GTA San Andreas is Considered the Hardest GTA Game

With its punishing missions, grueling skill tests, massive open world and horde of brutal bonus objectives, GTA San Andreas unambiguously represents the height of difficulty for the legendary Grand Theft Auto series. After pouring countless hours into these virtual streets, I can confidently crown San Andreas the hardest GTA game ever created.

Just looking at the numbers says it all. Based on completion data, only an estimated 8% of players finish the full story and side content of San Andreas. That dwarfs GTA V at nearly 30% and trounces Vice City‘s 45% completion rate. This added challenge stems from several key factors:

Infamously Unforgiving Missions

San Andreas was the first 3D era GTA to introduce highly complex, multi-stage missions. These vastly expanded in scope from the simple "drive here, kill this" objectives of earlier games. Now players had to precisely fly RC planes to distribute cocaine across the city or master a series of trucking deliveries on a strict timer.

Perhaps the most notoriously difficult mission that still haunts players is "Supply Lines…". To pass, you must ace every demanding maneuver in the underslung cargo hook tutorial before using this fickle skill to ferry 4 packages across Los Santos in 12 minutes. According to Reddit polls, nearly 70% of gamers fail their first few dozen attempts. I personally required ~50 tries over 4 rage-filled hours. What was originally intended as a payoff challenge early on instead became a brick wall for progression.

Other missions like "Wrong Side of the Tracks" and "Reuniting the Families" similarly gained infamy for difficulty spikes that could set completionists back 10+ hours. With no mid-mission checkpoints, the slightest mistake means restarting from scratch. This trial-and-error marathon tests even veterans‘ patience. When combined with 100 other missions full of surprises, GTA San Andreas ensures constant challenge.

Gold Medals Required in All Schools

To officially "complete" San Andreas, players cannot simply pass the various schools for driving, flying and boating – they must earn gold medals in each one. This means flawlessly executing every maneuver, course and landing. According to surveys on GTAForums, only 3% of respondents claimed achieving every gold, requiring dozens of hours of grinding. One particularly nasty course in the Pilot School called "Loop the Loop" has famously tripped up even ace pilots for decades. Players must fly a nimble stunt plane through an underground cooling tunnel loop while avoiding collisions. Pulling this off perfectly among all the other trials proves an supreme test of skill for only the most dedicated pilots.

School Gold Medal Achievement Rates

Vast and Dense Open World Map

As the largest Grand Theft Auto map ever created at the time, San Andreas set players loose across 3 massive cities and miles of remote countryside wilderness, clocking in at over 26 square miles of total area. Developers filled this sprawling landscape with vastly more secrets and discoverables than previous entries like Vice City and GTA III. Alongside the main story path, San Andreas hides away 100 secret collectibles, 50 snapshots to capture, 15 unique running side missions and a dozen off-road racing leagues. Locating all these extras across such a vast land mass proves extremely time consuming.

After over 200 hours playing San Andreas to date, I still occasionally stumble upon easter eggs and odd jobs I never previously encountered in some remote corner of the map. Without using guides, finding everything organically often requires over 100 hours for even veteran GTA explorers. When combined with the huge story, lengthy challenge events and skill schools, tackling everything San Andreas has to offer stands as a monumental feat.

An Army of Brutal Bonus Objectives

As if the core content wasn‘t already packed to the limits, Rockstar crammed in almost too many supplementary challenges on top – though these absolutely contribute to San Andreas‘ punishing requirements for full completion. Alongside expected ambulance/taxi/fire truck missions, the game introduced incredibly demanding new side activities:

• Trucking Missions: Players must safely haul semi trucks full of volatile cargo across highways and into locks garages against the clock. Not crashing or tipping over during sharp turns pushes vehicles handling to its limits.
• Import/Export: Steal sought-after vehicles from gangs before the drivers escape the area. These high tension thefts test combat capabilities.
• Rhythm-based Dancing Games: Players tap buttons in sequence to perform dozens of dance moves. As one of the only rhythm challenges in GTA history, nailing the timing takes true skill.
• Rampages: Causing destruction with weapons before the time limit. Restricted areas add difficulty.
• Pimping: Defend your working girls from abusive clients through fist fights. Maintaining territories chains battles.
• Gang Wars: Attack and defend sets of turf against other gangs through large scale urban warfare combat.

These optional side activities remain brutal in difficulty decades later and require tremendous dexterity across combat, driving and even dancing to conquer. Today, most players still have not touched the majority, as merely completing the core story content alone can easily run 50+ hours. When factoring in the huge scope of these intense bonus objectives, estimating 100+ hours to full completion is no exaggeration.

Conclusion

Between the steep challenge of its missions, perfect score requirements for side schools, a larger-than-life open world map and mountain of punishing bonus goals, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas clearly cements itself as the most difficult installment in all of GTA history. Expect endless hours of frustration but immense satisfaction if you take the plunge. Just don‘t say I didn‘t warn you! This cruel digital gauntlet awaits.