Playing A Game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PS2

The mission I'm on right now - which is the same mission I was on last time - really highlights the problems this game has with stretching its humble engine.

The mission starts in San Fierro, the second big city in the game. From the mission start point, you have to drive all the way out to the countryside, down winding roads and around lakes and rivers, a good 5-10 minutes out of the city. Then you hop in a friend's car and need to drive to another area, just as far away (and even farther from civilization).

I haven't gotten to this second area yet, because:

  • The mission is tied to your friend's car, and if it blows, the mission is failed
  • In this game engine, cars explode when they're overturned
  • The car in question is a lowrider, meaning that the right stick controls the suspension, not the camera (it's impossible to look around)
  • The countryside I'm driving in is very hilly
  • There is a "Trip Skip" option that I can use to skip the first driving sequence when I restart the mission - but I still have to go all the way back to San Fierro to try the mission again

What makes it all worse is that, other than flipping my car and blowing it up, there is nothing even remotely interesting happening out here in the boonies of San Andreas. It's a verdant wasteland. Someone at Rockstar must have really liked it, but I really don't, and I don't understand why I'm spending so much time driving around this godforsaken farmland.

Man, this is frustrating.

Progress: San Fierro

Rating: Good