Saints Row Review

Grand Theft oughta sue!

Version tested: Xbox 360

Despite the predictably provocative strap line, we're not going to bang on too much about the ridiculous number of similarities between Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto (and it is astonishing). Rather than get steamed up at the death of creativity and end up ranting incredulously "and they even stole this bit!", we're in the 'talent borrows, genius steals' camp today. We're also interested in how we managed to glean so much enjoyment from such dead-eyed creative bankruptcy. In some senses it's a terrible game that you want to take an AK47 to, yet there you are, 25 hours into it, 3AM in the morning, still enjoying it.

Whether you're sick to death of the glorification of gangster theme, bored of GTA-style games or you just plain hate what the game stands for, the thing that it's hard to escape how well-crafted it is. And how enjoyable it is. It's like a McDonald's burger; you know you shouldn't like it, but man it tastes so good. The most puzzling thing is - unlike a BigMac - it's a curiously moreish experience that keeps you coming back for more.

Saints Row is, quite simply, a 'product' in the most calculated sense. THQ and Volition sat down a couple of years back and identified not only what was so popular about GTA, but what people hated about it. So, what we've ended up with is something that's not just specifically designed to appeal to the mammoth GTA audience, but makes an effort to fix all manner of irritations that have bugged fans for years. It effortlessly ticks all the right boxes. It's playable, fun, and forgiving, yet also remembers to be challenging, diverse, absorbing and epic. It's also very very slick, and polished to the nth degree. The hardest thing about the game is getting over your own dogged preconceptions and slightly irrational prejudices.

I fought the law, and I won

'Saints Row' Screenshot nose

Try and recreate Michael Jackson's nose for fun!

As is now 'the law' for games of this ilk, you start off as a bit of a nobody, joining the ranks of a no-mark gang in a typically beaten down US city. And as is now seemingly the law for videogames in general, you get to tweak a set of sliders and design your own 'homie' using a flexible character creation tool until you're happy with the results. Somewhat inappropriately, we chose to throw a skinny ginger white boy with a pimp tash into the downtrodden urban neighbourhood of the 3rd Street Saints. Fortunately, they didn't seem to mind the look we gave 'Ben', and soon enough you're sent off on a bunch of errands that act as a fairly seamless tutorial to how the game's divides your time between ploughing through story missions and various activities.

The first thing you come to realise is that you need to gain a certain amount of 'respect' (kill me now) before you're deemed worthy of being able to tackle the story missions on offer. Doing so requires a concerted effort to engage with all manner of peripheral activities dotted around the game map, including drug trafficking, destruction derby, race, escorting, hitman, snatch, mayhem, hostage, insurance fraud, among others.

Some are more instantly engaging than others - insurance fraud, for example, is a wonderful addition, in that it tasks you to rack up a certain amount of insurance claims within a strict time limit. You can try throwing yourself under a speeding car, or crash a vehicle so hard that you get catapulted through the windscreen. It's brilliant fun. Mayhem is another obvious highlight, whereby (rather like Rampage in GTA) you get to cause as much death and destruction within a time limit. Elsewhere, other activities task you with escorting unfortunate prostitutes away from evil pimps, or protecting a drug runner while he's on his round. Each start off being relatively simple affairs, but soon ramp up the difficulty as you complete each level and end up being devilishly challenging and quite addictive. Far from being the type of throwaway optional extras, their mandatory presence is something of a double edged sword. On the one hand, it's good to see the mini games not thrown in purely to pad the whole thing out, but on the other it can feel tiresome to have your progress into the main story part of the game effectively barred. As such, you regularly find yourself spending a solid half an hour meandering around trying to eke out more respect from mini games in order to make any progress whatsoever - whether you want to or not. You do have the option of gaining respect in other ways (such as taking hostages from vehicles (with at least one non-driving passenger) and driving them around for a minute or so until they cough up the dosh), but there's a building sense of impatience that the game is artificially holding you back from making progress - and it does so in a cheap manner that could so easily been avoided. It does force you to see more of what the game has to offer, and it does make the whole experience more varied, but there are times when you could do without half a dozen levels of Escort just so you can start a bloomin' mission.

Crow sits on a blood tree

'Saints Row' Screenshot explosions

The explosions really are as good as that in-game.

