Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

by Rockstar Games

Product Features

• Drive through the largest GTA environment ever -- The game has three cities players can explore, for a gaming area 5 times larger than Vice City
• Recruit new characters into a street gang and take over by leading drive-by shootings against rivals
• Steal all-new vehicles, including bicycles
• Improved fighting elements -- smoother hand-to-hand combat, plus the ability to hold a weapon in each hand
• New graphic elements as cars get dirty and even rust, the longer you drive them

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BNCF8G
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 17, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #9,895 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2 | Edition: Special

From the Manufacturer

Rockstar Games is proud to present Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition. Packaged together with The Introduction and Sunday Driver--the highly anticipated film debut from Rockstar Games. The Special Edition is the complete San Andreas experience.

San Andreas: The Introduction

The 30-minute prequel tells the real story behind the legendary Grand Theft Auto series and features the full production value Rockstar is famous for. Look for some familiar faces making a surprise return.

Sunday Driver

An all-access documentary film of the people living the lifestyle and responsible for the artistry behind low riding. Sunday Driver is a portrait of a community working together to build the ultimate customized vehicles while struggling to legitimize their lifestyle under close scrutiny of the cops.

With an upfront look at the guys behind the chrome, Sunday Driver exposes the origins of the club, by describing in first-person interviews, what it really means to be a Majestic. Dedicated to creating a vision of the ultimate modified automobile, the Majestics come together like no other community to help each other realize their dreams.

Product Description

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition brings back the incredible action of the hit game series, with all-new content. Carl Johnson left the San Andreas neighborhood of Los Santos five years ago, when it was being ripped apart by drugs and gangs. When he returns in the early 90s, his mother has been killed, his family has fallen apart and childhood friends are criminals. Crooked cops frame Carl for murder, and he decides to save himself and his family - by taking over the streets. Special Bonus Content includes: 30 minute prequel telling the story behind the GTA series, with some familiar faces popping up; "Sunday Driver", a documentary about the world of low-riding and the people who live in it. Advanced role-playing elements -- Unlike previous GTA characters, Carl can swim and he needs to eat to survive Side missions help develop skills that come into play later -- from working out at the gym to gambling in a casino

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an amazing game, January 9, 2006

By	Ryan Smith (Troy, MO) - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition (Video Game)

This is probably the best game to ever hit the PS2. Yes, this game is very sick and twisted, even without that bloated Hot Coffee mod. Yes, this may be the game that might have your PS2 controller smashed in frustration (*cough* Zero Missions *cough*). But the sheer size of this game, coupled with the amount of diversity and possibilities, makes this a true gaming milestone.

Put simply, this game is huge: 5 to 6 times the size of Vice City. It took me over half an hour to drive from one city to another. The amount of things that you can do in this game is stunning: Eat, swim, climb mountains, fly jetplanes, change clothes, work out, build stats, go on dates: all here.

And of course using a variety of weapons and jacking cars is still an essential part of the GTA experience: The weapon targeting in this game was a huge step up from the ridiculous auto-aiming engine from Vice City, and the driving controls were sharp as always.


I thought that the graphics, while still showing a litttle bit of pop-up here and there, were still pretty stunning for the dated RenderWare engine, especially in the lush countryside. The story and voice acting were good, but Young Maylay (CJ), Sam Jackson (Officer Tenpenny) and James Woods (Mike Toreno) were particularly impressive here. OG Loc was pretty annoying though.

The music was the only thing here that I thought was pretty mixed: I'm not a huge fan of rap, but even I could tell you that the gangsta rap station was the best one on here. Both Radio X and the classic rock station disappointed me compared to V-Rock from Vice City, and who the hell thought it was a good idea to put a country station on here? All the other stations were pretty forgettable. I usually put on my own music while playing most games anyway, so I won't take points off here.

Other than the halfway-decent soundtrack, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a riveting success of a game and every mature gamer should buy it immediately.

Oh, and this special edition is basically the original game minus the Hot Coffee mod, and there are also sections of the game that are easier than the original. It also includes a bonus DVD that has the 20-min Introduction and Sunday Driver on it. Hope this helps.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Innovation, May 27, 2006

By	Antonio D. Paolucci "Collector of Entertainment" (Beaver Falls, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition (Video Game)

I really, really wanted to hate this game. It goes against everything I stand for as a gamer and I felt it was giving a bad name to the video game industry in general. And then I played it. And I'm still playing it. Chances are, I'll be playing it forever on end.

