Personal Reviews of San Andreas: The Definitive Edition

[Spider-Vice]

Personal Reviews of San Andreas: The Definitive Edition

 

Although we've only just reached launch day, we'd like to give everyone the opportunity to share your detailed opinions (whatever they are, don't hold back!) in the form of a review post. Think of this as the GTAF metacritic and everyone reading is still deciding whether to play or not.

 

Post your first impressions, reviews, and personal scores out of 100. Use whatever format you like but put some effort in; what would you want to know before playing? 

 

This topic isn't for replies or debates so they will automatically be hidden - you can post your review only. If you want to change it, either edit your original post or make one further post with an update.

 

We'd like to feature some reviews in the near future for an article on GTANet.com. Cheers 

[MrBreak16]

Out of the 3 remasters, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definitive Edition is arguably the worst.

There are so many problems with it that I don't even know where to start...

 

This game is basically just a copy of the 10th anniversary "remastered" release for mobile (which was then ported to PS3 and Xbox 360) with new graphics, textures, models and control layout. Due to this, most of the bugs, glitches and issues from the "remastered" versions are back in the game, some of which can be game breaking and prevent you from completing certain missions and objectives. The game also has the same gameplay mechanics as the mobile port; they didn't even bother to put back the mechanics from the original versions. For example, the bicycle goes at full speed if you hold the button (in the original version, you had to tap the button repeatedly to do that). You can lift the heaviest weights from the start and instead of tapping the buttons in the gym to lift weights, you instead have the stupid mobile minigame where you have to press the button at the right time. The lowrider and dance minigames are busted, there is a delay which can prevent you from getting a perfect score. There are other glitches, some of which I haven't seen yet but are probably here like the infamous glitch where CJ swims slower.

 

Moving on to the graphics, it's not good either. The high draw distance and little amount of fog allows players to see the entire map of the game at once, which can be done just by getting on top of the Los Santos Tower. It completely destroys the atmosphere of the game because you quickly realize how small the map actually is. The short draw distance and fog in the original versions gave the illusion that the map was way bigger than it actually is. This clearly shows that Grove Street Games didn't even understand the design choices made by Rockstar North. The game also suffers from pop-ins, so you end up seeing really low poly buildings and places only 200 meters in front of you. The worst thing is that if you are high enough in the sky, you can see the edges of the map, the ocean abruptly stops in a square around the map. When it comes to the character models, San Andreas have some of the most laughable character models out of the 3 remasters. Some of them have deformed bodies or designs that are too different from the originals in a bad way. The map also has many places that the players can clip through or simply have missing textures, which makes it look like there are holes in the map. Some NPC's also have empty spaces in their models. Grove Street Games also implemented textures from Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V, which breaks the fact that these games take place in separate universes. Many things in the game have also been drastically changed or completely removed. The wasted and busted screens are cheap stock footage, the UI is very simplistic and generic and the arrow on the minimap isn't even in the center, instead it's at the bottom. There many other things I could say but this is getting long and you get the point

 

When it comes to controls, not much has been done. Driving is pretty much the same, but with the added bonus that cars are way too easy to flip over now and they blow up very fast. Aiming is still pretty much the same and can be clunky at times. Animations are the same. Character AI has been somehow improved and messed up at the same time etc, etc...

 

I have said so much, and yet there is still so much dumbsh*t that I could point out here. It's honestly sad how much Grove Street Games have butchered this game in particular. They have done very lazy, half-assed, amateurish and incompetent work on this game. It's a shame and an embarrassment and I can't wrap my head around the fact that Rockstar Games allowed this sh*t.

Edited November 12, 2021 by MrBreak16

[Midnight Dutch]

GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition Review, by Midnight Dutch

 

Where to begin..

 

Buyer Beware.  That’s where.  

 

There is very little to love and very much to dislike about this remaster.  Trying to look thru an objective lens as far as expectations, execution, and reality can be quite a difficult feat, but I will try to the best of my abilities to do so.  Disclaimer:  GTA player since 2002.  Almost a 20 year GTA player.

 

I will start by saying I had fairly low expectations for this remaster; mainly due to the secretive (albeit, this is Rockstar’s normal style) nature of the promotion of the game, and the refusal to show any gameplay had given me that sinking feeling that this game wasn’t going to live up to the hype.  The cutscene trailer furthered my feelings of uncertainty, as I was unimpressed with the character models of the NPC’s, and particularly CJ’s character.

 

On to the actual game:

 

We begin our journey in a very familiar fashion.  As we take control of CJ in the alleyway, I can say that the environment does look pretty nice.  Immediately I notice that CJ’s belt and boxer shorts that are visible on his waistline have a questionable quality to them.  As we move to the first cutscene, I notice that CJ’s facial expressions don’t quite match up with the message the game wants us to receive: the shocked and traumatized feeling of a man who lost his mother in a senseless act of violence, who hasn’t seen her in presumably at least 5 years and never got a chance to say goodbye.  CJ’s facial expression is disappointingly blank, and somewhat ruins the immersion of what is supposed to be a powerful cutscene to begin the game.

