls a shotgun out from behind the counter and opens fire on them. CJ and Ryder race out the front door, hop into the truck and take off for home - mission over.
Skipping ahead in the game a little, this mission takes place after CJ has met up with his old gang, the Orange Grove Families. Four of CJ's old friends are planning to take back some of their street cred from the Ballas. a rival gang, when CJ enters the room...
RYDER: "I can drive as well as CJ man, I'm telling y— oh, hey, what's up, homie?"
[CJ enters the room]
CJ: "Yo, what're you sayin' about me, homie?"
RYDER: "I'm sayin' that east coast make you drive like an idiot, homie! Man, you always crashin' cars and s— and now somehow you back. All it is, is 'CJ drive there, Carl drive there."
SMOKE: "Man, why don't you take it easy, dude?"
RYDER: [To CJ] "Look, no offense man, but you can't drive for s—!"
CJ: "Well thanks, man! No, no, no — say what you really mean!"
SMOKE: [To Ryder] "You're such a good gun there homeboy, you gotta ride shotgun. So CJ, what's what?"
RYDER: "Hey, you're right — yeah, CJ, you can drive homie, c'mon"
So, CJ gets behind the wheel of a four-door and his crew get in. His car is rusty and dirty (which can happen to any car in the game after a while). CJ, Ryder, Sweet and Smoke ride around east Los Santos until they come across a group of Ballas hanging out by a park. At this point, things go nuts as we get our first glimpse of San Andreas' new four-person drive-by. The animation system here is really impressive, as your craw will automatically aim, re-aim and duck in and out of different windows as you change your car's position. While his crew is shooting, CJ has to keep the car moving so the Ballas can't get a clear shot. CJ and the hoys continue to cruise around the neighborhood, mowing down groups of Ballas as they come across them, until they cause enough chaos to attract the cops. To shake 'em off, CJ drives across town and ducks into a Pay & Spray shop. Mission accomplished. From now on, whenever a member of the Orange Grove Families goes into Balla territory, there's sure to be trouble.
We skip ahead a few more missions to find CJ, Ryder and Smoke laughing and watching TV. CJ's older brother Sweet walks in.
SMOKE: [To Sweet] "Hey, what's up, yo? What's up, man?"
SWEET: "Hey, turn that TV off right quick. Listen up fellas — like we were saying no more base in the streets."
SMOKE: "Finally!"
SWEET: "Yeah. We gon' unite the families once more. The Flats been pumpin' our guys fulla base for too long while we argued amongst ourselves. Now, all the family sets are gon' meet at the St. Brutus Motel. I say it's time we went down there and made it official: keep that s— off our streets. I'll go. I'm our representative on this, one."
SMOKE: "Hey, it's all good. Sweet, think you can handle this? I'm down with you”
SWEET: "Alright - let's roll, homies."
When the Orange Grave Families fell off, a new gang called the Flats moved in and flooded the streets with drugs. Sweet decides it's time to take back the turf, so he's going to a nearby motel where the heads of each of the families are meeting. CJ drives the crew over there.
Sweet goes into the motel, leaving the other guys to wait in the parking lot. A few moments later, however, the place is overrun by cops — a rival gang must have ratted them out. Patrol cars and motorcycles pack the parking lot, and a helicopter keeps an eye on things overhead. Smoke and Ryder can't handle the heat and take off in the car, but CJ won't leave his brother Sweet — he runs straight into the chaotic motel. As CJ enters, a wounded gang member tells him he's seen Sweet in the back. CJ equips his shotgun and we get our first glimpse at the game's improved targeting system. The camera now zooms up closer behind your character, giving more of an over-the-shoulder look at what CJ is firing at (it's similar to targeting in Manhunt). CJ shows off his strafing ability on a few cops, as well as his new ability to target headshots with standard guns. As CJ continues to run down a long hall, girls occasionally run past him from room to room, hunched over and panicking. Cops bust in through windows and crash through a skylight, rappelling down to the floor. CJ blasts them off their ropes one by one before finally reaching the room his brother is in. The way back is too dangerous — their only chance is to escape to the roof.