When you do get a chance to power ahead and tackle the four main story arcs, the missions are largely drawn from the standard combat and driving pot pourri - with a lavishly detailed and well-animated cut scene introduction setting the scene for your criminal antics, complete with your mute lead character nodding his way through proceedings while the gang lords take centre stage. But as hard as Volition tries, it never quite manages to engage the viewer with consistently sharp writing and memorable one-liners, despite some decent voice actors that mostly manage to deliver without making us cringe to death. Much of the time the dialogue wafts over your head as yet another scene of expletive laden macho posturing plays out with tenuous irony; you'll be too busy marvelling at the incredible crow's feet around the characters eyes, or watching the lip syncing to really zone in on why it is you've got to go and kill another 30 badly dressed young men holding their guns at the wrong angle.

But what really holds the whole of Saints Row together is how rock solid the driving and shooting really are, along with some vital design decisions that make us want to kiss Volition for sparing us the kind of frustration that Rockstar seems to take sick delight in.

On the driving side, Saints Row slightly underplays the spongy handling of GTA, but instantly it just feels 'right' in that you can still take corners like a maniac and speed around the city without fear of wiping out every ten seconds. In addition, the range of vehicles in the game is diverse enough to make your choice an important one. Picking up a beaten up old banger versus a plush sporty number often makes the difference between success and failure - especially when it comes to finding one that can take the kind of punishment meted out by Stillwater's determined law enforcement patrols. Is it better than GTA? Hmm, probably not, but it's a close run thing. Being able to shoot while driving is useful, but the control mapping could be a little more helpful. One absolutely fantastic touch we should mention about the cars, though, is the way you can hear the bass throb of whatever's playing on its sound system as you get near to it. Step inside and the whole thing becomes clear. Cool.

Combat rock(s)

As for the on-foot portion of the game, Saints Row gets things absolutely spot-on. The controls are just about perfect, giving you just the right amount of aiming sensitivity and making it possible to see what's going on with a precise and easy to use camera system that you control with the right stick. In this respect, Saints Row wins hands-down over the comparatively clunky GTA, and it's a testament to the intuitive feel of the controls that you don't miss the absence of a target lock-on. In addition, the weapon select process is also handled excellently, offering players the chance to call up a circular menu by holding down B, and quickly selecting with the left stick - an approach which makes it really easy to swap weapons in the heat of battle. On the other hand, Volition arguably goes too far in the other direction with its too-forgiving approach to health. By allowing the player to recharge their health by simply staying out of trouble for about 15 seconds, it's far too easy to romp through missions by backing off whenever there's a bit of trouble. It makes you lazy, and means that nothings ever that much of a challenge. Worse still, the AI gang members that you can bring along with you can be instantly and repeatedly revived if they run out of energy - so long as you get to them within 30 seconds.

Whenever you do fail a mission (for whatever reason), you get the chance to retry it rather than being dumped back where you messed up (or outside the police station/hospital). Not only does this simple process save you an enormous amount of time, but you're guaranteed to restart your failed mission with the same vehicle and weapons, rather than have to do all sorts of time-wasting preparation as is the norm in GTA. Admittedly, on the multi-part missions you still have to suffer the tedious frustration of doing the same long drive ("yes, you know I can do this bit"), and the same simple bits ("yes, you know I can shoot these guys") over and over just to get to the stupidly difficult end section ("you want me to chase after an insanely fast car that can squeeze through the tiniest gaps that you know I'll probably get snagged on. Thanks"), but we're still thankful for small mercies. On the whole, our blind rage was kept in check for most of the time, with only a few utterly ludicrous parts (delivery truck part 3 - that's all I'm saying) where we wanted to pour lemon juice into the eyes of the designers. If only so they could feel our pain.

There's also a small question mark over why Volition felt it was entirely necessary to clear each and every stronghold of each and every gang before you can unlock the final mission in each storyline. Not only is it a drag (requiring you to earn respect from numerous activities before the game deigns to let you play them), but the vast majority of the stronghold missions are the same trudge through a building filled with gun-toting, smack talking bitches(sorry). It's like those sodding warehouse missions in The Godfather - just put there to pad the game out and force you to do things that aren't especially integral to the game. But, in a mindless sense, you chip through them and feel a numb enjoyment from the comfortable familiarity. It's another of those guilty pleasures. The main problem, again, is the demented respect system that dictates the flow of your enjoyment when you should be given the freedom to play them or not.

Pimp my pride

'Saints Row' Screenshot disguise

Thinking about it, it wasn't the best disguise.

