Had the Grand Theft Auto games never existed it's proper to say that
Saints Row could have been one of the best games released on the Xbox
360. Sadly Grand Theft Auto does exist and you can't help but see where
Saints Row gets most of it's gameplay from. Sadly Saints Row is nothing
but a cheap copy of Grand Theft Auto with a cut down story, annoying
and repetitive activities and the same old clunky combat Grand Theft
Auto
suffered from in the past. If one was to not compare this game to Grand
Theft Auto it'd score an easy 8.5-9.0 but with games like GTA IV and
Vice City out there, this game simply does not stand a chance.
The graphics in Saints Row are mediocre at best. While the game goes
for a more comic book style of graphics it really looks like a last
generation game on the 360. The character models aren't very impressive
and nothing really stands out. For the most part the graphics in Grand
Theft Auto San Andreas were actually on par with this game. There
really isn't any more then this to be said about the graphics. The
presentation of the game is mediocre, the city has an alright feel but
it hardly compares to the environments seen in other free roam games.
Nothing really feels alive and everything feels as if it was just
thrown in there and has no purpose. I always see the same things too
around the city and every part of the city looks the same. The sound in
the game is mediocre as well. The dialogue is corny and lazily written
and the sound effects sound dated at this point. The radio stations are
alright but it's obvious they tried to copy the wit and humor of Grand
Theft Auto's radio station, this is a miserable failure.
The story and game play of Saints Row can be summed up with one word by
one word for both, Abysmal and Alright. First off there is no story in
the game, don't come here expecting an epic tale of redemption and
revenge. Rather come expecting a game that is just a glorified version
of the gang wars you get in San Andreas. The story begins with your
custom made character caught in a firefight which ignites a city wide
gang war. You are taken in by the Third Street Saints and you
essentially go through the gang trying to take out the other gangs and
control the city. Other then this there is no story in the game. The
game play is mediocre, the driving feels good and is easy to control
but the combat is clunky. It's alright and does the job but it can be
very tedious. Activities are an annoying addition to the game play
formula. Personally I hated doing the same repetitive tasks in order to
get respect. Sadly this is not a choice activity but rather it's
mandatory if you want to advance through the game. Don't expect to find
anything new that's worth checking out here.
What did I like about this game? The only things in this game that were
excellent were the amount of customization. I really liked making my
own character and dressing him however I wanted. Cars are also very
customizable which is cool to see. There is also a lot of fun to be had
doing some of the activities notably Mayhem and Insurance Fraud, the
rest on the other hand were just boring like the escort missions for
instance. Another good thing about the game was it had decent mission
variety, it's not just kill this and that but sometimes you get to do
different things like masquerade yourself as a limo driver to get to
your victim to go under cover as the rival gang and cause mayhem. Sadly
some of this mission variety is ruined by frustratingly difficult
missions which happen randomly.
All in all Saints Row is a mediocre game and really was intended only
to be build up for the eventual release of GTA IV. If you're really
tired of GTA IV give this game a rent to see if you like it. If you're
a GTA fan expecting to find something new don't bother. Just go back to
Vice City or San Andreas, you'll have a lot more fun.
