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 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Grand Theft Auto rides again. The run up to the release of the year's most anticipated PS2 title has been a time of predicable hype with Rockstar, ever the media masters, drip-feeding titbits and stoking the fires of enthusiasm. In many ways the hype has been justified though, as Rockstar have delivered another involving, top quality game. But the expanded universe of San Andreas was talked about in such awed terms that it was as if GTA fans would be given something entirely novel. It was interesting then, to load up and get stuck in to something that felt so reassuringly familiar. Which in itself is savvy of Rockstar – after all, why would they want to mess with such a winning formula?From off the bat, we could feel right at home with the run-ins with cops, the mowing down of pedestrians, the street beatings and collection of scattered wads. The missions giving structure to the free-roaming elements, the varied music and satirical radio banter, the dalliances with whores, the car thefts, damage and resprays. The main additions and alterations to the gameplay were added with subtlety, preserving the formula and the all-important vibe. So now we can eat and workout to build up strength and stamina (the latter being a somewhat weak element – I mean, who's thrilled by hitting “X” continuously to keep the exercise bike going?). More significantly, the GTA control system has been given a Manhunt-esque makeover, with the introduction of a lock-on feature. Very handy for taking out gangs of Ballaz, the rival gang to your Grove Street crew, or hordes of cops on your case after a messy crime. Another welcome addition is the inclusion of interiors – which can be burgled stealthily during the night.  Another element that revitalises the formula, without throwing it off balance, is the expansion of the game world to include three cities and the countryside in-between. The much vaunted fictionalized West Coast USA, with its ersatz LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas, includes large tracks of backcountry, populated by hicks driving tractors and the like. One new joy is to simply hoon around these areas on a motorbike, pulling daffy stunts like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. It's an enjoyable change of pace from the requisite drive-bys, low-rider racing and other urban pursuits. Essentially, San Andreas is the GTA but bigger and blacker, the game series not being overhauled dramatically but simply adding some new dynamics (stealth, car modding, nominal RPG-type elements) and sidestepping into a different cinematic genre. If the previous two games were inspired by GoodFellas and Scarface, here its Boyz N The Hood, Menace II Society and other ghetto-life flicks from the game's early 90s era. Rockstar have taken us from wiseguys to homeboys with their usual violent, humorous aplomb. For those still craving some high jinks where characters are still called “Vinnie”, Rockstar have also recently revamped the original top-down GTA onto GameBoy Advance. So you can play GTA at home and on the hoof. Roll on The Daily Mail's reaction.
Daniel Etherington
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is out now on PS2.
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