Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released on PC in 2005 and offered an unprecedentedly vast world made up of three cities inspired by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, along with the countryside, desert, and mountains between them. The story follows Carl Johnson, who returns home to Los Santos after years away to face the collapse of his family and gang, as well as the schemes of corrupt police officers exploiting his past for their own gain. The game expanded the series' concept with a gang territory system, character training, appearance, clothing, and vehicle customization, as well as flying planes and skydiving.

The scope of content was staggering for its time: the player could go to the gym, eat at fast food restaurants, play pool, or get tattoos and haircuts, creating a sense of a truly lived-in world rather than just a backdrop for missions. Technically, the game ran on an improved version of the Vice City engine, and the PC version enabled higher resolution and modifications, among which a controversial modification unlocking a cut sexual scene stood out, leading to the game's rating being subsequently changed in some countries and its withdrawal from sale. A hip-hop, funk, and rock soundtrack from the nineties gave the world a distinctive period identity tied to West Coast culture.

San Andreas became one of the best-selling and most influential titles of its generation and set the benchmark against which the ambitions of open-world games were measured for years afterward. Critics and players praised the scope of content, the freedom, and the number of parallel activities the game offered alongside the main storyline, as well as its distinctive characters and dialogue full of period slang. Even today it is considered one of the high points of the series thanks to its wealth of activities and nostalgic mid-nineties atmosphere, though some of its mechanics, animations, and graphics now clearly show their age and require a bit of tolerance from a modern player.

Why play it: For fans of a huge amount of side content and the nostalgic atmosphere of the mid-nineties, even though outdated mechanics and graphics today require a bit of tolerance.