Saints Row Gets Frisked Up At Review

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 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, ie. 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?

Find out after the jump!

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.