Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (scheduled to be released October
19, 2004 in North America and October 22 in Europe) is the fourth
sequel to the hit video game Grand Theft Auto. It is a Rockstar
Entertainment production and will be available for the Playstation
2.
Very little is known about the game yet and Rockstar Games only
made an official announcement of the title on March 1, 2004.
Speculation that a Grand Theft Auto game set in the fictional city
of "San Andreas" (modeled after a combination of San Francisco and
Los Angeles, California) was rampant due to the original GTA games
being set in three cities: Liberty City (which was modeled after
New York City present day and the setting of the original Grand
Theft Auto III), Vice City (which was modeled after Miami 1986 and
the setting of GTA III's sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) and
San Andreas.
UPDATE: Game Informer Magazine published an article in their June
2004 issue an exclusive first look at Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas. According to the article, it is set in the early 1990s in
the fictional state of San Andreas, which consists of Los Santos,
San Fierro, and Las Venturra, which are loosely-based on Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, respectively. You will play
as Carl Johnson, a former street thug returning to his birthplace
of Los Santos to attend his mother's funeral. On the way, he is
framed for homicide, and his quest to clear his name and punish
those responsible begins.
The game is reportedly 3 times bigger than Vice City and bigger
than the total area of all five previous games. Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas will also implement new gameplay features and graphical
upgrades, such as the consuming of food for stamina, exercising,
bicycles, swimming, 4-person drive-bys, home break-ins, independent
night animations, and real-time reflections, just to name a few. It
will also employ a new skill system, which will have the
player-character learn a new skill almost every mission. It has
also been said that Don Salvatore Leone, a character in Grand Theft
Auto III, will also make appearances in this game. For more
information, read the article in June 2004's Game Informer magazine
or their official website.
