Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 18 Years Later

no game has ever had as much hype to live up to as Grand Theft Auto San Andreas it had some enormous shoes to fill because the two games that preceded it were Classics but it not only met expectations it blew them away set in the early 90s in a city full of gangs and drugs Grand Theft Auto is an epic game with storytelling and action that makes it a masterpiece Rockstar Games has done it again ladies and gentlemen Grand Theft Auto San Andreas foreign [Applause] couldn't have put it better myself Tony Hawk here we are the final part of the original GTA trilogy sure hope I come up with a more creative title than San Andreas 18 years later after the back-to-back successes of GTA 3 and Vice City to say there's a lot of hype surrounding San Andreas would be an understatement the two-year gap between it and Vice City created tons of discussions and rumors about what this new game was going to be like it was all anyone I knew would talk about and around this time I finally got a computer with internet access so I was on gaming forums trying to find out anything I could about the game then the trailers were released building up even more hype yet a bigger world to explore with different cities small towns and tons of Countryside not limited to just land either as you can now swim and explore underwater for the first time your character was now customizable being able to change his hairstyle facial hair tattoos clothing and more and the game even added some pseudo RPG elements the story and setting was influenced by hood movies from the late 80s and early 90s the soundtrack now leaning heavily into rap and hip-hop not for everyone I know but if you were in high school during the mid-2000s you know every kid was suddenly about 50 Cent G-Unit and Eminem swearing up and down they were ogs who grew up on Tupac and Biggie Smalls then finally in October of 2004 the game was released and I loved it San Andreas along with Pokemon Sapphire was my life throughout my early high school years my school notebook was filled with cheat codes for San Andreas I bet most of you remember this one and the pages were also filled with my Pokemon fan fiction set in hohen but that's a story for another day San Andreas was my favorite GTA game for the longest time but it's been a few years since my last playthrough so let's dive in and find out why younger me loved it so much and if it still holds up now get comfy because this is going to be another long one [Music] after five years on the East Coast it's time to go home sweet but you won't it's mama she's dead bro foreign the year is 1992. Carl Johnson AKA CJ leaves Liberty City and returns to Los Santos after the death of his mother in a drive-by shooting CJ left Los Santos five years before the beginning of the game due to the death of his younger brother Brian an event he still blames himself to this day it's never elaborated on on how Brian died but it's implied through some dialogue that he may have been killed in a gang shooting not too long after arriving in Los Santos CJ's taxi is stopped by the police the cops tossing him into their Cruiser and stealing all the money he had on him these oh so honorable Servants of the law are officers ten Penny Pulaski and the rookie officer Hernandez ten penny is voiced by Samuel Jackson and Pulaski by the late Chris Penn right away the game establishes that CJ and Tenpenny have some kind of History CJ less than surprised that the police picked him up once he was in Los Santos again and 10 Penny wasting no time in antagonizing Carl disregarding his claims that he's clean and on the straight and narrow during their car ride the crooked cops plant a gun on CJ claimed that it was used to kill another police officer not just 10 minutes ago good thing we found you oh yeah don't [ __ ] him Carl Tenpenny uses the planted evidence to bring CJ under his servitude informing him he'll be in touch when he's needed before tossing his ass out of the car oh [ __ ] here we go again worst place in the world Rolling Heights baller country nine represented Grove Street in five years but the Ballers won't give a [ __ ] stuck in rival gang territory I finally get control of CJ and have to Huff it back to his mom's house on Grove Street thankfully we got a handy bike to make the trip easier bikes as in a regular motorless bike are new to the series and work like they do in Bully matching X to go faster and being able to do a little bunny hop not really my vehicle of choice when replaying San Andreas but there's a fun little novelty to it when I was younger I remember just pedaling around San Andreas and trying to do stunts along with making use of the moon jump code I think I was more attached to it than if only because of how much I loved Dave mirra's BMX as a kid returning to his childhood home CJ is distraught walking around the house looking over a picture of his mother he has a sort of flashback it's just voices and no images hearing his younger self interacting with his brother Brian and sister Kendall as he sits down to stare at the photo he's interrupted by someone coming out of the kitchen you picked the wrong house Hey Big Smoke it's me Carl chill CJ oh my oh my God what's up hey baby you okay man this is Big Smoke an old friend of CJ's and current member of The Grove Street families he comes off as a genuinely nice and concerned friend asking CJ how he's dealing with the death of his mother while also promising he'll get to the bottom of finding out who did it quoting the Bible or attempting to anyway as a way to put his distraught friend at ease the pair then head to the cemetery in order to meet up with CJ's siblings and attend his mother's funeral here we're introduced to his younger sister Kendall who is happy to see her brother Carl hey good to see you and his older brother sweet leader of the Grove Street families and who's less than happy to see CJ you ran away from food Luke Bryan he immediately gives him [ __ ] for running away to Los Santos and not being here when his mother died sweet fully Embraces the gangster lifestyle and is unable to see a life other than living in the hood with his homies chastising CJ's attempts to better himself and live a better life treating it as him abandoning his home and acting like he's better than others something that reminds me of Louise's situation and The Ballad of Gay Tony where his family and Old Friends treated him as stuck up for trying to better himself the funeral is cut short when some balas attempt to drive by on the group with everyone running back to Grove Street and CJ promising sweet he's sticking around this time his mom's house will now act as a safe house during this early portion of the game now we can do the first proper mission of the game working with another member of Grove Street and another old friend Ryder no homie no huh he was at the funeral before and is basically the rapper Eazy-E appearance wise anyhow well Big Smoke was nice and respectful to CJ Ryder's the opposite and is pretty much an [ __ ] constantly giving him [ __ ] about everything from his appearance to the way he drives how he left the hood and always calling him a buster he's also almost always high or in the middle of smoking anytime you drop in on him for his first mission Ryder asks for CJ's help in pulling off a robbery and on the way there he tells CJ to get rid of that Yeezy ass haircut formerly introducing the barber shops you don't get a lot to choose from at first as some looks can be a bit pricey this early in the game but you can customize CJ's look to personalize them more to your liking this was another feature I had more fun with as a kid as I was constantly changing up his look trying to make CJ look goofy or badass depending on my mood I didn't miss it much in GTA 4 and didn't use it at all in GTA 5. I think mainly because I prefer this kind of customization when it's your own player created character since it serves more as a way for me to role play or self-insert as opposed to CJ who has his own story and moral compass on the topic of role play San Andreas adds some RPG elements in the form of stats You Can level up for CJ there are five main stats you can view for CJ by pressing L1 on the Hub but a lot more can be viewed when pausing and choosing the stat screen first there's respect CJ's standing with the Grove Street families with his respect increasing after most missions when he kills rival gang members takes over their territory or kills the police the more respect he has the more members of Grove Street he can recruit to bring along on missions to assist though their effectiveness leaves a lot to be desired but I'll get into that later next we got stamina how far you can run cycle or Swim before CJ gets winded and has to stop easily built up by just doing all of those things or using the treadmill at the local gym the muscle stat determines how swole CJ is letting him hit harder with melee attacks increasing his sex appeal with the ladies and changing his model to look more muscular like stamina you can hit the gym and start lifting weights to increase muscle unlocking more melee moves for CJ as well once he hits a certain milestone opposite of the muscle stent is fat which increases when CJ overeats food from any of the fast food places and restaurants in the game the food places act as the main way to heal outside of missions being able to order different meals that heal various amounts of health and for pretty cheap too I have to say I like the way they did all the different restaurants in the game as depending on the food they're serving they'll look pretty different from each other indoors with their employees wearing distinct uniforms and having different personalities as some clearly hate their job compared to others the guy at clucking Bell not even hiding is disdain for customers CJ's appearance and dialogue changes as he gains weight and becomes a detriment to his health and stamina if he gets too big but you still want to keep some fat on you as CJ will get hungry and have to eat regularly and if he's got no body fat then his muscle starts to decrease instead I swear I feel like everyone hated this eating mechanic back when it first came out complaining constantly about having to take CJ to a fast food place like I was interrupting the game but like the friends mechanic in GTA 4 I feel like it was overblown as CJ doesn't have to eat that often and since eating recovers your health most likely you're going to stop by somewhere before starting a new Mission if you were hurt seems like another one of those instances where it only felt annoying because the younger fanbase didn't have the patience for it sex appeal is the final stat shown on the main hub indicating how popular CJ is with the ladies it's controlled by a number of factors from CJ's haircut the way he's dressed his body type and what type of car he's driving the more expensive is ride and look the more attractive he looks receiving positive comments from NPCs around the map while also affecting his ability to date certain women but I'll talk about girlfriends later the remaining stats are lung capacity how long CJ can dive underwater without running out of breath and drowning increased by diving underwater and surfacing without drowning vehicle skill which is divided up among the different Vehicles CJ can drive improving how well a car bike or plane handles and finally weapon skill which is divided up among the different weapon types in the game the more he uses a weapon the more proficient CJ will get with it increasing accuracy distance he can Target someone rate of fire and whether he can shoot and move at the same time certain guns when fully maxed out will also let CJ dual wield them like the pistols or the machine guns managing all these stats might seem daunting at first but it's as easy as just doing the thing to level up the thing so it'll end up happening naturally throughout your playthrough and outside of two instances you never have to get a certain stat to a certain level all right now what were we doing again oh right robbing a pizza place since this is Ryder's bright idea I'm sure you can predict how well the whole thing goes give up the money disarray Ryder not this again it ain't me fool no one else is that small I feel sorry for your dad [ __ ] you crazy let's get up out of here same old CJ Buster straight Buster oh [ __ ] run after escaping and getting that buster home CJ can head over to help out sweet wants to show that Grove Street is making a comeback and ain't to be messed with asking his brother to drive out to Bala Turf to do some tagging not quite up to banksy's level but I dig it tagging works as an optional collectible like hidden packages in the last two games being able to paint over the tags of rival gangs once you've found and tagged all the gang graffiti a few weapons will now always spawn at CJ's house along with upgrading Grove Street gang members with better weapons when they're walking around and when you recruit them this Mission also introduces another first to the series climbing as you can now climb up fences and walls of a certain height this makes verticality easier compared to the previous two games allowing you to climb up certain buildings to look for Secrets or get a better vantage point on your enemies all without the need for a helicopter improving the game's overall level design during missions and in some instances making it easier to run from enemies if you're cornered or don't have a car after helping sweet and Escape in the Ballas you'll have five tags taken care of from your count of 100. and you can now grab spray paint from your kitchen when you need it before starting the next mission CJ will get a call from officer Hernandez the silent cop who was with 10 Penny and Pulaski he warns you the cops are watching CJ and not to leave town this is The Game's way of keeping the player in Los Santos as unlike the last two games you don't have Broken Bridges that will stop you from exploring the rest of the map early instead you'll get a high wanted level when trying to enter the other major areas the police either killing you or forcing you to turn back checking on sweet and the boys they discuss how crack dealers have ruined the neighborhoods drugs being responsible for the escalating violence in the hood mirroring the real-life crack epidemic of the 80s and early 90s Grove Street's refusal to deal in drugs is partially responsible for the gang's fall in power and causing them to Splinter off into smaller groups sweets and CJ and Ryder to deal with a local dealer named b-dub with the pair running into an old friend named Big Bear who works for the dealer now the only thing bad give a [ __ ] about is smoking and keeping my house clean ain't that right big [ __ ] hell yeah hell yeah what hell yeah sir crack has left the guy a shell of his former self as now he's basically beat of slave and muscle in exchange for another drug head CJ takes pity on Big Bear and leaves without violence so instead they decide to beat up a local dealer before killing some ballers in a Crackdown remember kids drugs are bad you shouldn't do drugs man giving back to the community by killing drug dealers sure left me hungry I should get the crew together to get something to eat hey I'll take a number nine fat boy give me a number nine just like his uh let me get a number six with extra step I'll have two number nines number nine large a number six with extra dip a number seven two number 45s one with cheese and a large soap before we can enjoy our delicious chicken we spot a baller's car on its way back to The Grove so the boys will give Chase with CJ driving as sweet and Rider fire on the car after the Ballers are dealt with will drive Big Smoke back to his place a few blocks away from Grove Street afterwards sweet will call up and gyms will be unlocked for CJ to work out at with the escalating violence it's time for CJ to put in some real work instead of acting as a glorified chauffeur so big smoke will take him to the local arms dealer and possibly see my old man Emmett the mission serves to reintroduce the shooting mechanics and show off Big Smoke sick moves in your view ice cold baby I knew I was the chosen one oh man check out special agent Big Smoke nothing much to it the lock-on feels more reliable than Vice City and now you can instantly blow up cars by aiming for their gas tanks just like in real life honestly I can't think of a single time I found this useful as most of the time cars are mobile and that tiny Target is close to impossible to hit usually I end up hitting it by mistake causing an explosion and getting caught in the Blast by accident Emmett will be the source of a free gun until ammunition is unlocked later you can also dress up CJ now as clothing shops are unlocked ah yeah look and fly Playa like I mentioned towards the beginning there's a lot more customization to dressing up CJ choosing a shirt pants shoes hats or shades the game encourages the player to change up their style as CJ's default tank top and jeans are kinda boring and his friends insist he starts wearing Grove Street's green gang colors after buying new threads we put our Newfound gun skills to use in a drive-by taking out several sets of Ballas and learning where the local pain spray is later sweet calls up for help as he was pinned down by a rival gang while visiting his girl meeting CJ to fight his way through them and help his brother Escape getting dragged into our siblings love lives again sweet doesn't like Kendall dating a member of the losas tecas Gang some things ain't just meant to happen I mean what if y'all have kids Leroy Hernandez that don't sound good girl ain't Hernandez well Leroy Lopez even racist [ __ ] it's totally not racist though it's a gang thing you know so we have to follow Kendall to the local low rider competition to meet her and her man which requires a low rider of Our Own sweet will send us to his friend's garage to pick up a car and this is where car modification is introduced limited to low riders at first you can change the paint job of your car its Wheels add Hydraulics and even add nitrous this was another cool addition at the time of the game's release and I'm sure racing game fans loved it too tricking out their rides showing them off and flipping out when you inevitably end up destroying it again not my thing but if anything I do like that when later garages are unlocked I do have some kind of control over my car's paint job as opposed to the pan spray where it's random each time rolling up to the competition it's just a simple rhythm game matching the directional inputs to the beat of the music to move the car it's so easy it's one of the better ways to make some quick cash in the early game as most of these missions for the hood have only paid you in respect kind of like in GTA 5. huh guess Rockstar was more committed to recreating that San Andreas experience than I realized after winning we finally meet Kendall's boyfriend Caesar the leader of the losastekas nice happy in homes well you just shook that whatever's hand come here baby hey get your dirty hands off my sisters you're acting like she's your woman eh she's with me karon so chill the [ __ ] out it's a rocky first impression CJ acting possessive of his sister like sweet and Caesar's friends trying to start some [ __ ] with CJ but Caesar Smooths things over and promises he really does love Kendall and that he'll always protect her there isn't a lot to his character yet but as the game goes on he'll eventually become CJ's closest confidant this wraps up the missions for sweet so now I move on to helping Big Smoke first we tag along to pick up an old friend recently released from jail Jeffrey hey man it's OG low call me oh gee no all right OG look is basically that guy you know from High School who swore he was going to be a rapper but lack the actual you know talent to ever really succeed thinking a name a look and acting like a wannabe gangster was enough to make it you younger kids probably know them as SoundCloud rappers are those guys who lip sync on tick tock OG look asked for some help getting revenge on some essay named Freddy who stole his Rhymes while in jail but the conversation on the way to the mission along with dialogue from the guy when we meet him makes it obvious Luke wants him dead for making him his prison [ __ ] confronting Freddy at his place he takes off on his bike with CJ chasing him while Luke shoots at him if you keep up with Freddy and Loke manages to hit the guy or you somehow got your own machine gun you can kill Freddy during the chase otherwise he'll lead you all around Los Santos and back to an ambush this is the first mission to make use of the skip trip feature as if you fail when you redo the mission you can skip picking up OG look and go straight to Freddie's house I love this feature as a lot of missions go on for a while so having to redo certain segments of it can really drag out the experience after Freddie's taken care of CJ will drop off OG look at his new job at Burger Shot unlocking him as a mission Giver returning to Big Smoke we briefly bump into tempany and Pulaski oh [ __ ] yo Carl see you around looks like CJ isn't the only one they're giving a hard time smoking needs help picking up his cousin who just came in from Mexico we even get to hear his impeccable Spanish-speaking ability hey hey hey [ __ ] you cabron what now that ain't nice coffee yo up El WeDo before I blow your brains out all over the patio Madre pendejo oh did I say cousin I meant to say weed we're ripping off some Vargo Steelers we're not done with the vargos yet though and next it's one of the most memorable missions of San Andreas all we had to do was follow the damn train CJ all we had to do was follow the damn train CJ all we had to do was follow the damn train CJ yeah this one is pretty Infamous having to chase down the vargos while they're on the train while smoke shoots and tries to kill them from the back of the bike but because of the height of the train smokes terrible shooting and the occasional obstacle on the track it could be a real pain in the ass to kill them as it feels like RNG whether smoke actually manages to hit them this time around I did manage to do it in one go don't know if I just memorized the mission from sucking at it so much as a kid or if I lucked out and found that magic sweet spot where the bullets actually land the final mission for smoke is the biggest set piece so far as we end up having to fight our way through a building full of Russian mobgoons while protecting smoke ending in an awesome Chase sequence where we have to escape the Russians in a giant truck but a scene ripped straight out of Terminator 2. wrapped up with Big Smoke it's time to head back to that buster Rider how much you doing digging Graves damn what the [ __ ] I put it man what what [ __ ] man the [ __ ] water after watching him try and fail to find some drugs he buried in his yard he wants help in stealing weapons from a local Army vet they'll grab a delivery truck and wait till it's dark to head over to the man's house to Rob him with CJ needing to sneak in and move around quietly to avoid waking him up after you grab the boxes of weapons and take them back out to the truck you'll mock home invasions as a way of making extra cash returning to Ryder 10 Penny and his lackeys reappear smells good what's cooking where's mine picking up some drugs from Ryder before ordering both boys to go rob a train man these [ __ ] just have everyone in the hood doing things for them huh the Train Robbery itself involves CJ climbing onto its flatbed to grab weapon crates and toss them back at Ryder as he follows behind him the final job for this idiot involves robbing a National Guard Depot of weapons which is a lot easier than you'd expect you only have to deal with a few guards and the main bulk of the mission is just using a forklit to load crates onto a truck man what is this shenmue done with Ryder it's time to check in on OG look and see how he's doing at his new job as a hygiene technician [Applause] you may run off again yet fed up with his job as a janitor he wants to throw a big house party to kick off his rap career so our first objective is to steal a DJ's sound equipment wooing her with our six dance moves before stealing her ride [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] returning to OG Loke his Rhymes aren't getting the approval he was hoping for as this Random Customer kindly explains to him [Music] [Laughter] oh gee low call me and imma kick a little something like this hey yo when I come to open the place you don't want me to come with a gun in your face I spit it harder than anybody in the world could do that guy sucks damn so CJ suggests you have someone else write his rhymes but Loco's a step further and asks us to steal the rhyme book of a big name rapper Mad Dog it's a stealth Mission needing you to head to Mad Dog's mansion and sneak past his guards to get his rhyme book making use of the Shadows to hide and move around guards even getting the option for stealth kills by using a knife and crouching behind a guard to kill them [Music] while simple I dig this little stealth Mission as the devs did a decent job fleshing out the mechanics as a few future missions will give you the option for a stealthy approach instead of going guns blazing returning to look we're not done with Mad Dog quite yet as his manager has allegedly been blacklisting OG Lok telling other agencies and managers that the would-be rappers Rhymes and skills are whack and he isn't worth hiring which you know is true but we need to help Luke by eliminating said manager first by stealing a car belonging to one of his drivers getting in a lineup and picking them up from a premiere and then driving the car into the ocean and letting him swim at the fishes with that it's time for the house party but OG looks uh glorious debut is interrupted by the Ballas the gang bangers bring a small army to attack Grove Street with the whole Hood having to work together to fight them off man all this gang violence is really starting to escalate before you could start planning on what to do about the Ballas officer 10 Penny calls up to put CJ to work hey Carl Johnson CJ come on over here son Frank 10 Penny shares a lot of similarities with Denzel Washington's character Alonzo Harris from the movie Training Day a corrupt cop who acts like he's untouchable abuses his Authority regularly does drugs on the job steals from criminals and runs a corrupt unit of like-minded cops behaving more like a criminal in his demeanor and how he speaks than a decorated officer of the law CJ will meet with 10 Penny and the other members of the crash police unit at the local donut shop being ordered to take care of a drug dealing cop killing bargo's gangster you'll be provided with some molotovs for the mission having to throw them through the windows of the gangster's house to burn it down and kill him unfortunately an innocent girl is trapped inside so CJ will have to run in to save her putting out fires in order to escape the Blazing Inferno getting her to safety she introduces herself as Denise who just so happens to live down the road from Grove Street falling in love with CJ after he saves her life she'll now become his girlfriend the first of potentially several more girlfriends and dating are another new mechanic introduced in San Andreas outside of Denise and one other girl I'll bring up later girlfriends are optional and can be found hidden throughout the game you'll know if a woman is dateable when you see a blue arrow above their head but you can't date them right away CJ needs to have a decently high sex appeal but more importantly needs to fit the girl's taste usually by having the right body type they're interested in once they like what they see CJ can take them out on dates to restaurants or to go dancing as your relationship status with them grows you'll unlock perks for dating them one potential girlfriend makes it so you can keep your weapons after dying and respawning at the hospital while another owns her own car garage that can be used as a free pay and spray get your relationship status with them high enough and you can drive their personal rides unlock new outfits and eventually be invited into their homes for some hot coffee well can't discuss San Andreas without going into the whole hot coffee controversy Grand Theft Auto has been no stranger to controversy constantly being attacked by the media and politicians for being violent murder simulators I didn't discuss it in the Vice City video but it landed in hot water due to the missions relating to the Cubans and the Haitians with both real-life groups protesting the game for depicting them as criminals and possibly propagating harsh stereotypes about them this resulted in future releases of Vice City removing any mention of the Cubans and Haitians and just giving them regular gang names but this was nothing compared to the [ __ ] storm that the hot coffee incident caused buried in the code of the initial release of the game was a scrapped minigame referred to as hot coffee where CJ would crudely have sex with his girlfriends it wasn't particularly explicit stuff and could only be accessed by modding the game or using a cheat device but once it was discovered all hell broke loose politicians and lawyers swarmed on the game spearheaded by Gaming's former enemy Jack Thompson the media misrepresented how easy it was to access the Mini-Game and painted Rockstar and take two in a bad light with the ESRB re-raiding the game adults only forcing retailers to pull the game from their shelves Take 2 would have to stop production of the game in order to scrub the minigame from the code and get it re-rated eliminating any traces of hot coffee and subsequent releases along with paying tons of money and fines and lawsuits all for a mini game that looks like two action figures smashing against each other man talk about crazy as it's pretty team nowadays compared to the sex scenes you see in games like The Witcher or the last of us too so glad we've all grown and video games aren't criticized for their sexual content or used as scapegoats for violence by out of touch politicians anymore returning to ten Penny he sent CJ down to the docks to interrupt a deal with the Ballers and the Russians finish with the cops for now it's time to go help out Grove Street again sweet will call up CJ telling him to take care of a former member of the gang named little weasel who swaps sides and joined the ballers this is when ammunition will be unlocked and you'll need to gear up with some new weapons before heading to little weasel's location in Glen Park and here is where we're introduced to the gang Warfare mechanic gang Warfare has the various groups in Los Santos fighting for power and trying to take over each other's territory the map of Los Santos will be divided up into different turfs color-coded to match the controlling Gang Green representing Grove Street purple representing the Ballas and yellow representing the vagos in order to take over a territory you need to walk into a rival's Turf and kill at least three gang members in order to start a gang war you then have to kill three waves of enemies of increasing difficulty surviving in order to claim the territory is