Nevertheless, the game's exceptionally well put together. Even its approach to pimping yourself up is handled far better than any other comparative game, with the clothes, jewellery and tattoos you choose counting towards the amount of respect you earn (as part of a respect modifier applied when you succeed a mission). And as a sandbox, the diverse city of Stillwater is superb. Similar in size to Vice City, it's designed with the architectural flair of GTA III, which makes it possible to know where you are and where you're going in no time. Regardless of whether the buildings are important to the game or not, you sense that real pride has gone into creating a intricate city, with a character borne out of genuine craft rather than cut and paste haste. The graffiti designs and three dimensional façades give the place a real depth that's been lacking in other openworld games, and apart from the odd (very occasional) graphical glitch, it's a fine looking game. You might spot a touch of pop up where cars suddenly appear from nowhere, but it's nothing remotely game-breaking. The things that make up for such minor issues are the astonishing explosions, the varied weather and lighting conditions, and some of the crazy incidents you see on your travels. It's definitely a game with a real eye for detail that speaks volumes for Volitions pride in the project - but we just can't work out why the dev team allowed it to ship with such vile v-sync tearing. It's not something that normally catches our eye, but it's here in abundance, which is a great shame.

Elsewhere, the audio never even comes close to matching the peerless excellence of GTA. It tries to do exactly the same things, complete with multi genre radio stations, talks shows, crazed DJs and witty adverts, but it's rare to find yourself stopped in your tracks because of something you just had to listen to. The music selection certainly isn't bad, with a varied selection of classic rock, metal, modern alternative rock, classical and oodles of hip-hop. Far from being the rap overload it could so easily have been, it's actually very good, and goes much further than any other game that has attempted to ape GTA in the past. It was always going to be a tall order to top GTA's amazing radio stations, but Saints Row is a fine effort.

'Saints Row' Screenshot boom

However many times you see it, blowing things up never gets dull in Saints Row.

Perhaps inevitably, the online multiplayer is something of an afterthought, and at the time of writing is practically a waste of time thanks to some terrible lag issues that often make it unplayable. Using some hastily constructed arena maps that bear no resemblance to the main game, you've got a few basic deathmatch, capture the flag (chains, in this case) and escort-inspired modes (including team variants) to be getting on with, supporting up to 12 players either via system link or over Xbox Live. In addition, there's a team deathmatch variant that somehow manages to squeeze in the premise that you're pimping up your ride before your opponent, as well a few two-player co-op missions against AI. On the plus side, you can create your own gang or clan in the online world, but at this present time, it's hard to imagine why you'd want to spend too long suffering the lag problems that seem to affect every game. It's an issue the developer is well aware of, so it may well be fully fixed in due course, but be aware that players all over the world are reporting the same problems. The fact that the game's own manual skirts over the subject of online gives you a fair impression of how bolted on it was.

On reflection, Saints Row never quite measures up to its celebrated rival. Why? Well, not just because it's not as funny or as interesting, but because it lacks the true scope and ambition of, say, Vice City or San Andreas. For a start, the vehicles are focused on four wheelers, and that's that. No bikes, choppers, boats, tanks, planes, and definitely no jetpacks! By limiting the game in this way, it feels old school by design. It's 2001's GTA 3 with better visuals, essentially. And with only 36 story missions, the fun's over in about 20 hours, too. And that's taking the activities into account too. Yes, you will spend more time getting a 100 per cent rating, but maybe only in pursuit of those damned gamerpoints.

So, it may lack the scope of Rockstar's finest and has a few multiplayer issues to sort out, but Saints Row is still a decent game with a lot going for it. Sure, it's probably the most morally bankrupt game we've ever come across, but if you delight in extreme violence, language that would make Tarantino blush and a more forgiving take on the GTA theme then you've come to the right game. Throw in some excellent mini games, multiplayer diversions, a huge array of customisation options and excellent production values and Saints Row is easily a strong enough game in its own right to survive the inevitable comparisons. It seemed unlikely, but Saints Row has turned out to be a decent game, and at the very least it should help keep you going until GTA IV rolls around at the back end of next year. If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy

Comments (72) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 6 years ago

  • fantabulo #2 6 years ago

    the character customisation sounds pretty fun.
  • neilka #3 6 years ago

    Did you mean "dearth of creativity"?
  • valli #4 6 years ago

    Very good review, although no real mention of the terribly humourless dialogue and story. GTA:SA got away with many "thug bling cap yo" clichés by making fun of them.

    How's the game compared to the demo? Tell me they've done something about the character's jumping and sprinting animations, they looked so ugly next to his pathetic tough guy pose when he idles.
  • absolutezero #5 6 years ago

    McDonald's give me the shits, Im guessing this game would aswell.

    ;_;
  • Fatnick #6 6 years ago

    ""but we just can't work out why the dev team allowed it to ship with such vile v-sync tearing. "

    Publisher: THQ
  • BBIAJ #7 6 years ago

    Absolutely loving this right now!

    There's just so much to do besides the main missions.

    I've already played this for over twenty hours, and I'm still only about 30% of the way through!