 

As we get into the game itself, we notice quite a few issues that become immediately obvious.  Despite the vastly superior hardware of the consoles and machines of today, there is still a glaring issue with pop up.  Driving too fast will make oncoming vehicles appear out of thin air.  Turning looking backwards and looking forward again will often times lead you into rear-ending a vehicle that was not there when you originally looked behind you.  These are unacceptable and far too common occurrences. 

 

Pedestrian NPC’s now have a few different various outfits and accessories, which is a nice touch.  However, these NPC’s have voice lines that appear to not sync up with their mouth movements, sometimes being seconds or a few seconds off; which is a horrible oversight.  Speaking of out of sync dialogue — some cutscenes will show main characters talking with no mouth movement whatsoever; something that was considered unacceptable at the time of the original game’s release, almost 17 years ago.  Many character models are downright terrible.  Denise, already an inspiration for internet memes is one of the most obvious.  Sweet is a less talked about one; his character seems to have his eyes wide shut constantly, which is both strange and immersion breaking.  Though, I know his eyes are open, they appear so squinted they almost appear closed — as if somebody took a fist full of sand and slapped him upside the head, or if he had an allergic reaction to some candy.

 

Though lighting has been improved in some aspects, there are still some obvious flaws.  Brake lights continue to work as normal, and now activate when the handbrake is applied.  This means you can sit idle with the handbrake applied to keep the brake lights on, something than can help give immersion to a player slowly progressing thru the story.  However, vehicles traveling at night have NO REAR TAIL LIGHTS, which to some may not be a big deal at all, but to many is not only an immersion-breaker, it is a laughable oversight to a proclaimed completely revamped lighting system.  Though reflections in many aspects are way better than the original games, many cars appear too shiny, as if they are all brand new and waxed.  All lighting present on emergency vehicles now flash (or at least illuminate), unlike the originals where only the roof mounted light bars flash.

 

Weather effects also feel different, but not in a good way.  The rain appears strange, as more of a solid white occurrence and not the regular translucent visuals we commonly associate with water droplets, ie: rain.  Water in the industrial districts and in the port areas are uncharacteristically clear, as water in these areas should be dirty and grimey.  

 

Draw distance is another huge issue.  Well documented, even just days after release, the draw distance is completely immersion breaking.  Though we obviously would want more draw distance than what the original games could provide, the draw distance could have been done in a proportionate manner.  Instead, we can basically see each end of the map from any high vantage point.  It’s quite disappointing.  The game seems to look best in very dense areas, where you can’t see all the way to another city and feel like the world actually has been improved.

 

Another huge disappointment is the removal of the two player co op.  I could go on and on about this, but I’m not.  It’s not in the game, and that sucks.

 

There have been virtually no “quality of life” upgrades to the game itself, and we are stuck doing many of the tedious things we had to do back when the original game released; such as when in clothing stores, having to go back into the changing room for each individual pieces of clothing, including hats and jewelry.  This clearly could have been upgraded to a more modern approach to save the player time by allowing a preview of the clothing or item in question, but I suspect that would have been too much like actual work for the developers.

 

In fact, certain things have made the game worse, such as a whole bunch of junk (tables, boxes, etc) being put into CJ’s garage, making it extremely difficult (yet still possible) to store two vehicles on the inside.  Now you have to literally push the cars out of the garage just to get into them because there is no room to open the doors.  Ridiculous.  Speaking of vehicles, just touching a vehicles omits a large crunching sound, as if you had went upside the metal fender with an aluminum baseball bat.  I have no idea why this is, and can’t help to think this is yet another oversight by the game developers.  It is strange just to barely walk into a vehicle and hearing a loud crunch sound.

 

There are also numerous well documented glitches, including those where there are null spots in the ground causing the player to sink below, etc.  Not even going to mention cut music, well.... I guess I just did.  We all know music licenses can get expensive.  For a company like Rockstar to cheap out again is beyond disappointing.  Still, there is some good music to be listened to in the game. 

 

 

All in all, there is more negative to be said, but I think I’ll leave it there for now.  Personally, my expectations were not incredibly high, and yet I’m extremely disappointed.

 

I’ll give the game a heartbreaking 2 out of 10 (2/10) score, and say this trilogy is a MAJOR BUYER BEWARE.  There is some enjoyment to be had, but a lot of negative overshadows the good points.  If it’s purely a nostalgia trip you’re after, you may be better off just playing the original game.  Still, if you want to try it for yourself, do it only if you have some spare money to blow.

