Saints Row Knockout
The 10 best things about Saints Row.
by Douglass C. Perry
August 25, 2006 - THQ and Volition are just about to lay down one of, if not the most, important games of the year for them. A Grand Theft Auto-style game, Saints Row was originally slated as a launch title for November 22, 2005. It was delayed because of its poor graphics, rough gameplay and overall lack of next-gen finesse. But THQ and Volition's diligent work over the past nine months have panned out. We have final boxed copies of the game and we're playing them, and by gosh and by golly, it's making this GTA-fanboy stroke his beard in admiration. Not of himself, mind you, of Saints Row.
With Saints Row shipping next week, I've tallied a short 10-point list of the game's best qualities, which, a few short months ago, I seriously doubted I would ever write. How can I possibly pen such a piece, you ask? Over the past three days I've been playing the crap out of the final version of Saints Row and the more I play it, the more I like it. This is tough to admit. Volition's strong desire to copy nearly everything about GTA smacks hard of "me-too-ism." Saints Row's derivative roots are hard to swallow, so it's been difficult to see its strengths. Add in that during the game's preview process those strengths weren't really clear, add in delays, and an overt desire on Volition's part to create a hip-hop vibe that's less "cool" that it attempts to be, and my reasoning makes a little more sense.
After 10 hours of play and having completed 20 percent of the game, I've realized there are easily 10 things worth recommending about Saints Row. Volition's final boxed copy portrays a polished feel and several well-thought out mechanical gameplay experiences, such as shooting controls, camera angles, and driving controls, and a powerful graphic engine that makes you feel like you're playing a game that belongs on Xbox 360. What else? Read on.
10. Mini-Games Numero Uno
Saints Row is devised with a smart progression scheme, one which takes a little from GTA, a little from The Godfather, and a little from True Crime, but in the end, it's mostly Saints Row. I'll get into that a little later, though. As part of the kinds of missions you'll encounter, story missions, side missions, etc, you'll get to experience racing games, hitman games, 'ho missions, and the like. Although they're cornily scripted and a little over the top in taste, the "collect the bitches" missions are a hoot.
These "Activities" require you to cruise the city looking to pimps and their 'hos, shoot kill the pimps, collect the 'hos and bring them back. The bigger the car you have the more "bitches" you fit into your car. Its simple but fun. What's also nice about this, and all Activities, is that they ramp up in difficulty, so that if you replay them, they're organized into levels, 1-3, or 1-6, whatever. So that when you get to level 5 'ho collecting, it's heavy duty mayhem out there.
9. Snagging Homies
Not a really big detail, but a nice addition that makes the game a little easier and fun down the road when the difficulty levels ramps up. When you earn enough respect, you'll earn leaderships qualities. These enable you to recruit a buddy, or as Volition calls them, "homies." By pressing up on the D-pad when near a Saints gang member, they'll join up, follow you while walking or when driving. If they're knocked out, you have a 30-second window to revive them, too. A nice little extra to keep them with you. Three of them will follow you and all three fit nicely in any four-seat car.
8. The Art of Aiming
Aiming in the Grand Theft Auto series is an issue. The auto-aiming was never really satisfactory, and Volition decided not to follow Rockstar's, EA's, or Activision's aiming schemes. They simply freed up the aiming mechanic, making it freeform, and what do you know, now it's a skill-based endeavor. The controls are steady and smooth, and the reticule switches color when it runs over a potential enemy, while turning green and forming an X when it rolls over a friendly. The decision is a good, likeable one.
7. Trailing the Suspect
Volition basically took a long hard look at all the GTA games out there, GTA specifically, and fashioned a little more structure precision into its game. There are a few missions in which you have to trail an enemy and when they have to trail you, and the required distance is measured with two red circles, an inner and an outer one. These distance icons become valuable, for instance, when you're on a Snatch Activity (couriering prostitutes), and the paparazzi is following you. You have to accelerate beyond the outer red circle for long enough to succeed in the mission. Similarly, when in a mission requiring trailing, you must stay in the perimeter of the outer red circle to stay on target. Again, not a big thing, but a small, welcome improvement over these types of missions in previous games.
6. Custom Music
The huge soundtrack for Saints Row isn't a ground-breaking, top-notch, AAA title buster like the GTA ones were. It's a "B"-level soundtrack. But guess what? There is a surprising amount of variety, a slew of bands I'd never heard of, and you can customize a handful of your own soundtracks, or import your own from Xbox 360, which you could do in GTA: San Andreas, but it's one of those really nice touches we have come to expect and love.
5. Excellent Map
What a smart map! The map shows on screen in a circle in the left-hand corner, but by pressing the Start button, an interactive map shows you everything you need to know. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to toggle between subjects on-screen so that you can choose missions, activities, retail stores, strongholds, etc by using the D-pad. The colored territories instantly convey the current gang power structure. It's all excellent.
4. Burly Strongholds
This is a type of mission requiring balls, and it usually requires a few tries. But they're terribly (as in wonderfully (just add the English accent)) rewarding. Claiming a stronghold usually comes in hand with claiming a territory, and the act is usually partnered with making another big jump in the story progression. For example, they require you to single-handedly break into an enemy warehouse or building, kill everyone inside, and then they're finished off with a big shooting spree, boss, sniper or rocket launcher topping. Oh, and the rocket launcher? One of the best rocket launchers ever.
3. A Smart Progression Scheme
Progression schemes in this type of game are always interesting because they're always complicated, hard to make, and they portray the structure and game principles of the game's designers. Volition's progression structure shows off the team's erudite qualities as students of the genre. To progress, players much earn "Respect" (this should sound familiar), and by earning it, they unlock a variety of things from story-based missions which progress the narrative, but also they unlock additions activities, shops and abilities, such as recruiting homies. You can't just bust through the story missions and claim that you've won, beating all your friends because you've spent three nights in a row without sleep trying to beat it. By killing enemies and succeeding in "Activities" you earn Respect points (the game's currency), which delegate out a variety of missions including new shops (like weapon and clothes shops), newer activities, and new story modes. The Respect meter measures how much you earn and once filled, you reap the benefits, but in essence, Volition has spread the points out among all kinds of missions, compelling you to explore the world and take part in all kinds of missions.
2. Mini-Games #2
This one is simply my personal guilty pleasure. I love the insurance fraud activities. There is very little that's original in Saints Row, but one of the best and most original aspects is this mission. You essentially try to do as much damage as possible to yourself by throwing your hapless, rag-doll body in front of speeding cars. You have full control of your body as you position yourself, but when you press a button you body becomes lifeless and is essentially a tennis ball. You actually earn points by getting long distances, attaining multipliers by hitting multiple cars, or getting cars to hit one another, and by getting height. This is essentially a free-form way of experiencing the physics engine and it's brilliant fun. Think of Crusty Demons or Flatout, and you're on your way.
1. First to Multiplayer
The five multiplayer online modes in Saints Row represent one of the biggest leaps this genre has taken since Grand Theft Auto San Andreas quintupled the size of GTA: Vice City. But in a way, this is more important because no developer has dared enter into the online arena in this genre, but Volition has shown it has huevos, it's stepped up, and it looks to have hit a huge deep fly to left field. Did they hit it into the stands? We'll see.
At least three of the five online modes are basic, free-for-all fun modes that don't require too much strategy, skill, or teamwork. But the other two, Blinged Out Ride and Protect Tha Pimp, do require teamwork, strategy and a little brain power, and they're fun. Very fun. But they take some time and good people to play with. The game also supports co-op and System Link possibilities. Nice work.
Klik om te vergroten...