    So much for Gamespot saying it would only last you 20 hours from beginning to end...

    I guess they just caned the story mode and nothing else.
  • morriss #8 6 years ago

    Cheers. I bougt it, liked it. I'd give it an 8 so far but I've played it nowhere near as much as Krud.
  • Beano #9 6 years ago

    "I'm surprised there is no mention of screen tearing in the review...it really starts to bug you after a while... "

    The bad v-sync, pop-up and other graphical glitches it are reasons I'm not buying the game (apart from it looking very generic and plain).

    A bit surprised by the generally positive reviews...
  • Sid-Nice #10 6 years ago

    I'm surprised there is no mention of screen tearing in the review...it really starts to bug you after a while...

    How this game passed QC is beyond me; GTA with better graphics? It has better pop-ups and the tearing is so bad; it's like playing the game in split-screen.
  • DjWhizzkidd #11 6 years ago

    We really must be desperate for games on the 360 if copy cat rubbish like this gets decent reviews.

    These games were mildy amusing 5 years ago - not any more.
  • captainrentboy #12 6 years ago

    The tearing on this is the worst I've seen in any 360 game,it can literally run all the way up the screen and take like 5 seconds to do so,it's really,REALLY annoying.But even with that nasty fault somehow I'm still throughly enjoying the game.Strangely I can't stand any of the games in the GTA series,but the fact that this one,like it states in the review has fixed soo many of gta's personal big faults (The driving and general bugginess of gta s.a made me switch it off after a few hours)means I find it considerably more playable.Definitely worth the 7 so far.
  • Sid-Nice #13 6 years ago

    I can't remember having problems with tearing on the demo; 50 f***ing quid I feel like tearing someone's head off. Ban these violent video games. :)
  • papalazarou #14 6 years ago

    hmm, would I be better getting this or GTA SA?
  • NthSimulachum #15 6 years ago

    Beh...may pick this up in a year or two.

    /sips tesco value bitter.

    Mmm...miserly.
  • pantherboy #16 6 years ago

    I think i'll wait for crackdown
  • alpha-0ne #17 6 years ago

    Ive played for 5 hours and i am at 9% complete

    pantherboy, i too am looking forward to crackdown which is a lot more original but i can spend £40 on 1/2 a night out so i dont mind picking saints row up aswell to tide me over
    Edited by 1 at 02/09/06 @ 12:07
  • node #18 6 years ago

    I know it pales in comparison to GTAs playtime, but how exactly is 20 hours of play a bad thing? Outside of RPGs that's an incredibly rare figure when it comes to game length, most games offer 10 hours at best yet there are plenty of enjoyable and worthwhile games in that category because they pack out every minute with quality.

    It really does feel like this industry places too much emphasis on play time over quality, does it really matter that much unless it's a rubbish game that's over after 4 hours? Anything over ten hours all too often means it's filled with padding missions and stat grinding (I'm looking at you FF) which is a bad thing.
  • Mordum #19 6 years ago

    Spent a few hours on it yesterday, about 8% of the way through, I've been having great fun with the 'Insurance fraud', 'Mayhem' and 'Drug Trafficking' side missions... not to mention taking whatever rides I can find to the mechanic to see what creations I can turn them into with the modding options. It really is a good game to just mess about in, but the story missions are fun too. I need to sort out my guys wardrobe though... want to find somewhere I can get a nice suit, make myself look respectable and all that. At the moment I would give the game a solid 8/10, and as someone said, I think its going to take me longer than 20 hours... as I can't help giving the side missions a lengthy run.
  • Lukus #20 6 years ago

    Biggest turn around of recent times. I remember EVERYONE slating this a year or two ago. A nice surprise.
  • Mr_Brown #21 6 years ago

    Damn good game, don't care if its similar to GTA, its GTA with Xbox 360 graphics and much more...as review says, will keep me entertained until the next GTA games comes out. Can't ask for more than that.
  • Stormflood #22 6 years ago

    Ok, I went and bought the damn game. If it's crap, I'm going to go round to your house and fart through the letterbox.
  • PearOfAnguish #23 6 years ago

    Sounds great.


    So when can we expect Freespace 3?
  • Bezzy #24 6 years ago

    I used to work at the place that did something like 40% of the buildings for this game (didn't do any myself). Glad you liked them, Krud.
  • PS3lol #25 6 years ago

    The V sync was left in to keep the frame rate reasonable. I hate V sync but could live with it if the game is fun, and this seems to be a decent game. And you can pick it up in Argos for £39.99, better than paying Gamestation or game £49.99.
  • papalazarou #26 6 years ago

    Or of course playasia for £23
  • DrDamn #27 6 years ago

    Beano wrote:
    > The bad v-sync, pop-up and other graphical glitches it are
    > reasons I'm not buying the game (apart from it looking very
    > generic and plain).
    >
    > A bit surprised by the generally positive reviews...

