Welcome back to San Andreas! [translation by ign]

Developers have already teased us with a fleeting overview of Los Santos and its surroundings. What else will we see in [GTA V](/games?search=GTA V)?

While people have made numerous speculations about the game's setting since the announcement, one thing has always been clear – a return to San Andreas, the richest and most diverse territory ever featured in the GTA series. Liberty City in [GTA IV](/games?search=GTA IV) became a milestone in many ways: the well-recreated city, modeled after New York, proved to us that the star of the show doesn't necessarily have to be the main character.

Along with Los Santos, revealed as one of the locations in [Grand Theft Auto V](/games?search=Grand Theft Auto V), San Andreas has long shown that Rockstar are masters at creating game worlds, although it may have been too ambitious for the last generation of consoles. From the ghettos of Los Santos to the magnificent and glimmering Las Venturas, this state was a beautifully crafted world that crumbled under the weight of its own ambitions. Not that it really mattered, since the thrill primarily comes from the freedom to explore not just the city, but the entire state - along with mountain ranges and vast expanses of untouched countryside, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the three cities that were quite distinct from each other.

Does this mean we will be able to buy property in GTA V?

Returning to San Andreas is an exciting moment for many reasons. First, Los Santos is as interesting and diverse a city as Liberty City, from the asphalt cracks in the alleys of Ganton to the glamorous shine of Vinewood, and everything in between. It is a city where the upper and lower classes coexist side by side with the Hollywood elite and the gangs that wage real wars over territories in the eastern part of the city. If the trailer doesn't try to deceive us, then this will be a dangerous city: the poor against the rich, courage against glamour, but, of course, it remains to be seen how the transition from one to the other will take place.

The trailer showed us various locations in Los Santos: Santa Maria Beach, the tallest building downtown (did you love the parachute jumps, right?), the slums of East Los Santos, and much more. But what is really interesting – people outside the city in hats are climbing higher to look at Mount Chiliad and dispel all doubts about the Flint settlement - we are promised many more activities in the state's countryside compared to the original San Andreas. If Rockstar maintains the same level of detail in the countryside in San Andreas and abandons the endless pacing in place, then it will truly be something previously unseen.

It is clear that the trailer mainly focuses on Los Santos, which in the original was just an opening to the astounding Las Venturas, which becomes available closer to the end of the game, but at the same time, San Fierro was a quiet place in the middle of the original game – though it was primarily made for forgettable missions in contrast to the main tone of the game. Indeed, the city itself represents a compact and versatile playground, with the narrow, steep streets of Calton Heights directly opposing the area of Palisades. In any case, the architectural diversity of San Fierro means that it is the most interesting of the three cities: Hashbury is home to stoners, and the most memorable moments from GTA: San Andreas are undoubtedly the missions with the hippie addict Truth.

As for missions, we will be interested to see what tasks Rockstar comes up with for [Grand Theft Auto V](/games?search=Grand Theft Auto V). Many of the most outrageous moments in the GTA series occurred in San Andreas, but they were trimmed in favor of (at least in perceived sense) realism in [GTA IV](/games?search=GTA IV) – apart from, of course, a ton of dazzling outrageous missions in The Ballad of Gay Tony. Funny and crazy missions have always been a hallmark of GTA, and in [Grand Theft Auto IV](/games?search=GTA IV) they were sorely missed. The Ballad of Gay Tony brought the GTA series back into shape after the dull pedestrian missions of [GTA IV](/games?search=GTA IV).

In theory, [Grand Theft Auto V](/games?search=Grand Theft Auto V) should find a balance between [GTA IV](/games?search=GTA IV) and San Andreas. Certainly, the technological innovations are a step in the right direction, but when looking at the state as a whole, it's amusing that San Andreas is so good on its own that it inevitably leads us to Las Venturas, and we are desperately hoping that Rockstar includes it in the game.

A city modeled after Las Vegas, which never sleeps. Its streets, long and straight, are bathed in the neon light of casinos that never close. Image is everything. People in tall hats cruising down boulevards in supercars which means you can also take a ride in them if you, shall we say, persuade them convincingly.

Mount Chiliad looks stunning!

But the most remarkable thing about Las Venturas and its surrounding areas was the space that enveloped it. There, you could find a Hydra jet and a pimp car, but the most interesting thing to discover in Zone 69 - a jetpack! Flying around the city with it gave us indescribable feelings. But would you want to return to Las Venturas if you didn't even have the chance to fly around the Pirates in Men's Pants casino with a jetpack on your back? ;)

Translation done by me.

Thanks to strelok89 for assistance with the translation.