45 days until San Andreas hits the shelves, and the excitement continues as IGN release a spectacular ‘outdoors’ feature with lots of new information, and a selection of brand new screenshots. With Los Santos out of the way (wrapped up nicely with the release of the official trailer and website) it’s time to progress through the state, and see what else R* have to offer.
we witnessed our guide travel back from one of the game’s several small towns to Los Santos over the span of which, seemed like nearly twenty minutes.
– IGN
- There are about 12 different countryside towns, each with its own look, style and theme.
- The Desert Eagle is one of the new weapons featured in the game. It has more stopping power per round than any other weapon in the game, besides sniper rifles.
- CJ can ride an ‘industrial strength lawnmower’.
- There are many money-making activites to take part in at the countryside – rocky road races, motocross competitions and such.
- You can produce “unbelievable rolling bombs” with the 18-wheeler: Speed it up, and dive out at the last second, destroying anything/anybody in its way.
- The moon goes through several different phases, full moon, half moon, and so on. The moon and the stars appear brighter as you travel further away from the city lights.
- R1 targets your enemy. CJ will aim at the closest hostile. If there isn’t a hostile in the area at all, he’ll target the closest person. If there still isn’t a target in sight, CJ will switch to free-aim mode. In this mode, the camera rests behind your character, and you can move CJ using the left analog stick, whilst changing the camera with the right. L1 now acts as the firing button, although Circle can be used when not using the new targetting system.
- The area to the left of Los Santos is occupied by hills and countryside.
- To the left of Los Santos, you can find a truck stop known as the “RU Haul”. Always looking for extra drivers, the owner will offer you a cash reward if you can tow pull some cargo. This is done with a traditional 18-wheeler, the largest road vehicle in the game. The trailer is detachable, and the truck will change position, depending on whats going on in the back. Hauling missions are completely timed. So if they screw up and miss their window, their payoff will be cut to half of what it was supposed to be.
Reload Time: The more improved CJ becomes at this skill, the fewer seconds he’ll need when reloading. This is extremely important when involved in large-group firefights.
Fire Rate: This skill dictates how many bullets CJ can spray in a certain amount of time. The better the skill, the more ammo he can unload in shorter instances.
Accuracy: When players improve this skill, the circle outside of their reticule will expand and contract for better a visual representation of your target lock. As always, crouching also improves the precision of your shots.
Weapon Stance and Movement: Each weapon has a different ability relative to that weapon type that can be unlocked. This means that some weapons, for instance, can earn the ability to allow CJ to move while firing. While others improve your character’s weapon stance so that he has faster strafe speeds or uninhibited backwards movement when firing.
Dual Weapons: What Rockstar is calling “The Ultimate Upgrade,” this skill allows CJ to handle two weapons at a time. This effectively doubles CJ’s firing rate and length of time between reloads.
Be sure to check out the new images, here.
Related Links: Outdoors Preview, New Screenshots