    Wow, you reckon there might be more to gaming than just the graphics then huh?

    Bought it and having good fun with it. A solid 7 maybe an 8. I actually find it quite funny in places, but GTA set such high standards.

    Compared to the demo I find the car handling a little better, though it may just be me getting used to them. As with GTA discovering the handbrake is essential.
  • sharpfish #28 6 years ago

    I would have gave it a 7 if it was technically without faults (tearing being the worse) but a 5 with them. 7 Sounds about right and non-biased.
  • SomaticSense #29 6 years ago

    When I first heard of this game, I had practically zero interest in it whatsoever, and after playing the demo I thought it was kind of ok. But my god am I enjoying the full game. I'm getting a similar feeling playing this as to when I played GTA3 for the first time, which is a hell of a recommendation. This is like a more polished GTA and without the frustrations. Yes, it's a ripoff, but then you could say the same thing about most FPS that came after Doom, Quake etc, but that doesn't stop them being great, so why should it stop Saints Row being great as well?

    I've only tried a couple of activities (concentrating on missions and fucking about mainly), but the insurance fraud is possibly the best side-mission I've ever played in a free-roaming game. It's GREAT fun running at a speeding cop car, going limp and throwing yourself at the bonnet making it look like they ran you over and getting dosh for it, and with the frankly fantastic phsyics, it looks absolutely hilarious as well. I could do those missions all day without getting bored.

    To the doubters, I understand where you are coming from as I once felt the same as well. But do yourself a favour and at least rent the game and give it a try. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.
    Edited by 1 at 02/09/06 @ 15:36
  • Xerx3s #30 6 years ago

    Thought that it was shit. 5/10. But then again, i'm not into the whole GTA style games (unlike me mate).
  • Xerx3s #31 6 years ago

  • #32 6 years ago

    "Thought that it was shit. 5/10. But then again, i'm not into the whole GTA style games (unlike me mate)."

    Shit -> 5/10, eh? ;)
  • bigbadbeasty #33 6 years ago

    Never was a big fun of the GTA series, but this is really fun, certainly keep me going til Dead Rising ;)
  • the_dudefather #34 6 years ago

    i guessed this would be a solid 7. its a great game thats piles of fun, but the eurogamer forum would have breakdown if it diddnt score less than 8 ("as good as halo then? M0t0r8iKes lol! arggghhhhh";)
  • morriss #35 6 years ago

    I get very minor tearing at times. That's it. Unless I'm blind.
  • Dezm0nd #36 6 years ago

    Really enjoying this, sure it's a blatant GTA cop off, but it's got more in it, in terms of gameplay. The Insurance Fraud alone is worth it, it's hours of fun, finding a way to throw yourself in front of cars for cash.

    The multiplayer mode is good, need to spend more time with, 7 (8 with the bugs removed) from me.
  • seregrail7 #37 6 years ago

    Most people knocking this game are people who havn't even played it.
  • sharpfish #38 6 years ago

    Most people who are knocking it (me included) played the demo. If the demo doesn't represent the full game, bad luck.

    Edited for those without comprehension skills. > To clarify, a lot of people were put off by the demo. They didn't want ANYTHING to do with the full game from playing the POS that the demo is. The tearing and lame story/cliches being the main faults. Demos are supposed to represent the full game in a subset of levels, characters, stories or envrionments. We can always allow for the fact that a full game can sometimes be better than the demo but that is normally when the demo is released months in advance (not a few weeks!).

    So, if so many people are bitching about the game it's based on the DEMO not because it's a GTA clone. If teenage gangsta wannabes who lap up this shit because it's all that is available think demo haters should throw down $50 to test the full game, to see if it fixed the inherent problems of the demo then they are out of their fkin minds ;)
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/06 @ 08:01
  • Les #39 6 years ago

    I loved Vice City, but San Andreas was no match for my limited attention span. I really hate the "Gangsta"-shit. It's a bit like 50 Cent's music. It's often great, on par with the best of comtemporary compositions, but the silly, childish gangsta-attitude totally puts me off.

    Sreenshots look nice but seem to lack the atmosphere of the GTA games. Maybe in motion it's better. What I would like to know is whether this is just a polished-up and shiny HD GTA wannabe or if there's actually some gameplay innovation (like smart enemies). I don't see these mentioned in the review, so that probably says enough. But as this game is so similar to GTA SA, the developers should have had all the time in the world for some innovation, rather than adding two or three additional mini-games.

