Los Santos in GTA III Era: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:59, 6 May 2008

Los Santos

Los Santos, San Andreas is a fictional city located in Red County, and it is the first city encountered in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Los Santos is based on Los Angeles, California. Los Santos translates to 'The Saints', a play on Los Angeles, meaning 'The Angels'. This also applies to the two cities' nicknames - "The City of Saints" and "City of Angels".

Like Los Angeles, Los Santos is a huge, sprawling co-mingling of cultures and perspectives, full of two-bit hoodlums and small-time actors. The population of over 3 million people is divided into 32 districts, which are home to movie and television studios, multi-million dollar estates, crack-ridden ghettos, and a busy international airport. Numerous roads and a central rail line connect Los Santos to San Fierro and Las Venturas. The most infamous street in the city is Grove Street, located in Ganton, southeast of downtown Los Santos, and just minutes south of East Los Santos, which, like East Los Angeles, contains a predominantly Hispanic population. Grove Street is home to the Grove Street Families, a once powerful gang whose influence faded due to highly successful drug trafficking by the rival Ballas gang.

File:Los Santos at night.jpg

Los Santos skyline seen from Idlewood

Los Santos' police are corrupt and the politicians avoid the streets like the plague. There is a motorcross track, several basketball courts, and an observatory (modeled after the Griffith Observatory) to satisfy stargazers. Occasionally, independent drug dealers are seen carrying huge wads of cash from recent transactions. Graffiti is commonplace and gambling venues like the racetrack are frequented by many of the city's denizens. The suburbs nestled in the north hills (modeled after the Hollywood Hills) are home to wealthy businessmen, movie stars, and Madd Dogg, the killer rap artist, alike. The occasional shack can also be spotted within this highly affluent district, testaments to the period prior to the gentrification of northern Los Santos.

Storyline

Los Santos is the hometown of GTA San Andreas protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson, who returns from living in Liberty City for five years, after his brother informs him of their mother's death. The game starts upon CJ's arrival in Los Santos, and the story revolves around a lengthy Gang War between CJ's gang, The Grove Street Families, and their fiercest rivals, the Ballas. Tensions between rival Hispanic gangs, Varrios Los Aztecas and Los Santos Vagos, also threaten the tenuous hold with which GSF clings to its paltry territories.

The city is torn apart over the issue of gang warfare. The Grove Street Families and Front Yard Ballas constantly spar over total dominance in Ganton, Idlewood, Jefferson, Willowfield, and even East Los Santos. In 1992, police officers Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski of C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) are charged with murder and sexual assault, after their extensive corruption becomes blatantly obvious, even to the general public. Immediately prior, Pulaski is murdered by CJ in the Arco del Oeste area after he and Tenpenny, who were using CJ as their patsy, decide there is no more use for him. Alone at the court hearing, however, Tenpenny is released when the prosecutor inexplicably drops all charges. The entire city, outraged that Tenpenny walks free from horrendously heinous charges of which he is obviously guilty, erupts in riots. During the ensuing chaos, CJ kills cocaine drug lord and ex-gang member Big Smoke. CJ then chases after Officer Tenpenny, who dies when his stolen Fire Truck careens off the side of the very overpass visible from the Johnson House. When news of Tenpenny's death reaches the people of Los Santos, the riots immediately cease.

Landmarks

File:Gallery45.JPG

The Vinewood sign

File:Gallery115.JPG

The Homes of The rich and successful in Los Santos

File:Gallery116.JPG

Blastin' fools Records in Vinewood

Los Santos is filled with references to famous L.A. landmarks, including:

LAX
Griffith Observatory
City Hall
Hollywood Sign
Walk of Fame
Watts Towers
Capitol Tower
U.S. Bank Tower
Santa Monica Pier

Districts

Trivia

Although part of a fictional universe, radio stations in San Andreas broadcast real-life songs, many of which reference various districts in the city of Los Angeles, such as Watts (Jefferson) and South Central L.A., and cities in Los Angeles County, such as Compton (Ganton), Inglewood (Idlewood), Long Beach (East Beach), and Hollywood (Vinewood).

During the mission Reuniting the Families, the police identify themselves as the Los Angeles Police Department twice. The helicopter loudspeaker announces this both at the beginning of the mission when Sweet gets out of the car to meet the other GSF families, and later on when CJ and Sweet are escaping from the motel roof.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*Although part of a fictional universe, radio stations in San Andreas broadcast real-life songs, many of which reference various districts in the city of Los Angeles, such as Watts ([[Jefferson]]) and South Central L.A., and cities in the greater Los Angeles area, such as Compton ([[Ganton]]), Inglewood ([[Idlewood]]), Long Beach ([[East Beach]]), and Hollywood ([[Vinewood]]).
+*Although part of a fictional universe, radio stations in San Andreas broadcast real-life songs, many of which reference various districts in the city of Los Angeles, such as Watts ([[Jefferson]]) and South Central L.A., and cities in Los Angeles County, such as Compton ([[Ganton]]), Inglewood ([[Idlewood]]), Long Beach ([[East Beach]]), and Hollywood ([[Vinewood]]).
 *During the mission [[Reuniting the Families]], the police identify themselves as the Los Angeles Police Department twice. The helicopter loudspeaker announces this both at the beginning of the mission when [[Sean "Sweet" Johnson|Sweet]] gets out of the car to meet the other GSF families, and later on when CJ and Sweet are escaping from the motel roof.