Parental Warning: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is not a game for children. The rating is MA which is meant for adults over the age of 18. The review for this game is loaded with language and suggestive words and also not meant for those under age 18. The reality is many children under the age of 18 do in fact play this game and are probably reading this review right now. That is between them and their parents. I cannot supervise children who read this review nor can I be in your living room to stop them. That is your job.
If you are a parent, at least be aware if your children are playing this game and set down boundaries for them. If you choose to let them play, make sure they know the difference between fantasy and reality, most children do understand the difference and would never do these things in real life. A handful of disturbed individuals, regardless of age, may be unduly influenced by this game. If you are responsible for such a person, please make sure they are not playing it.
Grand Theft Auto is a game that glorifies killing and general bad behavior including drugs and illicit sex. It is a game for sick degenerates who think it is funny, myself included. All of the Rockstar series of the Grand Theft Auto Games are rated MA.
If you do not want to hear the spoilers, go to the first GTA San Andreas strategy guide. If you don't mind the spoilers and it is your first time playing it, you may want to check out the first guide which tells you about the controls and other helpful basics.
This is still a work in project. I am writing this report as I am playing it the 10th time.
Welcome To Las Venturas
CJ got a disturbing anonymous phone call to get to the ranch in Tierra Robadas. The well being and safety of Sweet depends on CJ following orders. He doesn't know it yet, but he is about to get a new boss. He is also walking on to the final side of the island. Now CJ can travel almost anywhere without getting in trouble, except for a few key secret areas surrounded by heavy military guard. He also still cannot brandish a weapon in a police station (not even a camera), not even if he is dating a cop and has the uniform.
There are three general sections on this last island. The west side is where you start off and work for your new boss. The north side where this boss will have you doing flight missions. And the east side which is loosely based on Las Vegas where CJ will be in a joint business venture with a friend and an opportunity to pull off the biggest heist which is totally optional, but part of the 100%.
Mike Toreno Is Alive
CJ is about to find out that chasing the helicopter and bringing it down did not kill his intended victim, but he needs to be tested to see if he has what it takes to work for a super secret government agency.
Monster (difficulty 3/10)
On the ranch, CJ speaks to an anonymous voice and assures him he is not made of pudding. In order to see if he has what it takes, he must be able to complete a course in a Monster, a 4 wheeled drive off road vehicle that is fun to drive, but tricky.
Hint: It mentions at the beginning to use the R1 to activate the 4 wheeled steering. Don't use it. Don't even try for a top speed. Go in with as high of a driving skill as possible and some off-road driving practice. The key is to take it steady and use every shortcut you can to get to the next marker. If you drive over hills and rocks at top speed, you will flip over and it will only set you back in time. If you take it nice and easy, you will get to the marker faster than taking the path. Use a regular hand brake when you need to pause before going around a corner. R1 tends to make you flip easily.
Reward: $1000 for 5th, $2000 for 4th, $3000 for 3rd, $4000 for 2nd, $5000 for 1st.
Highjack (difficulty 3/10)
Toreno finally shows his face to a panicked CJ who apologizes for trying to kill him. After calming him down, Mike explains that things are not what they seem. He is a government agent, but won't disclose which one. He is in a fight to save the world from Communists by using bad guys to do the dirty work for him. If CJ will help him out, he will make sure Sweet is safe.
CJ meets up with Cesar who must help him hijack a truck and take it to his garage in San Fierro.
Hint: Take the Sanchez and there are two paths you can take to catch up with the truck - the train tracks or the highway. If you take the train, cross over on the freeway after you cross the bridge, go up the grassy hill and catch the freeway. Or take the road to get to the highway and drive as fast as possible to catch up. Once you have the truck in sight, level the bike within a few inches of the driver's seat of the truck and maintain this distance for a few seconds so Cesar, who is not a Mexican jumping bean, can get on. Once he gets in the truck, he will pull over and you will carefully drive it back to the garage in San Fierro.
Hint: A high bike skill will help. Take a short cut on the tracks and then cut through to the highway, it will shave some of you distance. When you see the truck, aim to get close to the door by about the space of Cesar's head and keep that speed up for a bit so he can jump on. When he gets on, get in and drive to your garage.
Reward: $7000. Then you get a call from Toreno telling you to get back to the ranch.
