GTA San Andreas is the PS3 port of the PS2 classic. CJ roams Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas in the most ambitious open world of its time. Some porting imperfections but an unmissable video game monument.
Your verdict
Category
Open-World4 players18+
Description
HD port of Rockstar's classic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on PS3 with visual improvements and trophies. Published by Rockstar, released in Europe in December 2012. Open and lively State of San Andreas, three main cities, rival gangs, character and vehicle customization, and over 70 hours of original content. PSN HD version.
Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Three cities, deserts and countryside recreated with astonishing breadth, bathed in a nostalgic Californian light of the 90s. The coherence of the world and the teeming animation give it a life at every moment. This visual direction, vast and credible, redefined the scale of the open world.
A journey into the 1990s, the licensed selection thunders out hip-hop, funk, g-funk and rock across radio stations of stunning richness. Each station resurrects the West Coast with wild authenticity. This colossal soundtrack, inseparable from San Andreas, remains a monument of video game musical culture.
Back home after his mother's death, a young man finds himself swept up in gang wars and police corruption. A vast fresco on family, loyalty and social ascent, the tale embraces a whole era with unprecedented scope. Funny, brutal and surprisingly sincere, it has stayed cult.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
A whole state to explore, from city to countryside, where you build a gang's rise across missions, races, fights and a thousand side activities: the scope of freedom is dizzying. The pleasure springs from this crazy density, where you invent your own adventures. Rich, varied and packed with personality, a cult open-world of a generosity that still commands admiration.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Roaming an entire state on foot, by car or by plane, improving your character and chaining missions and zany side jobs sets up a pioneering freedom where every corner of the map calls for a new project. Customizing and exploring reward curiosity. The port shows its age, but the immensity of the playground and the density of activities make every session hard to wrap up.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Roaming the state of San Andreas again in HD is to measure the vastness of a map that gathers three cities, countryside, deserts and a thousand side activities. Heists, territory takeovers, races, thefts and side missions branch endlessly around the main thread. This port revives an open world whose scale remains a yardstick for the genre, trophies on top.
Under the pretext of climbing the criminal ladder, you borrow other people's cars, lose the police and settle every dispute with gunfire, all across open cities built for chaos. The game makes no secret of its irony, yet the thrill of total freedom makes you accept, without flinching, a daily routine of crimes chained together with a slightly guilty grin.
Is Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas still worth playing in 2026?
An HD port of Rockstar's monumental open world, San Andreas unfolds an entire state of three cities and countryside, where CJ's rise blends gangs, varied missions, driving, customisation and total freedom. The scope of the world, the wealth of activities and the 90s social satire stay surprisingly vibrant. The port alters some music and the handling shows its age. A landmark of video games for fans of criminal sandboxes and nostalgics of the GTA golden age.
