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.
Introduction To Grand Theft Auto
This is only a strategy guide if you want to play the Play Station 2 version. If you are somewhat new to these types of games and want to win without cheating, this is the guide for you. If you don't mind the spoilers or cheats, click here for the complete guide.
In my opinion, San Andreas is the best of all the Grand Theft Auto creations made to date. Unlike other versions, the main hero has the ability to swim and climb, can pick out his own clothing and hairstyle, and choose what to eat and when. Better than Vice City when it comes to driving the cars because CJ can look ahead at better angles and the cars handle better. Besides, there is so much more to do in this version of Grand Theft Auto than with the others.
Why am I putting up another guide to Grand Theft Auto? This is because most of the other guides include things like spoilers and cheats while they tell you how to play your game. The priceless thing about this particular sequence of Grand Theft Auto games is this game can be as personal as each player is different. This particular guide is different in the fact that my only guideline is to help you develop your strengths so you can play the rest of the game in your own way...no cheats, no storyline spoilers, that comes later on a different page.
Cheating does take a lot away from San Andreas. Sure you can overkill your opponents by using the awesome cheats available, but the satisfaction in victory is not as great as if you had done in fair and square. Besides, cheats will show up on your stats and expose you as the faker you are. However, if you are really bored and want to do funny things to the characters, cheat away, but don't save it.
San Andreas is loosely based on the city of Los Angeles and Vegas, as well as the rugged terrain in between.
One of the basic principle you need to know about playing San Andreas without cheats is CJ can win any mission with enough skills, weapons, money, respect and hiding places. All of these can be accomplished early in the game. Most of these can be accomplished before the 4th mission.
This page is not a spoiler page, if that is what you want, click here for the guide with spoiler guide.
Warning For Parents
Just remember, this is only a game. In particular one for a mature audience. It is filled with violence, references to sex, drugs, and illegal activities. It encourages disrespect for the police in the game. The hero in the game would be considered a bad guy in the real world and the worst he acts out in the game, the more of a hero he becomes. Your children should not be playing this game, especially if they are not well adjusted in the first place. If they are better adjusted, more mature, know the difference between right and wrong and have parental guidance, then use your discretion when allowing your under 18 children play it.
Mastering Controls
For all you newbies, you will need to master the control. Here is a short lesson for you to memorize on the PS2 controllers:
Start - The pause button. It keeps your game on hold so you can take a break or check important stats or want to start a new game or load another.
Select - The select button controls the camera angle.
D-pad - The D-pad is used to recruit gang members [After passing Catalyst, walk up to a guy in green and target with R1 then press either up or down to recruit. You can also use this to talk to people when they are speaking directly to CJ by pressing either left or right responds positively or negatively. In car it changes radio stations.
Left Analog [L3] - Allows you to steer CJ in whatever direction whether on foot or in a vehicle.
Right Analog [R3] - The right analog stick controls the camera for a better view.
X - The X button will be you most used button. It will confirm menu choices, allows you to run foot, and accelerate your car. By tapping it you can go faster. If in a helicopter, you need it to go forward.
Triangle - The triangle button lets you get in and out of a vehicle. If you find yourself in front of a vending machine, use it to buy something.
Square - The square button allows you to jump and climb and dive. If fighting, use it to block. In a car you can slow down and reverse. In a plane or helicopter it will help you go lower.
Circle - The circle button is used to attack while on foot. In a car you can shoot if you have certain guns [use with L1 or R1 when doing a drive-by shooting]. In the water it will allow you to dive. If you are falling it will open your parachute provided you found it ahead of time.
L1 - The L1 lets you look at your stats. When you have a gun, you can use it to fire a weapon. On a bike you can do a bunny hop.
R1 - The R1 button helps you focus your aim on a particular victim before you beat them up or kill them. In cars the R1 button serves as the brakes.
L2 - The L2 button lets you cycle through your weapons inventory. When using a weapon it allows you to zoom them out when aiming. Inside a car it also lets you look to your left.
R2 - The R2 button lets you cycle through your weapons inventory. When using a weapon it allows you to zoom them out when aiming. Inside a car it also lets you look to your right.
L3 - The L3 button (pressing the left analog stick down) will let you crouch and sneak around quietly while on foot. If in a car, it serves as a horn that everyone will ignore.
