Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Michael Tarlow

A man named Charles Colton once said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Saint’s Row proves that nothing is more flattering than a tribute to a great work. Many people might just quickly write this off as a Grand Theft Auto rip off, and although it is very similar to Grand Theft Auto, it has many of its own takes on the free-roaming crime game. While games were at a drought, this game came out shining like an oasis in the bone-dry desert of summer.

Saint’s Row is going after the same winning formula that Grand Theft Auto used to carry itself to incredibly high sales. Many games have done this before, but where those other games have failed, Saint’s Row aims to succeed. With 360’s next-generation graphics, and Microsoft’s Xbox Live! Online system, Saint’s Row could be on par with Grand Theft Auto, as many games before have only dreamed of doing. With such high hopes for Saint’s Row, the only question is whether or not it can deliver what it promises. The graphics, although not drop dead gorgeous, are extremely well rendered with a cartoon flare along with the realism and grittiness of the city. When you begin you are shown an Oblivion-esque create-a-character screen with a surprising amount of depth. You can tweak and play with your character until you create exactly what you want. Floating around Xbox Live you can find almost any character, from a replica Samuel L. Jackson to a replica Napoleon Dynamite. This simple feature adds a fun, personal feel to the game, which always is a nice touch.

The cars have a surreal but interesting physics model attached to them. The physics model sends parts flying everywhere when cars explode or are hit at high speeds. Passengers even fly through the windshield if a car is hit hard enough. The cars have an interesting look to them and can also be tweaked and customized like much of the game.

The sharp gamer might notice some graphical glitches, but these few glitches don’t even come close to getting in the way of your gaming. Sometimes there is a tiny but noticeable flicker in the ground’s texture or your car’s reflective surface might suddenly blur a bit. Although these will not make the game worse, they definitely should have been dealt with before the release of the game. The soundtrack to this game is top notch. The first thing the player notes is the music. There are a multitude of radio stations covering everything from rock to rap to elevator music. If you dislike the music, there is always the option to put in your own music. The music shines just as it did in Grand Theft Auto, and this is no surprise.

Voice acting is nice considering the voice acting of free-roaming crime games in the past. There is no text dialogue between characters, which means even the pedestrians have their own voices. Many spew out funny lines like, “You can’t hit me , I was the homecoming queen!” That alone compels me to run over that particular person and it is quite gratifying.

The effects are excellent and well put together. The gunshots are clear and realistic, car horns ring out across the game’s world, engines blare, and when you’re outside a car ’with the radio still on you can hear the music continue to play. Controls have been improved over Grant Theft Auto by leaps and bounds. Saint’s Row generally has the same control feel as Grand Theft Auto, and many will like the simplistic controls. Like Grand Theft Auto, the game uses a simplified action control scheme, easy vehicle controls, one button for shooting and melee attacks, and two joysticks for movement and camera control.

The big improvement in Saint’s Row is in the aiming system. Instead of the dreaded Grand Theft Lock-On system, Saint’s Row has implemented a pleasant free aiming system of it’s own. The aiming makes it so you can actually shoot things rather than flailing around wildly with your character’s torso pointing somewhere in the vicinity of the enemy or object you’re trying to hit.

Car controls, although not perfect are quite friendly and easy to get a hold of. The cars handle well and vary depending on the car. Generally, they’ll get you where you want to be when you want to be there. This is where the game really shines. Although we all love the Grand Theft Auto formula, and we all know that it sells like crazy, Saint’s Row pulls it off with style and with its own little flare.

One thing you’ll notice when you begin is the multitude of side missions you have to earn respect. Respect is used to play story missions and strongholds. Strongholds allow you to take over an area by killing people in a specified place to take over a section of the city. Side missions also include: Insurance Fraud, where you throw yourself in front of vehicles to gain money; Hijacking, where you must take a specified vehicle and return it to your mission start point; Chop Shop, where you pick up a certain type of vehicle with certain details and bring it to a shop where you abandon it; Drug Trafficking, where you escort various drug dealers from a hippie to a soccer mom to and from drug deals; Snatch, where you bring “hos” back to their pimp; and last but certainly not least... Mayhem, where you must rack up a certain amount of destruction given a certain set of weapons.

The game also has little nuances that make it incredible to play. Need money? Rob a store, either at gunpoint during the day or by cracking the safe at night. Want some quick respect? Steal a car and take the current passengers as hostages. The game manages to take an ordinary game task such as earning money, and turns it into a fun side mission. You may even spend much of your time playing side missions and simply wandering around the city before you ever begin playing missions in story mode.

The reason I could NOT give this game top marks would center around the multiplayer, which at this time still has major lag issues. A patch is going to be released but this should have been dealt with before release. Value you say? Replay value is painted all over this game. There are a ton of options within the game and a theater, which lets you replay any and all of your favorite missions.

Multiplayer is stacked with options that will keep you going until GTA IV hits the shelves. From creative game types such as “Protect The Pimp,” where you must guard a designated player, and Blinged Out Ride, where you trick out a car and sell it off to make money before time runs out. Live! Gangs and matchmaking will keep even the most attention deficit players hooked on the game for weeks and weeks.

Although there aren’t multiple endings, this game lasts for long enough on its own and creating a new character always adds something different to the game. Saint’s Row is really something that any 360 gamer should check out. Grand Theft Auto fans will be pleasantly surprised, and people who don’t like Grand Theft Auto may even create an attachment to this game for its variety and pure fun.

This is something you will play, possibly play again, play online, and tell all your friends to play.

Bottom line, it’s damn enjoyable.

Gaming Trend Score

90

1. Graphics: 87
2. Audio: 96
3. Controls: 89
4. Gameplay: 92
5. Value/Replay: 86
6. OVERALL:90