Although the last few missions cover a citywide riot (which even goes on inbetween missions, which I loved) and a nail-biting action movie ending, I thought it could have used a bit more buildup. Particularly when it comes to the Big Smoke sting. Maybe some recon missions to see what he's up to, play up his crack fortress as a truly major league destination. As it is, you're told about his fortress and demolish that fortress in one mission.

The final beat with Toreno seemed unresolved. I was anticipating him going down on Hamburger Hill at some point. Consider him for placement in GTA4.

I thought it was interesting that the game brought CJ back to the mean streets of Los Santos for the final act. I mean, it's probably very expected, given the nature of his initial exile... but I liked the way they did it. After starting a new life in San Fierro and hitting the big time in Las Venturas, I (and CJ) really didn't care to come back. Big brother Sweet essentially makes CJ return to the Grove, to clean up the home gang and wipe out the others. The Johnson boys' attack over Los Santos has a nice anti-drug message, but I was still like "Who cares, I now own a mansion by the Vinewood sign." So I was right there with CJ resisting the big Return to Los Santos. I understood it. And then I felt like a chump when Sweet lectures CJ about Mom and Grove Street and being selfish. That's identification for you.

Not to mention that I had already owned 100% of the gang territories back in the first section of the gang, and now I had to re-take all of them again. Also, the missions that force you to take over sections in Glen Park and Idlewood, respectively, ticked me off. I'd start the mission, drive over there, and then walk around for hours waiting for the game to spawn some Ballas so I could trigger a gang war. Mr. Game Maker, you know why I'm here, you assigned me the mission, so spawn the Ballas immediately!

But, if I may venture into a little literary criticism of the storyline, what CJ ends up with after all is said and done is a brand new family. It covers different types of people from all over the state, and some of them aren't even that shady. When you first meet CJ, he's stuck in a gang, fighting for the streets. Predictably, that falls apart as greed splits up these "old friends" - if they can even honestly term themselves as such, I'd say that their friendship probably comes more from sheer Grove Street proximity than anything else. CJ learns to make new friends, from other cultures... Latin, Chinese, Jewish, British, even crazy old white man The Truth (who was voiced by Peter Fonda, I was surprised to realize.) In the finale, they're presented as one big happy family... which is a long way from the mercenary loner scenario of GTA3 and the Scarface-style untouchable monarch ending to Vice City.

On to the photos!

This is a nice little nod to all the silly tourist trap attractions and oversized fiberglas signage that dot our fine country's rural roadsides. Whenever I see another huge animal sculpture, I'm reminded of a bit in the Sam & Max comics where Max sees a sign and says "Look Max! The World's Largest Guinea Pig!" And Sam replies "If it was that big, we wouldn't have to stop." This is clearly a chicken you don't have to stop for, found somewhere in the desert section of San Andreas.

Is this an Easter Egg? Probably not, it's too obvious. In the mission where you break into the city building to get the floor plans for Caligula's Casino, the far room has this Rockstar-inspired skyscraper model.

Millie, waving for the camera. I like how certain NPCs will recognize you have a camera at them and pose for you. This was taken after Millie decided to show up for a date finally... which, at near as I can guess, is something that resets after you do a storyline mission. So if you're having trouble getting a girlfriend to appear at the times the FAQ swears by, go do a mission and then check back. Dumb.

This is inside Millie's house, which is decorated in a... uh... gothic flair. I think her place is one of those locations you can only visit once, which is why I took the picture.

I found this rack of cereal boxes inside one of the convenience stores in the rural zone north of Los Santos. It's a crappy texture, but the character on that box is definitely Senor Sandwich of Gobler Toys (see inset). The cereal is even called "Senorios". Now the question is raised: did Rockstar get permission to use Senor's likeness in the game, or did they just Google "weird cereal mascots" and come upon a picture of Senor Sandwich that they assumed was public domain? I know a guy who knows a guy who's behind the Gobler Toys (fake) website, but I don't think I'll be the one to tell him of this possible infringement.

Riot! Once the riot starts (in response to Officer Tenpenny getting off a murder rap), the game turns Los Santos into a city-wide riot zone. Buildings are on fire, people are brawling in the streets, and my favorite: random citizens making off with television sets.

See, this is what I mean by not enough buildup on the Big Smoke finale. This massive statue is inside his crack fortress, intimating that he's some kind of gangsta god... which he isn't. I would have liked more action from his supposed crime ring, to lend the end sequence more drama.

Last note: the game hosed my final save file, taken right after I finished the final mission. It's actually no big deal, since I save all the time, so my second-to-last save file lands immediately before that final mission. I have no idea how it happened, but I'll repair the damage by doing the last bit over again. It's a scary screen though: "Load Failed! Restarting the game now..." and then it starts a brand new game with CJ flying out of Liberty City. Yikes! So instead of loading the last save, I loaded the penultimate save with that new game and re-saved that one (because GTA always auto-loads your newest save file on boot) so I should not experience any further bad loads. Now I get to see the happy ending all over again.