The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Perhaps this is the over-obvious choice, but I really can’t think of a more impressive new release this week than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($6.99). This was sort of the magnum opus of the PlayStation 2 era when it launched way back in 2004, pushing the limits of what was possible on the hardware at the time and also pushing the limits of what gamers could expect from an open-world game in terms of sheer depth and variety. There is just so much to do in GTA: San Andreas that you could very easily dump hundreds of hours into it without even finishing the main storyline. The iOS version is everything the original game was and more, with much-improved visuals, slightly tweaked missions to make it more mobile-friendly, and fantastic virtual controls. And, if you don’t jive with virtual controls, you can even use an MFi game controller, but I actually find myself preferring the virtual button setup.
As we said in our review of GTA: San Andreas, there’s not a whole lot to say about the game that hasn’t been said already many times over. It’s simply a masterpiece of the early millennium gaming generation, and holds up incredibly well even today. The version released for iOS feels like the definitive version, and had you told me back in 2004 I’d be playing such a game on a tiny computer that slides easily into my pocket, my head would have exploded several times over. Simply put: if you like Grand Theft Auto in any way, shape or form, you need the iOS port in your life, and then you need to kiss your free time goodbye as you get lost in the world of San Andreas. I’m really curious to see what else Rockstar has planned now that all three of the open-world GTAs from the PS2 era are released, and I’m really hoping they consider building an original GTA for iOS from the ground up, but until then enjoy the splendor that is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on your iOS device..
