Saints Row worth it?

[Tyguy]

Thinking about picking this up. Can someone who has this gimmie a go/no go?

 

[Hypnosos]

Yes, if you liked GTA: San Andreas. No otherwise.

 

[P43.2/1Gig/X800P]

I picked it up yesterday its alot of fun . Rocket launcher is awsome.

 

[Axyon]

Got it this morning and it's brilliant fun. Framerate's locked solid, much of an improvement to the demo. I can only describe it as taking GTA, but modelling it so it feels completely different, but retains everything good from GTA, and improves substantially on everything that was bad.

 

[StardogChampion]

6/10 in Edge.

 

[Warbie]

I had some issues with this edge review. They were giving the GTA series credit for having a well written and funny script and a more memorable city. The latter may be the case, just (there's not much in it), the former I couldn't give a crap about. What they completely fail to touch upon is how much better the gunplay and street battles are in Saints Row - here it completely craps on GTA in every way - far more exciting and fun to look at. Obviously the game looks much better too, with suitably exagerated physics, explosions and funny animations. Once again Edge shave off a few too many points for a game not being original.

A comfortable 7 or 8/10 for me, and better than the last few GTAs.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Hat's quick capsule review - Best. Clone. Ever.

Yes, if you liked GTA: San Andreas. No otherwise.

Not true. I really couldn't get into San Andreas, but love this. It is most similar to SA of all the GTAs though.

 

[Stigmata]

My review: (see Bad^Hat's review)

This game is really good. Sure, sandbox-style gang games have been copied before, but never copied this well. 8.5/10

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Its awesome. Definatly worth the cash.

 

[Crushenator 500]

I'm not buying it, but i was just wondering, how's the selection of music on the radio in it

 

[CyberPitz]

Not my cup of tea, sadly. I did love GTA and GTA2 though!

 

[TwwIX]

Is it a clone?Yes it is.
Is it as satisfying as the GTA series.Definitely!
Even though i am not a big fan of the urban setting the storyline is pretty good and so is the gameplay.Not to mention the multiplayer mode.Beats the shit outa MTA,thats for sure.

 

[Stigmata]

I'm not buying it, but i was just wondering, how's the selection of music on the radio in it

Well, it's your standard rap/hip-hop/rock/punk/orchestral/etc mix. Then you realize that you've never heard any of the songs before in your life. Then you realize that all the songs are actually really good.

 

[DeusExMachina]

You can always add your own custom music.

 

[smwScott]

It's kind of annoying to see people say that it takes all the good things from GTA and improves on everything else. That's just not true. For instance it stole the worst setting and style from all of the games - San Andreas. Secondly the writing, plot, and sad attempts at humor all blatantly pale in comparision to the GTA series. The music stations suck in comparision. There's no variety to the vehicles, not even bikes, let alone boats or planes. The city in the game isn't as good as any of the locations from the GTA games, especially San Andreas. To top it all off, it's about as long as Liberty City Stories, by far the shortest in the GTA series. I personally haven't played the multiplayer, but it doesn't look as fun as the multiplayer in LCS, but like I said I can't say for sure. Don't forget they had the luxury of seeing someone else's mistakes and a next gen system to make all these "improvements" on.

What did it add? Better aiming system, different but inferior mission progression system, character customization (the only feature I particularly care about), and an overall sense of paint by numbers "fill in the blank" game design. It's a decently well made clone, but it is in no way in the same league as the GTA games.

I wouldn't even recommend it to hold you off until GTA4. I have more desire to go play Vice City again than go through this game once. I would recommend Parallel Lines, The Getaway, Mafia, or Mercenaries ... games which have taken the concept and done their own thing with it, in many ways improving upon their source material.

 

[Axyon]

It's kind of annoying to see people say that it takes all the good things from GTA and improves on everything else. That's just not true. For instance it stole the worst setting and style from all of the games - San Andreas. Secondly the writing, plot, and sad attempts at humor all blatantly pale in comparision to the GTA series. The music stations suck in comparision. There's no variety to the vehicles, not even bikes, let alone boats or planes. The city in the game isn't as good as any of the locations from the GTA games, especially San Andreas. To top it all off, it's about as long as Liberty City Stories, by far the shortest in the GTA series. I personally haven't played the multiplayer, but it doesn't look as fun as the multiplayer in LCS, but like I said I can't say for sure. Don't forget they had the luxury of seeing someone else's mistakes and a next gen system to make all these "improvements" on.

