The bit we remember fondest is the roleplaying. You went from pinching sports cars to stealing combine harvesters.
The ambitious plot wasn’t afraid to change pace, and at one point plucked you from the streets of Los Santos and dumped you in the hilly countryside between the three cities. Protagonist and gangster Carl 'CJ' Johnson managed to keep the story on track despite the absurdity of everything you could do, from robbing a casino to stealing a jetpack from a top-secret government bunker and blasting away from the scene. San Andreas built on the brilliance of Vice City in every way: it was more than three times the size, and each of its cities - Rockstar’s versions of LA, San Francisco and Vegas - felt unique.