by Debaser » Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:22 pm
I'm really enjoying it. Honestly. San Andreas is, along with my illegally downloaded JLI issues, the primary reason I haven't been posting here lately. The reason I like it: It's easy.
See, all GTA games (or at least the three that count) alternate between two mods: "fun" mode" and "work" mode. Fun mode is when you're blaring down the wrong side of the road at unsafe speeds, crashing into everything in sight, and intentionally running down hookers while a good song plays on the radio. Fun mode is the first time you play most missions, and the second time you play most of the rest. Fun mode is the reason why everyone wets themselves when these games come out. In fun mode, GTA is one of the best series of games released by man.
Work mode is chasing down "hidden packages" and similar nonsense, playing a mission for the 3+ times and going through all the tedium of tracking down an "acceptable" car, driving to the mission giver, driving to the mission, and then failing at the part of the mission 10 minutes in where things get difficult and having to start over. Work mode is why everyone slags the GTA games. In work mode, GTA is unnacceptable pablum from an overrated software developer.
Since my starting safe house has a garage and I'm able to beat most missions by the second playthrough, I'm experiencing a much higher "fun" to "work" ratio than I did in Vice City and than I theorize I would have in GTA3 if I ever played it.
Unfortunately, most of the innovations aside from the basic "make it easier, dumbass" philosophy are pretty sad. I've eaten exactly one meal in my entire play time, but getting in shape basically involves spending a half-hour playing some stupid button mashing minigame that serves no real purpose. The gang warfare is pointless, and just gets in the way when a bunch of purple clad wankers start taking potshots at your car like they could possibly tell what gang you belong to as you blast by them at 90 miles an hour. The clothing/tatoo/hair customization is a nice touch, I suppose.
Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:GTA3 and Vice City were violent games, but it was all ha-ha violence, mostly. This game is perfectly fine for people over 18 (well, over 15, 16, whatever) but I don't think an 11 year old kid is ready for it. In my opinion, I mean, I wouldn't want to legislate it or anything.
While I understand, and don't even neccessarily agree with what you're saying, I've generally felt the exact opposite during my playthrough. With all this family loyalty and fighting crack pushers and trying to make the best of a crooked society, I've felt like this is a much less visciously nihilistic game than Vice City was. Tommy Vercetti was a amoral psycopath looking to make his fortune by any method available to him and he was surrounded by the pointlessly viscious and/or utterly artificial dregs of the cocaine society. CJ, by contrast, actually seems like he'd be a decent guy if he wasn't caught in the middle of a gang war. Needless to say, I preferred Tommy.
ADDENDUM: If you aren't absolutely dying to play this game and own a decent PC, feel free to wait for the PC version. The autotargetting in this game SUX AYASS.
I'm really enjoying it. Honestly. San Andreas is, along with my illegally downloaded JLI issues, the primary reason I haven't been posting here lately. The reason I like it: It's easy.
See, all GTA games (or at least the three that count) alternate between two mods: "fun" mode" and "work" mode. Fun mode is when you're blaring down the wrong side of the road at unsafe speeds, crashing into everything in sight, and intentionally running down hookers while a good song plays on the radio. Fun mode is the first time you play most missions, and the second time you play most of the rest. Fun mode is the reason why everyone wets themselves when these games come out. In fun mode, GTA is one of the best series of games released by man.
Work mode is chasing down "hidden packages" and similar nonsense, playing a mission for the 3+ times and going through all the tedium of tracking down an "acceptable" car, driving to the mission giver, driving to the mission, and then failing at the part of the mission 10 minutes in where things get difficult and having to start over. Work mode is why everyone slags the GTA games. In work mode, GTA is unnacceptable pablum from an overrated software developer.
Since my starting safe house has a garage and I'm able to beat most missions by the second playthrough, I'm experiencing a much higher "fun" to "work" ratio than I did in Vice City and than I theorize I would have in GTA3 if I ever played it.
Unfortunately, most of the innovations aside from the basic "make it easier, dumbass" philosophy are pretty sad. I've eaten exactly one meal in my entire play time, but getting in shape basically involves spending a half-hour playing some stupid button mashing minigame that serves no real purpose. The gang warfare is pointless, and just gets in the way when a bunch of purple clad wankers start taking potshots at your car like they could possibly tell what gang you belong to as you blast by them at 90 miles an hour. The clothing/tatoo/hair customization is a nice touch, I suppose.
[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]GTA3 and Vice City were violent games, but it was all ha-ha violence, mostly. This game is perfectly fine for people over 18 (well, over 15, 16, whatever) but I don't think an 11 year old kid is ready for it. In my opinion, I mean, I wouldn't want to legislate it or anything.[/quote]
While I understand, and don't even neccessarily agree with what you're saying, I've generally felt the exact opposite during my playthrough. With all this family loyalty and fighting crack pushers and trying to make the best of a crooked society, I've felt like this is a much less visciously nihilistic game than Vice City was. Tommy Vercetti was a amoral psycopath looking to make his fortune by any method available to him and he was surrounded by the pointlessly viscious and/or utterly artificial dregs of the cocaine society. CJ, by contrast, actually seems like he'd be a decent guy if he wasn't caught in the middle of a gang war. Needless to say, I preferred Tommy.
ADDENDUM: If you aren't absolutely dying to play this game and own a decent PC, feel free to wait for the PC version. The autotargetting in this game SUX AYASS.