R3 - The R3 button (pressing the right analog stick down) lets you look behind you while on foot. If in certain vehicles it activates missions.
By stealing the vehicle of your choice, you can gain an edge over almost any mission involving driving, riding a motorcycle, or a bike.
Things To Know Before You Start San Andreas
Take a tour of the areas. Learn the locations which will help you finish any mission.
Don't kill your own gang. This is a quick way to lose respect. Your gang is in green. Feel free to kill other gangs and cops because this gives you great respect, but don't do this until you have done the basics outlined below.
There are chili dog stands scattered around the island where you can have CJ eat and regain strength before the real restaurants open. It costs him $1.
Find out where the hospitals are located because they will almost always have an ambulance in front where CJ can enter and exit and regain some health.
Find the Pay and Spray locations where CJ can enter with a car that is nearly damaged or a good car when he is wanted by the police. It will fix the car and the police won't know him.
Police bribes are scattered about and will help CJ out of trouble when the heat is on. You want to have these locations memorized in case you are on a 4 or higher star wanted level and there is some distance between you and a pay and spray.
Clothing stores and safe houses both help CJ get out of trouble. Know these locations and buy up as many safe houses as early on in the game as you can. If he is wanted, he can change out of his clothes and into new ones and get out of trouble. Or, if in a safe house, just save the game and in 6 hours game time he is no longer in trouble.
Learn the location of all the great free weapons because the Ammunation will not open for awhile. Even when it is open, it will cost you money to buy up weapons, unless you use the glitch. [Not a cheat, really, but a glitch. Buy one weapon of each type used in the Ammunation Challange. Enter the red area and then press triangle to get out. Keep doing this and eventually you will max out your weapons without spending extra money.]
Ways To Make Quick Cash
Beat up and kill people, especially drug dealers who have a lot of cash. The dealers are the ones that just stand there for quite awhile, mostly with a look of trouble about them. They take a few steps, stop and wait. Eventually, if you approach one they will ask you if you want to buy. Kill them immediately and cash in.
Do long distance wheelies on your bicycle. The longer you go, the more money you make.
Go on top of the roof of the store directly behind CJ's house and go to the right. You will find a spray can. Spray over tags around the town and it will bring you money. However, if you hit the first few that will be covered in Tagging Up The Turf, they will need to be resprayed.
Mastering The Bicycle
At the start of the game, you will be dropped off by CRASH near your neighborhood. You will be prompted to go to CJ's house, but ignore it. Make sure you have a good 4 hours to play before you can save because that is about how long it will take to get to where you can complete the first mission and save it. If you have played Vice City or played San Andreas before, it will probably take you 2 hours or less.
The first vehicle you will need to master is the bicycle. At the beginning of the game, you will be right in front of one. Hop on and use this time to practice riding, before any of the gangs realize your identity. Use this early time in the game to learn the layout of the area. Travel throughout the open area of San Andreas on bike. The more you ride, the higher your bike skill becomes. You also get familiar with the roads and various locations which will help you before you get on the missions. Keep riding the bike until you have filled out the map and have been through every road on the first part of the island [The rest of the island is locked off, if you try to get there before the right time, you will get a severe wanted level that you may not be able to handle at this point in the game.]
When you get used to the bike, you can press the Start button from time to time to check out the map.
The Start button will bring up your options. You will see the map and how much territory CJ has chartered. To get a more detailed map, click X to see specific roads and dirt trails. To leave the detailed map, click X again and then Triangle to play again.
Become familiar with it as you ride because some of the missions will depend on you knowing the roads and shortcuts in case the ones you need to chase get too far ahead. You may also want to earn a little money in the game early by doing wheelies [Use the L3 stick to lift up the bike slightly while pressing X - be careful not to fall off.] If you do a wheelie on a bike for longer than 5 seconds and land on your own power, you get money. The longer you go, the more money you get. Of course you could make a lot more money killing people or running them over, but at this stage of the game you don't really need enemies while you are building up your skills - destroy them all later! If you made enough money doing wheelies [at least $10,000] you can buy a place to save your game before you even start the first mission. You may want to aim for this goal if you are short on time and want to save your game while waiting to prepare CJ for the first mission.