[Jammsbro]

So far I am loving it. The draw distance is a game changer. They managed to retain the feel of the originals (mostly) and update it well. Some things are off. Being able to see Chiliad from just outside the Grove takes the scale away and removing all smog and weather(kinda), while gorgeous, does take a little bit away from that feel.

 

Things I wish had changed are the abolity to aim from the car rather than just side shoot and the ability to roll cars.

 

Things I wish had stayed the same are the dancing/low rider games, those feel way too easy now and lost the fun. The weight training at the gym used to have bars and tapping now its just a hit a button and feels wasted. and the switch when firing between targets is much slower. I used to use target swap to stun enemies so they wouldn't shoot me, now that is much slower.

 

I love the mission restart, probably the best thing they added. Removing that painful drive to angel pine or the like was a great move.

 

I am really glad it wasn't a total remaster, keeping the feel, sounds and everything else made it the same game, just with a better way to play it. The didn't ruin it at all, if Rockstar made that game and could have. they would have made it more like this version.

 

All in all, I am loving this. Tried SA and VC a few times over the last couple of years but diched them due to simple things that this fixes.

[Bigglo145]

Honest opinion, this game shouldnt have been made unless they were going to go all in. Instead of focusing on 3 games, they should have made Bully or The Warriors. How can they call it the definitive edition when they removed things like cheat codes? 
 

San Andreas is by far the most disappointing. As mentioned, the draw distance, the bugs and the sounds of the game that i feel could have been easily changed. I have recently replayed SA on ps4 and had a blast, this time not so much. It feels the same with slightly better graphics, i could have sworn that they said they were going to update the shooting, which would have been amazing.

 

vice city is good, and 3 i havent really played too much. Once i finish these im going to uninstall. Do not buy!!!

[jevolutionCL]

It has errors, things are missing, they also censored.

Even though I like it, I feel sorry for the people who paid for the trilogy and still can't play it.

Nostalgia plays an important role in this title, since you hear a song, those rainy days already come to mind when you were playing on the PS2. How to forget those tours of the Red County countryside or the Bone County wilderness.

There are many memories that come to mind with this game. I liked playing it, I know it's buggy and Rockstar could have done a lot better. I feel like the mistake was passing this great project over to developer Grove Street Games, we already had bad experiences with the 10th anniversary releases.

I don't want to expand too much, I'll just say that nostalgia plays a huge role. That is why I give it a 5/10 rating.

 

[Smellord]

i feel like gta as a game is more a feeling than everything else. If you break that feeling you break the game. 

Now what is Feeling in San Andreas? For me the "bad graphic" was a vibe, the walking the running animations everything was a vibe. The Music.. even the low compressed music has a vibe to it I swear.

The game feels polished.. feels like way too clean sometimes. The fog is missing, the heat waves ain't the same.. the rain is broken.

Another component which is maybe an overall problem is the missing of the generational gap between the 3 games which would be impossible to achieve in a remastered tbh. 

For the rest it's actually not bad, seeing how fast mods are being discovered i have hope for this to be the version we all wanted. If you can't mod the game.. well.. it depends on you. If the game can give you the same feelings you're set. For me, a nostalgic gta nerd, it feels just no right. 

I also have to say that you get slowly used to it. Playing the original version and then jumping into it feels strange and wrong but playing it for a while changes the way you see the game, you stop concentrating on the details and start playing.. then it gets slowly better.

I really liked the Car models. The brake lights are awesome (in vice city they light up even when using the Handbrake.. messy!)

[dnl]

After completing the game, there is not much to say. Despite significant bugs that I encountered, the overall game looks much more beautiful and richer than the original. I am glad that the scripts now work correctly even if you play with disabled VSync and without the frame limiter. Support for widescreen monitor without mod. I also liked the GPS on the mini map. The atmosphere of the original is mainly achieved by retaining the old physics of controlling cars, planes and helicopters.

[Buffybot]

As a PC player, it only came back last night, but, couple of things, fire doesn't crackle, car window doesn't break, shatter, just disappears, for a start, there are many other things as others have mentioned, rain is terrible, Denise looks shockingly bad, they could have really done a much better job, in so many ways, even modders, do better upscale looks, to the environment, buildings and so on, hope the modders can do their own fixes, that we can install, what were they thinking when they released this  

Edited November 16, 2021 by Buffybot

[RyuNova]

San Andreas via Xbox Game Pass

 

Great fun, I am getting exactly what I expected; San Andreas that looks better with QoL improvements. Anyone expecting anything else is going to be sorely disappointed, but SA, by itself, is still one of the best games ever made.

 

R* didn't lie about anything, people tricked themselves into expecting anything more than a twenty dollar Remaster.

[Haxardous]

Aside from all the mentioned aspects of the Definitive Edition release of the trilogy, I think the most valuable patch is that game physics and systems are built depending on the framerate although I don't think they've changed it entirely (delta timings), but finally they've locked the physics processing framerate on the original 24(?)fps instead of being unlocked which breaks the game entirely after a certain framerate.

