Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 5 open world games by recommenders
People recommend it for its nostalgic open world, its San Francisco-inspired city, and its replay value. Critics say the remaster has poor textures and the older Renderware engine needs community patches.
People recommend it for its nostalgic open world, its San Francisco-inspired city, and its replay value. Critics say the remaster has poor textures and the older Renderware engine needs community patches.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Nostalgic memories of exploring its world
“Lots of good memories playing GTA San Andreas and exploring 90's San Francisco.”
Comment from 24 Aug 2026 in “The entire city of San Francisco as a video game” “Every previous GTA game I'd replay just to have fun”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Dwarf Fortress' creator says the industry's in shambles over AI” Holds up well on replays
“It holds up to several replays in a way that GTA V does not imo.”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “Modder Runs GTA III Inside GTA: San Andreas on an In-Game TV” “Every previous GTA game I'd replay just to have fun”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Dwarf Fortress' creator says the industry's in shambles over AI” Fun, memorable missions and moments
“GTA SA "do whatever you want to pass the mission"”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look [video]” “All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history”
Other open world games people recommend
The four most recommended other open world games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 21 | 23 | 48% | 11 | 2 yrs4 owners | — |
| Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasThis page | 10 | 5 | 67% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Hedra | 7 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Grand Theft Auto III | 6 | 5 | 55% | 3 | — | — |
| Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | 5 | 1 | 83% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
16 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Didn't run well, but was definitely playable.”
“Every previous GTA game I'd replay just to have fun”
“All we had to do, was follow the damn train, CJ!”
“GTA SA "do whatever you want to pass the mission"”
“Lots of good memories playing GTA San Andreas and exploring 90's San Francisco.”
“I do adore San Andreas but I think San Fierro is one of the weakest areas”
“my favorite video game interpretation of San Francisco”
“still considered among the best games of all time”
“Like when they deleted half the music from GTA San Andreas.”
“It holds up to several replays in a way that GTA V does not imo.”
“a windows security update broke GTA San Andreas because it relied on undefined behavior”
“It's unlikely to be as good as SA anyway, so whatever.”
“how relatively bug-free older games like GTA San Andreas are”
“it just needs an update for the controls to work, since it was made for touch”
“Pretty much all the Renderware based GTAs have issues these days that only community made patches can mitigate.”
“all you can get is the shit AI textures "remaster"”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.