Plot is the biggest reason why San Andreas is so bewitching. You play Carl “CJ” Johnson, who returns to his home neighborhood of Ganton (think Compton) in the city of Los Santos (think Los Angeles) in 1992 after the murder of his mother. He’s been living the straight life in Liberty City for the past five years, so he’s grown out of touch with his brother, Sweet, and the rest of his crew in the Grove Street OGs, like Big Smoke and the perpetually dust-smoking Ryder. Despite CJ’s years out of the life, the death of his moms and the lure of being home with his friends encourages him to stick around. Of course, it isn’t all friendly reunions. There’s a crooked cop to deal with named Tenpenny, crack dealers encroaching on the Grove Streeters turf, a gang war brewing with the Ballas, and the prospect of being forced to live in the sticks for a while, or even relocate to Los Santos’ sister cities, San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Ventura (Las Vegas).