    The only announced next gen game that really offers something that was impossibble on the last-gen machines, is PS3 Singstar which features more songs and videos than fit on a regular DVD. Even though that is more than enough for me to not have to think about shelling out those 600 euros come November, it's actually quite sad.
    Edited by 1 at 02/09/06 @ 22:14
  • miiiguel #40 6 years ago

    nice surprise indeed!

    So many games, so little time...
  • Xerx3s #41 6 years ago

    Shit -> 5/10, eh? ;)

    Well yeh, prehaps shit is a bit harsh, but 5/10 is a good leap in that direction. But i'm it doesn't really matter because ppl who are into this kind of game will luv it. Well that and the fact that I only played it an afternoon so I prolly havn't seen shit yet. ;)
  • The-Bodybuilder #42 6 years ago

    >"If the demo doesn't represent the full game, "

    /STUPIDITY ALERT. STUPIDITY ALERT.
  • Derblington #43 6 years ago

  • TheEnd #44 6 years ago

    So this gets praised for being an inferior, more forgiving GTA ripoff, whilst Driver 4 is condemned for it?

    Consistency ftw!
  • steoc4 #45 6 years ago

    It's not inferior to GTA.

    The AI is better, the on-foot sections are far far better, the graphics are better, there's more variety of odd jobs, proper physics modelling does make things a lot more immersive, the garage system is a million times better, the customisation is better and lots of little things(press A to restart mission instead of spending half an hour getting back to the start/press y to return to nearest shore instead of swimming for ages) make it less frustrating to play.

    On the other hand GTA has better story/characters, far better radio stations and sense of humour, a bigger world and slightly better handling(although the more I play the more I prefer saint's rows cars which have a lot more weight to them)

    On the whole Saint's Row is a better game in terms of mechanics, but I think the atmosphere and humour of GTA make up for that. Saints Row is certainly a game worth having though even if it's not quite as good as GTA, otherwise why would anyone buy anything except one game in every genre.
  • Lex_Luthor #46 6 years ago

    "So this gets praised for being an inferior, more forgiving GTA ripoff, whilst Driver 4 is condemned for it?"

    Driver 4 wasn't out on Xbox 360.
  • sharpfish #47 6 years ago

    @ The Body Builder

    "If the demo doesn't represent the full game, "

    /STUPIDITY ALERT. STUPIDITY ALERT."

    Yes you must be stupid TBB if you think a demo isn't supposed to be representative of the full game. The demo put MANY people off who had been looking forward to this game, the tearing which WAS present in the demo is present in the full game and that is one of the main factors affecting enjoyment in the game.

    The other reason the game is utter tripe is because it uses an emotionally inept, purile and humourless take on "gangsta" life and force feeds it into your brain assuming you are a young teen who laps up "badass" and has no capacity for self imagining.

    So, you must be the stupid one if you see a problem with what I wrote (that or an emotionally inept teen who hasn't experienced life yet).

    GTA Vice City (which I loved) showed how this kind of game should be done so they had the blueprint done for them, to fuck it up so badly while copying so much (moreso GTASA) makes it clear how much the games real faults suck. They were in the demo and they are in the full game.

  • seregrail7 #48 6 years ago

    I'm not experiencing terrible tearing. I only notice it occasionally. Then again, I'm not out hunting for it like others.
  • Les #49 6 years ago

    "If the prospect of more songs than usual on a next-gen Songstar excite you, though, you and I don't share the same taste in games whatsoever"

    Apparently we don't :)

    What's so great about Singstar is that it's one of the few games that can be enjoyed by both gamers and non-gamers and you can play it with a lot of people. I like multiplayer gaming as long as the people I'm playing against are in the same room as I am (online multiplayer is a very poor substitute). With single player gaming I always get the feeling that I should have done better things with my time.

    So more Singstar on a disc can never be a bad thing. And it's one of the few next gen games that seems to offer more game for your money as opposed to the current gen version. Next gen gaming so far seems to be offering you a half finished game with bugs and all, for the full price and then charging you for downloading content that should have been included in the first place. A significant portion of Eurogamer news consists of patch announcements for 360 games. To me that is a bad thing. But what's getting to me even more is that the EG reviewers don't seem to mind all this. If a game like Saints Row had been released on Xbox or PS2, it would have had a terrible review because it would be too much of a rip-off. But all of a sudden, as it's on a next gen system, that's not as big of a problem. The fact that the graphics are HD are enough to guarantee an inflated score. While the standards against which a next gen game should be judged should be higher than that of a current gen game and not just for the graphics part.
  • Les #50 6 years ago

    "Driver 4 wasn't out on Xbox 360."