Interdiction (difficulty 4/10)
Mike is on a rant of the lies in the history book and talks about what he knows about the situation with Sweet and how he knows about Tenpenny and Pulaski. CJ questions if he knows all these bad things are happening in the world, why doesn't he stop it. Toreno explains that kids like him expect heroes, but not even CJ is really a good guy. Mike is trying to save capitalism from people who would otherwise insist on giving things away free. The mission he wants CJ to do involves getting a package being dropped off by a helicopter.
This will involve a lot of travel and good aim. Toreno has a helicopter ready to drop off some package you need to retrieve, the trouble is there is another agency after it. CJ must see to it that helicopter is protected and bring the package back to safety.
Hint: Come in this with a heat seeking launcher (there's one near the airport in San Fierro near the hangars and one in Las Venturas in the parking lot on the west side.) Also have some armor because they will shoot back. High driving skills will also help, but not that crucial. Take out the enemy planes without hitting the cargo you need to protect. When they are down, drive to the location where the package fell and deliver it.
Be sure to park your vehicle of choice outside of the garage and have CJ walk in or else you will have to hike back.
Reward: $1000
Verdant Meadows (difficulty 0/10)
When you return to Toreno's ranch you will be told to purchase the airstrip at Verdant Meadows.
Not even a real mission other than to buy a piece of land to start the next phase of the game. $80,000 will buy you this location that offers a place to save, a garage that will hold 4 vehicles and a huge garage that can hold planes and oversized vehicles like tanks.
Jethro will be giving you a call about those street races now available. These races can be done at any time, are part of the 100%, but not required to forward the storyline.
San Andreas Secret Races
When you have completed driving school and the other side of the island is open, and you have purchased Verdant Meadows, Jethro will give you a call to notify you of these races. If you never completed driving school, you will never get the call.
These are the races that will be made available all over San Andreas. Just look for the red marker spot in the 4 racing spots on the different islands to participate in these events. I won't go into details on these races as they are just tedious. Most will take practice and high skill in driving/flying/cycling in order to have a decent chance of finishing in first place. You get cash for a win and it is part of the 100%, but you do not need to do any of these to finish the game.
Los Santos Races
- Lowrider Race
- Little Loop
- Backroad Wanderer
- City Circuit
- Vinewood
- Freeway
- Into The Country
- Badlands A
- Badlands B
San Fierro Races
- Dirtbike Danger
- Bandito Country
- Go-go Carting
- San Fierro Fast Lane
- San Fierro Hills
- Country Endurance
Las Venturas Races
- SF To LV
- Dam Rider
- Desert Tracks
- Las Venturas Ringroad
Airplane Checkpoint Challenges
- World War Aces
- Barnstorming
- Military Service
- Chopper Checkpoint
- Whirlybird Waypoint
- Heli Hell
Flight School
Unlike the other schools which are optional (but part of the 100%), you have to pass flight school in order to continue with the story. The tasks you have to do range from piece of cake to "Oh my god! Will I ever pass?" There are 10 tests to pass. Once you finish flight school, you will have missions to do for Toreno. You don't get a prize for each individual test, but at the end of all the tests, it allows you to continue with the story and increase your flight skills.
With almost all of these, time is of the essence, although it doesn't quite give you a time limit, how fast you do it will determine your grade. The faster the better.
Takeoff (difficulty 3/10)
This is almost as easy as it gets. You start off in the plane. Press X to give it some gas and move forward with your stick until you start to get some elevation. As you get up, press R3 to retract the wheels which will lighten your plane and make you fly higher (and the wheels won't snag on something as you fly.) Reach up until you are about level with the first few hoops and fly through it. Test over.
Land Plane (difficulty 4/10)
Continues on where Takeoff left off. After going through the hoop, you need to press R3 in order to initiate the landing gear. Take it slow and easy as you head to the strip where you need to land. Pull back on the L3 stick very lightly until you reach the ground and tap the square button at the same time. You don't want to land on the ground too hard and you certainly don't want to bump it into anything near the runway. If you make it to the landing strip without a smoking engine, you are almost there. Carefully drive your plane towards the marker without taking off again and being careful not to overshoot the mark. Brake hard moments before you start to enter the marker so you will slow down on time.
