5 things GTA San Andreas did right before GTA 5

With GTA San Andreas being one of the most popular titles in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, fans never miss a chance to compare it with the latest game in the series- GTA 5. Although the latter was released almost nine years after San Andreas, there are still a couple of things that it was missing. Players were critical of these missing features and wanted Rockstar Games to add them to the game.

While this did not come to pass, it has become a topic for much debate in the gaming community. Fans of the older title always bring these features and gameplay mechanics up when criticizing Grand Theft Auto 5, especially since there are some things that San Andreas did quite better than its successor.

This article will go through these things and list five features, including gameplay mechanics or plot devices, that San Andreas did right.

Note: Some parts of the article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinion.

---

5 things San Andreas did better than GTA 5

1) The body-changing feature

One of the many intriguing features of GTA San Andreas was the ability to change CJ's body. Players would start with a normal body type and then could either get buff by going to the gym or gain excess fat by eating a lot of junk food.

This was quite amazing because CJ would fail certain tasks like chasing targets if he was too fat. There is no such feature in GTA 5, and fans thoroughly missed it in the game. This would have given them more freedom over the characters and implemented the RPG elements.

---

2) Hand-to-hand combat

Grand Theft Auto is mostly about guns and explosives but gives players the option to use hand-to-hand combat from time to time. It not only keeps things fresh but also interesting, as just shooting bullets can sometimes get boring. Well, San Andreas was way ahead of GTA 5 in this regard.

The older title had an amazing melee combat system where players could learn various martial arts styles and perform combos to take down the targets. Although Grand Theft Auto 5 has three protagonists, the hand-to-hand combat is quite bland for all three of them and fails to add anything extra to the game.

---

3) The variety of side missions

GTA San Andreas was also more unique than Grand Theft Auto 5 due to its various side missions. Players could take on the role of a firefighter or a paramedic and help citizens while earning some extra cash as well. The varying difficulty levels of the missions also aided in making it interesting.

Unfortunately, Grand Theft Auto 5 lacks any such side missions, making the game quite boring after one finishes the main story. Rockstar Games also canceled eight DLCs for the single-player campaign, which was released in the leaked source code files. Fans have been furious at the developers for doing this since it took a lot away from the gaming experience.

---

4) The diverse map design

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas garnered a lot of praise for its diverse map, which had three cities, each with a different vibe and atmosphere, namely Los Santos, San Fiero, and Las Venturas. On top of that, the map also had forest and desert areas that kept things interesting and fresh.

On the other hand, GTA 5 only has one vast city, Los Santos, along with a fairly barren countryside. There aren't many missions or side tasks to lure players to those areas, either. This makes the overall map design relatively bland and uninteresting for most players.

---

5) The overall story and characters

The Grand Theft Auto community generally considers San Andreas' story to be better than Grand Theft Auto 5's. The biggest reason for this is that the latter's primary plot is divided between its three protagonists. While this is fine and dandy, it does take away some of the immersion.

On the other hand, San Andreas only had CJ, and the story revolved around him and his character development. The side characters in the game were much more memorable, while the antagonist was truly despicable. So, watching him die was quite satisfactory. This is one of the reasons why GTA San Andreas is considered one of the best games ever.

---

Apart from these things, Grand Theft Auto 5 is quite a good game that was revolutionary in its own way.