yours depending on how high your respect is you can recruit some Grove Street members to assist which you do by aiming at them and pressing up on the directional pad the territory you control will bring in a passive income that you can collect outside CJ's house well interesting I've got several issues with gang Warfare first is that trying to initiate a war to take territory can be a pain in the ass sometimes because of the way the game spawns NPCs there might not be enough guys around to kill and actually start the Takeover feels like more times than not I'd have to run circles around a territory until they'd finally spawn usually happening in the smaller Turfs next is that your homies are absolutely useless their AI would constantly break during these fights so even when giving them directions to follow they'd either stay in one place refuse to fight or end up in my line of fire and getting killed and finally we have to protect your territory after you've claimed it it doesn't happen all the time but man it seems to have a habit of occurring at the worst possible moment the map will start flashing with an icon representing a gang attacking your territory so you have to race from wherever you are back to that area and fight off the gang or risk losing the territory and having to reclaim it all over again it just feels like such a tedious mechanic with the rewards not feeling worth it thankfully you're not forced to take over every square of the map even if you're doing a hundred percent completion but gang Warfare resurfaces in an ugly way towards the end of the game after killing little weasel CJ Sweet and some guys who recruit from The Grove will Ambush the ballows at his funeral killing one of their high-ranking members later sweet will head to a meeting with the heads of the other former Grove Street families hoping to merge the groups back together into a stronger gang but the meeting ends up ambushed by the Los Santos Police Department Big Smoke and Rider end up ditching CJ so it's up to him to try and save sweet on his own fighting through the cops he eventually finds sweet and the two escape the building just in time for their friends to return thanks a lot [ __ ] but I guess it's the thought that counts afterwards it's one long sequence of trying to fight off the police as the group tries to get away with a police copter trying to Ram into the guys it all ends with them crashing their car through a billboard and going up in flames though thankfully the crew managed to jump out at the last minute man what a wild ride but you know I think the whole experience really brought the crew together fighting off the cops escaping and nearly dying the whole thing really makes me appreciate my homies it's truly Grove Street for life empowered by the whole experience sweet rallies Grove Street together for an ambush on a baller's meeting before CJ can head over and back up his brother he gets a call from Caesar who needs to show him something important but can't tell him over the phone meeting him in his car they spy on some balls across the street and the truth behind the death of CJ's mom is revealed so some Ballers hanging around a dope spot so what just watch on me what the [ __ ] oh no smoke what you into that's it look at that ride that's the [ __ ] green saber Big Smoke and Rider have been in League with the Ballas and 10 Penny this entire time the green saber responsible for the initial drive-by shooting that killed his mom had been hidden away at this garage the entire time I really love this reveal easily the best twist in any GTA game in GTA 3 salvatorebird train Claude comes out of nowhere and gets terribly explained away as Maria lying to him about her and Claude being an item in Vice City Lance's betrayal is foreshadowed but feels unjustified due to his whiny and entitled attitude but here it's just perfect as looking back at earlier events Ryder and Smoke's betrayal was being heavily foreshadowed it starts as early as big Smoke's introduction as it's never properly explained what he was doing in the Johnson house before CJ arrived possibly cleaning up the scene of the crime or hiding some evidence then we have all those times you would see 10 pennies show up at smoke or Rider's place which at first is framed like crashes using them like they are CJ but knowing what we know now it's clear the group we're meeting to discuss and plan out their scheme then there's small things like how Big Smoke didn't fire on the bottles after their trip to clucking Bell just eating food in the back seat instead or how after the mission you drop them off at his house which isn't on Grove Street and located smack dab and Bala territory the final nail in the coffin being the previous mission where the two outright abandoned CJ and sweet when the meeting of Grove Street families got attacked by the police like the two knew it was a setup all along CJ doesn't get much time to dwell on this Revelation as he realizes that sweet and the other Grove Street members have walked into a trap rushing to his Aid he fights off the Ballas and finds that Swede has been shot after killing every baller there the cops surround the two brothers forcing CJ to surrender and bringing our time and Los Santos to an end at least for now [Music] [Music] you got a bag over your head boy how you feel about that man take it off please man I can't breathe please oh all right but only because you said please after the events of the last mission CJ was grabbed and scurried away from the scene by Tenpenny and Pulaski they fill him in that his brother is alive in a prison hospital his sister Kendall and Caesar are safe but with the cops keeping an eye on them in no uncertain terms CJ is [ __ ] once again made to be crashes Aaron boy n to stay away from smoke you'll now be stuck in some Podunk town in the middle of the countryside and you know what I actually like it out here it's a nice change of pace compared to the more crowded and dingy feeling of Los Santos letting you breathe in this wide open space with towns made up of smaller streets homes and businesses locals dressed differently from those in Los Santos riding cars more suited for the countryside you can really take in the nature around this mountainous area well as best as you can with PS2 graphics the area around Mount Chiliad just invites exploration with long stretches of driving and not encountering another Soul making you wonder what you could possibly stumble onto is there any surprise that rumors around Bigfoot ghosts or serial killers being in the game were so popular around its release hell if you're someone who's into liminal spaces San Andreas is just a gold mine of it from simple alleys to abandoned Cottages or full-on abandoned towns the diversity between its different areas really makes it one of the best and most memorable open worlds CJ can't appreciate the countryside for long though as crash puts him to work as soon as they drop him off he needs to climb up Mount Chiliad to find an informant who's playing to snitch on 10 penny making our way up there and finding his cabin he's being guarded by the FBI so you have to sneak past them to get into the cabin and kill the guy but if you spook him you'll have to chase after him as he drives off and kill him before he gets away once the deed is done take a snapshot of his corpse and return to the trailer back in town to send it to 10 penny afterwards you'll get two calls from Caesar and sweet Caesar fills us in on the state of things and suggests CJ go meet his cousin in order to get some help with his current situation while sweet calls from the prison hospital checking in to see if CJ and Kendall are okay and asking his brother to do what he can to get him out taking Caesar's advice we head to the diner where his cousin is located who turns out to be a familiar face [ __ ] I sing [ __ ] units with more boss than you [Music] what the [ __ ] did you want nothing I'm looking for a friend of mine's cousin come on Mexican guy he ain't here but says that you was a real man crazy lady I'm a God fan peace loving man of the people whatever [ __ ] let's go damn relax baby yep it's the sorta main villain of GTA 3 Catalina of all the people from these games she was the last one I'd expect to make a reappearance especially in a game set a decade before her debut Catalina is just as unpleasant as she was in GTA 3. maybe more so as she's quick to anger is constantly shouting and tries to solve all her problems with violence kind of like a female Kratos the younger Kratos anyhow I working with Catalina involves pulling off four different robberies around the countryside the whole experience being treated like her and CJ are dating creating an unpleasant experience as Catalina constantly berates and belittles him constantly calls his manhood into question and criticizes just about his every move did I say they were dating I'm sorry sounds more like they're married you could do the robberies in any order you like with the closest one being a gas station in town but instead of robbing the cashier for cash we steal his fuel tanker instead a simple mission to deliver the field to Catalina's contact though the cashier and his buddy Derek will chase after and try to stop you gotta admire that dedication to the job after completing the job a mysterious stranger will call up to offer work having been referred to CJ by 10 penny returning to Angel Pine we find 10 Penny having the time of his life [Music] check this [ __ ] out what do we have here yo girl what up kid welcome friend sup and we're introduced to the Aging hippie known as the truth instead of eliminating someone to cover up his corruption 10 penny more or less loans out CJ to the truth in order to pay for weed he's buying from him and despite being associated with an [ __ ] crooked cop like 10 penny the truth is surprisingly Pleasant definitely an out there weirdo but he's nice to CJ and doesn't treat him like his weapon boy he needs help harvesting his weed which requires stealing a combine harvester from a nearby Farm man I love this mission it's a simple steel and Escape job but any of the farmers you run over while escaping will be shredded to bits and shot out the back of the Harvester as bloody meat chunks and I always end up wasting time just running them over for fun no I'm not a psychopath my dad just wasn't there for me growing up and my mom went crazy and started Chasing UFOs now we're gonna watch a four hour retrospective on Fallout New Vegas then you can leave just dropping off the Harvester to the truth he says he'll reach back out once the Mary Jane is ready afterwards Caesar will call and come out to Angel Pine with Kendall for their protection though he wants to head back to Los Santos to get rid of the drug pushers specifically Big Smoke CJ is in denial about big Smoke's betrayal unable to accept his former friend has fallen so far and is now dealing but his sister and Caesar tell him to wake up pointing out he couldn't have afforded his current house any other way I mean none of these guys seem to have actual jobs so they do have a good point there's also heard a rumor that smoke regularly sends a truck out to San Fierro to pick up more dope CJ convinces Caesar to chill and stay put for now unlocking optional missions where he can disrupt Smoke's operation they're not located on the map but triggered on certain days of the week what Caesar calling about either drugs or cash being moved you have the choice to accept or decline the mission with no penalty if you decide not to do it but if you accept you can either kill it drug Courier is working for smoke taking a backpack full of drugs and the mission payout determined by how much he had left in his bag or you can chase after a patriot car transporting cash smashing into or shooting it letting you loot crates for a maximum payout of eighteen hundred dollars I mostly ignore these and only ever did them once mainly because Caesar always seemed to call when I was on the other side of the map and I couldn't be bothered to drive all the way back to the countryside to do the jobs hello why don't you call eh well I was just about to call you but yeah no no if you just let me we've got places to Rob look I'm in the middle of some [ __ ] right oh right guess we should go back to working with our new girlfriend meeting Catalina in her Hideout it's time to bang out the remaining robbery missions first hitting up a betting shop and blowing it safe then attempting to rob a liquor store before someone else beats us to it so we chased him down and robbed them instead and finally hitting up a small Bank biting off and escaping the local police force afterwards breaking up with Catalina one day Carl Johnson do lice goodbye oh how will I ever recover from losing such a great catch as her I think I'll just get into a crazy illegal cross-country race to clear my head Caesar calls telling us about the race and driving up to the starting line we're introduced to who I consider the best character in the game woozy moo or woozy as his friends call him from friend Grove Street Family Los Santos what's happening Pax this isn't a parade pal but you know we gotta be careful but my friends call me wussy how are you doing CJ Carl Johnson we don't learn much about him at first but he's a leader of a Triad Clan and looks like Sarah from The Matrix Reloaded this is a good movie and I'm tired of pretending it's not he's also very polite and nice to see Jay accepting his defeat in their race with Grace and offering CJ work if he's ever in San Fierro I don't want to spoil anything about him yet but God do I love this guy we'll have another race after this one being introduced to Catalina's new man and holy [ __ ] it's Claude this was such an awesome Cameo I mean yeah there isn't much to Claude at all but it was cool to see him and find out what he was up to before he went to Liberty City and now we know how he ended up meeting Catalina oh Claude how I wish I could warn you what was going to happen a decade from now side note I got this theory that GTA 6 is going to be about the HD games versions of Catalina and Claude mainly because of the news articles and leaks that say you'll be playing as a Bonnie and Clyde duo with one of them confirmed as a Latina which fits these two's relationship to a t as the pair would go on a crime spree before Catalina ends up portraying Claude hope I'm right as it would be cool to see some old series characters brought into the new continuity though I'm not sure how they'd handle Claude like would he still be mute or would he have some kind of Commander Shepard dialogue options that determine his personality someone remind me to make a video on the first trailer for GTA 6 when it's released in two to three years getting back to the game I whooped claude's ass in the race and instead of cash or a pink slip Catalina gives me the deed to a garage in San Fierro before she disappears from my life forever never to bother me ever again before I can head to my new business the truth calls up so I can pick up the weed for 10 penny and it turns out 10 Penny played both of us as the cops show up by Chopper on the truce Farm to arrest us we need to destroy the evidence using a flamethrower to destroy the weed exactly like that one mission in Far Cry 3 minus the dubstep foreign Jane we blow the chopper out of the sky and the two of us hop into the truth's van to start our new lives in San Fiero [Music] we finally made it gang the city of love San Fierro if Los Santos was meant to be a combination of the poverty-stricken South Central and the affluent But ultimately phony world of LA San Fierro ends up mirroring San Francisco with its more upscale homes diverse