GTA San Andreas Is Where Rockstar’s Cinematic Flair Truly Began - Art of the Level

When Rockstar debuted its extended look at GTA 6 on Netflix, it was as if the developer had uploaded a one-off episode of a crime thriller to the platform.

Rockstar has always had one eye on the movies – the game that shot it to stardom is a love-letter to Goodfellas, and its most recent open-world is the greatest Western never filmed. But the cinematic ambition we associate with the studio truly came to fruition in 2004 with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Its predecessors, GTA 3 and Vice City, had been packed with references to classic crime cinema and voiced by genuine Hollywood talent. But that wasn’t enough for San Andreas. For this ‘90s-set Californian epic, Rockstar wanted to put you in the movies. And so it designed missions that felt like they’d been pulled from the silver screen. 

There’s no better example of this than Reuniting the Families, the penultimate chapter of San Andreas’ opening act. It’s a highly-scripted, expertly directed slice of interactive storytelling that casts you in the leading role. And by trading the freedom of its open world for a tighter, more authored experience, San Andreas makes this gripping getaway feel more dramatic than any story the series had told thus far.