Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Consumer Guide

According to ESRB, this game contains: Strong Language, Severe Violence, Blood and Gore

Parents are very strongly cautioned. The language is adult; each cut scene is peppered with more f-words than an entire episode of The Sopranos. The subject matter and themes are also strictly adult. Violence, though still cartoonish enough-blood looks like ketchup-is frequent and sometimes very brutal. Make no mistake, the game certainly pushes the boundaries of its Mature rating. Most of the violence in the game is dramatically justified, though one sequence involving a National Guard base had me killing what the game refers to as "weekend soldiers." I felt lousy about killing these guys, wondering what in the world they'd done to deserve this. Newbies beware: some of the early missions are surprisingly difficult, and will require plenty of try-and-dies to pass. But don't fret-the difficulty lightens up towards the middle of the game.

Fans of the series should be pleased; this is by far the biggest, boldest, richest GTA yet.

Fans of driving games will also likely enjoy themselves; the driving physics in San Andreas are actually better than they are in most dedicated driving games.

Fans of film noir and hip-hop culture will no doubt also relish the game.

All the cut-scenes are subtitled, so Deaf and Hard of Hearing gamers will have no trouble following the action.