If you drove by your local GameStop or EB Games last night, you may have noticed people lining up for the midnight release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, arguably the most-anticipated PlayStation 2 release of all time. The previous games in the modern Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, have been considered among the greatest PS2 games of all time, receiving an aggregate score from GameRankings of 95% and 94%, respectively. Based on early reports, the latest one more than lives up to its predecessors. At the risk of overhyping the game, here is an excerpt from the IGN review:
I’m not going to beat around the bush. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the single best PlayStation 2 title I have ever played. It’s larger than the biggest RPG, has more story than the heftiest adventure game, and has almost as many mini-games as Nintendo’s Mario Party. Additionally, it has a production value that’s second to none, boasts a faithfulness to ’90s source material with an eerie accuracy, and provides more hours of entertainment than all the previous Grand Theft Autos combined. In short, it’s a terrific unending masterpiece of a game—and one that will never fall victim to an over-exaggeration of its lofty status. It’s the defining piece of software for Sony’s successful sophomore system, and it’s almost impossible to imagine a PlayStation 2 library without it.If you want to know what the hype is all about, pick up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas today. It’s $50 at most stores, although Best Buy has a deal where you get any Greatest Hits title for $5 with the purchase. (I would recommend Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando.) Personally, I might let the anticipation build for a while, and try to get through the previous two games first. We’ll see how long I can hold out.