If you do want to make money faster, kill people slowly. Find the brass knuckles under the overpass near CJ's place and go behind his house to the gully area and turn left until you get to that first overpass. Climb up the slope and you will find armor. Memorize this location! With brass knuckles and protection, go up and down CJ's block to kill people not in green gang colors by holding R1 to lock in your target and Circle to attack until they are dead. You are less likely to draw police attention doing this and can make money, but it may not be fast enough for your liking. You can really do this anywhere, but you want to make sure that if you attain 1 star to lay low until it disappears.
While on bike and driving around town, use this guide to find weapons which will help you in the early missions. Every 12 hours of game time, the weapons will respawn in those locations, so go back and pick them up again. If you are good, you may just fill up your weapons slots with maximum ammunition and then you can't run out of fire power when you need it.
Weapons You Will Need
By collecting all of these weapons and filling them to the maximum, you can eventually increase your weapon skill by shooting them at rival gangs and cops. For now, just worry about collecting them and maxing them out. Don't shoot anyone yet unless you have to! Depending on the weapon, you cannot fill certain slots with more than one of the same type of weapon.
Click here for an excellent map to locate weapons.
Melee Weapons
- Baseball Bat
- Brass Knuckles
- Chainsaw
- Cane
- Golf Club
- Katana
- Knife
- Nightstick
- Pool Cue
- Shovel
Small Pistol
- 9mm
- Silenced 9mm
- Desert Eagle
Multi-bullet Powered Guns
Shotguns
- Shotgun
- Sawnoff Shotgun
- Combat Shotgun
Rifles
- M4
- AK-47
- Rifle
- Sniper Rifle
Chaos Weapons
- Minigun
- Flame Thrower
- Rocket Launcher
- Heat Seeking Rocket Launcher
- Tear Gas
- Molotov Cocktail
- Grenade
- Remote Explosive
Weird Weapons
No, I'm not making this up. You can kill people in this game with the following:
- Dildo
- Flowers
- Spray Can
- Fire Extinguisher
At this stage of the game, just worry about collecting and maxing out the firepower on the 9MM, SMG, Sawn-off shotgun, and AK-47. Later on you will be shooting out rival gangs and cops and you will need to max out these weapons so you don't run out of bullets when increasing your weapon level. When you become a hitman with each weapon, then you can collect and max out the others until you become a hitman with each one. For now, just collect - don't kill.
As soon as your bike skill bar is filled and you have maxed out your weapons you can start doing the first few missions.
Doing The First Few Simple Missions
Just be warned, a few semi-spoilers ahead, but only to further your progress to play the rest of the game.
In The Beginning - This is really nothing. You enter CJ's house which is your most basic save point and meet the main characters. You split up later when you are being attacked. Ride your bike to safety.
Once you have done this, go behind CJ's house and down the gully area and turn left. Go under the overpass and go up to get the armor. This is an easy place to access extra protection when you save at CJ's house.
Save Your Game! Should you get arrested or killed, reload to get back to your save point. If you sprayed all tags, you will have weapons in the house. Move on to the next mission at Ryder's place - It will be the one with the R on the map.
Ryder - The Ignorant, Sherm-Head Gang Banger
You go off with Ryder to open your chance to get a hair cut and to open the restaurants so CJ won't starve.
When you get back to Ryder's place, you get respect. Go behind CJ's house and get the armor and save it.
Tagging Up The Turf
Get in the car with Sweet to spray the tags. If you already sprayed them, you only have to spray 5 just for the mission, the rest will be acknowledged as sprayed. If you didn't, you could always use that opportunity to spray all the tags as the spray can will not run out during this mission.
If you die or get arrested, reload the game and do this mission again.
Cleaning Da Hood
If you did not die or get arrested, you should have the weapons you found when riding your bike earlier. You hang out with Ryder to do this mission.
If you die or get arrested, reload the game and do this mission again.
Go behind CJ's house and get your armor and save it.
Drive-Thru
Go to Sweet's. You will drive the car to the Cluck N Bell with all your homies when trouble breaks out and you have to handle it.
If you die or get arrested, reload the game and do this mission again.
If you pass, get the armor and save.
Now you get a cellphone call to tell you to work out in the gym.
