City of Saints
The persistent, living world of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™ begins in a place modeled after 1992 Los Angeles—the thriving, car-happy city of Los Santos. Your adventure takes you to a certain city by the bay called San Fierro, then on to the gambling capital of the state, Las Venturas, next to the huge, sprawling desert area. For starters, let's take a look at the businesses and other hot spots of Los Santos.
Your starting point—the neighborhood cul-de-sac.
Get a Haircut
Your character, Carl "CJ" Johnson, is fully customizable, and the way CJ looks has a direct impact on how other characters in the game react to him. Your first order of business (looks-wise, anyway) after you arrive in Los Santos is to get a decent haircut. The first shop to open will be Reece's Hair Facial Studio in the Idlewood area, not far from the Johnson crib. Reece offers a wide assortment of cuts that range from the $50 "Caesar and 'stash" to the $500 cornrows. Reece doesn't do dye jobs, but two more locations in Los Santos do: the Playa Del Seville (the name is such an obscure joke there's no point trying to explain it if you don't already get it) which is in enemy-ridden Del Seville territory. The Playa can give you red, blue, or green hair as well as the $250 mohawk and beard cut, also known as the "Mr. T." If you've got the coin, consider the Playa's $1,000 Elvis Hair. The only other barber shop in Los Santos, the Barber Salon in the Marina district, has the same cuts as shops in San Fierro and Las Venturas. Before you shell out four Franklins for the Salon's pink Mohawk, know that it doesn't boost either your respect or your sex appeal.
I pity the fool that don't go to Reece's!
Fancy Up Your Duds
Clothing shops are not immediately available upon CJ's arrival in Los Santos, but the first three will open up after you complete the "Nines & AKs" mission. Aside from attire for your torso, legs, and feet, you can also buy watches, chains, hats, and shades (which include goofy choices like Groucho glasses and an outlaw-style bandana worn over the face). Binco is your basic clothing store, with threads that give CJ modest increases in respect and sex appeal. Suburban is more of an Urban Outfitters kind of place, run by Goths who have some of the funniest incidental dialogue in the game (give a listen right after you step out of the dressing room—I've never heard the phrases repeat yet). Like Suburban, the sports-themed Prolaps sells gear that can increase your respect and sex appeal a lot more than what you get at Binco, but expect to cough up extra green as well.
Get your colors on—green is good.
Ink
How will your fellow gangstas know whence you came to San Fierro or Las Venturas? With a few carefully chosen Los Santos tattoos, that's how! You can get tattoos on your chest (left or right), on your belly, on your upper and lower back, and on your upper and lower arms. Chicks dig the ink—tattoos boost sex appeal, respect, and just plain look cool. Remember to hit the Gym if you plan on running around shirtless, so everyone can admire your style.
You don't even have to get drunk first.
Dining Out
CJ's just tryin' to eat, and I mean that literally. Stop off at the local eatery now and then or you start to get scrawny, your energy level (and health) will drop, and you begin to look like a crackhead … and the ladies don't go for crackheads. Los Santos has got pizza joints (the Well-Stacked Pizza Co.), the Burger Shot restaurant, and the chicken-lovin' Cluckin' Bell. Just walk in and place your order—but if you want to avoid getting fat, pay a little extra for the salad meal, or make sure you exercise by hopping on your bicycle or heading to the Gym.
Make a run for the coop at Cluckin' Bell.
Pumping Iron
Speaking of the Gym, it's not just a place to work out, even though that's what you'll be doing most. There are free weights for arm curls and a bench for presses, which builds up your muscle and your sex appeal as you get more cut (pull the left trigger to see your stats while you're on foot: fat, stamina, muscle, sex appeal, and respect). To lift, select the amount of weight you want to use and then rapidly alternate between the A and B buttons (how you do that is your call—my method will definitely give you blisters). Lose fat, as opposed to just adding muscle, by hitting the treadmill or the stationary bike. The bike's much easier to use than the weights, just tap A repeatedly. Once you've trimmed down and bulked up, be sure to talk to one of the boxers in the Los Santos Gym to learn how to use more powerful melee attacks by pressing the Y button.
Muscle adds to sex appeal, respect, even damage.
There's so much to see and do in the vibrant environment of Los Santos, it's hard to believe that there are two more huge cities to visit. This brief tour should be enough to get you started, however. Los Santos 4 Life!
By Danny Chihdo
