San Andreas: It's Here! Final Preview

The biggest game of the year is finally on shelves this week. We take a final look at San Andreas before our imminent final verdict. New media & gameplay video!

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At this particular stage of the game, CJ is taking a break out of Los Santos and has wound up in a spot of trouble. In this case his look is updated from last time we saw him; he sports a lovably retro afro hairdo, along with full moustache, combos and even a Rockstar emblazoned jacket. And at this particular game save, he was also beefed up somewhat, fitting more into the San Fierro vibe.

After passing open-air markets, tobacco and pipe stores, and locals relaxing in the pleasant nearby parks, our first stop was Cobra Martial Arts - a locally well known dojo, where CJ should take the opportunity to get fit and learn new techniques from the resident martial arts guru. We learned more about the particulars of the hand-to-hand fighting system that let us lock-on to an enemy, even without a weapon. We can stay locked on while strafing around to get the best angle. Triangle and circle control two different styles of attack; we have the traditional street style that consists of stomping on someone we take a dislike to until a pool of blood emerges, or a more athletic series of roundhouse kicks and combo attacks mapped to the triangle button. Rockstar assessed that the fighting system was a bit "random" before, but now hopes fans will agree it is much improved - and the harder CJ is, the easier it will be to floor your average foe with a few punches.

Moving on, and after jacking a car with CJ's friend, Caesar, we're casually chatting away through outskirts of downtown. We pass the San Fierro version of Bay Bridge on the way and check out the local baseball ground, the remains of a 1989 earthquake, viewed in this case in a wonderful night-time scene, the Trans AM building, and also a helipad, that Rockstar assures us, sees a lot of action during the game. The two eventually arrive at a nearby garage, "Otto's Autos", sort of a new 'business venture' of theirs. You can get all sorts of hot import cars here.

It's a pretty large show garage with some of the choicest vehicular numbers on the second floor. Before we know it, a cut-scene ensues, and the pair are yelling, "shit!" as one car comes smashing through the second floor window, back into the moonlit streets of downtown, where the San Fierro Police Department is ready to start pursuing your sorry asses. Back on the road, we can take any route, as long as we follow Caesar.

There's a stunning blur effect from the street lights and glowing shop windows, particularly when blazing through the streets at extreme speed - witnessing the effects in something as plain as a tunnel was enough to get us excited in this latest session. We took a couple of detours through some green areas - yep, even in this built up part of San Fierro, there's still the kind of impressive undulation we witnessed in the San Andreas countryside a few weeks ago. Taking a couple of short cuts through some back streets, we arrived at the next stop, ready to make our next tactical move in the game, just as the weather system rolled in - in this case, heavy rain against a depressing grey backdrop, and best of all, severe lightning.

Every type of vehicle in San Andreas - including additions such as BMX bikes, monster trucks and go-karts - has been rebuilt, refined and greatly improved. Each vehicle handles uniquely, offering a different physics model that defines how they accelerate, brake, turn, and interact with the world around them.

You can modify and customise pretty much any car in the game. Each car has a specific style of modification, along with generic paint jobs, colour choices, exhausts, tones, front and rear bumpers, roofs, spoilers, side skirts, wheels, hydraulics - all with lots of subcategories of customisation, and all accompanied by a nice drill sound effect.

You can mod almost any car in the game.

Best of all, you can equip certain cars with Nitrous Oxide, giving CJ's ride a little more speed in sticky situations. The car will wind up highly tweaked visually, but the only tweak that actually enhances performance is the nitro tanks. Additionally, much more damage modelling has been worked in - meaning you'll be cruising around some wildly varying motors throughout the game.

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Catch up with our massive GTASA coverage here:

• Announcement (March 2004)
• Preview 1: First Preview (June 2004)
• Preview 2: Tasty New Screens, Diet Info
• Preview 3: Workin' Out, Jackin' Cars
• Preview 4: Another Massive Update
• Preview 5: Livin' Los Santos
• Preview 6: Shops and Robbers
• Preview 7: First-Hand Impressions
• Preview 8: Near Final Build Impressions
• Preview 9: It's Here! Final Preview
• Review - our final verdict