I started San Andreas today, but a lot of this will be familiar ground since I completed the first third or so on the PS2 version (up to where you get kicked out of Los Santos, at least). I was thrown a bit at first by the mouse and keyboard controls being a bit different from the previous GTA games (e.g., run and jump have been switched around), but I’m sure I’ll get used to them.

As usual, I’m going to “cheat” by jumping straight into the collection tasks in order to get easier access to weapons at my safehouse, this time by spraypainting over the tags of rival gangs (though I did have to do a couple of missions before getting access to the spraypaint can). Tagging is actually much easier in the PC version, since you just have to hold down the left mouse button, while the PS2 version required some gyrations on the controller. I only managed to get the first 50 tags tonight though, and there’s no reward for partial completion, also unlike the previous games. There will also be other things to collect, like pearls in the water and horseshoes in a later city.

Oh yeah, you can finally actually swim in this one, whereas water was near-instant death in the previous ones. There are also stats for your character that cover things like your stamina, sex appeal, fatness, and strength, and you have skill levels in how well you can use various firearms and vehicles, all of which can be raised through use.

And in other differences, the textures are much better than the earlier games, you can have your gang take over enemy gang areas (though I know that it’s not worthwhile this early since you wind up losing them and having to retake them later on), there are a lot more simultaneous cars on the road, the drivers in this one are much more aggressive, and I’ve had a few actually follow me around and ram me in retaliation. Oh they’ll be sorry when I get that AK-47 spawn at the house…