Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
CJ returns to his gang-torn hometown and builds a criminal empire across three huge cities and open countryside. The 2004 classic remains a series touchstone thanks to its sheer breadth of activities and its story.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Action / Sandbox, set in the present day. Visually it is leaning into a retro look, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 4 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Huge open world
- Gang story
- Countless side activities
This fits you if
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
Look elsewhere if
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want something light and easy going
- you want to play it side by side with someone
What it costs you in time
About 45 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 8 weeks, or 23 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 93 out of 100, which puts it above 95 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 41 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Action averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 10 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 3996 collected ratings.
Released in 2004, which makes it 22 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 2004
- Genres
- Action, Sandbox
- Playtime
- approx. 45 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Present day
- Visual style
- Retro
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Mobile
- Critic rating
- 93 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | 2004 | approx. 45 hrs. | 93 | Budget |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | 2002 | approx. 20 hrs. | 94 | Budget |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | 2008 | approx. 30 hrs. | 88 | Budget |
| Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | 2014 | approx. 16 hrs. | 74 | Budget |
If you liked this, try these
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Shared: Action, Sandbox, Present day, shorter
- Grand Theft Auto IV Shared: Action, Sandbox, Present day, shorter
- Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Shared: Action, Sandbox, Present day, shorter
- Bully Shared: Action, Sandbox, Present day, shorter
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Shared: Action, Sandbox, rated higher
- Far Cry 5 Shared: Action, Present day, shorter