All the following systems should be partially* fixed now when playing on over 24fps:

- all* mission-related mechanics bound to framerate.

- vehicles handlings flags

- particles

- weapons skills flags

- death screen

- swimming will become slow

- not able to move sideways over 75fps

- screen tearing

- sirens impossible to toggle

- climbing instantly kills the player

- sounds will play faster

- breakable objects disappear faster

- vehicles being weight like a feather when dragged by a player

- throw-able weapons being thrown with lower distance

- fire extinguisher breaks

- diving underwater instantly kills the player

- more particles will be rendered

- HUD rendering faster

- controlling jetpack being impossible

- weapons shoot faster

 

and much more...

Edited November 17, 2021 by Haxardous

[Wesk_]

I'm playing GTA San Andreas currently on my PS5 and gonna share a bit of a review/my thoughts here:

 

first of all, i can't compare the DE edition of GTA SA to the GTA3 und Vice City DE, because i haven't played the DE editions of III and VC yet, so i only played SA DE and therefore can only share my experience from SA DE and compare it to the original.

 

When i first heard about those trilogys coming in (when they got leaked) i was really excited, especially because of GTA SA, since that one is my favorite game of all time and its just a masterpiece (PS2 Version and/or modded/patched PC Version)

 

Currently i just finished San Fierro and i'm at the first mission of Mike Toreno and i haven't encountered any "gamebreaking" bug that wouldn't let me progress the story or whatever, so in terms of progression, the game was fine.  I also did a lot of sidequest (since i'm aiming for 100%) and only encountered a bug in the Vigiliante Missions, sometimes the "mission" get stuck at lvl 1 and you have to restart. (i only had it stuck at lvl 1, never on any other level). The Game also only crashed once for me so far (in san fierro first or second mission)  The Graphics etc all look good and freshened up, character models are a hit or miss, some look fine, some look ok, some look bad. the AI seemed to be a bit improved, at least they seem to have a better accuary, which can increase the difficulty of some specific missions. Also some other great QoL improvements are in the game. (i like the new  radar map, the navigation, weapon wheel etc) I also like the variety of peds.

 

Now some issues that i have and want to highlight a bit more:

 

I encountered a couple of issues with the DE edition though, first of all the skybox is how do i say it, really really bad. You can basically see the outline of the map and even reflections of your car (depending on where you are) and on your plane, which is really annoying. The draw distance is also a negative point, they basically cranked it up to the maximum and you can see the whole map, which kinda ruins the feeling. The Draw Distance and the skybox really needs to be fixed, because these are important for the experience and right now, flying for example is not that much fun. The weather effects are also done badly, the rain looks like somebody is holding a bucket of water over your head and is pouring it over you, the rain is basically over you and you can see how it "follows you", like the rain even goes up when you fly?? it really behaves weird. They need to fix the weather effects and also include some fog (like in the classic GTA SA) to make the map a better experience and keep the atmosphere. speaking of atmosphere, all of the 3 cities had a different type of "special" weather/atmosphere, but in the DE everything just kinda looks the same, which is boring.

 

There are also for some reason, sometimes "invisible" walls when you drive/walk/crash?? i encountered these a few times, there are also a lot of unfinished textures for example, the underwater area in san fierro next to dock/jizzys, you can use that to get under the map, the tunnel of bayside also has missing textures and you can see thru it, the bridge in the country side of angel pine. Sometimes i encountered areas in the country side, where i "float/ kinda fly walk" over the grass, i'm not touching the grass, i'm above it, like there is something invisible under me.

 

Fully build muscled CJ looks really bad in this version, if you compare it to the classic GTA SA. in classic gta sa you could see the definitions of the muscles, his body overall looked better and in the DE Edition, they just kinda made him "bigger" and you can't really see his definitions. (Fat CJ looks good though)

 

Jetpacks control seem also rather bad/"more heavier" in comparison to the original.

 

The map has a lot and i mean A LOT of pop ins, especially in the desert area. the whole time new objects are appearing, because the game is not fast enough to load everything, which also gives you fps drops and therefore the performance gets worse, especially when flying or when you fly lower and all those objects are appearing at once, the performance is basically all over the place. Cars also seem to disappear. when you are driving past them and leave a bit of space between the car and then look behind you, they seem to be gone.

 

The Police also seems not as good as in the old version, it feels like they "nerfed" the police a bit? in classic it felt like i had way more cops on me then in the DE (maybe thats because of the disappering cars problem)

 

"hood/first person cam" is fine, but when you look bad, you might look directly into CJs Face, which is kinda done poorly, like you want to look behind but instead you look at CJs face.

 

I'm also disappointed that they kept the old clothing system, instead of changing it to be like GTAVs, having to go in, preview clothing, go back in etc is just tedious and it should have been improved. GYM system is also just a copy paste of the mobile version and i would have prefered to keep the old gym system from ps2 and i also wish they kept the OG Version of the PS2 Version.