Nines And AKs
You get to meet Emmet in one of the simplest missions in the game. Emmet's becomes a place to pick up free weapons.
If you die or get arrested, reload the game and do this mission again.
If you pass, get the armor and save.
Shopping For Clothes At Binco's
When finished with Nines And AKs you will get a call telling you to get into your colors [GREEN]. Stop by the Binco's down the block from CJ's place and buy some clothes.
However, after you buy these clothes, switch back into blue jeans and a white shirt to stay low key until your skills are up. DO NOT GET A TATOO NOW!! If you call too much attention to CJ and end up in the wrong area, rival gangs will attack. If he dresses plain, it will take longer before they recognize him.
Leave the store and head home to save.
At this point - STOP THE MISSIONS!!!
Why? Because now is where the hard work comes in that will pay off in the long run. This part may take you a few days or weeks depending on how much time you feel like staying in front of the tv.
By now, you already have mastered the skill of riding the bike, but your other skills of weapons and driving probably suck [you may play it well, but CJ has to learn so he won't flip over too easily during the missions]. You may even have a decent amount of respect with very little sex appeal, but once you are done with this drill, you will max all your potential to the full.
Maximize Your Vehicle Power
First, steal a car. It could be the one in front of Sweet's place which is an easy take. Just hop in and find a comfortable radio station because you will be in there for a long time. Ride down to either the Pizza place or the Cluck N Bell and have CJ fatten up on the big meal [don't over do it as he will puke.]
Once he is plumped up to the halfway bar, start driving. Drive up and down the Interstate system. Drive up and down the streets. Drive everywhere you can. Don't try killing people, just drive. Eventually, your driving skill bar will move up. The higher it is on the scale, the less likely your car will flip over during a chase [and then blow up causing you to fail a mission - and there are quite a few missions that will do just that!]
Your goal is to get the car driving skill all the way up to the top. Stop every now and then when CJ starts to get hungry and feed him before getting back in the car.
When your car skills are maxed out save it. Should you get tired at any point of driving, save it in a safe place with a garage so you can park the car inside and resume where you left off at a later time until you can finish maxing out your driving skills.
Find a motorcycle and do the same thing as you did with the car. Once you have mastered the motorcycle save it.
Go to a place to eat and make sure CJ is as fat as you can get him. Then go to the airport in a car. Go to the main gate where they will refuse to let you in without a license. Park the car next to the gate. Hop on top of the car and climb over the gate. Find a plane and start to fly it.
Save your fingers! Once you have the plane in the air and it is flying steady on automatic pilot, place a piece of tape over the X button to let it continue flying. You can walk away and do other things, but keep an eye on him if you don't want him to crash and lose your weapons as he starves. To avoid this, wait until his fat level is halfway and head back to land. Otherwise, just accept he will have to be re-armed later.
There is a way to use this if you want to increase your gang territory, but at this stage of the game it is unnecessary. You are merely doing this to increase your flying skills without having to do the pilot school first. You can get a pilot license within an hour and do not have to go for the top Ace level. With a license you will be allowed on the airport grounds without having to hop the fence. Maxing out your flying skills will make pilot school a lot easier.
Be sure you come back to the airport and land before CJ gets too hungry. Feed him and then take off again until you have maxed out and save it.
Next find a boat located in various parts of the South West water, but be careful to stay out of the territories of the islands that are locked. Keep going far South and you should be fine. Don't go too far out as he might get hungry. Attempt to ride South for 24 hours game time then head back North to feed him then get back in a boat and repeat. Ride the boat until you have mastered this skill and save it.
Whenever you get put on a mission requiring you to use a vehicle, without these skills you have a very good chance that you could tip over and crash it causing you to fail a mission. With your skills maxed out, it is highly unlikely too much damage will be done to your vehicle which will give you greater flexibility to concentrate on other parts of the mission tasks including paying attention to where you are going, shooting at other people, or looking for things you need to collect or pass.
Besides, by doing all of this traveling, you become even more familiar with where everything is located making all the missions that much easier. It will also make it easier to do the vehicle missions because your vehicle is less prone to damage and you will know how to get around easier.
Be sure to eat a big meal and save it.
GTA San Andreas strategy guide continues here