What did it add? Better aiming system, different but inferior mission progression system, character customization (the only feature I particularly care about), and an overall sense of paint by numbers "fill in the blank" game design. It's a decently well made clone, but it is in no way in the same league as the GTA games.

I wouldn't even recommend it to hold you off until GTA4. I have more desire to go play Vice City again than go through this game once. I would recommend Parallel Lines, The Getaway, Mafia, or Mercenaries ... games which have taken the concept and done their own thing with it, in many ways improving upon their source material.

I disagree with you on all counts. The setting and style is an emphasised 'gangsta' basis, but I actually think it works well and the voice acting and cut scenes are of a very high quality, much more so than any GTA game. I feel like I'm watching a movie during some of the cutscenes.

The humour's there, it's just subtle and you need to look for it, unlike GTA where it's pretty in-your-face and obvious. Stuff like Freckle Bitches or Snatch (which is a fantastic double entendre) are good examples.

Music stations - that's just opinion, but because there's no metal station in SR I found myself listening to the electronica station and liking it, which I never thought I'd say.

The lack of motorcycles or aircraft is a minor annoyance, but when the cars themselves handle so well, that minor annoyance becomes nothing at all. I really can't undertand why people were bitching about the way the cars drive, because I think it's perfect. No GTA game could match barreling a handbrake turn round a corner, then throttling it back up to speed again. It's awesome.

The city's plenty varied and it actually feels like a city, instead of small villages with large buildings in SA, or Vice City which was pretty, but damned barren. It's a nice mix between ghettos, suburbs, towering inner-city areas and huge freeways which break up the sections. This is without considering the absolute slew of things to do. Robbing stores at night is a personal favourite; making you break into the safe with combinations is a fantastic touch. Touching on the point I just made, how in the hell can you call the game short? I've racked up about 10 hours of gameplay so far, and I'm at 24% - this is without rampaging much at all, I've been focusing mainly on the story.

It's the little things in the game that add up to make it really superb. The homie system, the broadly extended car customisation (for crying out loud, there's 5-6 types of paint to use, each with 40+ colours), the ragdoll and car physics, the perfect gunplay and free aiming mechanic in cars, the glorious weather system, holding up stores... I could go on forever.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I agree with most of Axyon's points. However, after playing for about 10 hours aswell (on 30%, mostly activities ^_^), I'm a bit skeptical of how long this one will hold my interest. There's a slew of things to do, and a big emphasis on freedom and doing whatever the hell you feel like whenever you feel like it, which I love. But idunno... it feels like it lacks a bit of variety - and I realise that totally contradicts my previous statement, but I'm not sure exactly how to sum up what I'm thinking. Maybe I'm just worn on the concept after playing through every GTA (couldn't bring myself to go through SA).

Anyway, to address a number of comments Scott made - keep it mind it's only the first game in the series. The way they've built the game and the interest it's getting, I'm pretty sure there'll be a Saint's Row 2.

I wanted really badly for it to have bikes, I loved em in Vice City and was eager to see what SR's superior physics engine and (arguably) driving mechanics could do with em. Also, boats would have been AWESOME given this game has great water, but not much cause to ever enter it (warp to shore, wtf? =/).

I'm not even gonna to consider aerial vehicles, given how taxing it is already to drive and shoot

 

[DeusExMachina]

The humour's there, it's just subtle and you need to look for it, unlike GTA where it's pretty in-your-face and obvious. Stuff like Freckle Bitches or Snatch (which is a fantastic double entendre) are good examples.

You've got it a bit reverse.

 

[Axyon]

You've got it a bit reverse.

Do elaborate.

 

[Stigmata]

I rather like the Freckle Bitches commercials. It's funny without sounding like it's trying to be funny.

"So come on in and get Fisted, at Freckle Bitch's. You can't beat our meat "

And Stefan, the Eurotrash guy. He's hilarious.

"Because really, you DO need new clothes. I mean, look at you. You have a mirror, yes? You look terrible. If you have money, come to Stefan's and shop with us. If you are poor... We have a window, you can come and look through it."

