San Andreas is structured similarly to the previous two games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open world environment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, eating, running, sprinting, swimming, climbing (the first GTA game in which swimming and climbing are possible) and jumping as well as using weapons and various forms of hand to hand combat. Players can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, semis, boats, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trains, tanks, motorcycles and bikes. Players may also import vehicles rather than steal them.
The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although story-line missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain cities and content, they are not required as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a story-line mission, players can free-roam and look around the cities, eat from the restaurant, or cause havoc by attacking people and causing destruction. Creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking pedestrians, pointing guns at people, stealing vehicles, manslaughter, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.
The player can partake in a variety of optional side missions that can boost their character's attributes or provide another source of income. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, such as dropping off taxi cab passengers, putting out fires, driving injured people to the hospital and fighting crime as a vigilante. New additions include burglary missions, pimping missions, truck and train driving missions requiring players to make deliveries on time, and driving/flying/boating/biking schools, which help players learn skills and techniques to use in their corresponding vehicles.
Microsoft Windows
- Windows 2000 or XP
- Intel Pentium III 1 GHz or AMD Athlon 1 GHz
- 256 MB RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce 3 64 MB or ATi 64 MB DirectX 8.1 equialent
- 3.6 GB free hard disk space
Recommended requirements:
- Windows 2000 or Windows XP
- Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+
- NVIDIA GeForce 6200 128 MB or ATi 128 MB DirectX 9.0c equivalent
- 4.7 GB free hard disk space for full install