Up on the roof, though, CJ has to deal with a SWAT chopper. CJ blasts it over and over with his shotgun until the whirlybird explodes and comes thundering down. CJ and Sweet make it back down to the street, where they're lucky to find that Smoke and Ryder have circled back around for them. CJ hops in the backseat and trades diving for shooting — it's his job to keep the cops at bay
This next part of the mission is first-person shooting, where CJ keeps the cops at bay while someone else steers the car. As your crew makes its getaway, CJ shoots up countless police cars, helicopters and motorcycles. Eventually the guys run into a roadblock and have to take a detour through a long alleyway.
At this point an eager cop leaps onto the hood, while at the far opposite end of the alley, a police chopper dips its nose and flies towards the car, it's blades angled down. It turns out that the blades are only low enough to reach the cop who's kneeling on the hood though, and he's chopped into several nasty chunks. Once past the chopper, CJ and his crew are home free. The mission ends, and unfortunately, so does our demo.
Seeing the game in action left us absolutely stunned. Rockstar has gone above and beyond expectations. This is the result of a developer with nearly endless ambition and resources giving it their absolute all. October suddenly seems a lifetime away.
Q&A With Aaron Garbut
PSM: In your mind, what is the Grand Theft Auto "look?"
It's an intensified, distilled, vision of reality. Our world is America seen through TV and film with the color; brightness and sound turned up. It's a kind of visual sound byte. Everything is a caricature, an exaggeration of the world. For me, the main constant is the color, the way the weather and time of day tie the world together with light, but they're also continually changing. Each game builds on the one before, and evolves, but I think it's always obvious what's gone before.
PSM: What new challenges did you face due to Son Andreas' enormous scope?
This time we have something like 16,000 unique objects and buildings that are used to build the world - that's a lot to keep track of. The scale of the landscape means that actually learning the world is a job in itself. I knew every square inch of Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City, and could see it with my eyes shut. San Andreas is different; it's taken me a year just to get to know the world to the same level. There's an amazing amount to see and do and it's all so very diverse. This diversity has also been a huge challenge. Any game I've played in the past that attempts anything like this sense of scale does so either by making the world very sparse or with endless repetition. This just isn't the case here, there's almost as much diversity in San Andreas as in reality.
PSM: The GTA series keeps an interesting balance between realism and satire, drama and comedy. Design-wise, how do you decide where to draw the line?
I think the series is a reflection of all the personalities who work on it. It's easy to see little bits of every single person in the games. There's never really any need for something as black and white as drawing a line. Every decision is really a happy medium between the opinions or idiosyncrasies of the people involved. Almost every aspect of the game is based on reaching a point where everyone involved thinks that the very best decision has been made. We work within a very flat hierarchy here, where everyone's opinions are equally valid and I think that pays off for us.
PSM: Can you talk about your approach to making the GTA titles feel like worlds within themselves?
They are worlds within themselves. It's that simple. We always think of them as real places and we have taken this to a new level this time. There are hundreds of companies and hundreds of products within the game, and all exist with their own advertising, product placement, and particular stores that carry particular lines. There's so much that this time we had to have somebody in charge of keeping track of all this information. Basing a game on a fantasy version of the real world gives so much scope to this side of things. With the GTA games, we basically get the opportunity to reinvent the world, only a little brasher and hopefully a lot funnier.
PSM: How did you approach this game differently than past titles?
The main difference was that we pushed ourselves even more than we ever have in the past. We've never taken the easy way out, and we've always tried to put as many of the ideas that we liked into our games as possible, but inevitably some never made it. This time I honestly struggle to think of something I'd like to see in the game that isn't already there. The depth of the research has increased significantly. We started the project by flying the entire team across to LA, armed with cameras to capture and experience as much as possible, then it was road trip time. We travelled to the other cities in a huge convoy of Lincoln Town Cars; it was very intense. The guys in New York hired a team of full-time researchers who help us with every detail. Making sure clothing, characters, vehicles, buildings and even the smallest of objects are correct. This level of obsessiveness, while probably not healthy, makes a huge difference. It helps make sure everything fits in properly, and together all the small details add up to a big part of the experience.
PSM: Has the San Andreas art team snuck in any special pictures or messages for fans to find?
Of course! The game is packed full of them — I'm not giving anything away, though.
PSM: Finally, what aspect of San Andreas are you most proud of?
I think it has to be the sheer amount of content. It's one hundred games in one. There's so much there. We work with the concept that we create a playfield and toys and let the players enjoy themselves. This time around we've given away an entire toyshop.
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thats all the previews from mags so far right now its quiet for gta:sa news
i think that there is news still to come out like a trailer