 

Swimming is slow, it never felt that slow in the originals, but damn it feels like it takes way to long to swim.

 

The more i play, the more it gives me the impression, that the game was not playtested, the skybox issue for example, you encounter that within minutes of playing/flying..

 

Overall, the game has some serious performance issues, the fps seems to be all over and its "constantly" changing, too many objects are poping in, draw distance is too much and my biggest complaint, the skybox and the weather effects, the kinda "ruined" the old atmosphere of the classic SA

Overall i'm enjoying the game, but thats probably mostly because of nostalgia and i just love playing san andreas and another reason is that i want to achieve the 100% for the platin trophy.

 

Right now i would give the game a 6/10 i think, i'm enjoying and i'm having fun, but i can't look past those issues that i mentioned (and some others), maybe even a 4 or 5 but idk, right now i would just say 6/10 but that could change any day. but yeah i just hope those issues i mentioned (and the other ones in this review thread) get fixed, in terms of what i personally want to get fixed first is the skybox, weather effects, draw distance (important to keep the atmosphere of gta sa) and performance issues/objects popping in.

 

I doubt the DE edition will ever be as good as the PS2 Version or PC (the PC version with mods/patches that fixed most of the issues that i had) but i doubt, since the PS2 Version is a masterpiece and the DE Edition will never be that good. Also they should have just ignored the mobile port, while making this DE version.

 

But yeah, overall a 2/10 and hopefully they will fix those issues soon. After i have reached 100% in GTA SA DE and getting my Platin Trophy i will probably take a break from the DE Edition though (will check it out from time to time whenever it gets new update(s)). Whenever i wanna play some GTA SA again i will just play the classic GTA SA on my PC (or the PS2 version, but my PC Version thru mods and patches, is basically like the PS2 Version). the classic/og GTA SA will always be my go to when i want to play GTA SA, it just provides the better experience overall and its more fun than the DE. classic GTA SA is a Masterpiece and the DE was not able to live up to that

 

edit: score change

Edited July 25 by Wesk_

[CHER0KEE]

Okay so as I told in my GTA III review, Only VC:DE maintains to keep the vibe from the 3 games and yes, SA doesn't maintain the vibe for me. And of the 3 games, SA looks worst and has more bugs. I have a copy of Original SA and I prefer playing it over this. Here are my problems - Broken Character models, Broken/cut physics, and removed fog (this is the thing I most hate, completely ruins the game for me). The only good thing is like is, the improved environment (I don't beleive by those dumb GSG, I beleive its made by R* Dundee) but there are still some broken stuff. So here was my review, Good game to play if you're bored but wanna completely enjoy San andreas, get/pirate the original. My score - 3.5/10

Edited November 18, 2021 by CHER0KEE

[JetNormalGuy]

With all the outrage about the trilogy online (The 0.5 userscore on Metacritic, The same screenshots and videos gettng shared around) just proves to me why back when the rumors started about this thing, I never wanted it to be real.

I never thought that the rumours would turn out to be true so I kinda ignored them until the reveal....

 

Part of me was super hyped and happy that Rockstar was finally giving some love to their older games but deep down I didn't want the remaster to happen since I knew they weren't gonna be full blown remakes on RAGE but simply just a graphical overhaul (turned out to be pretty decent after all). I started worrying more when I heard they were gonna stop selling the original trilogy on digital stores because I knew that if the Remaster would turn out to be bad there wouldn't be any other way to play the originals except getting a physical copy and/or piracy.

 

With the trailer and screenshots out, I just knew it. its gonna be the same game with better graphics and minimal changes to the gameplay. Re-releasing the same game from over 15-20 years ago with minimal changes and removing the originals and slapping a 60$ price tag on the game was gonna stir up some sh*t, and it did.

 

The games feel REALLY rushed and not polished with a whole heap of new bugs, the models on some of the NPC's were just horrendous and all the older bugs now stick out like a sore thumb, hell, I've seen some and experienced legitimate gameplay things (aggresive cop AI and getting easly busted by the cops) that people consider as a "bug". and it doesn't help it either that the Trilogy is supposed to be THE DEFENITIVE WAY to play these games, and to have people who never played the original come up to me and say "lol you used to play that sh*t lol what a bad game" really is funny to me.

 

The original trilogy DID NOT need this remaster, Rockstar shouldve either not do anything (best approach tbh) or go and do a full blown remake (which would sound ridiculous). all it did was bring old games into the spotlight again in an era where people enjoy bashing and complaining about video games instead of actually playing the damn things (even tho all the complaints are legitimate for the most part).