This is one great game, and if not for a rather forceful brother and a cheap $20 price tag, I may have never discovered this. No game has ever been as in-depth as this one has. You can do absolutely anything under the sun, whether it's exercise, eat and drink, play video games (within a video game), steal cars, shoot people, install hydraulics into low-riders, shoot more people, buy gang-colors, ride BMXs... you get the point. All that can be done as an aside to the actual story of the game, which I have to say is pretty damn good. Without spoiling much, I'll say that the main character, Carl, has come back to his old neighborhood after the death of his mother, and finds himself the avenger of his mother's death. Along the way, he meets quite a few characters, and gets himself involved with most of the major gangs as well as some government agencies. Some of these meetings are beneficial to Carl, while others are purely life-threatening. What's great about the story is just how he ends up getting involved with these characters. At first, it seems strange that a gang-banger would affiliate himself with the CIA, but Carl does just that, eventually. Basically, you'll just have to play the game to believe some of this stuff.

The game-play is damn fun too. Every separate element, whether it be cars or weapons, or the intangibles like respect and sex appeal, has a level that must be built in order for Carl to be able to do certain things. Obviously, driving skills as well as gun skills are important in a game such as this, but getting the respect from your fellow gang-bangers is important too. And then there is the idea of muscle building and atrophy. You have to keep Carl healthy, and that means constant exercise and eating right. And we can't forgot all the side missions, like tags and clams and jumps. Simply finding these are tasks, but getting every separate tag or jump or whatever actually feels good, and the benefits make it worth spending the time to do these things.

In the end, after putting a fare amount of time into this game, I realized one thing: I'm losing sleep. That's not bad, though, because I'm having fun, and no game since Final Fantasy VII has ever done this to me. Though I still think some of what happens or can happen in this game is pointless and unneeded, those are my own personal beliefs and ones I won't use anymore as a reason for hating this game. Therefore, I highly recommend this game to any mature, sane minded adult. It's a gaming experience that is almost pure innovation from start to beginning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some tags to spray.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome game, but parents beware..., January 19, 2006

By	S. Lindvall - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition (Video Game)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is by far the most amazing videogame I have ever seen or played. It raises the bar of excellence, size, scope, fun and involving game play so incredibly high that I doubt any other game will come close to it for a very long time.

But parents beware! Even with the infamous "Hot Coffee" mod removed, this game is rated Mature for good reason. It is extremely adult oriented with excessive language and violence that make even GTA III and Vice City seem tame in comparison. The F-bomb is dropped every few moments, and African Americans are frequently called the N-word. Profanities of all kinds are prevalent and constant throughout the game. All of the violent and sexual adult content of the previous games is back, but ramped up to new levels of intensity. The prostitues are back, but this time the main character not only employs their services, but also acts as pimp, delivering the hookers to others. The improved graphics and motion-capture add a great sense of realism to the violence. Make no mistake: THIS IS AN ADULT GAME AND SHOULD NOT BE PURCHASED FOR CHILDREN!

Having said that, let me say again what a great, fun game GTA: San Andreas is. It is a marvelous advance in the world of videogames, and as an adult, I find it to be a very deep, involving form of escapist entertainment. No doubt, we'll all be hearing from the politicians and others who want to censor forms of entertainment they find offensive. And this new game, like the previous entries in the series, will likely become a center of controversy. We'll hear the same old arguments about how this and other violent videogames are the source of all evil in the world. I'm sorry, but that is just so simplistic and untrue. Videogames are entertainment, plain and simple, just like movies, books, music and television. And certain videogames, just like certain movies, books or TV programs, are not intended for children. Responsible parents should not allow their children to play GTA: San Andreas, any more than they would allow them to watch Pulp Fiction or The Sopranos. But just like other forms of mature entertainment, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has every right to exist for an audience mature enough to understand and enjoy it.

Enough of my soapbox editorializing. If you are an older teen or an adult, get this game, play it and enjoy it. It really is an amazing achievement. If you are a parent whose younger teen or child wants this game, find another more appropriate title. There are a lot of good ones available.

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