GTA Rant

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Small_Fryz

Small_Fryz

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Small_Fryz
I know this topic has been sorta covered a bit before but it was in a few different threads and these threads are old and dead now.

I think San Andreas doesnt give the player any satisfaction while playing through the story line, not only this but the character feels like some weak guy. Take for example Vice City. By the end of Vice city you own many businesses all over the city all pumping out cash, printworks for counterfit money, sunshine autos for cars, your own club, movie studio and even though you cant do it in the game TV has access to the hot porno chicks. He lives in a mansion that is in the middle of the map. Biggest house in the game. He has 2 helicopters one that lands on water and has a minigun, ammo and armour spawn at his mansion. 2 -3 bay garage, his own limo, hired body guards and then he owns the boat shop and has 2 Go-fast boats at his disposale. How much power is that? TV is the king of the city and not to be messed with. CJ on the other hand has pretty much nothing. His sorta an owner of a casio but gets nothing from it, he owns a run down gas station, apart from the airfield base he has nothing specail. He doesnt even have a mansion, mad dogs isnt his and even it is crap. No garages easy to get lost inside and no weapons, cars that spawn (except a go kart) at least it has a helicopter that if you ever figure out how to get to the roof you can fly. I mean CJ is just hopeless and you have no sense of power or anything. CJ can get killed and the city wouldnt give a ****, but if TV got killed all of VC would know it.

I hope the next GTA gives you more "power" in the main character. I thought of a nice concept where at the start you aquire a empty island that is centralised on the map. You start off with just a small house and maybe 1 garage to store a car. As you work your way up you can get bigger house and more garage spots, maybe even have weapons spawned until at the end you have your island with a mansion like VC, an airstrip like in SA with you own hanger, underground carpark that stores cars very similar to the police impound in San Ferrero, and have all the weapons spawn as well as some armour and maybe even a police bribe or 2. Plus you have a bit of a dockyard with some go-fast boats.

Either way CJ feels like a wimp and its not very smart to have a hydra and a tank spawn in his street??. He should of got a mansion in vinewood (proper one) and have the hydra and tank spawn their.

Anyway my rant is over and i really wish the next GTA had a more powerful and influencial character that worked his way up the "city" food chain to be the top dog at the end.
 
Some good points there. Personally I just disliked San Andreas because it was too big, the story was boring, the setting was boring, the music sucked (IMO) and I really think they should have implemented a feature where you could save anywhere in the game (during a mission, to be precise). It's not fun to do a mission for 30 minutes, then get killed and lose all your weapons, then have to start all over again. That's the only thing that really made me hate it. Argh.
 
CJ on the other hand has pretty much nothing. His sorta an owner of a casio but gets nothing from it, he owns a run down gas station, apart from the airfield base he has nothing specail.
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CJ can get killed and the city wouldnt give a ****, but if TV got killed all of VC would know it.
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Sounds alot more realistic^, but i see what your getting at.:)
 
You have alot of good points Small Fryz, I think San Andreas was ahead of it's time, it was a very good idea to literally expand the genre's horizions. But it wasn't completely excuted properly gameplay-wise IMO. There's just too many uninteresting things added to the areas that feel like filler, (gang wars for instance, although a good idea, it was poorly excuted.) and in the end, they are.

Another thing that bugs me is the well.... bugs, they should have switched from the aging Renderware engine to something more modern. (Havok would have been perfect for San An) Considering the fact that this game shares just about all of it's inner workings with a game designed almost SIX years ago!

Storyline-wise though I was pleasently suprised. I thought nothing could top Vice City's storyline, but SA's storyline is so varied and well-excuted it feels almost RPG-like. It contains such memorable and almost loveable (:scared:) characters, coupled with a very talented voice cast, make you truly love the game's plot and want to keep playing to see more.

In the end, I have to say SA is a very good game with good intentions to become the most memorable game this console generation. I just got back into playing it because I'm taking a GT4 break, And I must say, SA is going to be in my PS2 for a while...
 
what would really make the next GTA story good was if, like you said, you would end up with a massive house and your own island, but also if you could own a large business like car imports and tuning.

or even supercar showrooms chains across the land.....

or a racetrack in your back garden....

and even to have 2 escort cars to follow you in your cars whenever you like, so if the police start up they stay behind and shoot it out for you.....

💡
 
It would be a good feature if you could buy and build on accquired property. (Wasn't this supposed to be in SA to begin with?)

I would like to build my own raceway, (among other things) in the next GTA. :)
 
I disliked San Andreas as well, compared to GTA3 and Vice City it was inferior, even though the other two came out years before SA.

