Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was quite possibly one of the most iconic video games of the PS2 era during the 2000’s decade. GTA: San Andreas was also the sequel to the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game from 2002. Unlike Grand Theft Auto: Vice City which had a more 80’s theme GTA: San Andreas reflected that of the 90’s and various events from that decade including gang warfare along with the crack epidemic that was going around during that time. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the first major entry within its series to feature an African-American as the main character. The story for GTA: San Andreas saw Carl Johnson return to the fictional city Los Santos, San Andreas in order to take control of the streets while avenging fallen friends and restoring the legitimacy his gang once had. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ended up becoming one of the most popular yet controversial video games of the 2000’s because of its blood, violence and profanity and was addictive among teenagers and young adults during that decade. In fact, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was quite possibly the best entry within its series during the 2000’s because GTA: IV often gets overlooked in comparison to other entries within the series. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas managed to reach over 27 million copies in terms of sales worldwide and has earned more than $60 million since its release. GTA: San Andreas gave players almost a year worth of gameplay since there was so much to do outside of the main story.

It should also be noted that Rockstar ended making Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a more complex game than Vice City and GTA III in terms of gameplay. In GTA: San Andreas players had the ability to train at gyms and learn different fighting styles such as: kickboxing and kung fu. Players also had the option of partaking in vigilante activities to earn money while being able to take women out on dates. The mechanics in general for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was also more realistic especially since CJ’s appearance was affected by his diet and other physical activities he took part in. The ability to wield two weapons at once along with the ability to engage in drive by shootings were praised by critics because it added more realism to the gameplay. When players received multiple stars for committing crimes it felt more difficult to evade the police in San Andreas in comparison to previous entries within the GTA series. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was quite possibly one of the greatest action-adventure games of all-time in the eyes of many people. The fun factor and the replay value of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were both high and it also presented more of a challenge for casual gamers in comparison to games like GTA: Vice City. There is no question that 20 years later Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is still a classic but the remastered version of the game from 2021 is awful due to the absence of licensed soundtrack that was present in the original version of the game.