Circle Airstrip (difficulty 4/10)
Combines your skills of taking off and going either clockwise or counterclockwise in a circle heading back towards the airstrip. I think this is easier done in first person view (press select until you look as if you are looking directly out the window) and during the game's night which makes it easier to see the coronas.
Once you are up in the air, don't worry too much about giving it gas (X) because the plane will fly on its own and relies on you navigating it the right way. If you feel you are pressed for time, then tap the gas a bit, but not so much it would spin you out of control. Go through all of the hoops in the correct order and in under 2 minutes and you will pass.
Circle Airstrip and Land (difficulty 5/10)
Just like above with the same time limit, but this time you need to land the plane. By the time you reach that last corona, turn on your landing gear (R3) as you reach that hoop and gently glide your plane slightly left and down slowly. If you hit your plane against anything slightly, your plane will smoke and you will fail. If you hit the plane too hard, you will fail. L3 will allow you to control the nose of your plane and square will help you land and brake.
Helicopter Takeoff (difficulty 2/10)
Quite easy. Press X to take off to a certain height. Turn the helicopter around using R3 or L3. Make it for the target.
Land Helicopter (difficulty 2/10)
A continuation of the above. Only this time you are moving your helicopter forward to the landing strip in the pink marker area.
Destroy Targets (difficulty 4/10)
This one will take a lot of coordination. The first part will require you to fly towards the three vehicles at the end of the airstrip. Use either the missiles or the machine guns to blow them up without landing or crashing your plane. When they are destroyed, turn around and attack the two moving vehicles in the same manner. Then fly your plane into the pink marker and do this in under 2 minutes.
This one is best in first person view, use the select button to change your view to a window one. It will at least give you the guide to aim your weapon of choice.
Loop-The-Loop (difficulty 4/10)
Using your L3 stick, after you fly through the corona, move the stick up so the plane will fly up and over and straighten out then fly through the last corona. Easier said than done.
Barrel Roll (difficulty 4/10)
Another one easier said than done. Use your L3 and move it left to make it spin around and straighten out before you reach the next corona and fly through.
Parachute onto Target (difficulty 3/10)
This one is a breeze after the earlier ones, but tricky. CJ will be falling from the sky. Pull your parachute at the right time. Aim him in the direction towards the airstrip using your L3 and R3 stick to guide him and control how fast he falls. You need to make sure he lands on the target to complete the mission. Even if he is slightly outside of the target, he will fail.
Fortunately, after you finish the flight school, you should have a good increase in your flight skills and if you have not done so yet, you will have a pilot's license. By the time you are finished with the airplane school at the air field, you will get a call from Woozie to let you know he is open for business. Of course it is best if you stick around and complete all of Toreno's missions before you conquer the rest of Las Venturas, but if you choose to skip ahead and go straight into the new area.
Here is the reward pay out for medals won at Flight School:
- All Bronze: Rustler
- All Silver: Stunt Plane
- All Gold: Hunter
Mike Toreno Will Not Let CJ Be
As mentioned earlier, you could skip ahead and do the Woozie missions, but it makes more sense to finish these as you need them for 100% and to finish the storyline. If you make it through all of these, you have an advantage when you go into Las Venturas - a jet pack. A jet pack will help you get those horseshoes in LV. Plus the strip will become an asset and Toreno's ranch will have a cache of awesome weapons for CJ to use any time.
N.O.E. (difficulty 5/10)
Remember Circle Airstrip and Land? Add to that fly low and being timed. One corona to catch this time, on the southern tip of Angel Pines. Don't fly over the restricted zone to take a short cut or you will find it next to impossible to complete. Fly so low that you are almost near the ground. If you fly too high for too long, flight crews will be looking for you to shoot you down. If you get the warning, you have a few seconds to get low so the warning goes away. If it reaches full scale, immediately get down and stay low or they will get you.
Hint: Fly north and take the route along the water keeping as low as possible as there is less of a chance of hitting anything accidentally. Fly south of the corona and hit it going north, then carefully cut through back to the water at the west and fly back. Before you reach the airstrip, be sure your landing gear is ready and prepare to land. Anywhere on the strip will be fine.
