5 lesser-known facts about GTA San Andreas

In two years, GTA San Andreas will complete 20 years, which is pretty incredible considering how prevalent and applicable the game still is in popular culture.

And because of how long this game has been around, most GTA fans have played it several times and are confident about knowing every detail about this influential Rockstar Games title.

But in reality, there are still many obscure and hidden facts that even the most hardcore GTA San Andreas gamer might not be aware of. This article will present five discreet facts about GTA San Andreas to enlighten them.

Note: This article reflects the writer's subjective opinion.

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These are some of the most interesting lesser-known facts about GTA San Andreas

1) An earthquake hit the city of San Fierro

As GTA San Andreas players explore the city of San Fierro, they will find many demolished buildings, a crumbling freeway, and many other broken structures that point towards the city recovering from a massive earthquake.

There are other direct signs as well, such as a radio news broadcast that directly mentions that an earthquake happened fairly recently. Moreover, a few players even found that this in-game earthquake may reference the real-life Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989.

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2) Multiple protagonists

Leslie Benzies, one of the lead producers of GTA San Andreas, revealed in an interview with Jeuxactu that Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was originally supposed to have three playable protagonists. However, the devs scrapped the idea due to technical limitations.

Multiple sources have verified this claim, so it is impressive to know that Rockstar Games devs were thinking of pretty out-of-the-box ideas even when they did not have the technology to execute them.

It is also great that they kept this idea for so long and finally implemented it in Grand Theft Auto 5, as the multiple protagonist feature really worked for it.

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3) Cinematic influence

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is almost filled with many movie references. Some are pretty direct inspirations, while others may not be that obvious.

For example, Wu Zi Mu's outfit was inspired by Neo from The Matrix series, and the "Just Business" mission is a fantastic homage to the chase sequence from Terminator 2.

There are also subtle references to movies, such as the seminal film Boyz in the Hood, whose influence gamers can feel in many of the supporting characters' personalities. Players can even encounter an NPC dressed very similarly to Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character from the film.

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4) Video Game references

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas also contained many references to other popular video games at the time, which were hard to find or recognize if players did not pay attention.

For example, if players somehow manage to get into the highly guarded Area 69, they will find a red crowbar in one of the facilities there, which is a clear reference to Gordon Freeman's crowbar from the Half-Life series.

Rockstar Games even took some hilarious digs at other open-world shooters. For instance, one of the guards in the mission, "Mad Dog Rhymes," says:

"How could refractions mess up so badly? Tanner, You Suck A**!"

This is a reference to Driver 3, which was seen as an inferior copy of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas at the time. Thus, Rockstar Games did not leave a chance to roast its competitors.

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5) 100% completion rewards

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is arguably one of the most demanding games to get 100% completion achievement. The enormous number of missions and their high complexity are always challenging for many completionists.

But if they succeed in completing this accomplishment, they are rewarded with GTA$1,000,000, infinite ammo, double vehicle strength, Hydra, and a Rhino.

Most players might not be aware of these rewards because of how much effort it takes to get them.