 

With the E&E thing and now this Definitive Edition , it just saddens me to see games that I love have their legacy shat on by Rockstar, everytime GTA V is brought up in a conversation, its probably gonna be people mocking it for re-releasing and for the online part instead of it being about how good of an actual gaming experience it is, now the same is being done to the Trilogy, games that were highly respected are now just a punching bag.

 

The Remaster itself, I played all the 3 games, and they're pretty good if you don't take in the new bugs, but the Original Games deserved SO MUCH better, either that or just do nothing, hell, what rockstar couldve done was just fix the steam versions of the games and make them playable (thing that the modders did) and thats it, the games wouldve been fine without this whole remaster thingy.

 

tl;dr: old games don't need remasters, just a bit of tidying and polishing for newer audiences, and taht applies to the trilogy. 

[thalilmythos]

I think a lot of people is being very hard on the final product

The biggest problem I have found with the game is the stuttering, aside from FPS issues and the like, there's also some collision issues with destructable objects, but most of the issues can be easily solved, I'm not justifying the errors, but when you put them in front of what was done graphically, there's not comparisson.

After playing for a while and seeing the models, textures, variations on the clothes, the addon of hats like fedoras or sunhats to pedestrians, different types of glasses, also pedestrians that would always have a hat of some kind, now have their own variation without it, the bigger polycount in pedestrians, actual faces with eyes instead of textures, not blocky muscles or extremities, car and road reflections, the grass in the green areas of the sidewalks, vegetation, bullet holes in the walls and trees, fixed collision on the Palms when taking cover on them (MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT PLAYED THE ORIGINAL KNOW THAT THE PALMS WERE BUGGED AND YOU COULDN'T FIRE A SHOT BEHIND THEM WITHOUT IT BOUNCING OFF OF THE AIR)

The way the blood appears gradually on the ground, blood steps that don't dissappear instantly, the details on CJ's clothing and the improvements on other cutscene and game models of story pedestrians

The added props, inside garages, inside the houses, inside interiors, worthy mention to the LS police station that had 2 empty rooms in the original, that were turned one into an office and the other into the armory, props on the streets, sidewalks, trash in the alleyways, in the highways, in the streets, that are randomly generated.

The easly moddable Unreal engine, the compatibility script wise by using the same script from the older game.

The infinite amount of possibilities that unreal Engine will provide for some ambitious modders in the future.

the weapon models, the sidewalk curbs have actually a texture, the parallax interiors look awesome.

There are some questionable decisions like te AI scaling of some textures and the lack of fog, but to me they are small in comparison with the improvements that were made graphically and in regards to models.

Now, I  really dislike the mobile controls, not being able to use the default combo and the gym combos in 2 different buttons drives me mad, I liked that possibility to mix it up while fighting.

The bmx controls going ALL TOP SPEED at the press of a button, I liked mashing on the button, deciding at what speed I was going to go, that was nice.

The muscle and fat animation not working.

The fact that is impossible to asign 2 keys for the same action.

The autoaim even with mouse, like what?

The way the car camera centers right away, you can't even move a meter to the sides while driving, the small amount of pedestrians in the streets

However this issues are small, The game I loved as a kid is still behind all that, and what's more it looks INCREDIBLE.

[CynicalMexican]

All right.

 

In terms of graphics... I lean towards "like", though I feel it needs a bit of work. I think Aaron Garbut and much the original art team had a lot of control over how this remaster look. When I'm in Los Santos, I get the vibe that I'm in one of those early 1990s movies that take place there, like Boyz n the Hood or Mi Vida Loca. I like how Los Santos in particular is filtered to look like one of those movies, and it does a better job than the original did with a greater color palette and new skybox. San Fierro changed a bit too much, it doesn't have that "green tint" that it used to have, it feels more like Full House, which makes sense and I get what they were going for, but it feels weird. I don't like that the sun shines too much and makes the sky feel "white", this needs to be toned down... but overall, I like the art direction. I like how the orange sky is still kept but it's not oversaturated like in the PS2 version (which while iconic, wasn't very realistic).

 

Environment work is amazing. The foilage adds so much more depth to the environment. The buildings have all been re-modeled and windows are in full 3D and some textuers no longer look entirely plastered flat. Interiors look fantastic, the cars go well with the environment, the roads and sidewalks have new details, I can go on and on... the only major point of feedback I would give to the environment designers is that they should have added more exterior props. Compare the SA map to a detailed city like Los Santos in GTA 5 or San Francisco/Oakland in Watch Dogs 2... those cities have little props in every corner and adds so much life to the environment.

 

The graphical work is impressive for a 20-man studio that only did mobile games, and it has made re-exploring San Andreas so much fun. Driving through the countryside feels even more magical than it did back then because of the revamped vegetation system. The cities look a lot more vibrant with new colors and shadows. It has made re-playing the game extremely worth it.

