Even here on gamespot it had reviews and promotions as ‘been there done that’ & ‘just another GTA’ and I pegged it into that category as well, EVEN after I had played it briefly the 1st day I rented it. BUT once I put the DVD in the 2nd time and decided to play it through, I quickly found out how good the game really is. It does have many qualities you find in GTA (Grand Theft Auto) games, but it also has so much more, and the graphics are stunning, another thing I took for granted the 1st time around on this game. When it finally started to sink in and catch my eye was the moment I noticed the car blinkers. Something rather small yet opened up the game in a large way. This game is filled with next-gen characteristics, and full of everything an ‘open-ended’ game should consist of. BTW there is also multiplayer (which I will get to... shortly) which is good and bad all in one package. The single player game takes you through a variety of missions, and side activities that increase you respect and cash$$ (things we have seen before) but in its own way they do a very good job of making these new and fresh. There is a linear story/movie which is overlapped by many off-shoot cinematic and assignment to go along with them. The music is excellent and the one feature which is a must have in any video game nowadays is the fact that us can use your own playlists, now it doesn’t allow you to use playlists from your pc like the 360 dashboard does, BUT if you have playlists on your 360 it does allow those playlists to be used in your ‘media player/mp3 player/ radio’ ALSO remember those hidden packages in GTA? Well this game takes it one step further and those same hidden packages are now CD’s which actually Unlock music within the game, and the track list is excellent in the game, of all genre’s so the extra interactivity of finding these hidden CD’s through the world are even more worth while to find.
Ok... Multiplayer… I was so excited to hear that an ‘open-ended’ game was multiplayer enabled, and I saw the word co-op too and I nearly fainted… BUT they tricked me. Granted the multiplayer game modes are fun (and all games should have some form of multiplayer AND co-op!!) So kudos for the sheer fact that it’s included. The huge downside… The engine (the code used during gameplay) is weak, instead of letting the players choose the in-game options and players themselves... the game sorta auto-picks the players and even someone with awful latency/ping/==Bad connection can play in a game, so what happens is, you see people disappear as you shoot at them, or their player sticks to one spot on the map and is ‘frozen’ while you waste bullets and precious time trying to kill ‘nothing’ or the blinking person lagging behind the rest of the field. So basically what I'm trying to say is… create a match with friends with good connections or your game is gonna be … lacking. Now one more HUGE bonus… is the online gangs, which is basically the same as clans, you can create or join gangs and participate in ‘gang/clan’ only multiplayer games, which are awesome, but again... You really need some friends to play with and invest the time to do so.
Overall the game is totally worth playing, a weeks rental should do the trick, cause paying 80bux (after taxes) is still way too much money. So rent it, and enjoy. Buy the game once it comes down in price!! Cause its an open-ended game that never really ends, and the multiplayer game modes are super fun (if u have players with good connections)
Some info you might want to know before I get on with the review, I am about 40-50 hours in the game and beaten the main storyline. My Gamertag is ShottyOwnage You begin the game by making a custom character of your c... Read Full Review
Saints row is a under- appreciated game that really deserves more credit. It may be similar to GTA but you could make that case for EVERY game for pete's sake. The graphics are amazing and they really show what the 360 c... Read Full Review
