ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PS2: NEW FIRST-HAND SAN ANDREAS IMPRESSIONS!
The GTA countryside comes to life as Rockstar tells us "this is a bigger leap than we moved from 2D to 3D". Who's to argue?
17:10 It's all very good sounding hot on paper, but having lots of cool features means absolutely zip if it plays like a limbless turkey when put into practice.
When Rockstar announced the latest countryside details for GTA: San Andreas the other week, we were like "there is no possible way this is going to work on PS2."
Haircuts, yes, fitness/fat ratios, maybe, puking on fast-food diner's floors, okay, but a sprawling state environment split into towns and cities with their own individual look, people, vehicles, terrain and weather, including an entirely separately countryside on the outskirts?
No chance, we said, arms folded, disinterested eyes now focused towards the good-looking blonde at the end of the office. This is just far too ambitious to work.
Laughing at our cynicism, Rockstar promptly dragged us into its London H.Q. demo room to give us an in-depth demonstration of San Andreas' countryside settings. Not only did we re-emerge with egg on our face, we seriously felt we'd just been on holiday. It looked that good!
THE COUNTRY TOWNS
What Rockstar told us:
"We really wanted the country landscape to be as impressive as everything else in the game. There are dozens of rivers, pastures, a cliff, a mountain, dozens of hills - it's a beautiful area to explore. It's like a holiday.
"It's a fully living, breathing environment with its own micro populations, individual missions, characters, visual style and weather. It's so different, but still feels like GTA. San Andreas represents a bigger leap when we moved from 2D to 3D."
WHAT WE SAW:
The opening farm town...
Rockstar takes us for a ride in the 4x4 monster truck, spinning over dusty terrain and crashing through rows of fenced bordering, turning up the steep roads and steaming past streams of pretty pine trees. The whole scenery is one of bright greens, warm browns and glowing yellows. It's so summery and peaceful, we keep expecting Yogi Bear to pop out at any second.
Driving up a narrow road, we get a sense of vertigo. We peer out at the brilliant blue river dozens of feet below, its waters flowing gently against the grassy banks. The lovely clear sky is pure bliss, and we're leaning back, relaxing, almost smelling that clean country air and - oh no - fresh manure. Has someone in the room just... Let one go?
In "sleepy town" Angel Pine
Country bumpkins and rednecks wander down the country roads, their shoulders hunched at an awkward angle, bits of well-chewed straw stuck between their browned teeth. Flat-roofed shops specialising in liquor and fishing equipment sit opposite vast rows of log cabins, their residents rocking quietly on their humble porches.
Cyclists drift past on absurd looking contraptions, while just past more pine trees lurks the customary trailer park, housing folk who no doubt appreciate the simplicity of a fresh trout and tinned beans dinner. It seems the only thing missing is the banjo-strumming minstrel with wonky eyes and gap-teeth. But then we didn't see everything.
Up on Mount Chiliad
Standing at 2,500-feet tall, this picturesque mountain is the biggest 'object' in the game. Rockstar took CJ up its many winding, narrow ledges via a quad-bike and the view from up there is really very impressive.
As well as excellent gritty terrain, you can stand at the side and peer off into the distance and get an almost dizzying perspective on the town below. Zoom in with your camera lens and you'll just be able to make out the sleepy day-to-day bustle of simple country life. Just as Rockstar says, it's almost like being on a holiday yourself, so impressive are the visual effects.
On the road from Dillimore
This upbeat American small town is populated by traditional '50s-style buildings and diners - kind of like a modern-day Back to the Future, or if you've seen it, Oliver Stone's U-Turn. The type of resident is slightly different from the straw-hatted farmboys of Angel Pine, with most opting to crash across the bumpy environment in 4x4 off-road vehicles.
However, driving up the open roads on a stolen Wayfarer Bike, day switches to night, and slowly but surely, the scenery begins to gradually alter from country tranquillity to urban bustle. We end up careering through the glamour of Vinewood Hills, with its telegraph pylons, mock Tudor buildings and lines of parping yellow cabs.
We suddenly hit the Mulholland Intersection, and trees become eschewed in favour of large, cubic buildings and billboards. In the distance, a full moon hangs high (San Andreas features a full 30-day moon cycle), while on the roads lamps and city lights emit gorgeous glows of yellow, red and green. We have to ask, is this really running on PS2?
Flight of the Dodo
You can fly properly now, which is handy, because according to Rockstar getting from some parts of the countryside back to the city can take up to 15 minutes by car. So CJ jumps into the mini-plane known as Dodo and ends up gliding poetically through clouds - yes, GTA now has real clouds - which inevitably partly obscures your vision of the forestry and farmland below.
"It's a lovely scenic tour" Rockstar needlessly tells us. "We've raised the roof considerably too." With a 2,500ft mountain to crash into, it'd need to.
THE MISSIONS WE SAW
DECOY OF DEATH
Task:
Escape a load of mad bikers in a van.
The Story:
Some gangster chum is being hounded by a load of bikers who want him dead. Arriving at his countryside abode, you must play the decoy, which involves driving his van through a perilous forest route, while the biker gang - armed with sub-machine guns - chase after you. If they shoot your van doors off, they'll realise that you're not the target, and will leave you alone, which means mission failed.
What Happens:
This mission looks damned hard. The van, which is hardly the speediest of vehicles, twists clumsily across the gritty, narrow roads, while the persistent bikers squeal menacingly behind, pummelling your dusted chassis with endless blasts of bullets.
Our damage meter becomes dangerously low, so we decide to take a more hazardous route through the forest itself, narrowly missing trees by literally inches. Finally, we arrive at a tunnel, which enables us to be crafty and make a couple of bikers crash as we enter. Sadly, our doors are eventually blown off, and the bikers try to pull up alongside for a clear shot at us. Thankfully, our driving is just about expert enough, and after a frantic few seconds, we leave the irate gang in the distance, coughing up dust.
What We Liked:
Tense, fast, action-packed and set in an environment quite unlike any other GTA game. Well, duh...
WASTE THE WITNESS
Task:
Assassinate a key court witness and take a photo of his corpse.
The Story:
A witness due to give evidence against one of your employees is hiding out in a cabin up in the heights of Mount Chiliad. It is your job to kill him for cash, although be warned - he's being well guarded by FBI agents. Oh, the horror...!
What Happens:
A totally brilliant shoot-out followed by a dramatic chase, that's what. We hare up towards the log building on a quad-bike, CJ showing-off by performing wheelies and standing up off his seat (the animation is great, with CJ hunching his shoulders with impressive realism). There are numerous black-suited agents standing around, but being able to shoot firearms whilst riding, they are no match for us.
CJ one-handedly pumps a few of them with lead courtesy of his sub-machinegun. He then leaps off the bike and eliminates a couple of others at point-blank range with his pistol. Sensing near death, the witness makes a bold dash for freedom. He leaps into a car and speeds off down the crooked mountain ledges.
We give chase on the bike, shooting like mad. After several hits, the target falls off his vehicle and lays sprawled out on the road, breathing his last breath. Just to prove to our employer he's dead, we snap a photo of his still-warm corpse. Mission complete.
What We Liked:
Hmmm, just see what we wrote for the previous one.
All in all, GTA: San Andreas looks incredible, brilliant, staggering... Do you need us to go on?
The game is currently due to release on October 29 in Europe for PS2. A PC version has been announced for Q3 next year.
Stephen Daultrey
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