Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Gameplay

The player driving a car towards the Grove Street cul-de-sac in Los Santos at dusk.

San Andreas is structured similarly to the previous two games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open worldenvironment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, eating, running, sprinting, swimming, climbing (the first GTA game in which swimming and climbing is possible) and jumping as well as using weapons and various forms of hand to hand combat. Players can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, semis, boats, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trains, tanks, motorcycles and bikes. Players may also import vehicles rather than steal them.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain cities and content, they are not required as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and look around the cities, eat from the restaurant, or cause havoc by attacking people and causing destruction. Creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking people, pointing guns at people, stealing cars, killing a few people, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.

The player can partake in a variety of optional side missions that can boost their character's attributes or provide another source of income. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, such as dropping off taxi cab passengers, putting out fires, driving injured people to the hospital and fighting crime as a vigilante. New additions include burglary missions, pimping missions, truck and train driving missions requiring players to make deliveries on time, and driving/flying/boating/biking schools, which help players learn skills and techniques to use in their corresponding vehicles.

Not all locations are open to the player at the start of the game. Some locales, such as pay 'n spray, gyms, and shops, become available only after completing certain missions. Likewise, for the first portion of the game, only Los Santos and its immediate suburbs are available for exploration; unlocking the other cities and rural areas again requires the completion of certain missions.

Unlike GTA III and Vice City, which needed loading screens when traveling between different districts of the city,San Andreas has no load times when the player is in transit. The only loading screens in the game are for cut-scenes and interiors. Other differences between San Andreas and its predecessors include the switch from single-player to multiplayer Rampage missions (albeit not in the PC version), and the replacement of the 'hidden packages' with spray paint tags, hidden camera shots, horseshoes, and oysters to discover.

The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked to incorporate concepts from another Rockstar game,Manhunt, including various stealth elements,^[13] as well as improved target crosshairs and a target health indicator which changes colors from green to red to black depending on the target's health. The PC version of the game implements mouse chording; the player has to hold the right mouse button to activate the crosshairs, and then click or hold at the left mouse button to shoot or use an item, such as a camera.

The player has a gunfight with members of an enemy gang.

In addition, players can swim and climb walls for the first time in the series.^[14] The ability to swim has a great effect on the player as well, since water is no longer an impassable barrier that kills the player (although it is possible to drown). For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with multiple gang members. Due to the size of San Andreas, a waypoint reticule on the HUD map can be set, aiding the player in reaching a destination.

GTA: San Andreas System Requirements

This Page has been viewed 270,120 times Here are the system requirements for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PC: Minimum System Requirements: 1GHz Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon Processor 256MB of RAM 8x DVD-ROM Drive 3.6 GB of free Hard Disk space for a minimal install 64MB Video Card with DirectX 9 compatible drivers ("GeForce3" or better) DirectX 9 compatible Stereo Sound Card Keyboard & Mouse Recommended System Requirements Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP processor (or better) 384(+) MB of RAM 16x DVD-ROM drive 4.7 GB of free Hard Disk space for a full install 128(+) MB Video Card with DirectX 9 compatible drivers ("GeForce4" or better) DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card Game pad with twin axis analog controls (USB or Joystick Port) Keyboard & Mouse

Silent Hill Homecoming

Gameplay

Alex attacking a Lurker with the Ceremonial Dagger, showing on-screen health meter.

The player assumes the role of the protagonist, Alex Shepherd, aSpecial Forces soldier who returns home from an overseas tour of duty to find that his father and younger brother are missing,^[10] and that his mother has gone into catatonia.^[11] Alex begins to search for his brother, leading him to Silent Hill after searching his hometown of Shepherd's Glen.^[11]

Overall gameplay is similar to past entries in the series. The player, as Alex, explores the various environments and locales, searching for clues to advance the plot, such as photographs, drawings and other items which are placed inside Alex's journal, which the player may read at any time.^[12] To assist the player, Alex will turn his head towards items and clues to inform the player that the object may be picked up;^[10] other recurring items include weapons and ammunition, which give off a glow as a visual cue to the player, and health drinks.^[10] Puzzle elements also play a part in the game, and Alex's journal may be used to refer back to photographs and other items that can help the player decipher such puzzles as keypad entries.^[12] For the first time in the series, the player may select responses when engaging in dialogue with other characters he encounters in the game, which in turn may affect how the player sees the plot unfold.^[10]

In addition to exploration, combat is another major element to the gameplay, and the player must fight the various monsters that appear. In contrast to the more naïve protagonists of previous games, combat in Homecoming takes into account Alex's experience as a soldier.^[10] The player is able to perform light and heavy attacks, or mix them to perform combinations,^[13] and may also perform a variety of finishing moves to ensure that the monsters are dead.^[13] Attacking enemies also leaves wounds in them that match the motion carried out by Alex in inflicting the attack.^[14] In terms of controlling Alex, the player may also perform new maneuvers such as targeting the enemy before attacking them, dodging enemy attacks, and performing counter-attacks.^[11] As well as melee weapons, pistols, rifles and shotguns are available as firearms, which can be upgraded to stronger versions later in the game.^[12] In addition to the changes in combat, and unlike previous entries in the series, the player is also able to fully control and rotate the camera as they choose;^[10] one analog stick controls player movement, and the other controls the camera.

silent Hill: Homecoming
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Double Helix Games
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.13 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Memory: 1 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 256 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard
Mouse
Other Controllers: Microsoft X360 USB game pad
DVD Rom Drive
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.5 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Memory: 2 Gb
Hard Drive: 10 Gb free
Video Memory: 512 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3870
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard
Mouse
Other Controllers: Microsoft X360 USB game pad
DVD Rom Drive