The reviews have been very good, however, I'll wait for the PC or Xbox version. Basically, the Gamespot and IGN reviews stated that the game is HUGE, spanning three large cities (San Fran, L.A., and Vegas) with countryside in-between. They said it's a very long game with tons of things to do in regards to the main storyline and side quests. The interactivity with the main character is said to be greater, as you have to keep CJ "in shape" by working out to maintain his performance during missions (in addition to being able to change hairstyles, tatoos, etc.). All in all, it sounds like an extension of what was accomplished with Vice City, but I'm putting much more priority on Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 (along with completing Doom III and KOTOR).
I was planning to hold off on this purchase for now, only because I just picked up a slew of titles this past Sunday (thanks to TRU's B2G1F sale running this week); however, after reading IGN's and GameSpot's reviews, I may put everything else on hold in order to secure my copy ASAP. Hearing GNR's "Welcome To The Jungle" as the backdrop for the GTA:SA commercial kept me emotionally amped throughout yesterday's broadcast of WWE's "RAW"; strangely enough, viewing the HALO 2 commercial didn't do anything for me (ironically, HALO 2 is the one I have prepaid. Maybe I'm just mentally tapped out from all of the FPS on my PC and need something different in my gaming diet? )
So far it seems like more of the same with the hood backdrop. Language is raunchier but graphics haven't improved much at all, still the weakest link. The interactive part seems interesting but I hope it doesn't become an annoyance after a while. I could say more but I feel I have to play more to see why it was rated so high.
It's still fun and will be blast to play before Halo 2 & HL2.
I can't wait to play this. It looks darker than the other ones. I was watching tv last night and saw the commercial with Welcome to the Jungle in the bkgrnd and got all psyched up.
I'm definitely interested in this one, but I'm not buying a ps2 for it. I'll just wait for the inevitable Xbox version.
I'm guessing that the "interactivity" will work similar to the way it did in Fable. You can change your body type etc, you just have to really work at it...
This is the rumor I've heard of an Xbox release date. While I'd rather play it today March of 05 is good news. I'll just think of it as Rockstar doing me the favor of letting me hold on to my $50 for 7 months
I have just played it for a while.. not too bad - the place is huge!! tons of places to go - i am not sure if I like the whole eating / stamina thing.. maybe it will grow on me.. I have to admit it looks visually crapy on a 51" tv.. lol. I wish there was a progressive scan option.
Hell, I'd say that's probably the earliest we'll see it. Since it took a lot longer than that to get GTA3/Vice onto the Xbox, it'll probably be a similar window for SA. Still, the Xbox only had a few months' head start on Splinter Cell, so it'd only be fair to share.
I'd expect that next summer is pretty likely, with an outside chance of next Christmas. I seem to remember that the PC version of Vice city was out in about that timeframe (early summer 03 after an october 02 release). There's enough other stuff to play in the meantime though, and for some reason I'm not as excited about this one as with GTA3 and Vice.
I spent a couple of hours on it last night... It is a close re-visit to GTA3/Vice City. As Jim said, it is HUGE. I only did a handfull of missions, as I was trying to learn my way around town.
It is a little raunchier w/ the language, but I gotta admit I had a blast "bustin caps in the m-fers". So far, I've killed only about 250. I haven't found any crazy weapons yet. Will post more after a night's sleep... If I get any sleep this week.