In Steam’s autumn sale, I picked up the Definitive Editions of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. They’re a lot better now, and a very decent way to play the game. I was expecting aspects of these games to have aged poorly, and with GTA 3 and Vice City, that’s certainly the case – I’m looking at you, long and conspicuously barebones middle chapter of Vice City. Yet when I booted up San Andreas, well, it felt like coming home again – and unlike CJ, the remaster managed to not eff anything up too badly. It’s a game that’s stood the test of time and despite being a little creaky with age here and there (especially in the face of GTA 6 looking as glossy as it does) it remains a fresh and fun experience with a huge variety of missions and regions ornamenting its map.
The headline of San Andreas’ world design was, of course, the three cities: Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas. While all of these were interesting and unique, my heart belongs to the countryside. Maybe it’s because I’m a country boy from Wiltshire, or maybe it’s just the aesthetic of the American backcountry, but my favorite memories of San Andreas all revolve around the wide (actually pretty tiny, by modern standards) open spaces between the game’s cities. Whether watching someone wander off the peak of Mount Chiliad to their doom, trucking across the desert, or getting spooked by ghost planes: it has it all.