    So?! The fact that a certain type of game is the first to appear on a certain console should not have a positive influence on it's rating. Especially not if that game type has been done better before and is available at a bargain price for a cheap last gen console.
  • Balסּr #51 6 years ago

    Anyone who loves GTA will love this game to, simple as. As the review states, considering the next GTA won't be on released until the back end of '07, this is rather excellent stopgap. And absorbing isn't the word, I sit down to play this for a hour and when I finally put the controller down 4 hours has passed.

    Hopefully this game will sell well enough to employ decent scriptwriters for a sequel, then I suspect Saint's Row will quite easily be the GTA beater.
  • skuzzbag #52 6 years ago

    @ Owen-B

    I guess you really missed the point of GTA-SA if you thought the gangsta theme spoiled it. I mean everyone knew it was going to be set in around LA in the early 90's and was going to be based around crack gangs for about 1 year previous to it's release FFS!
  • jack_klugman #53 6 years ago

    So when can we expect Freespace 3?

    Not soon enough!
  • thefilthandthefury #54 6 years ago

    "The demo put MANY people off who had been looking forward to this game"

    Odd. Until the demo came out, I'd not heard a peep about it. Then when the demo comes out, bam, customers are all pre-ordering it.
  • skuzzbag #55 6 years ago

    The demo convinced me to buy it, and a couple of mates too.

    Although, I aint bought it yet, was going to wait until after Dead Rising.
  • SomaticSense #56 6 years ago

    "The demo put MANY people off who had been looking forward to this game"

    Well, the exact opposite with me. I really couldn't have given a shit about the game before the demo. Downloaded it because I was bored and then after about an hour just pissing around with it, I preordered it.

    I can only really speak for myself, but your implication of "MANY", seems to be "a few of my mates", Because from being regular surfer of a whole bunch of internet gaming forums a huge majority that are are interested in buying the game was solely due to the demo, whereas before it was "Meh, looks ok...... but more than likely will be shit like every other GTA clone".

    Put simply, yes, it is another GTA clone. But if you like the GTA games, you WILL like this. It's GTA but more polished in many gameplay respects.

    Also I would like to give an update of my previous comment, where I said it isn't at all frustrating. Well, I completed all of the Insurance Fraud missions, and all of a sudden the game has taken a HUGE ramp up in difficulty. It seems that it works on an Oblivion type level system where the more respect you earn, the tougher the enemies get, only unlike Oblivion your character isn't actually getting that much stronger. Once you build up your respect this game gets way harder than I ever remember any of the the 3d GTA games being.
    Early on it's as easy as pie, but the whole 'rengerating heatlh after 15 seconds' thing becomes defunct after a while as your health will be down to zero in milliseconds once you have about 12 enemies shooting at you all with AK47s, shotguns, grenades and even rocket launchers!!

    EDIT: I come really close to lobbing the controller at the wall after failing a level 8 'Snatch' activity for the 10th time, and I'm normally quite cool tempered with games. That one mission cost me over $15,000 in hospital fees and I was angry as hell!!
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/06 @ 19:41
  • miiiguel #57 6 years ago

    sharpfish: Don't know what is "many people" put off 'cos of the demo, it sold 150.000 copies in US in the 1st 48hrs, and yesterday was 2nd of Amazon top sales, of all formats.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/06 @ 19:52
  • belziah #58 6 years ago

    Technically, the game is near faultless(v-synch apart), its the use of "niggers, white ho's and cocksuckers" that make this game shit. Its not tongue-in-cheek, its brain-in-ass.

    I'm about 6 hours in and could give a f0ck about continuing
  • darkbhudda #59 6 years ago

    I like hijacking a car, putting on Ride of the Valkaries, then tossing a grenade at the previous car owner.

    Or just cruising down the street with Beethoveen's 5th.

    Nothing says badass like classical music.

    Plus, not banned in Oz.

    Bonza.
  • darkbhudda #60 6 years ago

    Actually never noticed any v-sync tearing.

    I still don't know what it looks like.

    Damn it, why do I miss out on all the good stuff?
  • AdamWest #61 6 years ago

    yeah, driving around with all classical music in a playlist is fantastic. especially while doing the mayhem activity
  • smoison #62 6 years ago

    No /\/\0toBiK3S?!?!?!? Or helicopters? Or Boats ?!?!!?