neighborhoods tram system and waterfront property all it's missing is a massive homeless population and streets covered in [ __ ] and syringes the city doesn't really feel as interesting to drive around like Los Santos but I appreciate not getting shot at any time I turn the corner into a new neighborhood CJ's dreams of running a legit business are dashed as soon as he and the truth arrive as Catalina ends up scamming him with the deed to a broken down garage though I guess it might have belonged to Claude as he mainly complains about him but after a pep talk from his sister and Caesar he decides to get his hands dirty and just focus on turning the place around with their health the truth recommends some people he knows that can help get things running at the garage and ask CJ to drive him around to go pick them up while also seemingly avoiding someone following the truth around the first two of his friends are Jethro and Dwayne the two of them returning from Vice City they were attached to the boat dock assets Mission working at the Docks and greeting Tommy when he bought the business the third person he has in mind is an Electronics expert and owner of an RC shop zero who is voiced by David Cross with the crew working together to fix up the garage Kendall suggests that CJ invest into buying property to make more money this is where asset missions will be introduced though they don't work quite the same as they did in Vice City after buying an asset you'll have to do some missions in order for the business to start bringing in a passive income they're mostly optional this time around the only mandatory one being treated more like your usual story missions and its importance to the plot now that we're settled in a new location it's not long before 10 Penny calls us up to put us to work again using the weed we got from the truth he wants CJ to plant it on a D.A investigating 10 penny and then call a tip line to report them CJ will have to pose as a valet to steal the DA's car take it back to his garage to plant the drugs and then drive it back to the car park to call the snitch line returning to the garage Kendall's upset after some local construction workers sexually harassed her and called her a hooker so we must protect our sister's Honor by tearing up the construction site with a bulldozer before pushing a porta potty with the Foreman inside into a hole and pouring cement over it to bury him alive in a container of [ __ ] feels like a disproportionate punishment I mean yeah he harassed Kendall but maybe just giving him an ass whooping would have been fine bearing them alive and [ __ ] seems a little harsh after this Jethro will call subtly attacking CJ's driving ability and recommending he go to a local driving school going to the driving school and completing its challenges will cause your driving skill to level up fast especially in comparison to the normal method where it slowly increases based off of how far CJ has driven the challenges have CJ do things like performing burnouts doing u-turns or driving with pop tires you need to get a score of at least 70 to pass the challenge and unlock the next one being given a medal based on how well you did the challenges can be frustrating as they require some near perfect driving skills in order just to pass with the better Metals requiring almost superhuman levels of speed and control the driving school is technically optional but you need to complete the school before you can purchase the Wang cars asset and it's also required for 100 completion honestly I can't tell how beneficial increasing your driving skill is it's supposed to improve handling and let you make sharper turns but depending on what you're driving you may not even notice around this time Caesar will call up he's learned about a baller's car that was spotted driving up to San Fiero to buy drugs and thinks this might be their chance to find out the main players behind the drug Syndicate in Los Santos driving out to meet Caesar he and CJ return to Angel Pine to spy on the secret drug meeting going on taking photos of everyone who shows up they end up spotting that traitor Rider the leader of the sampiero rifa T-bone Mendes a mysterious man in a black suit and finally a pimp later identified as Jizzy B now that the pair know the mean faces behind the Loco drug syndicate they head back to San Fiero to form a plan to take them down hey what up Z nothing is up Carl apart from my blood pressure and the imminent collapse of my hopes and dreams why as usual the forces of Darkness have triumphed over good around this time is when I finally had the funds to buy Zero's RC shop and unlock his asset missions and tons of frustration Zero's missions mainly have you assisting him in his war against his rival RC Enthusiast Berkeley his first mission air raid isn't too bad and just has you Manning a turret to shoot down Berkeley's Fleet of RC Choppers and protects Zero's antenna Towers the next mission supply lines though is on a whole other level and easily the most frustrating mission of the entire game after finding zero hanging from his underwear in a closet courtesy of Berkeley he wants revenge so you'll need to use an RC plane to disrupt Berkeley's RC business by killing his couriers around the city but a combination of factors make this a lot harder to pull off than you'd think first is the RC plane controls which can feel stiff and slow especially when you're trying to turn the plane next in order to actually kill the couriers you have to follow behind them and use machine guns to Kill The Courier or blow up their bands but because the guns are front facing and the nose of the plane can move up and down as you're moving it on the road it can be hard to be accurate unless you're right behind them there's also the fact that some couriers will fight back and can destroy your plane while you fumble around trying to hit them and finally the couriers are spread up pretty far from each other which at first may not seem too bad as the mission isn't timed and these guys drive pretty slow but your plane does have a feel gauge that's whittling away as you fly around trying to kill these guys one that doesn't stop emptying after you kill everyone as you're expected to fly back to Zero's shop in order to complete the mission you have no idea how many times I failed because I ran out of fuel trying to get back to him this Mission just demands Perfection that you get the flight controls down can kill the couriers fast and can plan out the optimal route to take out the couriers and remain within flying distance of Zero's shop it's only saving grace is that the mission is optional and you could just save yourself the hassle and almost as if the devs knew most players would be frustrated after doing supply lines the final mission for zero is pitifully easy zero and Berkeley decide to settle their beef once and for all engaging in a small-scale RC battle zero needs to get his RC car into Berkeley's base in order to win so CJ will act as support with an RC Chopper that has a magnet attached to it you need to move obstacles out of his way create bridges for him and drop bombs on tanks that try to destroy his car it's a fun little mini game and I'm surprised they didn't turn it into some optional game you can play Whenever as I actually had some fun doing it Berkeley Vanquish this will complete the asset missions for zero and his shop will regularly generate a Max of five thousand dollars though annoyingly like Vice City you still have to swing by the shop to collect the money which isn't bad now but can be really annoying once you leave San Fierro now let's get back to trying to take down the local syndicate what are we looking at exactly hey man you get them flicks developed what's up woozy hey Carl I was just explaining to you brother-in-law that we were friends oh yeah returning to the garage we're reunited with woozy he fills us in on who the members of the Loco Syndicate are and what their roles are in the organization well technically one of his men feels a sin the mysterious man in Black runs the whole operation with Tebow Mendes as the muscle and Jizzy working as the intermediary for drug deals CJ decides that Jizzy will be his foot in the door to the organization so he heads down to his Club to meet him in person see baby I got everything make sheets make coats make curtains in the window when I walk down the stairs I'm walking down on a mint cup Jizzy is voiced by the late Charlie Murphy and is more or less his character buck nasty from the Chappelle show there isn't much to him outside of being a pimp and a tad narcissistic as all it takes is CJ buttering him up a bit for Jizzy to trust him and bring him on board to work for him he tests CJ about having him take on some of his pimping duties having him drop off one of his hoes at a client kill a rival pimp save another girl from her attackers and then finally go back to kill the first girl he dropped off in her sugar daddy and this is all just in the first mission for him too earning jizzy's trust were one step closer to taking down the Loco syndicate but before going back to him it's time to reconnect with our buddy woozy reaching his place of business one of woozie's men informed CJ about woozie's curse got those Shades he wears aren't because he's trying to act cool or cosplay from The Matrix it's in fact cause he's blind which isn't too surprising as if you're paying attention during his intro mission it would explain his odd demeanor and not facing CJ or shaking his hand though it's kind of baffling as woozie was able to drive in the race with seemingly no issues maybe he has Daredevil like senses or something let me reintroduce myself I am the boss of the mountain Cloud boy nice to meet you likewise why don't you sit down speaking to woozy he formally introduces himself as the boss of the mountain Cloud boys afterwards asking CJ to accompany him as he checks in on some local Triads that missed their last meeting driving him over he insists on leading the way and well what's wrong you lost need a hand no no I was just you know getting the feel of the place stick close maybe he doesn't have Daredevil like senses after all eventually we stumble upon the bodies of the missing Triads One Survivor filling Us in that they were ambushed by a Vietnamese gang who promptly return you'll have to fight your way out of the alley while protecting woozy and once making it back to the car let woozy finish off your pursuers yes surprisingly good aim for a blind man Big Smoke should be embarrassed returning to woozy he introduces us to Ron fallee a higher ranked Triad and boss of the red gecko tongue his assistant explains that a Vietnamese gang the Danang boys are planning on moving operations to San Andreas explaining the earlier attack from the Vietnamese they request assistance in picking up a package from the airport with woozy vouching for CJ and being able to get the job done driving out to where the car and package are located CJ is ambushed by the Danang boys you'll have to protect the car from being destroyed Escape the Car Park and outrun the gang as they chase him to the triad's garage back at woozies Ron Foley is keeping himself entertained playing video games as he and his assistant can't leave the Danang boys have followed them to woozies and are currently waiting for them to leave so they can kill them CJ offers himself up as a decoy to lure them away so the pair can escape you'll take the decoy car out to a spot in the countryside where the Danang boys will finally spring into action you have to drive through checkpoints like you do in a race leading the guys on bikes around while also making sure not to let the car get too damaged and blow your cover this was a fun little Mission especially since it had been a few hours since I was in the countryside last and because Freebird was playing on the radio I just loved that song and it happened to fit the situation by complete coincidence the following mission for woozy amphibious assault is the only mission that requires a skill check and can't be started unless CJ has a higher lung capacity the mission will also play a special cutscene if you haven't reached the requirement yet I need something taken care of what hey man quit trying to distract me how are you in the water what you mean can I swim yeah can you swim well no I can't [ __ ] man damn how you do that I'm not sure how high your lung capacity has to be as there seems to be conflicting information as the GTA Wiki says it only needs to be above five percent while some walkthroughs say it should be above 20 percent I say aim for 20 as it only takes like 15 minutes of diving and rising in the water to level it up [Music] I'll have two number nines the number nine large a number six with extra dip oh despite basically being Aquaman now CJ is still a bit uncomfortable in the water due to a condom hitting him in the face while swimming as a kid this is where woozie ends up dropping a bombshell on us I have a confession to make I am I'm blind no [ __ ] since woozie's super senses don't work in the water CJ ends up agreeing to bug a Da Nang boy's ship for him heading to the docks the game briefly has you practice your driving skills by swimming through some rings underwater before heading to the ship you need to stay out of the ship lights and the guard sight diving underwater when you're spotted and waiting for them to leave before surfacing on this ship you'll need to sneak past all the guards and make your way down to plant the bug and finally Escape back to shore returning to woozy one last time it's time to take care of the Danang boys once and for all CJ will hop on a chopper with one of woozie's men flying over the ship and using a Gatling gun to pick off the guards after a brief sequence you'll get shot out of the sky and get stripped of all your weapons as you board the ship you'll have to play it stealthy again to get past the guards and take their guns till you're eventually spotted and have to fight your way down to the cargo hold after freeing the refugees in the container the last order of business is to head to the bridge to kill off the remaining tanang boys and their leader who requests an honorable samurai duel too bad for him I got the power of God and Anime on my side fleeing the ship with the refugees this completes this set of missions for woozy so it's time to get back to dealing with the Loco syndicate now this here is the dumb muscle that I was talking about returning to jizzy's pleasure Dome were formally introduced to t-bone Mendes unlike Jizzy he's a lot more level-headed and professional when it comes to their business reminding the pimp what he signed up for when he starts complaining about his cut he's also the first to suspect someone may be making a move against their group which is proven correct when he's found that one of his drug Vans was just ripped off it's CJ to the rescue as he has to find and then chase down the bikers who ripped off the van though you don't necessarily have to kill them and can just steal the drugs off the back of their bikes when they're close enough but killing them sure does make it a lot easier our next mission for the Loco Syndicate has CJ teaming up with Mendes as another one of their drug Vans has been ripped off the third big player in The Syndicate Mike Torino calls up to let them know he was in the back of the van when the drugs were snatched you now have to drive around San Fierro using the sounds Torino hears to try and figure out where he is before his phone battery dies eventually the pair deduced the Vans at the airport racing there they kill the thieves and CJ is formally introduced to Mike Torino