Oh hey, it’s been a few days, sorry about that guys! Anyway!

Over the weekend I finally finished my repeat playthrough of GTAIV, which was satisfying, but I have to concur with those who feel the second half of the game is weaker. Once you’re done with Packie’s missions there really aren’t many interesting new characters or anything and the missions reach a point of being somewhat tired. Not that it’s a bad game by any means; I think they just reached the limit of what could really be done with the style and tone they were going for. There was plenty fresh about The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I decided to go back to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. And oh man, I had forgotten how freaking amazing it is. The graphics aren’t as bad as I was expecting, though the jagged edges will chop your eyes to shreds it’s much smoother than I remember in terms of animation. The only thing I really do miss is the physics from IV, but it’s not critical.

But you know what’s weird, the thing I’ve noticed in San Andreas compared to IV? I wouldn’t have guessed this myself, and probably not even noticed except that I went from IV to SA immediately. It’s the sound. Walking around Liberty City you don’t really even take in all the noises, but there are constant sounds of the city doing its thing without you. In SA? It’s surprisingly quiet. I don’t know, maybe it’s something weird with my copy or something, because it really struck me when I went back to it and I’ve not played SA in a couple of years. It’s almost silent when you’re not in a car, stuff people say breaks the silence powerfully rather than blending in with the sounds of the city. And this is not a game I am new to, I spend enough time with it back when it was new. It’s a strange thing!

So, have any of you gone back to older games and been surprised by something in them, even games you played plenty and know well?