    GTA LCS AND VCS have and will have that, I'll wait for the real GTA.
  • darkbhudda #63 6 years ago

    I think the next GTA clone should be a 19th century one set in London. You hijack penny farthings, carriages, horses. Pimp out your phaeton. Jack the Ripper activities. Opium dens. Authentic colourful English language.
    "My word!"
    "Bless my giddy aunt!"
    "You rotter!"
  • kangarootoo #64 6 years ago

    Me and a housemate both see the tearing. He thinks it impacts the game by some degree. I barely notice it when I'm playing and don't really care. Neither of us is wrong, we just have different tastes/eyes/brains/priorities.

    This whole tearing issue is extremely subjective. No-one should be put off by the cries of others until they have seen it themelves. I'm not saying that the issue isn't bad for those that notice it, just that the impact really seems to vary from person to person.
  • S.J.Rogers #65 6 years ago

    Got Saints Row on Friday and at this point I am 15% of the way through.

    Have not tried the insurance side missions or the Mayhem as I get all the respect I need from Hostage missions (although I am looking forward to trying them).

    I have a garage full of Pimped rides I have made and I love the way the cars handle (Better that GTA and they look better too).

    So far I love this game and will be selling my PS2 that I have only kept hold of for GTA SA.

    Only small downside is the fact there are no other types of transport than cars and trucks.

    This is a 9/10 game.
  • lennon #66 6 years ago

    My 2p's worth...

    On the tearing issue. I noticed it quite a bit to begin with but not so much recently. Im not sure if it has made a difference but I have now set the console to 1080i.
    Either way I personally dont think it ruins the game.

    On the GTA clone issue. Yes its a bit (a lot actually) like GTA but I didnt like the last GTA as much as its predecessors as it had become to big to be that enjoyable. What I like about SR is that it feels like a very polished version of a small GTA (if that makes sense!) what it does it does well and so far I havent felt that the game loses out for not having boats or planes. The mini games if thats what you call them are in the main excellent.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/06 @ 11:13
  • Darren #67 6 years ago

    Absolutely spot on review although my own score edges more toward an 8 after playing the game for over 36 hours since I got it last Thursday. And kudos to EG for mentioning the horrid v-sync tearing in the review, it really does let the graphics down in my opinion as do the other glitches like occasional disappearing bridges, cars, flickering backgrounds and all too obvious popup of trees, cars and other objects. When you're on foot they're less noticeable but get in a fast car and the game can look as glitchy as hell and it's froze on me once as well as I was heading for a mission.

    Still you can't knock the overall quality of the game; it's superb and it offers dozens of hours of gameplay for those wanting to complete it 100%. Well done to Volition. Hopefully we'll see a more polished, ambitious and tear-free sequel in a couple of year's time...
  • EmiliasHorse #68 6 years ago

  • skuzzbag #69 6 years ago

    @Owen-B OK then I'll retract my accusation as you make a good point that the humour of 3 and VC is lacking from SA.
  • squeakyg #70 6 years ago

    The screen tearing is very minor during gameplay - only really visible if you're looking for it. But it's really bad during cutscenes.

    Something I notice about the review: That screenshot of the character creation screen shows WAY more nose options than the final game! Don't tease us with pre-release screenshots that have far more options!

  • kangarootoo #71 6 years ago

    @Les

    Isn't the key point here that Driver 3 was mostly awful and Saints Row is by many accounts pretty good? The fact they might have started out with similar high concepts doesn't count for much once the game has actually been built. If I had a pound for every great idea that got f'kd up during implementation.
  • Darren #72 6 years ago

    @SqueakyG - I think it's the opposite on my Samsung HDTV... the tearing in the cutscenes is minimal compared with the actual game, when it is really "vile" as EG so concisely put it. It doesn't make any difference whether I use component video 480p, 720p or 1080i or VGA 1360x768 it's just as bad. Very disappointing for a big Xbox 360 title.

    And those extra nose options in the Character Creation tool are available in the full game, you have to press A to access them under Advanced. /wink
  • xs1ghtuk #73 5 years ago

    Great game, absolutely love it. No problems with it what so ever. It's a game that has been made with the intent to enjoy, i wouldn't recommend for you hardcore gamers who play the game just to complete it in record time. I admit the story line doesn't last as long as you want it to, i've had it 3 weeks but havn't had time to play it 24/7. So i've played about 18hrs of it. I just mess around at times, but the story line did get me hooked and i just had to complete westside rollerz missions just for the cars. I assumed at first that with the game missing bikes and boats etc... that it would not be as fun. But this game is amazing imo, it keeps me happy every second i play it. The missions are fun and the comedy is great yet limited. I would recommend to anyone, it's a laugh and the physics look spot on. 9/10 for me. Also i thin the headline saying "Grand Theft Oughta Sue" gave people intent to slam this game. Which is unfair really.