We reviewed San Andreas last November when it hit the PlayStation 2, and short of one minor exception, the gameplay remains unaltered in the PC version. As Jim did an excellent job discussing the gameplay in his review, this article will focus more on the technical aspects of the transition from PlayStation 2 to PC.

San Andreas makes the obvious use of the more powerful hardware, the draw distance increased dramatically, the models of cars and faces doubling in detail, sharper textures, a smoother framerate, fully customizable controls, load times greatly reduced and so forth. But the biggest addition to the game would be the option to create a radio station filled with custom tracks. Any MP3 sitting on the hard drive is fair game, all you have to do is place a shortcut to the respective file or directory in the User Tracks folder.

While the default soundtrack is by no means horrible, the ability to listen to any song allows the player to dramatically alter the overall atmosphere of the game. Gunning down a rival gang after a failed drive-by attempt with 2Pac blaring was a fitting, but switching the radio over to David Bowie's Young Americans was definitely a unique, and surreal, experience. Often I found myself driving aimlessly around town, just listening to music.

Customization such as this is the real draw of the PC iteration of San Andreas. Due to the nature of computers, files can be easily edited and replaced. This means that it's relatively simple for users to create and install mods, inserting new missions, characters, cars, textures, even multiplayer into the game. Not even a week after the PC version, someone had already discovered and activated a sex-based mini-game that Rockstar had disabled for unknown, but likely obvious, reasons. Though these mods aren't officially supported by Rockstar, a huge community continually adding content to a game is a plus in my books.

Speaking of multiplayer, the only casualty of the PS2 to PC transition were the two-player missions, axed for technical reasons. But as a multiplayer mod is already in the works, enabling San Andreas to be played online, these missions aren't sorely missed.

Things aren't perfect though. A glitch with certain gamepads renders the right analog stick useless, and while there are several fixes circulating various forums, none of them resolved the issue with my Dual Shock to USB adapter. As it stands, I'm left using my gamepad for driving and the keyboard mouse setup to walk around and shoot, which works, but constantly switching between the two is a bit tedious.

Tallying things up, that’s three points (improved graphics, load times, custom music) that put the PC version above the PS2 for everyone and one (mods) that appeal to some, with two slight negatives (gamepad glitches and lack of multiplayer missions) that bring it down a bit, but only affect a small chunk of users. Assuming you’ve got the hardware, there’s no reason to avoid the PC version of San Andreas. After all, any game that lets you run down the local crack dealer while dangerously obese, wearing a leopard-print cowboy hat, eye patch, track pants, flip-flops and listening to David Bowie can't be all bad, right?