Reward: $15,000
Stowaway (difficulty 3/10)
Tricky, but easy enough. Toreno is hiding out as people have raided the airstrip. CJ is required to take the Sanchez and make it past the shooting guards and the barrels rolling out the back of the plane so he can get inside before it takes off. He has a very short time and lots of obstacles to do it.
Hint: It really pays to have your cycle skills up all the way and low body fat. Have a knife with you as a gun can make the plane explode with you on it. Ride as fast as possible avoiding the guards and aim towards the left side of the plane's ramp to avoid the barrels. As soon as you see the last group of barrels getting off, move right quickly and up the ramp. If you made it up the ramp on time, beware of the guards and barrels coming after you. Ditch into the sides as you clear each barrel. There will be a guard inside most of these spaces. Take care of them while you let the barrels pass by. By the time you reach the front of the plane, someone will try to escape. Kill him and steal his parachute. Place a satchel charge somewhere on the plane and run towards the door at the back of the plane. As you jump out, detonate it and the plane will explode.
You pass the mission, but will have quite a way to drop if you were planning on landing at the airstrip. To be quicker, go straight down and find a car to head back north.
Reward: $20,000
Black Project (difficulty 6/10)
A real challenge! Truth has lead you to a mission to find out what is going on in the restricted area, but he doesn't have the guts to help you out. You must sneak in undetected, deactivate the alarm and enter into the underground bunker. There are guards everywhere and searchlights roaming that can catch you at anytime. If you can make it, you go underground to find the secret, but there are more armed guards and a maze to get to where you need to go to disable the SAM and get the secret in the lab which is guarded with a key held by one of the scientists.
There are very heavy duty weapons used here. There are also 2 bulletproof vests and 2 hearts to help you on the way. Fortunately, these guards don't respawn, so kill them as quickly as possible with an AK47 or Tech9 which fire quickly. Crouch while you make your way through the maze so it will make your aim more effective and you less likely to be hit.
Your first goal is to get past all the guards and to the maze tunnel where the scientists are working. Find the area where you disable the SAM and then find the scientist with the key card. With the key card, open up the locked area and shoot all the guards shooting at you until you find the secret - a jet pack. Take it and fly up. If you shot all the guards and disabled SAM, you can make a clean getaway. If not, be sure you have a machine gun ready to fire back. Make your way up and towards a waiting Truth who will leave you stranded.
Sneak close to the entryway and pick off the guards in the towers nearest you and the guard hiding next to the tower on the right. Switch to silence pistol as you make your way up the tower on the right to shoot any guard that might come up to you so you don't give too much attention to yourself. Once up on the tower, pick off all the rest of the guards on the remaining towers and as many as you can on the ground. Get down and switch to silenced pistol as you sneak to the middle tower on the right side of the fence where you will deactivate one alarm. Kill any guards you see coming towards you. By this time, you should have killed off all the guards on duty, but still need to avoid the spotlight. Make your way to the grill and shoot it out so you can jump in. Shoot out the vent and you are in the underground tunnel.
Hint: Go in with a sniper rifle, silent pistol, and any fast loading machine gun as well as armor and full health. It helps if you are hitman level with the weapons, completed the vigilante and ambulance missions. Use your rifle to pick off as many guards from outside the gate as you can. [Avoid the spotlight!!! If you are caught in the spotlight, the gig is up and you may as well run and shoot as many guards as possible towards the gate.] Make use of the extra armor located in several places and the extra health. Killing off the guards while crouching will help you get them better than they can get you. Be sure you have deactivated the SAM before you get the key card and try to take off or else you will have weapons aimed at you when you get out.
Reward: Nothing, no money, no respect, not even a ride from Truth.
Green Goo (difficulty 4/10)
Truth cannot fly the jet pack and requires you to find what they are hiding. CJ needs to find out what is in the crate they least want you to find. It is on a train. Use your jet pack to fly towards the train, shoot all the guards and then shoot open the crates until you find it. It will always be in the last box left, no matter which order you shoot them.
Hint: Head for the train from the west to get them as they come towards you. Shoot them with R2 and L2 together until they are all dead and land on the train. Carefully make your way over each car and open the crates until you get the jar and fly back to meet Truth.
Reward: $20,000. The jet pack is yours. Verdant Meadows is an asset which can collect up to $10,000.
