Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas review

Missions? From spray painting rival hoods in Tagging Up Turf, to tossing boxes off a speeding train in Catalyst, to an amazing on-rails shooting section culminating in a Terminator 2-style tanker crashing onto a dam in slo-mo in Just Business, to infiltrating a hilltop mansion Manhunt-style in Madd Dogg's rhymes... [Still with us? Good]... to steering articulated lorries in Tanker Commander, to burning 'special' crops in Are You Going to San Fierro, to driving Go Karts and [surprise] in Beat Down on B Dup, to dodging barrels and skydiving from 30,000ft in Stowaway, or visiting [biggest surprise ever] in [the name gives it away], the pace rarely drops. It's relentless, consistently balanced and invariably brilliant. You rarely get bored and - thanks to the great design, not gaming voodoo - you always seem to pass the harder missions just before bemusement morphs into rage.

Problems? The draw distance occasionally pops objects into view but only when you're airborne or atop the highest peaks. The [we can't say] aircraft are a shade fiddly, slowing the game down slightly at a key juncture (about, er, 30 hours in). The targeting system (tap R1 and L2/R2 to cycle) has a tendency to point at the floor if you're not directly facing your foe - but in fairness, this improves as your shooting skills develop over time (the RPG element is invisible but discernibly enriches the playing experience - wait until you get Hitman level and can wield two-handed sawn-off shotguns). Arguably, your first glimpse of Las Venturas - the sexiest city of all - is underplayed and slightly disappointing. And there's a bit at the very end of the game which is (a) amazing, (b) surpasses everything you believed GTA was possible of, (c) goes on a wee bit long when it's 4.36am and you're desperate to finish the game. Debatably, the soundtrack is less iconic than Vice City's but when you're listening to Dr Dre's Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang while tearing along the Gant bridge in a modded pink Infernus with nitros blazing, it's hard to complain.

Irrespective of whether you adored GTA: Vice City, this demands a fresh look. Even if you can't love San Andreas - say, you're blind or a witless single-format curmudgeon who refuses to accept the validity of the PS2 - you have to respect it. It's the single most complete, unique, universe in console history - save for perhaps The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time - and offers glimpses of rare beauty. Cruising at 30,000ft through the painted crimson skies, and crossing the Gant Bridge using the Cinematic camera (tap Select) - revealing an unparalleled diversity of terrain glinting behind the sparkling ocean and imposing architecture - we were literally forced to pause the game, draw breath and pay silent homage. Like all true beauty, it defies description but hypnotises your attention.

This may sound slightly hyperbolic - it's meant to - but this is honestly the best entertainment console gaming can offer. You could be playing it until next year and still be discovering new things. In fact, if the graphics were slightly sharper and the draw distance was locked down, you wouldn't be surprised if somebody told you this was a PlayStation 3 launch title. It's so far ahead of the competition, it's almost embarrassing - GTA: SA contains mini-games with more substance than some full price pap.

Best of all, it's an original, innovative and fiercely uncompromising gamer's game - hardcore to the last, irrespective of the blingin' surface exterior and licensed tunes - that attains an almost messianic importance in this dark age of lacklustre movie licences, games designed by committee and tick list sequels. It's a victory for art. It's a victory for videogames. And it's a victory for you. Buy it and invest in the future of videogames. Us? We've got a meeting with a PCJ 600, a parachute and the mother of all unique jumps 1000ft and several leaps of faith north of San Fierro...

Daniel Dawkins

For more on GTA: San Andreas - including 90 new screens, teasing secrets from the game's hottest missions, plus scores of hands-on tips and an expanded no-holds-barred review - check out PSM2#56, available in all good newsagents from 18 November. Don't hesitate to share your GTA: SA experiences and proudest achievements by writing to