The Verdict

So, it seems San Andreas is certainly a worthy continuation of the GTA series and certainly gets my vote for the best yet. The variety of gameplay offered here is exceptional and replay ability is fantastic, offering endless hours of gaming fun. The freeform nature of the previous installments still works well and is taken to an all new level with such a huge geographical location to explore. The idea of stats really adds a new level of depth and character development to the equation, which I think Rockstar would do well to develop further in the future. New vehicles, particularly flyable planes are all welcome additions and the story line is certainly absorbing enough to keep you going on your path to criminal supremacy.
While this may not be a graphically spectacular game, some of the environments are truly brought to life by the addition of high resolution graphics and the few additional bells and whistles of the PC version. It would be a shame and indeed wrong to be overcritical of the game for this reason and after a couple of hours gameplay you will have completely forgotten about it and remember, gameplay is where it counts the most...

…and where this is concerned, GTA: San Andreas is bigger, better and badder than ever!