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Saints Row Gets Frisked Up At Review |
Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: Ryan Garside
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The gangs have arrived, and as expected, they have been weighed and measured to see if they fit the requirements for that crime-driven fun. Have they been found wanting?
Ryan Garside of bit-tech.net offers his take on the performance of Saints Row as an imitation of the classic GTA. While that may seem weird, reviewing a game not on its own merits, the comparison was well-founded, and even necessary, given that GTA's imprint on Saints Row is overwhelmingly apparent.
According to his review, the interface is almost identical, from that circular map guiding you on the bottom left corner of the screen to the basic movements, i.e.. running, jumping, punching and kicking. Even the way the missions were introduced were oddly similar to the GTA: there's a short cutscene where a character will offer you a job, which you have to perform. It did not, however, have that "unique edge GTA offers...taking the gleam off." The humour appeared to be one aspect that the developers failed to really get away with, as observed by Garside. While they did get to mimic cutscenes and radio broadcasts, "they have failed miserably at making the game funny." Swearing was probably found a little over the top, as he said it made the game a cringe-worthy parody of the genre.
The AI is also another part of the game which seemed to be weak. You know how important car chases are in games like this. Unfortunately though, having sirens wailing at your wake is not something to really worry about in this game as it lacks that adrenaline rush as in GTA. There are also particular missions where you'd have to be driven around by the AI. Overall, while the AI isn't that bad, it just isn't up to GTA standards.
But is GTA all there is to it?
Thankfully not. Despite of these similarities, Saints Row manages to step out of GTA's shadow with its own features, activities and storyline. In the beginning of the game, the first task you'd have to face is character creation. Yup, you get to "design" your own gangsta, from his hairdo, to bodybuild, to the bling-blings hanging 'round his neck. Your first brush with action is in your initiation with your gang (The Saints), whereas after which, you find yourself in the thick of a street war. The general mission is for you to help your gang reclaim and invade territories, including those which are in the possession of the three other rival gangs.
The insurance fraud mission, although not exactly a part of the main storyline, proves to be particularly hilarious as a crooked Doctor tells you to get into accidents in order to milk some money out of insurance companies. With the infinite health you have, you can just about do anything to inflict injury on yourself: running into cars or jumping from buildings.
The multiplayer action is also one thing that clearly distinguishes this game from the GTA. It offers cooperative modes as well as online competitive options, which include Gangsta Brawl (a simplistic death-match), Big-Ass Chains, Protect that Pimp (almost identical to the VIP mode of play in Counterstrike, only, that the VIP is replaced here with a pimp), and Blinged Out Ride (a complex version of Pimp My Ride, where you get to upgrade your car but not before eliminating rival gang members faster than your opponents).
With the help of the in game sat-nav style, with just a quick click on the start map menu, you are then given the quickest route possible to get to your destination. Also, there's this ring feature on the map, which on certain missions, you are able to gauge just how far you should be away from the others in order to complete the mission. This is especially helpful for those missions where you have to do some tracking while remaining incognito.
At the end of the day, while Saints Row may not have lived up to the expectation of being a true GTA protege, what it does succeed in is the fun game-time you'd experience with it. More importantly, it does take the effort to add some valuable contributions to the crime-adventure genre that we've all grown to love.
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Comments
Saints Row does need to give its due credit to the GTA franchise. That is obvious. GTA developers need to look at Saints Row and see what -improvments- Saints Row brought to the table.
First Person Controls = BETTER GAMEPLAY (no stupid lock-on glitching up and getting you killed. You are either good or you aren't)
Driving with Left Thumbstick (to better aim with right thumbstick while in the car, its in the options menu. You can still use the bumpers to do "traditional" drive-bys if you prefer that)
The ability to store all of your vehicles in a garage
The memory to keep all adjustments made to cars (even damage is kept until you fix them, San Andreas cars would lose upgrades and had to pay for them again)
If your vehicle is totaled you can go to any garage and (not only have access to all cars) you can fix it up. (In San Andreas it is gone for good)
You dont have to eat food to live (just to survive and you can keep food on you for dangerous missions like drug trafficking, pushbacks, and later snatch missions)
The Homies AI is incredible. I see them pulling enemies out of cars and chasing down people until they are dead. They also duck infront of you if they are in your line of fire. (Sorry but homies in San Andreas were stupid and useless, they would die more often than they could help)
You can Revive Homies (yea... San Andreas is better?)
I actually wanted to finish the Story in Saints Row. I have never finished any GTA because the story(ies) became so boring with missions that were annoying. If you die on a mission in any GTA you lose some money, your guns and possibly your car. Saints Row doesn't punish you, they just make you start the mission over if you want to with all of your ammo and stats, or you can just quit the mission.
Online Multiplayer (GTA... where's yours? You have been doing this for how many years RockStar?)
Then there are the mini-games, and really they are modifications to exsisting GTA type missions, with some new (like Hitman). The point is they are as fun as ever and now they have achievements so it keeps you playing even more.
Saints Row payed homage to GTA, and brought some fresh ideas to the genre. If you can't accept that then you're just a hard core fan and not a true gamer. I see people that look at the graphics of Gears of War on 360 yet they would rather play Getaway on PS2. Don't dump on Saints Row if you haven't played it or have but only for a couple of hours. However, if you give it a chance, you may realize exactly what I've been typing all along.
-V
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Just like Viphid said...Saint's Row is an improvement.
I'm sure Rockstar will learn from SR and make GTA4, hopefully, ten times better.
That's what competition should do...drive motivation and make the product better.
get both games I say...whats the point of being loyal to something? You lose.
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I know GTA 4 will be better than Saints... but there is always room for a Saints 2.
-V
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Was Vice City better than original GTA III? Was San Andreas better than Vice City? the answer is...YES.
And as long as there are fans of the free-roam car stealing genre...who cares.
Why should Sony fans cry about how Saints Row stole GTA's ideas, when Sony is stealing EVERYTHING in thier new console from other companies.
think about that.
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If gta didn't exist i can only imagine the reviews this game would have had. Saints and Gta are both great game, y not just accept that and stop arguing
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Guess you never played both games then.
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-V
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