about time T-Bone who the [ __ ] is this hey that's one of jizzy's clowns relax Weddell not the friendliest guy in the world huh after Mendes vouches for CJ the trio blow up the drug ban and Escape though Torino still grows CJ about who he is and what his intentions are laying off once they arrive at jizzy's afterwards CJ will have to meet Mendez at the nearby gas station waiting for him there it turns out The Jig Is up and the local Syndicate has gotten wise to what CJ has been up to and rape and kill your family you snake uh you think you can [ __ ] [ __ ] me and [ __ ] me over I know you're [ __ ] gay message man I'm just trying to make some money keep my mouth shut I swear man I almost had you man I almost [ __ ] had you gotcha or not turns out Mendez was just [ __ ] around Torino joins them once they're done goofing around and has CJ drive to the location of one of their drug shipments he'll act as escort following the van on bike and clearing out any potential roadblocks trying to rob them a very easy Mission really you just have to get ahead of the van before it arrives at the roadblock and kill everyone there you'll even be given a rocket launcher and sniper rifle to make the job easier mission complete we're done working for the local Syndicate and can finally plan out how to dismantle them before that though CJ's two favorite people in the world drop by to give him a visit nice to see y'all kicking back I wonder how your brother's sleeping curled up next to his shower daddy while you lived comfortably on the outside in a nice change of pace we're not covering up 10 pennies corruption this time it's Pulaski's ass we have to cover as some reporter has been investigating him so as always we need to rub them out you'll first pick up a sniper rifle the cops left for you then follow the reporter as he boards a train and rides it back to Los Santos once there follow him to his contact and put them both down returning to San Fierro woozy has left CJ a message that the Syndicate and the Ballas are planning to meet again soon so you'll need to kill Jizzy and get his phone in order to find the location and Ambush the deal this mission is confusing and it's set up as at first it seems like it's supposed to be a stealth mission crazy as Caesar will give you a silence pistol and when arriving at jizzy's Club you'll have to sneak in from the roof as his guards won't let you through the door but once you get to him CJ just confronts him instead of executing him giving Jizzy enough time to sick his goons on you before he escapes then you have to follow his car and gun him down for his phone feels like they couldn't commit to an idea for this Mission as it's not even explained why CJ couldn't get into the club in the first place outside of Jizzy just being busy with this phone in hand we find out the deal has taken place at Pier 69. CJ calling Caesar to meet him there joining him on a roof across from the meeting woozies boys show up to assist though really we're assisting them as we have to snipe mendez's security to keep them alive once Mendez and his Crews show up along with Ryder and the Ballas our Ambush plan is thrown out the window when Torino's plane spots the bodies on the roof the area turns into a war zone as CJ's crew engages the balas and rifa well I say that but I don't see anyone else actually fighting them but me thanks a lot jerks eventually CJ and Caesar put down T-Bone Mendes for good Mendez I see you reefer [ __ ] leaving one loose end Ryder can't stop me he said it for those boats don't worry about it I got this after he jumps off the pier you're supposed to swim after him and get into a boat chase with him but I really can't be bothered to do that and snipe his ass in the water later buster killing Ryder Feels So anti-climactic for someone who's supposed to be a long time friend of CJ was secretly working with the balas and orchestrated the Takeover of Grove Street when sweet got locked up he's treated like a disposable NPC during this mission he doesn't have a cut scene where CJ confronts him or Hell any new dialogue for that matter there's this fan theory that Ryder wasn't meant to turn traitor and it was Rewritten that way late into development the theory is assisted by the fact that after the green saber reveal he's pretty much never mentioned CJ almost always talks about smoke when it comes to the Betrayal he doesn't have any new dialogue either after the reveal his lines in this Mission all recycled from his previous appearances there was a rumor going around that his voice actor mc8 quit halfway during development but that was debunked and doesn't hold much water as mc8 returned to the series in GTA 5 with new music and to voice himself also if he did quit it would have made more sense to just recast him then try to rewrite the story around him CJ does reflect on killing Ryder for about five seconds then completely gets over his conflicted feelings of murdering his friend when Caesar reveals Ryder tried to have sex with Kendall once I don't know maybe it's a mix of both things like maybe Ryder was meant to die before the Big Smoke reveal but the writers decided to make him a traitor and expand his role but weren't able to get MCA back to record more lines and so they just cobbled together what they could and that's what we got who knows maybe the devil should light on it one day with Jizzy and Mendez dead we only have Torino left to take care of woozy will call up with info on his location his boys having spotted his van outside a helipad we'll head down there and fight off his guards but we're too slow to prevent him from flying off so we have to grab this conveniently placed rocket launcher and chase him down the highway since I'm terrible at aiming missing every shot as I follow him on the highway Torino eventually takes pity on me and has his Chopper stays still long enough for me to shoot it down thanks Torino you are an [ __ ] but at least you saved me from embarrassment despite the main players in The Syndicate all being dead now we still have one piece of business to take care of woozie's boy will once again call up they need CJ to pick up a car they've wired with explosives to blow up the syndicate's crack Factory once we have the car we have to get into the factory kill the guards set the timer on the car to explode and then Escape before it blows having single-handedly ended the crack epidemic I returned to the garage to Pat myself on the back but receive a call from a mysterious stranger claiming to have some important info about sweet [ __ ] is this I can't talk right now mom's always told me not to talk to strangers and look what happened to the [ __ ] now if you want your brother to go to sleep tonight with his tongue intact get your ass over here goodbye ominous but they sound trustworthy let's head out to the desert to meet this stranger pulling up to the guy's Ranch he isn't there speaking to us through his PA system instead Before He'll reveal himself he needs to see what we're made of which involves driving around in a monster truck for some reason it doesn't really prove anything outside of the fact that CJ is good at following orders I guess really it's just a flimsy way to familiarize the player with this new area after we blow his tits off with our amazing drive-through checkpoint skills the mysterious stranger reveals himself hey Carl hey what the [ __ ] man told you my bad man what the go ahead and kill me then I'm down man you ain't number the [ __ ] Yayo dealer anyway shut up and sit down well holy [ __ ] it's Mike Torino he's not dead after all I mean I think it was pretty obvious he wasn't dead as we didn't see him at all during the mission where we supposedly killed him also he's voiced by James Woods considering his talent in Hollywood's status at the time it'd be a waste to kill off his character so fast Torino reveals he's actually a government agent and was using the Loco Syndicate as a front to fund his agency's operation in Latin America whoa the U.S government deliberately flooding Urban neighborhoods with drugs in order to fund Rebel efforts to overthrow Communist governments there's no way that would happen in real life come on well he's got us by the balls as unlike Tenpenny who's basically talking out of his ass half the time we see him Torino has some real power and defying him means some very unpleasant things happen to Sweet now under his leash the first thing he wants us to do is steal a tanker from a rival agency because reasons CJ will call up Caesar to assist but keep him in the dark about why we're stealing the tanker hopping on a bike you have to hijack the tanker while it's on the freeway but Christ it's annoying you have to maintain speed with the tanker and stay close in order for Caesar to hop onto it but it's seriously fickle about finding the right spot and it doesn't help that there's still traffic around you as you're trying to pull it off so you might crash into a car in front of you as you're trying to pull the job or that Caesar says the same thing every damn time as you're trying to do it returning to Torino after stealing the tanker he now needs us to pick up some Contraband from a plane coming into San Andreas he first sent CJ out to some ghost town in the desert to pick up a rocket launcher and then has him drive to the top of a mountain to Signal the plane before it can make the drop two agency Choppers will try to intercept it so you have to shoot them down before they destroy the plane keeping it safe it drops the goods but the dumbass pilot misses the Drop Zone and the package lands miles from the mountain after picking it up CJ has to go back to the ghost town from before to stash it finishing the mission like the previous Mission with the monster truck this feels like the game trying to get the player to explore and get familiar with their surroundings again as there's too much busy work involved having to drive all over the place back at Torino's Ranch CJ is starting to get fed up with all the work he's doing for him especially if he isn't going to free his brother Torino gets him back in line immediately revealing that they're keeping sweets safe in jail and scaring CJ with the fact he's got a bounty on his head with other agencies and the Russians looking to collect on him it's time for CJ to do some real wet work for him which first requires that he buy an abandoned Airfield outside Las Venturas this is another asset Mission like Zero's RC and weighing cars but the only mandatory one to progress the story also despite Torino telling CJ to threaten the owners and offer them a dollar you have to cough up 80k to buy the place which you should have if you haven't been spending too much cash buying guns or buying safe houses once you own the place you can't continue the quest line for Torino yet as first you have to complete the flying Squall missions thankfully the flying school is right there at the Airfield and unlike the driving school is a lot more reasonable with its challenges most of them being basic challenges to learn flight controls and fly through red rings the only challenge that gave me any real trouble was trying to pull off a barrel roll as trying to spin the plane had a habit of Shifting the camera causing me to miss the corona constantly after getting your wings woozy will call up to tell you about his new setup in Las Venturas but I still need to finish up with Torino before I can meet him get you again Carl you're half asleep I could have killed you in nine different ways wake up and smell the coffee you need to lay off the coffee after messing with CJ Torino needs him to go drop some equipment off to some agents he has out in the field you'll have to fly out there while also making sure to fly low and out of enemy radar or risk getting shot down this one can be annoying as the visibility meter fills up fast if you fly too high and the plane you're on can be slow to descend down to safety there's also the fact that once you're an angel Pine there's a decent amount of pop-in occurring so you may end up crashing into a tree when it looks seemingly safe and there's a good chance this is where you'll find out the hard way not to fly over area 69. a military base close to the airstrip as they'll shoot you down quickly after entering their airspace returning to the Airfield CJ will be waiting around for Torino when he's forced to hide when a bunch of feds show up and start raiding the place Torino will sneak up on CJ and tell him that those feds belong to a rival agency and he'll have to get on the plane and kill everyone on board you'll need to hop on a bike to go after the plane as it takes off avoiding the barrels that's dropping in order to board once on the plane you'll have to gun down the agents inside before tossing a satchel charge onto the cargo and parachuting off before it explodes [Music] overall a pretty cool set piece and a nice way to end the missions for Torino it's also now that I'm realizing that the final mission in the bout of Gay Tony has to be a reference to this mission as Luis ends up doing almost the same thing chasing bulgarins playing by motorcycle hopping on board killing everyone on the plane and jumping off as the plane explodes hail fellow well met namaste peace Carl my brother hey Truth where you at back on the ground the truth returns and somehow manages to top the insanity of the last mission by asking CJ to break into area 69 to steal a secret military project you'll have to sneak through the base and have to be stealthy for as long as you can avoiding guards and spotlights to make it to a control tower you'll use the computer at the control tower to open the blast doors leading to the facility beneath the base while also alerting every guard to your presence fighting through them and jumping down a vent to get below you'll be in the main research base where the secret project is stored before heading towards whatever they have stored here you'll need to hit up their control room to deactivate the base's defenses to help with your Escape now it's just fighting through the facility's guards and navigating its confusing map to find the secret project the absolute greatest vehicle in any GTA game the jetpack now you just need to fly the hell out of there and drop it off to the truth at the nearby Canyon this is easily one of the best missions of the game from its premise to its unique Locale of a military base and research facility to the finale of getting to use a jet pack to get the hell out of there it all just gels so well it also helps that the mission is fairly balanced with some generous health and armor pickups along with guards being spread out far enough from each other that they won't shred you to pieces if you're spotted returning to the Airfield one last time CJ finds the truth goofing around with his newly acquired jet pack he asked CJ to attack a train with military guards on it protecting some strange substance giving you the jet pack to assist in the job flying out to the train you'll be able to use your machine guns to kill the guards while still using the jet pack then you just have to smash the crates till you find the glowing green jar for the truth it's not explained what the jar is and CJ himself is curious as he asks the truth about it who only vaguely tells him that it's everything really hoping it's some alien goo and we didn't hand an unpredictable hippie weirdo a radioactive isotope or something this completes the missions for the Airfield as it will now generate a Max of ten thousand dollars every few days and even better the jetpack will now spawn here to use San Fierro a distant memory now and our time in the desert coming to an end it's time to meet woozy