My major gripes were:
-It was big for the sake of being big. Nothing interesting in most rural areas, takes too long to go between cities by car, etc.
-The graphics engine seemed poor compared to previous GTA titles. I thought I'd been sold a pirate copy when I first played it. Even though you get accustomed to it, it's inferior.
-Like you stated, you don't feel like you've accomplished enough when you finish the game. CJ still seems like a small-time gangsta wannabe.
-The soundtrack was atrocious. GTA3's wasn't brilliant, but can be absolved because it didn't gain a proper licensed soundtrack. Vice City's was amazing. But SA's was such a let down, so much gangster rap rubbish and country tripe. The only stations I could listen to were K-DST and Radio X, and they weren't exactly brilliant.
-The game seems to have very little re-play appeal. I play GTA3 and Vice City all the time, even though they're completed, but have never played SA once since completing it, besides playing video poker a couple of times.
-I wasn't a fan of some of the control changes either. I use the D-Pad to move around in previous titles but you're forced to use the analogue stick in SA. Makes driving more difficult for me and I wasn't happy.
-Certain little aspects of the game were ridiculous. Guns now sound a sputtering car on it's last legs, and what's with the annoying beep when you pick up items?

I was really let down by San Andreas. GTA3 is one of my favourite video games of all time, and Vice City is up there too. SA is bottom 5 material when you consider the hype and expectation. The only people I can think who might prefer it are the chav types who'll love the gangster rap and modifiying the cars and don't care about the graphics and gameplay issues.

[/rant]
 
Yeah, I kinda agree with Small_fryz.

In Vice City, you became the boss of Vice City. You owned a bunch of businesses and own a huge mansion. The final scene was Tommy sitting on the steps of his mansion after blowing away his enemies and contemplating his new role as the undisputed crime boss of Vice City. At the end of San Andreas, CJ meets all his mates and they go for something to eat. WTF - isn't this meant to be a gangster game?

There were nice little touches in Vice City like getting stuff in your hotel room and mansion - trophies, posters, magazines, etc. - as you complete tasks in the game and trashbags, beer bottles and empty pizza boxes build up around your house. It made it feel like Tommy's home.

In San Andreas, all the houses feel the same. Just buildings where you can save your game and change clothes. The airstrip was a really cool savepoint though - choppers and planes, savepoint, PCJ600 and plenty of garage space. They should have put the Las Venturas weapon pickup and the ability to change clothes there to make it the complete savepoint.

Also the plotline with the Doherty garage. They make a big deal about CJ and Cesar wanting to start up their own garage where they can do car mods and tuning. They even hire a couple of mechanics to work for them. And go to war with the construction site next door. And for what? Nothing. At the end of the game you've got the same crappy run-down garage that doesn't do anything. Do you reckon that Rockstar ran out of time and abandoned some of their plans?

But still, I'm only bitching about it because I love Grand Theft Auto. There was so many things done right about the game that these complaints don't really take away that much.


KM.
 
KieranMurphy
[...]
Also the plotline with the Doherty garage. They make a big deal about CJ and Cesar wanting to start up their own garage where they can do car mods and tuning. They even hire a couple of mechanics to work for them. And go to war with the construction site next door. And for what? Nothing. At the end of the game you've got the same crappy run-down garage that doesn't do anything. Do you reckon that Rockstar ran out of time and abandoned some of their plans? [...]
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This I can agree with. One should actually get to mod cars there, lowriders in particular, maybe with some parts and wheels that you wouldn't be able to get at 'Loco Low'. The place should have at least looked a little more decent down the road anyway.

Small_Fryz
...CJ can get killed and the city wouldnt give a ****, but if TV got killed all of VC would know it.
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I think that's kind of accurate on Rockstar's behalf. When a mob boss gets killed you'll get to read about it. When a black man gets killed in the 'hood it's nothing out of the ordinary.
 
I think if CJ became a boss or something like that it wouldn't suit his character. Picture him with TV's house, helicopters, businesses, Limo's and stuff. It doesn't suit him really. He'd look like a sellout.
I think the ending suits CJ nicely. Like when your coming to the end of the story you return to 'the hood' and regain control. It would feel stupid to me anyway if he already owned large businesses, had a huge house etc in Las Venturas or San Feirro i would be thinking why is he coming back to take over a poor part of Los Santos if he's a business man or a boss of a gang, why cant he just get his men to do it??

I do agree with the part they could have worked on the safe houses a bit and that they don't feel like his home but not about the big map, i love it. Whats the point of having the super fast hydra if you cant fly it anywhere apart from out to sea? and i enjoy driving long distances over the country with the bike's. If it gets boring for you go off road, its more of a challenge and more interesting. It would be cool though if they hid more cool stuff in the country. It would encourage people to explore it more and make more use of the map.
 
You make several good points, However the reason i dislike San Andreas is because it broke my PS2. That would be pretty cool, if to progress in the story, you have to earn respect by owning businesses and bigger mansions, and if you didnt own them, who ever was giving you the mission would give it to a rival.
For example there could be multiple endings, and story lines depending on which missions you do, which properties you own, and who you kill.
 
markj_87
-I wasn't a fan of some of the control changes either. I use the D-Pad to move around in previous titles but you're forced to use the analogue stick in SA. Makes driving more difficult for me and I wasn't happy.
-Certain little aspects of the game were ridiculous. Guns now sound a sputtering car on it's last legs, and what's with the annoying beep when you pick up items?
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I too prefer the digital pad, not just for this game but every game with exception to Resident Evil in which I can use either. The music needs to be better, and more of it. Bring back Fernando and Lazlow in terms of amount of time they are on the air. And I also agree with the game feeling too big, and cheap fillers added. I played it hardcore when I got it for a week...then lost interest and went on to something else. Haven't played it since.
 
