As Rockstar Games' newest installment in the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto series, San Andreas certainly had some large shoes to fill after the release of cult classics Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City.

As is obvious from the opening movie, San Andreas does not disappoint.

After themes influenced by old-school Mafia movies (GTA III) and Scarface (Vice City) gamers will find an early 1990s theme to San Andreas -- think Menace II Society -- that truly brings the series to a whole new level.

San Andreas is an island with three major cities based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

As in other Grand Theft Auto games, the cities are remarkably similar to their inspirations. The difference -- and what makes this the finest GTA installment yet -- is your ability to move uninhibited as the game progresses between the cities and their surroundings. There is nowhere you can't go.

As you rob casinos, steal shipments of government weapons, fly planes and "whack" some problematic Mafia big-shots, the game does a nice job of tying characters from previous Grand Theft Auto games into the plot. While the landscape is huge, very little of it is boring and most gamers will easily find nuances to keep them occupied.

Be it in one of the cities, in the desert, in the air or out at sea, there are no shortage of side missions and opportunities to simply cause anarchy, which makes the world of San Andreas, while huge, wildly interactive and entertaining.

-- By Dan O'Connell