in the city of gambling and Broken Dreams Las Venturas [Music] if it wasn't obvious by the strip and all the casinos Las Venturas is based off of Las Vegas and just like its real life counterpart it's mainly run by organized crime a fact our friend woozy is discovering as he opens his own Casino woozy has opened the four dragons Casino which looks like it may have been inspired by The Red Dragon Casino from Rush Hour 2. the grand opening of his Casino however hasn't been a smooth experience as the competing casinos in town are all run by the mob and they've been putting the squeeze on woozy and the Triads to force them to give the mob a cut of their profits though there's three big Mafia players in town the sindakos the Farrelli's and the Leon family and woozy isn't quite sure who is coming after him as always it's up to CJ to sort things out though for once he'll get more out of it instead of being paid as a hired goon woozy being the true friend that he is offers CJ a stake in the casino making him a partner and thanks for everything he's done for the Triads after briefly celebrating their new partnership one of the Triad comes to reveal the captured a mamcoon who was trying to sabotage the casino instead of executing him CJ suggests they torture the guy to find out who he's working for though instead of waterboarding them or or clamping jumper cables to his nuts we have him tied to the front of a car instead while CJ drives around Las Venturas you'll now have to fill up the scarometer by driving fast making Fast turns and driving in the wrong lane of traffic being careful not to crash and accidentally kill him once he's sufficiently spooked he spills the beans that he's working for the sundako family filling Lucian CJ suggests they hit the mob casino and Rob them but they'll need to come up with a plan and not just rush in blindly woozy believes they should first get their hands on some explosives in order to blow up in the safe in their Casino CJ agrees and heads to the local Quarry to get his hands on some Dynamite using a mining truck to break up four crates containing what he needs explosives in hand you'll then have to use a bike and follow the red checkpoints to find a way out of the Quarry as the construction workers block the main entrance dropping off the explosives to one of woozie's guys when you're done completing the mission unlocks a separate and optional set of missions from the regular Triad ones where CJ works with woozy zero and several others in planning out a heist to rob the Caligula Casino for now though I'll take care of the regular Casino missions returning to woozy he finds out the mob are using more subtle attempts to sabotage him this time trying to ruin his operation with fake casino chips so CJ will have to destroy the sundako family's plastic factory to stop them this one can be tough as despite the game telling you to sneak in or find an alternate route the guards inside are alerted as soon as you walk in if you're not wearing armor they can kill you fast if you don't take cover with one of the goons wielding a combat shotgun so it's best to beat some outside before trying to pick off the rest while out of their range once it's safe you can start destroying the molding machines around the warehouse just be quick as reinforcements will arrive after all the machines are destroyed you just need to get out of there and back to the casino to pass this will wrap up the regular Casino missions for now but before I can start working towards the heist the truth calls up needing some help apparently he took some band and their manager on a Peyote trip through the desert but he has no clue what happened or where they are as he woke up alone in Los Santos you'll head out to the desert where the truth last remembered seeing them finding the lead singer of The gerning Chimps Macker and our old buddy from Vice City Kent Paul former manager of Love fist Chanel I'm [ __ ] Angie stoned me bloody crows where am I I didn't know me I was having a dream I was wanking on with some fat birds tits when this [ __ ] turned up turns out Macker ended up sabotaging their peyote trip by dragging everyone's drinks resulting in everyone blacking out and getting lost after the two Brits find their bearings they asked CJ to take them to their buddy Rosie's Casino in Las Venturas on the way the three tried looking for the rest of the band heading over to a local Snake Farm they vaguely remember visiting they don't find their band mates though just angry locals they pissed off the night before running away they decide to cut their losses and figure the rest of the band will turn up eventually in the city the casino they were referring to just so happens to be Caligula's Palace our Target for the upcoming Heist not only that but their buddy who runs the casino is none other than Ken Rosenberg oh God my despair is complete okay Letterman Rosie I pray that one day I can escape my Perpetual torment and retire in peace and comfort a million miles away from anyone I've ever [ __ ] known and instead I get this crawling in turns out that after Tommy killed Sonny farrelli and took complete control of Vice City Rosenberg was unable to keep his nose clean driving a wedge between the two and ending the friendship with the former lawyer heading to rehab to get himself clean once he was out though the ma put him back to work putting him in charge of managing caligulas and making sure the families weren't ripping each other off which has caused Rosenberg to go back to being his old neurotic mess of itself Ken Paul will try to help him out and tell CJ he'll be in touch for more work nice now that we have an in with the Caligula Palace this should make it all easier to pull off the heist meeting up with woozy in the storage room of the casino we start planning out the heist with the first order of business being getting our hands on the Caligula's blueprints CJ will need to grab a camera before heading to the Las Venturas planning department in order to commit some espionage the blueprints are being guarded on the third floor so you'll need to create a diversion hmm maybe starting a fire by destroying these EC units will do the trick the building will then be evacuated giving you the chance to snap a photo of the blueprints then you just murder The Helpful police officers trying to save you from the fire and make it back to the casino the next step in the plan is getting a casino key card that will let the crew access the restricted areas at Caligula's Palace and instead of just stealing it CJ will need to win the affections of a young lady at the Caligula specifically the casino's cupier Millie Perkins you'll follow her as she leaves the casino and discovers she has some pretty interesting hobbies so CJ will have to look the part in order to win her over ah yes very terrifying now it's just a matter of following her home killing the actual game she was supposed to meet and then showing her the time of her life come on in I'm ready for you you've been a naughty girl oh I know [Music] you worm you'll never break me you'll then win over Millie as a new girlfriend but you have to raise your relationship with her before she'll agree to give you the key card it only takes three dates so if you buy a house nearby and just save a few times between each date you can get it done relatively fast you can also just kill Millie during a date and steal the car from her house but you wouldn't do that would you whatever you decide the next part of the plan is unlocked regardless during the heist the crew is going to need to cut the power to the casino in order to use the darkness and confusion to rob the safe and the only logical way to accomplish that is by blowing up the generators at the local hydroelectric Dam CJ will need to grab a plane in order to sneakily parachute down to the Dam's entrance [Music] it's stealth time again as you have to sneak past or kill the guards at the dam in order to place the charges on the generators taking a lovely dip in the lake outside after the mission's complete [Music] foreign the next part of the plan is making sure the crew can actually Escape the Casino with the money they plan to steal CJ's plan is to steal and use a repainted armored truck to carry the cash but they'll also need a police escort to act as outriders since the actual cops probably wouldn't help without a hefty bribe some of the crew will pose his cops instead which requires stealing four police bikes you'll have to run around Las Venturas to find the four bikes avoiding the cops as they give Chase and driving them onto a packer truck being driven by one of woozie's men the mission gives you a pretty generous timer of 12 minutes to get it all done and outside of outrunning the cops it's a fairly easy job just don't get run over on the highway after dropping off the bikes this takes us to the final step of the plan getting the armored truck and once again we have to take the most roundabout and absurd way to get the job done get the crew instead of just stealing an armored truck while it's driving around we're instead going to use a military chopper with a winch to steal a truck instead yeah that makes sense to get the chopper CJ will have to infiltrate a military Depot kill the soldiers guarding the place and make his way up to the roof once up here you'll then need to shoot down two gunships sent to stop him before boarding the plane and flying out to NAB the van with its winch nothing suspicious to see here just a plain dragging a van all over the city totally normal stuff that wraps up all the planning for the heist it'll be a while till the plan is sprung into action so it's time to help out our dear old friend Ken Rosenberg yourself up Carl's here hello what's happening hey there's some top Fanny down at that pool pubsy leave it out timlo what's wrong with you well are you gonna tell him martial law I'm really screwed as we've come to expect from him he's a neurotic mess again partially because of the overwhelming amount of stress of having to manage a casino for three different mob families but also because of something were to go wrong at the casino like say someone robbing it or one family putting a hit on another the blame falls on rosenberg's shoulders which is the problem he's currently facing as that guy we tortured by strapping him to a car Johnny sindako is in a coma at the hospital with the farrelli family now moving to kill the guy so CJ suggests that you know we move him first you'll drive out to the hospital to get Johnny but he's already been discharged looks like the Farrelli's got to him first CJ will have to track the ambulance transporting him by crashing into different ones till he finds the abductors then killing them and taking Johnny to the sundako's meat factory returning to Rosenberg he's in good spirits again thanks to good old cocaine revive the patience too high to worry about his troubles CJ pumps him up to feel confident in himself again the cooked up ex-lawyer ready to go meet with the sundakos while also bringing CJ along just in case unsurprisingly things go bad as Johnny sundako has a massive heart attack after seeing CJ oh my God oh God oh my heart damn that [ __ ] [ __ ] up you'll now have to kill all the cindakos in Avatar while keeping Rosenberg alive who doesn't provide much support outside of putting out one fire I guess it's the thought that counts once the pair Escape CJ will drop Rosenberg back off at the Caligula but somehow I don't think things are going to get easier for the cokehead on the way back to the casino we spot another person who's seen better days and unfortunately we're partially responsible for that fall from grace hey what's happening who's the idiot that's a washed up rapper it's mad dog used to be a real chart type of cat real play Mad Dog man it's mad dog the rapper whose career we sabotaged in order to pump up that talentless idiot OG Loke since we left Los Santos OG look actually blew up and released an album though this was all because of Big Smoke who hyped him up as the next big thing and funded his rap career though really only as a way to launder his drug money you can occasionally even hear the two talking on radio Los Santos well I assure you oh gee look is the real thing he's hated women all his life he sold drugs to school children he's murdered innocent people Just for kicks but he rides like an angel I was actually caught off guard the first time I encountered Mad Dog as he never showed up in person before this point and it's rare we end up seeing the people whose lives we ruin CJ filled with regret tries to stop Mad Dog from killing himself but when that doesn't look like it'll work he steals a truck to catch mad dog when he jumps so he doesn't end up a stain on the pavement though cardboard boxes are a terrible way to cushion someone's fall so you still need to take him to the hospital as thanks for saving his life Mad Dog will offer CJ a job as his new manager once he's out of rehab CJ agrees and wishes him luck in his recovery sure hope he never finds out we're responsible for ruining his life in the first place returning to the four dragons Casino woozy honors his promise as he has Ron fali and CJ sign a document to officially become Partners at the casino though this doesn't actually mean anything gameplay wise as the casino doesn't generate extra cash for CJ like you'd expect an asset too it was supposedly planned but ended up being cut same goes for why Ron Folly is randomly here as this cutscene would have taken place at the end of a mission where CJ had to protect the guy but hey it's the thought that counts CJ making it big in the world now the owner of a casino can't wait to tell sweet if he ever gets out of jail despite his new status CJ is still stuck helping out the cops but hopefully for not much longer dropping in on 10 Penny and Pulaski the gig is nearly up for them as despite all the work CJ has put in it was only a matter of time till the corruption got exposed I mean the fact that any Witnesses who had evidence on them was constantly ending up dead probably just raised more suspicion while CJ thinks he'll probably just worm his way out of it 10 Penny disagrees as he explains it to him getting a little edgy fellas oh how you like that you piece of [ __ ] that gives you any idea how easy I am wow get up [ __ ] you paying attention looks like he's a bit on edge that said he still sends out CJ to go and buy him more time this time killing a DEA and his FBI contact they're meeting up in the mountains by the desert and have some heavy protection with the DEA agent taking off in a helicopter the second you're spotted needing you to hop in the other helicopter to chase him around till he lands and you can kill him or you could just skip all that hassle by picking up the jet pack on the way to their location flying directly to the Target and killing him to take the evidence afterwards 10 Penny will call and ask CJ to meet him at last brew house with the evidence huh I wonder why you'd want to meet us in such a remote location when crash arrives Pulaski takes the evidence and confirms that it's real before 10 Penny bashes Hernandez's head in with a shovel turns out he was the snitch leaking all the info on his corruption to the higher-ups unfortunately this also means CJ has outlived his usefulness as 10 Penny forces CJ to dig a grave big enough for himself and Hernandez but the crooked cop makes two big mistakes before he leaves first leaving Pulaski in charge of executing CJ and two not finishing the job with Hernandez you're the next one he's gonna silence man the [ __ ] up scum you're Pulaski to you [Applause] thanks Hernandez I really wish you were more of a