Wow, two weeks without an update. Unnacceptable.

Everything's just been...busy lately. Work, personal life, you name it.

No Cyber Sox update for a while, because I've moved on to my new obsession. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PC. Even though I own a PS2 I always get GTA games on PC, since that's how I first played GTA III three years ago, (didn't have the PS2 then) so I figure, why change? Even if it does mean waiting the better part of a year after the game is released on Playstation.

Whereas GTA III and Vice City had more of a mafia feel (especially III), San Andreas
goes head on into gang life. As CJ, member of the Grove Street Soliders you engage in such pastimes as tagging your turf and gunning down rival gang members. The "N word" gets tossed around a lot and there's a gang member who looks just like Eazy E.

The set-up is pretty much the same as the last two outings, although this time you can jump over walls and swim. The last one is key. In GTA III and Vice City, if you fell into a lake, you died. This time you can at least swim to shore.

You can also cutomize CJ's hair, clothes, and body (by working out in the gym). As for hair, I gave CJ the Jules Winnfield Memorial Afro and beard. Also appropriate since Samuel L. Jackson voices the character of Officer Tenpenny.

One of the hallmarks of the GTA franchise are the numerous fake radio stations you can play. San Andreas (which takes place in 1992) may be the best of the bunch. The hard rock station has Living Colour, Alice in Chains, L7, Guns n' Roses, Faith No More, Soundgarden, and some others I'm forgetting. Plus they have stations for new rap (well, new in '92), classic rap, classic rock (!), and country (!!). Plus the PC has the advantage of allowing you to pre-load your own MP3's.

This game is hard though. I'm still only about 15 or so missions in and some of them have given me fits. "Sweet's Girl," "Robbing Uncle Sam," and even the one where you bounce the car have made me want to throw my computer out the window. Thankfully I've cleared them all without cheating. But now I've got the stupid street race, which will surely reduce me to tears by week's end.