Two-player mode in GTA: San Andreas?

[MalaCloudy Black]

Credit toGTA-sanandreas.com for this blurb:

Thanks to GTASanAndreas.net for bringing this to everyones attention. Spong, a relatively small gaming site were lucky enough to visit Rockstar's headquarters in the last few days and view a preview of the game. As you'd expect they asked about multiplayer in San Andreas, but were told there is no multiplayer. What they did find out is that eventually you will unlock the ability to do some co-operative missions with a character who will be controlled by a second player. There's not too much information on this, although it could be* a brand new huge feature made public just days before the game is released.

* From reading their article, it really doesn't make too much sense as to how they know all of this, but it could very well be true. Make your own decisions until we have official confirmation.

(SPOnG.com)

There will, however, be a dedicated co-operative mode for two players. During the game, a scene ensues when the player rescues a girl from a burning building. After this act of gallantry, she becomes your in-game girlfriend and also, a playable second character. Most of the co-op action takes place inside vehicles, with player one driving and player 2 shooting. When the co-op mode is opened, icons will display the missions available to two player on the game's map.

What's more, a plethora of two-player minigames will be included in San Andreas. Unfortunately SPOnG has no specific details regarding these right now, though we can confirm that various parlour games will be included.

That would be fucking awesome.

Edited October 16, 2004 by Cloudy

[reyrey619]

I doubt it, although it would really own.

[Guest Angry Baboon]

Spong make up things for publicity, ala the San Andreas 'leak'.

[abundant]

The story is bullshit. After they were told that there was NO multiplayer, they speculated that there was multiplayer, due to a cut scene that they could not see. All these fansites are reporting it like it’s true, when it’s all stupid speculations.

Ever since the announcement of GTA San Andreas, there has been a multitude of rumours speculating as to what new gameplay features would be included. A significant proportion of this has simply been wishful thinking, but it is in the nature of Rockstar's marketing strategy to keep the most exciting details quiet until the last minute: offering up only the minutia of selected gameplay details such as the role of food, and the numerous hairdressing options etc.

Two of the most significant rumours surfacing so far have alluded to a possible online mode and a possible two-player mode. Through reputable sources, SPOnG has been informed that there will definitely not be an online mode: at least not for this PS2 version.

The two-player mode is, however, mostly shrouded in mystery. But we can, through these same sources, confirm its existence. The nature of it is still uncertain, but Rockstar has emphasised the fact that "GTA has always been a single player game." This statement, when taken in conjunction with Rockstar's current denial of a two-player mode, leads us to believe that it will be more of a sideline component - an ancillary option rather than a central one. If Rockstar was to announce that it did have a two-player mode, people might expect a full split-screen mode or full 2 player game, and so understating this feature prior to launch should add to the impact of the game when it does hit the shelves, rather than leading to disappointment or dashed hopes.

One particular instance of the 2 player co-op mode is a mission where CJ has to rescue a girl from a burning building. After rescuing her, she will fight by his side. If there happens to be a second player in the vicinity of the PS2, they will be able to pick up a controller and take command of this ancillary character. Indeed, there were other missions involving CJ plus one other character shown in the official demonstration. One of them sees CJ racing through the streets, with an accomplice having to drive extremely close to his vehicle throughout - this would make a great single-screen racing mission. Similarly, there was another officially revealed mission that saw CJ firing a minigun from a helicopter being piloted by a separate character.

As we've said, the official line is that the 2-player co-op mode does not exist; however, we were also told that the cut-scenes preceding those missions mentioned above "were not ready yet", and so the demonstration skipped straight into the standard gameplay. In the knowledge that, in fact, there is some sort of 2-player co-op mode and that cut-scenes using in-game graphics engines are rarely left until the very last minute, we strongly believe that it will be missions like this that sport the extra option.

Once the co-op missions have been opened up, they will be indicated by specific icons on the map: so if you've got a pal round, it should be easy enough to choose some sort of appropriate 2 player distractions. It is also expected that there will be an assortment of 'parlour games' with 2 player options. Indeed, the nature of Las Venturas, GTA SA's third city - based on Vegas, would certainly provide ample opportunity for such mini-games.

It's a shame that Rockstar hasn't provided a specific statement on these features, but so close to launch, it's a fairly academic matter anyway. What we can say with the full support of Rockstar is that we are looking forward to this game immensely, and will be bringing you a full-blown preview in the coming days. Word!

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Another character driving while you shoot?!?!?! Sounds very similar to Lance Vance from Vice City to me.....

Doesn't prove anything about multiplayer.

I don't think it will be.

I think RockStar would prefer to go the online route rather than multiplayer.

[Guest Bluesman]

I really have a difficult time believing this to be true. If it was in there, I'd think R* would have made it public by now.

[Miami Vice]

With or without it this game will kick ass! I don't really care if it's multiplayer or not anyway.

[Mortis]

;_; I am still waiting for GTA San Andreas....

My little brother is buying it for his birthday.... ultimate pwnage getting to play it without having to buy it. I love having a little brother.

[abundant]

Apparently, Take2 Spain made a press release regarding that co-op mode does not exist. We would post the article but its in a different language and the translation is poor. Regardless, the Spong article was only a speculation article worded pretty badly.

Credit: GTA-Sandreas.com

[Guest tallness_dude]

It would be so cool to have a few co-operative missions incorporated into the game's story line. Nevertheless, GTA games are hot a hell, so I would buy it no matter what.

[FunkAsPuck]

You fucking Americans get the game 3 days before I do.

Oh, and this multiplayer stuff just seems speculation. Something incredibly minor spun completly out of proportion. Like the whole "Sin City" name which people actually believed was going to be the name of the game before it was announced as San Andreas.

[Mick]

You fucking Americans get the game 3 days before I do.

←

God, bless America......

Land, that I looooooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeee...........

[abundant]

2-player mode is in...

From the OPM article:

"Some interesting points were revealed in the section about the 2-player option. The 2-player option will be co-operative play as seen in other popular games such as Halo. There will be special 2-player activities in the game, such as on-foot and in-car rampages. However, OPM claims that the screen will not be split during co-operative play."

"It was also in San Fierro that I stumbled upon my first two-player rampage. Yes, you read that right. Rampages come in two form, vehicles or on-foot. On-foot allows both players to run around on the same screen with separate health, armor and weapons. Vehicle rampages drop players into a vehicle, one person driving while the other shooting, with the objective of destroying a set number of targets in a limited time. It's simple and effective, and it's a nice reward if you're playing the game with an audience."

Edited October 23, 2004 by cravatemark