character and less of a prop but what can you do despite having ample opportunity to still kill CJ Pulaski takes off instead so we need to give Chase and finish him off it's an annoying Chase mainly because of how awkward the buggy handles along with how fast Pulaski's own car is you'll follow him around for a while until you reach the town of Fort Carson where he'll just circle around the streets finally giving you an opportunity to box him in somewhere and light up his car though he can still kill you if you're not careful as you'll hop out of the car before it explodes and is packing a desert eagle not feeling so [ __ ] full of yourself now huh yeah all of them's the breaks [ __ ] any last requests yeah cause that [ __ ] sister you were [ __ ] to the end Punk [ __ ] well that's one shitty Cop Out Of Our Lives well I doubt 10 Penny will be crying at the loss of his buddy I'm sure he won't be too Keen that we killed him no time to worry about that though as our Antics with the sundako family has caused a shitstorm for Kent Rosenberg with the sundakos out of the picture it's a war between the remaining families to take control of the casino with the Leon family's patriarch coming down himself to take control of caligulas and it's yet another familiar face good old Salvatore Leon well well well what do we got here [Music] also his future wife to be an all-around annoying person Maria [Music] I don't usually do this kind of [ __ ] you know I like this girl the pair both making reappearances from GTA 3. Rosenberg has basically been benched and is currently acting as a counterweight keeping Macker and Kent Paul alive as they dangle from outside a window CJ shows up to offer his Services the Salvatore mentioning that he worked with his son Joey back in Liberty City the Don decides to give him a chance asking CJ to intercept a hit squad of farrelli goons that are on their way to Las Venturas to kill him though as always it's not as simple as say ambushing them as they arrive at the airport no instead CJ will have to fly out into the middle of the ocean to intercept their plane which involves hopping onto their plane and boarding at mid-flight good thing he wasn't sucked into the plane's engine rather interestingly this is the one and only time in the game where the combat shifts to a first person perspective with CJ shooting and using cover to avoid their shots yeah it's basically the same mechanics when you're using a stationary turret during some previous missions but it was interesting to see them use it for a mission like this maybe they were thinking about doing a first person GTA as early as this game the Farrelli's dead you'll fly their plane back to Las Venturas for a job well done returning to Salvatore he and Maria have grown closer the old man teaching her to throw knives at Macker impressed with CJ's work he has one last job for him another hit on the Farrelli's this time in Saint Mark's Bistro in Liberty City CJ agrees but asked if he can bring Kemp Paul Macker and Rosenberg as backup which the old man agrees to CJ Cuts them loose though it was just an excuse to save them from Salvatore telling the trio to leave Las Venturas and lie low this has to be one of if not the most memorable moment in all of San Andreas there was just something so special about being able to return and see Liberty City again yeah I'd only been like three years since that game and you can't actually explore the city but it was just so cool to see like the GTA Trilogy had come full circle as we end up right back where most of us started our journey with the series that brief scene of Liberty City just covered in snow was so cool and now there's a whole mod that adds snow to the original game definitely need to check that one out anywho you go into the bistro kill the Pirellis and go back home Salvatore Leon will thank us for a job well done and for supposedly killing Rosenberg and his friends it's nice to see him be friendly and respectful to CJ time to make him regret it by ripping off his Casino [Music] oh wait gotta take this Carl what's up it's your brother hey what's up man you okay no really I'm gonna sell between two lunatics all right forgot about sweet not quite sure how I'm going to get him out of jail maybe I should just tattoo the prison's blueprints onto my back get sent into the same jail and break them out [Music] the show was so good when I debuted welp it's Heist time CJ will check in with the crew before heading over to caligulas disguised as one of their croupies using the key card he got from Millie he'll slip into the restricted area before tossing tear gas down a vent to knock out the guards protecting the sea once down below zero enacts the next step of their plan blowing up the explosive CJ had set at the dam taking out the casino's power slapping on some night goggles to see the next step is getting the rest of the crew inside which just requires lifting the gate with a forklift once inside woozy takes point to lead everyone to the vault or tries to Everybody follow me change the layout layout don't worry I'll take the lead boss good idea everybody follow him CJ and the crew will fight through the casino's security to the safe but zero reports someone is trying to bring the generators back up who as it turns out is Berkeley as zero blab to him about what they were going to do for some stupid reason after blowing up the generators the crew will blow the safe grab the cash fight through more security and finally return to the van here there are part ways as CJ acts as a Decoy for the crew to escape he'll fight through the remaining security up to the roof of the casino before parachuting off the building to hijack a police helicopter or he would have but Christ I can never get a handle of these parachute controls but thankfully this game was made before Rockstar insisted on railroading players into scripted segments so I can just steal a car to make my getaway reuniting with the crew at the Airfield CJ is still salty about the supply Line's missions so he does something he should have done halfway into this video hey CJ calm down you better take me home CJ and that's mission complete Salvatore Leon calling up soon after not too pleased and threatening to kill CJ and everyone involved sup you two bit backstabbing piece of eggplant [ __ ] Salvatore nice to hear from you too you're good Your Friends Are Dead your family is dead I'm gonna [ __ ] you up and your children and your grandchildren though he never ends up following up on those threats got ourselves another Contender for best mission from all the jobs that built up to the heist the height itself with all its moving pieces and even the dialogue during it like all the jokes that woozies expense it serves as a great finale to our adventures in Las Venturas as while there's still one Mission left here it actually ends up taking us back to where we began Los Santos laughs [Music] and we've made it the final part of the game thanks to everyone who stuck it out and made it this far this final part is a ride of highs and lows as well it's got some Stellar moments and what I consider a satisfying ending there are some parts in between that can really drag down the experience and just make you wish the game was over already the transition back to Los Santos starts at the casino with CJ Kendall and woozy auditioning acts to play at the four dragons after the latest performer comes up a little short Mad Dog arrives to reveal he's clean and sober now ready to revive his career he wants to return home but due to his drug habit he lost his Mansion to the drug dealer Big Papa CJ piss declares that they're all heading back to Los Santos and that he'll get the Mansion back making use of the Triads for help again CJ plans to Assault The Mansion in order to take it back by force he and the Triads parachute out of the plane and land on the roof of the Mansion immediately getting into a firefight with the vargos then the group enters the mansion and continues their assault CJ eventually finding and chasing after Big Papa it ends with the two driving around the streets of Vinewood finally cornering the drug lord and killing him this will unlock Mad Dog's place as CJ's new base of operations and before returning to the mansion you'll call up Kent Paul to recruit him to assist with the rapper's career during the next mission as mad dog is spitting Rhymes Torino reappears screwing up the set by hijacking the sound system to recruit CJ for another job meeting him outside he drives them out near the outskirts of San Fierro promising to get sweet out after this last job assuming CJ survives as it's the most dangerous thing he's done for the Fed so far CJ will have to sneak onto the military ship in order to steal a jet before flying out to take out some spy ships when boarding the ship you'll first have to deactivate its defenses before you can fly away with the Jet and while you can play it stealthy it's probably just easier to shoot your way through instead once you've nabbed the Hydra jet you'll get two other Jets chasing you and need to shoot them down before taking out the Spy boats it's a little tricky due to the Hydra controlling different than other planes as you have to use the right analog to control the direction of the thrusters to change the altitude of the plane and to take off this Mission ends with you taking the Hydra back to your airstrip unlocking it permanently to use returning to the mansion Torino is waiting again and a man of his word he's got one last job for CJ so what was that little job you was talking about to Reno I just want you to go pick up your brother get out of here thanks to Reno you're a dick but at least you kept your promise the Johnson Brothers reuniting isn't the grand moment you'd expect it to be as while CJ is excited that his brother is out and wants to show him all he's accomplished since he was locked up sweet immediately brushes off everything he's done his one-track mind focused on what's happening in the hood he never did get a did you Carl I need to go check on things in the hood man that's the problem you always a perpetrator running from what's real this attitude of his the way he puts CJ down the way he originally blamed him for their brother's death just kind of makes me hate sweet he's such an ungrateful [ __ ] he puts himself in the hood on this huge pedestal forgetting that CJ did most of the work at the beginning of the game or that his whole obsession with the hood life is why he ended up in jail in the first place and really what does he have to show for his love for the hood a dead brother a dead mom countless dead friends no job or anything this feels like a moment where CJ should really stand up to Sweet and call out his [ __ ] gangster lifestyle which you think is where it's going with CJ driving his brother back to Grove Street to show him just how bad things are but instead it's up to them to once again go and save the hood killing crack dealers and taking Grove Street back from the Ballas which is just the gang Warfare mechanic from the beginning of the game again and once it's done sweet selfish ass insists his brother and sister visit him here in the hood believing that working together the hood will be saved this wouldn't be so bad if sweet ended up being humbled finally realizing that that idolized hood life he believes in doesn't exist anymore but that's not quite the Direction the Story decides to go leaving his dumb ass in the hood for now we returned to Mad Dog for one more favor hello but he's terrible [ __ ] I knew there was something familiar about those Rhymes he was kicking they're from my rhyme book that's my money and those are my hoes he spots OG look on TV realizing that Luke is using his rhymes from the stolen Ryan buck still neglecting to admit he was involved CJ teams up with Mad Dog to go drop in on OG looks music video when they arrive and confront him they'll chase after his fake ass all over Los Santos first chasing him by hovercraft and then by go-kart till they Corner him at his Studio though surprisingly they don't kill him just intimidating his ass in front of a record producer who now wants the Cog look for his stolen rhymes and offer Mad Dog a record deal they send OG look off to get them some lunch while mad dog takes his rhyme book back just a little bit of party I heard you was down so I got a gift from beat up come on now I can't do that come on sweet come on make sure you enjoy this we're turning to check on our ungrateful brother he has a crack [ __ ] trying to convince him to shoot up CJ arrives just in time to put a stop to it sweets flimsy reasoning being that since drugs destroy the hood he might as well let it destroy him if I was being kind I could say that he's unable to cope with the fact that the hood he loved no longer exists and being unable to better himself like his brother that sweet prefers to just go down with the hood but enough time really hasn't passed for him to have that revelation and despite him claiming they'd have to work at saving the hood he pretty much gave up instantly maybe if they rearranged this mission to begin later it would have worked better but it feels like the devs didn't give themselves enough time to flesh out sweetmore post jail after giving the crack [ __ ] the boot CJ Rouse his brother up to go take out b-dub the drug dealer from earlier in the game rather lazily we're doing another gang Warfare mission in order to smoke out beat up after taking Glenn Park we then have to fight off the guards around beat Up's house finally confronting him he explains the bigger push of drugs into the hood is all because of Big Smoke who's become paranoid since making it to the top he doesn't know where smoke is but let's slip that his lieutenants do before trying to sick Big Bear on the Johnson Brothers hey bear get the [ __ ] out here what's up your lordship kill these [ __ ] and I'll give you a whole quarter sack now handle that shoot him the [ __ ] is wrong with you you ain't here what the [ __ ] I said I'm tired what the [ __ ] you doing tired come on man and I'm tired of doing your [ __ ] housework so big bear finds the strength to stand up to beat up declaring himself free before swearing loyalty to Grove Street again not that it means anything as he disappears from the plot when sweet drives him off to rehab returning to sweet he's trying to Rally up Grove Street to go show the other gangs that they're back and you guessed it it's another gang Warfare mission to reclaim some territory You could argue that maybe that's the point that and stubbornly sticking to the hood life mentality sweet just ends up going in circles doing the same thing over and over again but Christ it really feels like filler like the devs blew their load with all the over-the-top missions they've done up until this point and hope that the gang Warfare mechanic was popular enough to keep players attention until the finale hey be quiet be quiet and Frank Tenpenny both hard-working members of community policing unit have been charged with racketeering corruption narcotics and sexual assault they brought it on themselves that bastard cost me my farm Ralph pendlebury who had threatened to turn States evidence and who was then found shot dead in a supposedly unrelated gang incident I say 20 years try five years cops always get off easy yeah I heard that lost evidence returning to the mansion CJ and crew are watching ten Penny's trial on tv despite the overwhelming evidence the lack of key Witnesses specifically Hernandez and Pulaski ends with 10 Penny getting acquitted the crew is predictably in disbelief but that's nothing compared to how the rest of the city is taking it as full-blown riots