 

As for gameplay... it's San Andreas, it's still great. I haven't encountered that many bugs, the worst one was somehow getting stuck in the air while doing a flip with my BMX, but that was the only one. Most bugs haven't killed the experience for me either. Idk, I just really don't care if I encounter a bug that maybe bothers me for 5 seconds, I've just been addicted to this remaster for the last few weeks.

 

I want to give this a 7.5/10. I really do. I like this. But there should have been more content added to make a great game even greater... and of course this game got released in a half-assed state which is so sad especially for a great game. However, I do empathize with GSG a bit, because they did try, and in some ways they did succeed. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for R* to start being humble, and help their studios more.

[ImpalaBoy77]

I have been playing San Andreas for a few days now & I just finished the mission where I steal the armored truck with the military helicopter before robbing Caligulas Casino. 

 

My question is, what exactly is the point of this remaster? Don't get me wrong, I love the game & I am enjoying it but I have to think, what is the point? Besides better textures and an increased draw distance, is there really anything different? Where are the "enhanced GTA 5 style shooting mechanics" 

We have a weapon wheel and a radio wheel... Where are the enhanced shooting mechanics? Auto aim & assisted aim that's really it... No I did not expect a complete remake of the game but with it being on a different engine, I guess expecting a cover system similar to GTA 5 was just too much to ask. With how quickly you lose health in this trilogy and the inability to crouch in GTA 3, I was hoping for more. The gps is great but really other than that and the draw distance... What do we have? I don't care about the graphics, I would rather have some actual enhanced gameplay. Modders have put San Andreas in the GTA 4 game engine and that would of been perfect even with the same old graphics. The ragdoll effects, car damage and driving and the shooting mechanics and cover system from GTA 4 out into this game is what I wanted. I don't care about the graphics. If modders could do it Rockstar should of been able to do it as well. And they could of kept the same look and "feel" by keeping the same style graphics and sound effects. But no. We get a glitched broken game with really nothing new to offer what so ever. Sad. I mean I enjoy the game but I could of just replayed the originals because really there is nothing new to offer so to speak. 2/5

[BS_BlackScout]

Well, it's been... *checks clock*
Who knows how long, since this title has been released. Strap up, this will take a while. I didn't properly write this, it's all free flow.

 

(PS: I haven't even touched the other titles properly)

This is not a review of GTA San Andreas but a review of the work done by GSG. If I was to rate Rockstar's work I'd give it a 10 and tell you to go play the game instead of reading my post.

 

I honestly don't know how low to rate GSG's work.

 

Initially I thought "GSG" had done a good job (visually) but I couldn't help but keep noticing shortcuts like:

AI Upscaled textures for signage. (I got called out for saying this is a bad thing. Apparently criticism = hate. Even though I take part in that community but ok.)

Props that don't seem to follow an art direction. (GTA5 props bonus)

Shaders that look atrocious and sometimes can even get to the point of making models look terrible. (e.g: water, rain (patched) and more)

Characters that look like toys.

Bad UV.

 

The game looks extremely dark in the shadows for no reason which seems to indicate that GSG cannot do HDR rendering (Yes, all modern engines do that. No, your monitor doesn't have to support HDR).

There is a mod out there that fixes the issues but the folks from that place aren't very... Amicable. So, grab it on your own risk.

 

Did they get SOME things right? Yes, but they are far too in-between.

For "professionals" like they state in their flashy website they can't be consistent. Nor do I think they are professionals of any kind. (Just look at their "effort" of ripping off V assets).

In fact, I'd argue there are amateurs out there doing a better job (some being modders, some just being amateurs doing their own stuff with engines like Source (GMOD), Unity, UNREAL and all).

It looks like they did ONE single art pass and called it a day. Typos in textures, no far clip plane, no fog, no clouds, weird volumetrics that can never be reached, plastic water...

(A proper graphics programmer like Razed can inject Volumetric Clouds into V's RAGE but GSG with the source can't do it. "Professionals".)

 

Needless to say that I could just ignore those issues and move on and enjoy the gameplay.

Yeah... Gameplay... Full of weird bugs and issues.

 

By the point I reached San Fierro I had seen about everything. Bad collisions, non-sensical invisible props, stores which doors wouldn't move, save game crashing and more (unpatched till this day).

The question that begs the answer is: Is it possible to fix this? Yes. Is it going to happen? Eh. I'm willing to bet some issues will remain unfixed until a year later.

The graphic ones? Those are probably staying like this forever. It's how the game looks. It's not how it should look but gg.

Fixing art issues post release is probably a nightmare.

 

This late and months after this atrocious release we got on PC maybe 2 patches? I have no idea how many months it would take to make this meet proper standards.

Some images to help illustrate:
 

Quote

 

Extremely clean trashcan contrasted with dirty wall contrasted with clean cardboard box.

 

There is no longer the original atmosphere, there are bugs, the graphics don't look consistent. GTA V props are acceptable at times but look strangely weird at the same time.
It's just lazy. Lazy work by lazy people. It's not being amateurish, it's lazy (or rushed but in practice those equate to the same result).

