Saints Row is the little Grand Theft Auto clone that could... and did.
Pac-Man had his clones, so did Mario, so it was only a matter of time before the highly acclaimed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would get the same treatment. Hordes of clones were unleashed on the masses, but none even came close to being as brilliant as it's source of inspiration.
When publisher THQ and developer Volition Inc. announced Saints Row for the XBox 360, it's only natural that the gaming community got a little hesitant, all the while remaining curious at what this next-gen title would look like. When it was released at the end of August, they were pleasantly surprised.
Saints Row is an urban action-adventure set in the present day. You play an unnamed character who is unwillingly forced into a very volatile situation between the gangs of Stillwater: Los Carnales, Vice Kings & Westside Rollerz. Luckily for you, Julius, of the 3rd Street Saints, is there to rescue you from certain death. He then asks you to join his gang.. and the rest, as they say, is history. You will then help Julius and the Saints in their takeover of Stillwater.
Although this sounds somewhat familiar to the story in San Andreas, Saints Row has a less deeper one here. Mind you, the story is still good, but there is this constant cheesy dialogue and fake gangsterism lingering around. The story is filled with clichés and you'll often find yourself thinking "Ah yeah, I knew he'd/she'd say that".
Nonobstant the cheesy, predictable story, the gameplay in Saints Row is pretty solid. It might take you some time to adapt to the controls, especially if you're used to playing some GTA, but it's really not that bad.
You control your character's movement with the left analog, while you aim with the right and shoot with the right trigger. You use the face buttons to jump, reload, check inventory and use items.
Naturally, you'll get to drive some cars around Stillwater. The driving is also very simple to handle here, each type of car responds differently, as you get different senses of speed and control.
All these controls are fine and dandy, but what do you do around Stillwater anyways? Well, the game is based on 3 arching storylines, which blend in with the main one. Your objective here is to take over Stillwater from all 3 rival gangs, and you will do so by completing parts of the storyline and also by taking over Strongholds.
But to do so, you will need to fill up your Respect meter by doing certain Activities all around Stillwater like: Insurance Fraud, where you need to throw yourself in front of passing cars to collect some insurance money; Mayhem, where you'll need to destroy a certain amount of stuff (cars, property, people...); Hostage, where you climb aboard a car with a passenger and evade the police for a certain amount of time. There are many more activities here, and they all add something different to the game. The idea is highly original and very well done, not to mention tons of fun.
What makes this game different from others in the same genre is the sheer amount of things you can do around town. Aside from the Activities mentioned earlier, you have the Shops, which include clothing stores, jewelry stores, restaurants, gun & car dealerships, and so on. Not only can you buy some things in those places, but you can also rob them in broad daylight or break into the stores at night. You won't earn any Respect by doing this, but you can earn a ton of money though. Another thing you shouldn't forget is that clothes make the man: the more purple clothing you have on (the Saints gang color), the more Respect you earn when you complete a Stronghold mission or an Activity.
Speaking of "making the man", Saints Row allows you to create your own character from scratch. You get a choice of 4 base models (Caucasian, Black, Asian & Latino). You then get to customize everything, from your face to your body. Although this has been done before in the Godfather game, it is still new for a game of this genre, and it is a welcome addition.
Another welcome innovation in Saints Row is the map feature. Everybody has suffered at one time or another with the maps in previous games in the same genre, where getting lost was as common as shooting a police officer. Here, you will be able to place a marker on the map of where you want to go and it will outline the route to take. Finally! Someone thought about adding this in the game! Brilliant!
But, not everything is rosy and innovative in the town of Stillwater. There are still a couple of glitches that hinder the gameplay in varying ways. For instance, it is not uncommon to see the road, horizon or even the car disappear in thin air and then reappear. At other times, one of your homies will disappear for no reason or drop dead after you reload or finish a mission, especially if they were burning alive when the mission ended.
Speaking of homies, their AI in this game is horrid. They have this unhealthy tendency to run in front of bullet fire or incoming rockets, and since you have 30 seconds to revive them, you risk the chance of going down yourself when you do so. They are pretty good shots though, but them running around mindlessly can get really aggravating. Aside from arming yourself with guns for certain missions, arm yourself with patience.
Saints Row has online multiplayer. Although this sounds pretty damn sweet, and it is in certain respects, it's not all rainbows and puppy dogs. The game modes are very interesting: You have Gangster and Team Gangster Brawl (Deathmatch & Team Deathmatch), Protect Tha Pimp (where one player on the team is Tha Pimp, and the others need to protect him until you reach your destination), Big Ass Chains (where you collect some chains and bring them to a certain point without getting killed, a la capture the flag) & Blinged Out Ride (very original, where you collect cash to upgrade your ride to level 4 and then show it off, without having the other team destroy it).
All of these are incredibly fun to play, but there is one little hitch: the online is extremely laggy at some times that it makes playing the game online a real pain. No matter how many people are playing at a certain time, it's always laggy. At this point and time, it has not been fixed yet.
You earn a certain amount of money after each online game which allows you to buy clothes for your online character. Naturally, you can import your character from the single player into the multiplayer. Clans (or gangs, in this case) are supported.
The graphics in the game are beyond reproach. Although there aren't many different car models or gang members or even people on the street, they are very well represented. This truly looks and feels like a next-gen game.
The sound is pretty good also. The voice acting is ok, not stellar, but that could be due to the very bad casting and corny dialogue. The music, on the radio stations and in-game, although all licensed, is almost unknown, except for a couple of classical tunes here and there. THQ probably didn't have the same licensing power as Take Two has, which explains the lack of known songs. But hey, Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries" is in there, so it's all good. Guns sound like guns, cars sound like cars, etc.
All in all, Saints Row is a damn good game in it's own right. It may have "borrowed" some stuff from San Andreas, but it's originality and mission structure make this a stand out game, and not a clone. I highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to get their "gangsta" on.