have erupted all over the streets with buildings on fire cars blowing up and people fighting and looting the whole situation is based on the real-life LA riots in 1992. that occurred after the Rodney King trial ended with the police involved being acquitted this permanently changes the behavior of NPCs on the map until the finale so you'll constantly see riding going on outside of missions man I need your help man I'm kind of busy right now with family [ __ ] I helped you guys ombre it's time to help me and my homies my hood screwed up too we got this shitty neighborhood on lockdown now returning to Grove Street Caesar comes to CJ for help in stopping the vagos and taking back his hood from them you'll recruit some Grove Street members before joining up with Caesar and his crew moving through apartment blocks to kill the vagos but also doing your best to keep Caesar and his crew alive rather frustratingly this stupid Mission kept bugging out on me sometimes it took forever to actually recruit some Grove Street members as I couldn't lock onto them properly other times they would just ditch the cars I'm driving needing me to go find them or recruit someone else on my way to Caesar then part way through the mission when we reach the alleyway Caesar or one of his men would instantly die after the cutscene causing me to fail I had no clue what was happening as it just seemed to happen at random best I can guess is the regular NPC's writing might have been messing with the scripting of this Mission eventually after restarting the game and reloading my save everything finally worked correctly so I could finish the mission unfortunately we can't start the final mission yet as in order to find Big Smoke we need to take over enough territory in order to trigger the call from sweet that he found his location which requires taking over at least 20 pieces of territory or about 35 percent of the map and I just hate this like the previous sweet missions it just feels like lazy filler this was what I meant near the beginning about the mechanic resurfacing in an ugly way with all the problems I had at the beginning still being true here it's only saving grace is that you should be completely strapped at this point of the game and can clear through these fights fast hell do yourself a favor and get the jet pack to just hover above gang bangers as you shoot them or fly up to a roof for protection but you know what despite my complaints going through these boring repetitive gang Warfare missions is worth it as the final mission is just so damn good and absolutely makes up for it it's time for smoke all right let's roll the Johnson Brothers finna take that fat food game once you've got enough territories sweet will call as the Johnson Brothers plan to take down Big Smoke once and for all they'll pull up to Smoke's crack Fortress which is locked down and under heavy security CJ will tell sweet to stay behind so you can sort out this mess on his own since we can't shoot our way in it's time to improvise by making use of a police tank to just smash through the door and smoosh any Ballers who try to stop us we'll have to fight through three floors of security before we can make it to smoke in his penthouse on the fourth floor the first floor is the security area filled with dozens of Ballas nothing to it other than to just Advance through to the next stairwell though a funny glitch happens where a police tank just bursts through the window the second floor is the drug lab filled with more gang bangers and smokes drug hooks there's some explosive barrels here and there you can take advantage of to kill several enemies at once the third floor is the balance Lounge made of several cramped rooms and hallways with very little cover so you have to be careful before advancing through a room and avoid being out in the open for too long thankfully each floor has a health and armor pickup on it so if you run into a bad situation you can heal yourself up before running back into the action finally we'll Ascend to the fourth floor and confront Big Smoke hey smoke hey CJ I was wondering when you show up how'd you know it was me no it was my old dog CJ knew you was coming and I don't give a [ __ ] speak smoke brushes CJ off barely concerned he's there or anything that's happening outside of his penthouse all he cares about is how he's made it to the top his old friend questioning what happened to him and how he felt so far Big Smoke brushes him off unwilling to explain it to him before the former friends square off what the [ __ ] do you care I guess we better do this [ __ ] then [Music] despite his size Big Smoke is fast as he can immediately rush in and start putting pressure on you his flurry of Sword slashes easily fills up your posture bar and can potentially break it if you're not careful you'll want to play aggressive don't be afraid to charge in and get your slashes in just watch for his sword thrust and make use of the makiri counter also be careful with staying too far as you will fire off several arrows and can wind up one large shot for a ton of damage okay okay the fighting is nothing like that but could you imagine big smokes wearing a bulletproof vest that will soak up a lot of damage he'll run around the penthouse stopping to take shots at you before moving again summoning some of his goons to shoot at you too best strategy is just to use an assault rifle and aim for his head chasing after him as he runs around stopping to kill any new Minions that pop up part way through he'll kill the lights so you're supposed to pick up the thermal goggles that spawn in the room but you can comfortably see without them and still shoot them once you whittled away his health unlike Rider we do get a final death scene for Big Smoke I smoke what made you flip out like that man was it the drugs or what I got caught up in the money the power I don't give a [ __ ] oh [ __ ] man why you just didn't quit man we was like family homie I had no choice I had to do it I can't help but feel bad for Big Smoke everything went to his head unable to stop once he got what he wanted obsessed with making a name for himself and gaining more power you can argue that Big Smoke is meant to be a dark mirror of CJ and his own ambition to get ahead but where CJ never forgot those around him and put loyalty Above All Else Big Smoke only ever saw himself and no one else maybe if he had someone to lean on someone like CJ he could have been pulled back to the light what a waste indeed Carl Johnson my man I need you to do me another favor CJ doesn't get much time to mourn his friend though as 10 Penny finally reappears he holds up CJ at gunpoint and forces him to empty Big Smoke safe into a suitcase planning to make a run for it by catching a plane out of Los Santos before you can execute CJ and leave though he falls for the oldest trick in the book time to die uh Carl [ __ ] piece of [ __ ] gang banging [ __ ] sucker that [ __ ] blows up the drug equipment on his way out starting a fire that spreads fast throughout the whole building with the power knocked out you'll need to use the night vision goggles to see and make your Escape fighting through the remaining members of Smoke's crew who stupidly decide it's better to try and kill CJ than get out of a burning building you'll also have to put out some fires blocking your way as you descend the building thank you once you escape 10 Penny will take off on a fire truck with sweet running after and hanging on from the ladder on the back you'll give Chase for a while avoiding the fire bombs being tossed into the streets until you need to catch sweet when he starts losing his grip sweet will take over driving duties following 10 Penny as you shoot at the police officers trying to stop you there are tons of enemies going after you so if you don't kill them quickly they can destroy your car fast thankfully if you do fail the mission restarting it takes you back to the fire truck Chase and you don't have to fight through the cracked Fortress all over again eventually 10 Penny will end up losing control of the fire truck and crashing off a bridge ending up on Grove Street fatally injured he climbs out of the truck cursing everyone and still refusing to accept what he's done [Applause] in this town would be okay did and I do it all again don't don't do it man he's gone I just want to be sure sober man that's all it's cool don't need to put a bullet he killed himself in the traffic accident no one to blame see you around office 10 penny dead the crew go back to CJ's Place reflecting on what's happened and debating their next steps they're soon joined by Mad Dog Rosenberg Macker and Kemp Paul all there to announce the good news that Mad Dog's record has gone gold celebrating his success they all continue to discuss what to do next before CJ decides to just step out and see how the streets are doing before the credits roll it's been a hit the block see what's happening and that was Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Christ where do I even start I think it goes without saying that I completely forgot how massive this game is considering how long this video is this game is the culmination of everything that was built up in the previous two games we have a massive open world that easily eclipsed any other game at the time of its release one that felt alive with various locations that just invited player exploration and thanks to the internet still being new around its release allowed for all kinds of stories and myths to be born regarding what could possibly be hidden in the game a combination of being able to swim and all these new vehicles like the jet pack or the Hydra jet removed any hassle of exploring this huge world yet three major cities that looked and felt different from each other thanks to their designs NPCs cars and Mission types with tons of little settlements scattered in between them some with their own secrets that made it worth dropping by there's a massive amount of side content to do from the usual vehicle missions to taking over gang Turf racing robbing houses dating various girlfriends and more most of them actually feel worth doing and not like another box to check off on the open world checklist it added so many customization options for CJ from his physique to his hair and clothing really letting players personalize their experience even if you don't get any real control over his personality and choices it had this huge cast of memorable characters that while some can feel a bit goofy felt grounded enough that it didn't distract from the story with woozy being my favorite out of the entire bunch with Mike Chirino a close second and it was so great to see so many familiar faces from the previous two games seeing what became of some characters after Vice City or fleshing out others a bit like Claude and Catalina before they showed up in GTA 3. seeing so many of them in one game really helps sell that all three of these games were part of one connected world while I think the story suffers from the same issues of GTA 3 where it feels more like a collection of loosely connected missions I have to give props to its Central villain officer Frank 10 penny he's always a constant presence through the game and never misses a beat in reminding CJ of his almost Untouchable Authority 10 penny is constantly pulling the strings to manipulate everyone around him always one step ahead of everyone Samuel L Jackson does an incredible job in portraying as arrogance and just how Despicable he can be making him one of the most memorable characters in all of Grand Theft Auto I honestly can't think of a single GTA villain before or after this game that really measures up this game gave us the most over-the-top and fun missions of the entire series from raiding a military base to steal a jet pack or pulling off an Ocean's 11 like Heist or just a simple Nostalgia of returning to Liberty City for one more mission Grand Theft Auto San Andreas feels like the absolute peak of the series becoming the measuring stick that feature games would always be compared to is it any surprise that both GTA 4 and 5 had such mixed reactions when compared to this game four strip back too much in favor of a more serious tone losing the more out there set pieces and characters while in my opinion five move too much in the other direction trying too hard to replicate what San Andreas did right and coming up a little short though replaying the game has made me reflect on my feelings about GTA 5. as I think I've been judging the game for what it wasn't as opposed to what it is so like I did for GTA 4 I think I'm going to revisit the game and play it objectively to try and appreciate what it was doing instead of knocking it down because it feels overrated to finally give it a fair chance but we'll see how that goes when I make a video on it sometime in the future to sum up my thoughts San Andreas is Peak GTA a culmination of everything the series is known for that set the bar insanely high for what these huge open world crime games should be with dozens of imitators trying and failing to reach that standard I've had time to mull it over while working on this video the last few weeks but I think I can confidently say that Grand Theft Auto San Andreas remains my favorite in the series and it was great to revisit again to make this absurdly long video discussing it and why I like it so much [Music] and that's the video thanks for watching guys oh man I completely underestimated just how big this game was I was so confident I could do it in two weeks but as I kept playing the game almost felt like it would never end and as soon as I started my script I knew I just couldn't half-ass it either there were so many parts I rewrote because it felt lacking or I didn't say enough even now at the end I'm not sure if I said as much as I wanted to I think I might start to reevaluate how I do these longer videos as well the majority of you like this longer more thorough Mission by Mission approach I feel like I can find a way to be more efficient and get my points across clear the work on this video really left me drained thankfully the next video will be the Supercut of GTA 4. which requires a lot less work afterwards I'm planning one last video to finish off the year before taking a nice break in January by the way let me know how my voice was throughout this thanks to all the recent Channel growth I was able to afford a much better mic so I hope I came out much clearer and don't sound like the mic was in my mouth though there are some parts where I'm clearly losing my voice so I'm sorry about that thanks to all your support I felt reinvigorated to really work to make this channel grow even more I'm not quite sure I want to lock myself into one niche of game but I'm hoping when I experiment or do something different you'll all still watch and enjoy again thanks so much for watching this video is long enough as it is so I'm just going to wrap it up like comment subscribe blah blah blah I'm fuzzy slippers and I'll see you later peace [Music]

Channel: FuzzySlippers

Views: 396,732

Keywords: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 18 Years Later, gta3, gta4, gta5, gta6, gta 6 leaks, ps2, definitive edition gta, gta trilogy, grand theft auto, rockstar games, playstation, claude, 6th gen, fuzzyslippers, fuzzy slippers, gaming review, retrospective, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas retrospective, gta sa, cj, sweet, ryder, big smoke, officer tenpenny, zero, supply lanes, wuzi, grove street, franklin, lamar, boyz n the hood, eazy e, radio los santos

Id: vs1RAoLvJ-8

Length: 139min 28sec (8368 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 11 2022