Can you believe back in the early noughties, Rockstar managed to release GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas in the Octobers of 2001, 2002 and 2004 respectively? Chances are if you're a gamer in your mid-twenties you were in school, making those dates feel far further apart than they actually were, but considering how different those games were aesthetically, it's even more of an achievement in retrospect. For GTA overall, the level of hype and press coverage was forever snowballing after III genuinely changed the way we play, design and construct games, but for San Andreas coming after the one-two punch of that and Vice City, it was one hell of a tall order to match up to. Luckily Rockstar knew what they were doing yet again, creating the largest and most ridiculous game world yet, comprised of all sorts of things to see and do, expanses of wilderness to get lost in and missions from all corners of the map to boot. San Andreas' unprecedented scale was so unbelievable to take in, it generated myths and urban legends about what creatures or enemies you could find if you ventured out at the right time. Rockstar had genuinely created another world for a whole generation to live in, and although the series maintains a high bar of quality, there was something about this game's right place, right time mix of technological accomplishment and cultural interest that made it rather legendary. What games completely lived up to the hype for you? Let us know in the comments!
