Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review – Everything was rendered beautifully
App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Rockstar Games
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2013-12-12
Developer: Rockstar Games
Price: 6.99
User Rating:
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I’m a really huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series; I played every game they threw out onto the market. It was my sweet escape from the harshness of reality, albeit in quite a crude and vulgar way. I was over the moon when Rockstar first launched Chinatown Wars and succeeded that with iOS ports of 3 console classics. So imagine how I felt when I learned that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was being ported over to iOS as well. It was like a dream come true. Simply indescribable.
Naturally, as an ardent supporter of the series I had high expectations for the port. I enjoyed the original version very much, even so as to have lauded it to be my favorite of the series before Grand Theft Auto V came along. The iOS port retains just about every feature of the original; the expansive game setting and little intricate details all remain unchanged. As I walked about exploring Los Santos, I marveled at how much effort the developers had put into making the mobile version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Everything was rendered beautifully. The graphics were remastered to better suit the mobile platform and while the 3D graphics did not quite match up to the realism of today’s games, it was definitely comparable to the console version.
I was really pleased with how the game presented itself, and found myself spending more hours than I thought exploring the vast plains the game had to offer. Players who have not enjoyed the Grand Theft Auto experience should know, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas along with the rest of the series involves sandbox styled game play. This means missions are accepted at the player’s discretion, and players are free to roam about exploring the huge setting the game takes place in. Players can carry out independent activities such as car jacking or murders without much hesitation. Of course, players will still have to do the missions eventually as these will unlock further content to be enjoyed.
I could only find 2 annoyances with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The first was the whole control scheme. This was not unique to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the other mobile ports of Grant Theft Auto fame have also given me similar trouble. I found it horribly annoying to navigate around a small screen despite not having fat fingers, and the unresponsive controls did little to better the situation. While the game did offer the option to adjust controller sensitivity, it was barely of use as either way I was still having all kinds of trouble navigating myself around.
The next complaint would be the lack of cheats. While cheating is not something encouraged in mainstream games, the Grand Theft Auto series has long had its amazing cheats set in stone as an unspoken draw factor. This does not just include typical invincibility or unlimited cash hacks, but rather amazing stunts to be pulled off like manipulating of gravity or explosive punches. Unfortunately, none of these are found in the mobile ports of Grand Theft Auto games and hopefully in time to come Rockstar will do something about it.
It was however, a pleasant surprise for me to find that there were multiple save slots available to use. Moreover, by signing into Rockstar‘s social club, players are also granted access to 2 cloud slots which prove to be very useful. With these slots, players can transfer game saves across devices which is very advantageous indeed.
Priced at $6.99, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is not at all expensive. For a game of this caliber, it was literally Christmas coming early for it to be made available on mobile.
Quick Take
Value:Very High
Would I Buy Again:Definitely
Learning Curve:Moderate. The controls are hard to get used to but the gameplay is intuitive.
Who Is It For:GTA fans
What I Like:Everything in the game
What I Don't Like:Controls are messed up
Final Statement:I guess Christmas came early
beat Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.
Now, it’s the early 90’s. Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.
On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Rockstar Games brings its biggest release to mobile yet with a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas – with enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features:
• Remastered, high-resolution graphics built specifically for mobile including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models.
• Enhanced for the iPhone 5 series and iPad 4th Gen and above with dynamic detailed shadows and real-time environmental reflections.
• Physical controller support for all Made-for-iOS controllers.
• Cloud save support for playing across all your iOS devices for Rockstar Social Club Members.
• Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control.
• Three different control schemes and customizable controls with contextual options to display buttons only when you need them.
Languages Supported: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.
*To listen to your custom playlist, simply create a playlist titled “GTASA”, launch the game, and select the radio station “MIXTAPE”.
For optimal performance, we recommend re-booting your device after downloading and closing other applications when playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Mobile Version developed by War Drum Studios
www.wardrumstudios.com
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Article By Eng Wei Jie
A water polo player from Singapore, Wei Jie devotes most of his time to training. However, when he's not occupied by water training or pushing himself in the gym, expect to see him squinting at his iPhone testing out new apps.
eng-wei-jie has written 308 awesome app reviews.
