Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Turns 20 – The blockbuster gaming crime saga and the movies that inspired it

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), the fifth game in the controversial crime simulation series, was released 20 years ago this month and marked the point at which the series went off the rails. Shifting more than four million copies in its first week and selling 17 million copies to date, becoming the best-selling game on the PlayStation 2 console, the game received five Golden Joystick awards and the 2004 Game of the Year award from GamesMaster magazine.

San Andreas was a giant in every sense. Its virtual landscape was 36 square kilometers in size (about five times the size of its predecessor, Vice City (2002), set in the ’80s), and every pixel oozed sass. A billboard next to one of the game’s bridges reads: “11 textures. “It takes up a staggering 1.27 MB of disk space.”

Taking up greater space in San Andreas’ arsenal was the A-list voice cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, and Ice-T penned a script that was ostensibly a murder mystery despite being remembered for its cartoonish mayhem. Players take control of CarlC.J.Johnson (voiced and modeled by newcomer Young Maylay) returns to her crime-ridden neighborhood in 1992 to find out who killed her mother. His quest saw him fighting for his own life in the middle of a turf war between his gang, the Grove Street Families, and their rivals trying to paint the San Andreas street map in their own colors.

As with Vice City, the movie references came thick and fast, but this time the choices were wider than the rags-to-riches railings of ’80s scripts. C.J.‘s attempts to escape his violent legacy echo Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Carlito’s Way (1993), while gambling-related missions in the Las Venturas area are inspired by Casino (1995). One of the high-octane driving sequences in San Fierro is a straight up take on Bullitt (1968).

The game has an even bolder connection to cinema: San Andreas’ release follows 2004’s The Football Factory, in which protagonist Tommy (Danny Dyer) is approached by one of his friends (Kill List’s Neil Maskell) playing Vice City . (2002). This play’s main character, Tommy Vercetti (Ray Liotta), has developed an allegiance to sleazy music promoter Kent Paul, also voiced by Dyer.

Considering the entry of violent films into the industry GTA franchise, perhaps even as Rockstar Games co-founder Sam Houser once wrote requested He said he really wanted to rob a bank after watching The Getaway (1972). Or that he and his brother, co-founder Sam, are the sons of actor Geraldine Moffatt. For gangster movie fans, Moffatt will forever be remembered as the duplicitous Glenda, a delinquent mistress who had a fateful encounter with Michael Caine in 1971’s. Get Carter..

A film once the subject of allegations of unwarranted violence, Carter may have possibly influenced an earlier Grand Theft Auto game, 1999’s expansion pack London 1969. The first sequel of the series, G.T.There was a shot from New York in a2 of the same year “film” Where main character Claude Speed ​​(EastEnders’ Scott Maslen) steals cars and is pursued by an assassin.

San Andreas peaked at launch GTAcinematic city tour. One of the most interesting features of the game was this: C.J. not forced to be overly violent: 300 of the game NPCOnly 18 people needed to be fatally attacked to advance the plot. The biggest pleasure of San Andreas was taking advantage of its life simulator features. Players will be able to customize their hairstyles, vehicle horsepower and tattoos, and even moonlight as a firefighter or taxi driver. Publishers are joining today pacifist is runningWe try to complete as much of the game as possible without getting caught up in unnecessary destruction.

More bloodthirsty gamers may recognize some of San Andreas’ set pieces referenced in modern games. The expanded life simulation elements of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)—where the game’s story can be abandoned for days in the wilderness to hunt and forage—presumably began as follows: C.J.courier duties and valet parking job. Meanwhile, there are echoes of the jetpack-stealing Black Project mission in Avalanche’s Just Cause 4 (2018), and C.J.‘s journey up and down the criminal ladder is reflected in Sega’s crime simulation Yakuza 0 (2015).

Although not without its detractors (the infamous, pornographic ‘Hot Coffee’ secret minigame) Forbidden In Australia), when we revisit San Andreas today, a moralistic crime simulation emerges. It was the first Grand Theft Auto game to show us what the series could do best: letting players enjoy the ride while panning the hypocrisies of modern America, being as optimistic or sadistic as they saw fit.

Nineteen years after the release of San Andreas, trailer for Grand Theft Auto V.I. (will be released next year) has landed. It reached 93 million views in 24 hours. It will be interesting to see whether the new game’s anti-heroine, Lucia, becomes as iconic (and heavily memorized) as the Grove Street originals.