A Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas fan game has been released that takes the sandbox title and gives it a horror twist. Featuring one of the most frustrating missions of the GTA series, Rockstar's 2004 entry is notorious for admonishing players for not following the "damn train". That aside, it's still a highly praised installment in the long-running franchise, often grouped with GTA 3 and Vice City as the trilogy of games that truly made an impact on the industry.
Of course, Rockstar's flagship releases are not often known for scaring players. However, there are some pretty creepy Easter eggs in the Grand Theft Auto games, such as the ghost girl in GTA Online, but by and large it's not known as a horror series. That's not to say that it isn't possible to turn up the fear factor slightly, and it looks as though someone has managed to make one of the open-world titles a lot spookier.
As spotted by PCGamesN, a fan-made project has been released over on Itch.io. Developed by user Piotr Rycabel, "Grove Street 404" presents a completely new way to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Set in various locations across the fictional state, players are tasked with keeping a watchful eye on a number of live feeds to catch any unusual events that take place. Some strange occurrences can happen at random, with the goal being to report anything out of the ordinary. While this might not sound too scary, a couple of images show there are some pretty unsettling things that players may witness.
Some people reading this may already be reminded of the indie horror game I'm On Observation Duty, which has a very similar premise in that players must watch monitors to see if anything odd happens, often with some terrifying results. Rycabel has said "Grove Street 404" is directly inspired by this particular title, so fans of Observation Duty will likely get a kick out of this game. The best thing is that it's completely free, and anyone interested can find it on Itch.io.
Fans may also be interested to know that it is Grand Theft Auto's 25th anniversary. The first entry was released on November 28, 1997, and not only did it kick-start the series, it also made a name for Rockstar, which at the time was called DMA Design. Since then, the GTA games have become a staple of the industry, and with the sixth installment on the way, the studio is by no means done with its most lucrative asset.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definitive Edition is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.