Whereas Vice City is the one I have nostalgia for playing, this is one that I have nostalgia for watching someone else play. This is one of the many games I watched my cousin play. It wasn't until much later that I played it myself. San Andreas became notorious for its content and was a prime target for those who were strongly opposed to violence and sex in video games such as Jack Thompson. Even Hillary Clinton took issue with the content of the game. The Hot Coffee shit did not help things. What do I mean by Hot Coffee, you ask? Well, to put a long story short, code was left in the game for a sex minigame that was scrapped early. Rather than remove the code entirely, Rockstar did what most developers do and merely altered the code to disable access to the minigame. Modders were able to alter the code and reinstate the minigame, calling it the "Hot Coffee" mod. It was called hot coffee as that is the euphemism the game uses when you reach a high enough relationship with one of CJ's possible girlfriends to go into their house and have sex with them. The existence of this mod attracted a lot of negative attention towards Rockstar, which was only made worse when Rockstar, instead of owning up to it, tried to deny that the content was in the game to begin with, saying that it was created entirely by the modding community and claimed it violated the EULA. They were exposed as liars and accused of hiding the content when the code was found in the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game as well. Eventually the ESRB ordered that the game be reissued with the Adults Only rating, which would deter many video game retailers from even stocking it and cause it to be banned in many countries, or at least the ones in which it wasn't already banned to begin with. Rockstar eventually rereleased the game with the code removed to reinstate the M rating it started with. The unaltered ones that still have the minigame's code are exceedingly rare as Rockstar issued a recall of them (which was unenforceable) and those who never sent them back and know about the hot coffee controversy are not likely to sell them off. Anyway, I should probably stop the history lesson and actually review the game.
San Andreas is a favourite of many, and it is easy to see why. The game added stats for the protagonist (CJ in this case) which added a bit more depth to the gameplay and a more immersive experience. The game also added even more freedom to the open world with a larger map, more variety of vehicles, the ability to fly planes, swimming and diving, gambling, and countless other mechanics. San Andreas for one reason or another has many urban legends surrounding it. Things like Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts and ghost cars, and many others that help contribute to the game's more legendary status. The music choices for this game are fantastic. This is pretty much the only GTA game where I could listen to any of the radio stations and be happy with whatever is playing, no need to switch stations. This game like Vice City before it also had a star-studded voice cast. The game features many characters that have appeared in the other GTA games. Claude is in it and Tommy was meant to appear with a voice cameo but it did not work out. I even considered learning how to speedrun the game, with my love of glitching these games and intimate familiarity with them.
The girlfriend mechanic was not very enjoyable in my opinion, but it is cool how it allows for a very restricted and bare-bones co-op. The gun sound effects are not great. I heard they were made less realistic 'cos controversies around GTA games were starting to get out of hand and it was a form of damage control, but again, hot coffee happened. There are also some story issues but it isn't anything too major. Though it isn't my favourite as I've explained before, it is easily the best of the 3D Universe GTA games and worth your time.