Don't get me wrong... the individual missions in SA were the best so far (except for "lifes a beach")-- good variety and dificulty... and some of the mission strings were really good and funny (the heist string, the hippie string (I forget his name), the spy guy string (I forget his name too)) but the story left me wanting more... he killed Ten Penny at the end but could have easily done it sooner... there should have been other reasons he couldn't (example he was holding his Sister hostage or something like that)

but I agree on the story-- was a bit lame and the games sort of started stuff and didn't finish... they could have retextured the garage in SF after they built the business up.. etc..

but my major gripes...

1. Travel between LS and SF and SF and LV-- a big pain-- needed a straight shot highway like between LV and LS... I used the railroad tracks between LS and SF mostly when driving (I usually flew)...

2. Changing clothes-- too slow and tedious-- CJ had to come out and strike a pose after putting on any piece of clothing... got old real quick.

3. They finally gave you the option of cusomizing cars, yet didn't have any races outside of missions in which you could use them (low rider race and badlands 1 the exceptions)-- they should have kept at least one of the race strings open for custom cars--

4. CJs character wasn't consistent.. he was ruthless at times and being shamed into doing stuff at others...

5. I hated the low visibility in the game-- I like being able to see a city from a distance... especially in the air.
 
Spuds725
1. Travel between LS and SF and SF and LV-- a big pain-- needed a straight shot highway like between LV and LS... I used the railroad tracks between LS and SF mostly when driving (I usually flew)...
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Hmm. I actually thought that the travel was one of the seriously cool upgrades that San Andreas had over the previous games - no more loading screens! I know the road system might have been improved, but it's cool to be able to hop into a plane or chopper and fly to anywhere else in the map or just fly anywhere you chose without any poxy loading times.

2. Changing clothes-- too slow and tedious-- CJ had to come out and strike a pose after putting on any piece of clothing... got old real quick.
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I definitely agree with this. I'm amazed that the designers at Rockstar didn't implement the most obviously system - use the up-down on the joypad for choosing different body parts - head/tosro/legs - and use the left/right controls for choosing the actual clothes. That way you could have CJ onscreen and change his clothes with a couple of button presses - instead of the boring and crappy system of having him walk in and out of the wardrobe before you saw the clothes change. What the hell were Rockstar thinking of with such an unfriendly clothes change system?

5. I hated the low visibility in the game-- I like being able to see a city from a distance... especially in the air.
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Surely this was one of the more positive things about San Andreas? Given the limited power of the PS2 and the size of San Andreas and compared with Vice City and GTAIII, I really enjoyed the new improved view distance.


KM.
 
I did appreciate the lack of load screens-- but the trade off was the low visibility-- and in the race "into the country" half the time the city loading was lagging toward the end of the race-- several times I had record times going only to find the road disapear as I approached the final curves...

At least in the other GTAs after loading, it was ALL there...

the longer viewing distance was only irritating when high in the air-- felt like I was flying on instruments all the time when up high...
 
Spuds725
2. Changing clothes-- too slow and tedious-- CJ had to come out and strike a pose after putting on any piece of clothing... got old real quick.
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Definitely! I hated that. I wonder how they managed to get rid of loading screens between Islands but not something as simple as changing a characters clothes

Spuds725
4. CJs character wasn't consistent.. he was ruthless at times and being shamed into doing stuff at others...
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Yes I think he wasn't consistent either but it made him more of a person, i liked it. i.e when he was in 'tha hood' with his gang and brother he was confident and aggressive. This makes sense i think, that's what a person would act like in real life with a powerful gang behind them.
Also he gets his arm twisted by a government agent because they said they could get his brother back and would **** him up if he didn't. What else could CJ do?
 
Spuds725
4. CJs character wasn't consistent.. he was ruthless at times and being shamed into doing stuff at others...
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That's why I liked Tommy Vercetti. He was an unashamed Mafia hoodlum! CJ seemed designed as a character who was both a gangsta thug and also as a morally upright guy. To hell with that! I can deal with and would rather control an unashamedly gangsta criminal character as a protagonist.


KM.
 
Spuds725
3. They finally gave you the option of cusomizing cars, yet didn't have any races outside of missions in which you could use them (low rider race and badlands 1 the exceptions)-- they should have kept at least one of the race strings open for custom cars--
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For the longest time that bothered me. In VC I literally used almost everything (you haven't lived until you have won a street race with an ice cream truck) in the street races. I threw out quite a few expletives when I realised that my car of choice for street races in VC (Blista Compact) was now mofifiable but not raceable.
 
Do you want me to tell you not to fly? Do you really?

I just fly in helicopter, it’s such a better mode of transport than plane.
 
the slow rendering is probably one of the most annoying things about flying in SA, however for some who play the game too much (me) im used to it and avoid flying low in country areas, i never had that problem in the cities that i can recall.. i definitely agree that you should be able to drive your own car to any race and use it rather than magically appearing at the start line once you select it...
 

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