 

Not only is it lazy but it's also insulting. Sometimes in literal ways. I have already shared on my twitter (to little avail and traction), a screenshot of what is the Ark Mobile (GSG in there) discord.

Their communication with the fanbase and reaction to any criticism is to mute or straight up ban you.

They will make fun of you and even mock you for saying anything about their precious and beloved terrible work.

 

They may have already deleted those messages at this point (burn the archives yas) but I was sent screens to this disrespectful behavior.

So, the gist of it is: GSG releases a mess and then blames the fanbase for complaining about it? I *love* how this works.
Note, they also did react to TDE in that very same Discord server. Not positively of course.

 

(It's fun cause even if I didn't have proof for this you can see the type of attitude Mr. Tom has)

_

2/10. They aren't the good guys and I certainly don't want to be one either.
I deeply, deeply regret pre-ordering or even buying this full price. I wasn't feeling too bad because I had some faith (DAMN ORTHUR) in Rockstar. 

But if anything it's a shake up call so I stop doing this stuff. There is no point.

 

I wanted a pre-load, I didn't get it. I wanted a quality game, I didn't get it.

_
 

I didn't expect a remake, I didn't expect a remaster. I expected something decent and this is not what I got.
It took me a good while to accept some of the downsides. THE ONLY UPSIDE I have seen so far is that 60FPS no longer seems to make the game completely unplayable and the plug and play leaves things to be slightly easier.

So if you just care about Rockstar's work: Ignore bugs, graphics, crashes and other issues, just play it and have some fun.

Afterall, it's just an ugly buggy coat but there's still an amazing game behind it that I would still play over and over again. If you are willing to insist and look through the blurry lenses of GSG's work you'll see the great work of professionals who, to this day, still work at Rockstar North and other studios doing amazing work even if you don't like it because it's GTA Online.

The quality is still there, very ironically, both technically and physically distant from "Grove Street "Games""". 

Edited December 16, 2021 by BS_BlackScout

[Mister Pink]

I'm ejoying this remaster so far. 

 

San Andreas is my favourite GTA. It's the only GTA I've 100%'d. Recently, I bought GTA: DE for €29.99 which I believe to be very reasonable considering it's 3 games and it's a remaster. I'm playing on Series X with 4K TV, performance mode. I'm is still in Los Santos, have just completed 100 spray tags and have about 12hrs in. 

 

What do I like about this game? Well, It's San Andreas. It's a masterpiece of videogaming. But as fae the remaster goes, I like a few things. The improved graphics are nice but I'll get back to that. I used to have a digital version of the OG Xbox version on my 360, IIRC.  That was the best console version in terms of graphics. The original Xbox version had an in-game rewind feature. Not many people remember that. Anyway, the SA abonination mobile port replaced whatever good version of SA I has on my Xbox. I was fuming. If I wanted to download SA from the Microsoft Store, it would only give this awful mobile port. So, now that I can play San Andreas in 4K at 60fps, I'm happy. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than the previous mobile port! Absolutely!

 

Thankfully, I didn't buy this at launch and I think much of the initial issues have been fixed. There are some things in SA that are modified from the original but overral, it's usually cosmetic and doesn't really mess with the vibe of SA in a negative way. Graphically, it looks nice. The road textures, car reflections, gradient sunsets all look beautiful. The palm trees look fuller, and grass has individual blades. The faces on characters don't look too drastically different. Driving around SA is just like how I remembered it. It plays how I remembered it - and graphics through rose-tinted glasses always are remembered better than the reality. This 4K 60fps version helps with the reality bit. The lighting is really nice and I'm not sure if it's an atmospheric haze or the lighting but it's good at adding, well, atmosphere. I still think things at a distance should look more hazy. I know they made it hazy/cloudy from a vertical view but not sure they done it horizontally. And, with the new lighting, driving at night is real treat because of the new lighting and shadow systems. 

 

I think it's fantastic I now have the 3D era games available and modernised for modern tech such as the Series X and 4K I'm using. I'm going to go for 100% in VC and SA. I might go back and do III eventually but I don't care for III so much anymore. I'm grateful for this remaster. Although not perfect, it's a very good option and possibly the best way to play San Andreas. 

 

Some screenshots..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cant remember]

The people before me have already gone very indepth about what's to like and what's not to like so i'll just go on saying that the very reason this thread has to exist is why I'm giving the DE a thumbs down. "Definitive Edition" literally means that this edition is meant to be the definitive one, it's in the name. Age of Empires, Command & Conquer & Mafia's remasters/remakes leave the original games in the dust. They do and have everything that the original has plus more, rendering the originals obsolete and no reason to still have those.

 

But what is the point of a "Defintive Edition" if the originals are still better in several areas, to me that renders the entire point of this release moot.