As for the apparent lack of hilarity in the commercials, I read a developer diary that said a number of the commercials are purposely not funny, to give the stations a sense of authenticity. So there you go... I suppose.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Do elaborate.

GTA's humor was never really in your face, so to speak. It was quite subtle.

 

[smwScott]

^^^ True, not to mention it was actually funny. GTA is truly very clever and well written. The whole game is bathed in quality satire that is very entertaining. The atmosphere and style is one of the main reasons I like the games so much. It's also the reason San Andreas is my least favorite despite having far better gameplay than the other games (and plot-wise this game is just an ultra crappy version of San Andreas, so you can imagine how I feel about it).

Saint's Row is a bunch of guys trying to capture that feeling but don't really have any talent. So yeah, they can come up with some childish slogans and chuckle worthy double entendres, but it isn't truly good comedy. The GTA games are the funniest damn games I've ever played.

As far as your arguements on the gameplay ... I've got nothing more to say, except that a lot of the things you mention like house robberies were lifted from GTA. We've both stated our opinions and will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Tyguy]

I got the game and I am thrilled. The graphics are superb and the gameplay is fun as hell. Shooting is much more fun and the sound effects surpass GTA. The bikes and planes not being in it kinda stink, but I heard it was because the speed of which the map would need to load wouldnt allow core owners decent framerate, but thats just what I heard.

 

[Asknoone]

^^^ True, not to mention it was actually funny. GTA is truly very clever and well written. The whole game is bathed in quality satire that is very entertaining. The atmosphere and style is one of the main reasons I like the games so much. It's also the reason San Andreas is my least favorite despite having far better gameplay than the other games (and plot-wise this game is just an ultra crappy version of San Andreas, so you can imagine how I feel about it)..

I agree.

 

[Axyon]

GTA's humor was never really in your face, so to speak. It was quite subtle.

That's not elaborating in the slightest, you've just resaid what you mentioned earlier.

Ah well, you guys can hate on the game as much as you want. I'll just be here, having an absolute blast with what's easily the most fun game of recent times.

 

[-Psy-]

Looks like a laggy bitch from the advert o_0

But maybe that's just the 360 version...

 

[DeusExMachina]

That's not elaborating in the slightest, you've just resaid what you mentioned earlier.

Ah well, you guys can hate on the game as much as you want. I'll just be here, having an absolute blast with what's easily the most fun game of recent times.

There's nothing else to elaborate on. Freckle Bitches? Snatch? You call that subtle?

But nowhere did I say Saint's Row is a horrible game nor do I agree with anyone who thinks its bad. I think the game is great.

 

[Core407]

From a gameplay standpoint, Saints Row takes from GTA and evolves it to next generation. Instead of using an auto aim system, Saints Row introduces a well done 3rd person shooting system ala Max Payne. On top of that, the cars handle very well and cars handle much differently from others. Add in the wonderfully done map system, inredible AI, interesting missions & activities and you have one hell of a game.

GTA kills this thing in originality, but from a gameplay standpoint, GTA has nothing on this game by a longshot.

I really never understood how a game like GTA could get 9.9's across the board when everyone agreed the shooting was very lackluster and the driving was average at best. For a game that's about 20% shooting, you'd think something like a crappy system would take down the scores a bit, but a guess not.

Don't go into Saints Row expecting some impressive story because there isn't really one there. Is it bad? I wouldn't say so, but I see it for what it really is - an over the top tongue and cheek styled humor in a comic book type world.

Axyon: GTA's humor wasn't thrown in your face, which made it great. Things like the mountinaro commercials really made me laugh and Saints Row just doesn't have that.

I will commend Saints Row on having the most realistic selections of radio stations. Every time I go through the stations, I can't find anything good or interesting to listen to. JUST LIKE REAL LIFE!

 

[-Psy-]

Heh but games aren supposed to immerse you and take your thoughts away from real-life

 

[Core407]

 

[DeusExMachina]

Oh good, I thought there'd only be shitty clothes.

 

[Axyon]

Damn, you beat me to making Agent 47. Where do you get the shirt and tie, though?

 

[P43.2/1Gig/X800P]

thats pretty cool . How did you get all the different clothing? i just beat all the mmissions las night too Great game. Now i'm going to try to to do hitman missions.

 

[jack_blits]

its good its just got quiet a few glitches