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However, apparently the game is still being optimised, so we were only allowed to tour the smaller outlying islands and flit between a few specific missions on the mainland. The first of these involved escaping from prison at the beginning of the game, murdering a range of doctors and guards on the way - most of whom were women for some reason.
The developers describe the game's plot as "darker" and more "Tarantino-esque" than before, but it still lacks any of the satirical humour of Grand Theft Auto. This is a real issue in Volition's game, where the sadistic violence is never tempered by anything.
To be honest though, if you've clicked on a link that said "Saints Row 2 preview", the chances are you're not going to feel morally compromised by the game's gleeful portrayal of random violence. You're probably more interested in how visceral that portrayal actually is. Well, using the over-the-top weapons is certainly fun, from a flamethrower to a new sticky-explosive charge, but the only real tactical consideration seems to be grabbing a hostage and using them as mobile cover.
Few of the other missions on offer suggested any additional depth, with a very simple on-the-rails shoot-'em-up section on a boat and later a helicopter, as well as Grand Theft Auto-style rampage missions and races on both a jet bike and in a car. All worked fine but the former was still inferior to the twelve-year-old Wave Race 64, even with all the new wave-creating weather effects turned right up. The car-handling model is purposefully arcade-like in style, which will please those that found Grand Theft Auto's stance an awkward compromise. The presence of mid-mission checkpoints will also be welcomed by those who fretted at their absence in Rockstar's games.
Nigel's attempts to become top dog were not going well.
According to Volition the aim was to make a more arcade-style Grand Theft Auto and while it is a relief not to get called out for a game of darts every five minutes, there appears to be very little else to see yet beyond crashing cars and standing in the middle of a crossroads with an infinite-ammo rocket launcher.
Which is just as much fun as it sounds, but does nothing to shatter the original's glass ceiling of longevity. Even after speaking with the developers, it's not clear that anything else was ever really intended, but it's a shame that the development sights haven't been calibrated as high as the marketing. Saints Row 2 does seem to do a number of things better than Grand Theft Auto, but it'll have to show a lot more to outdo it come the October release.
Saints Row 2 is due out on PS3 and 360 on 17th October.
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Comments: 1-39 of 39 in total
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David_Snakes
11/08/08 @ 06:17
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My problem with Saints Row was with the "feel" of the game. It felt lightweight and unpolished, both on-foot and behind the wheel. And the hook of "open world gameplay" is absolutely not cutting it anymore. Those activities were torturous (even Insurance Fraud after awhile).
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 11/08/08 @ 07:22
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the_dudefather
11/08/08 @ 06:26
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it managed to get a decent feel for shooting though, felt a 1000 times better than the gta games (except for gta 4)
no lock on and the weapons feel like they are doing something? yes please! edit: "The presence of mid-mission checkpoints will also be welcomed by those who fretted at their absence in Rockstar's games." This REALLY annoyed me in GTA4, made me stop playing the game at times, mostly because you had to do an incredibly boring driving sequence for 10 minutes in a predetermined vehicle (ie: no taxis) and play through easier bits of the mission before getting to the bit which was actually difficult, THEN getting killed and having to start again. Then they oddly give you a checkpoint for the final mission of the game, as it the rest of the game was fine without them.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 11/08/08 @ 08:15
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I enjoyed the first Saints Row despite the godawful screen tearing pre-patch, mainly because it was my first glimpse at what a next-gen GTA would be like. However, the game did lack personality - your avatar never spoke for example - and the swearing and O.T.T. violence did feel rather forced and unnatural, like the game was trying too hard to appear shocking and adult. I'm looking forward to the sequel to see if the developers have addressed these issues but I cannot see this game topping GTA IV personally which had a terrific story, great missions and memorable, well-fleshed out believable characters, all things the first Saints Row lacked to varying degrees. Saints Row was a solid effort though and the closest anyone has come to capturing what makes the GTA games so great.
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Saints row was good fun. But of course people are going to whine and say gta is better. Same will happen with this.
Sure GTA 4 probably will be better in the end, but does that matter when you can have a lot of fun playing saints row 2? Its not like there are 10000 games like GTA. Only 2 or 3 (excluding gta itself of course ;) ) |
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the_dudefather
11/08/08 @ 08:27
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@Whizzo
agreed, liked the silent protagonist approach in the first game, now its all 'fux you man time 4 revenge' and other bullshit |
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BillyBrush
11/08/08 @ 08:32
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Actually...it had the fun shoot a rocket at a car crackdown factor...as much as people 'iz gonna hate on it' - the game is about fun, GTA at this point has the nice car physics still, but when you get out to shoot someone, it's pretty much a case of sludgy walk and horrible lock on, so i'll be glad to have a knockabout with this....and the characters had no dodgy lean when you walk animations too, just a good ol basic bounce around character model and some stupid soundbites, throwaway but enjoiable
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andywilkie35
11/08/08 @ 08:35
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I thought GTAIV was brilliant, but preferred Saints Row to GTAIV and I've no doubt I'll enjoy this more as well
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Eighthours
11/08/08 @ 08:53
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The direlogue in Saints Row was just embarrassing. The cynical feeling of "Dad dancing at a wedding" THQ execs trying to get down wiv da kidz and horrendously misjudging it was pretty tangible. I've rarely played anything that felt so adolescent, which is a shame because in some ways (ie. gunplay) the game got things right.
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I only just realised that the Tera Patrick thing is supposed to be a spoof on Jade Raymond. Boy do I feel dumb :)
Seriously though, the first Saints Row was okay, but nothing special, it was more of interest as a look at what GTA next gen might be like. The multiplayer was awful, and the dialogue was, as has been noted, really juvenile with absolutely no sense of ironic humour to temper the 'playah' nonsense. I don't imagine I will be rushing to play this one. |
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the_dudefather
11/08/08 @ 09:11
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@AJUK
"I only just realised that the Tera Patrick thing is supposed to be a spoof on Jade Raymond. Boy do I feel dumb :) " lol never thought of it that way |
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kangarootoo
11/08/08 @ 09:13
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"which will please those that found Grand Theft Auto's stance an awkward compromise"
And awkward compromise between what? Shite and awful? I hated the driving system in GTAIV, and I took taxis absolutely everywhere. Even the helicopter was less fun to fly in GTA:IV than in GTA:SA. I would dispute heavily whether it was any closer to being realistic than any previous GTA driving model (flipping a 4x4 10 feet in the air because you scraped a kurb at 20mph doesn't read like realism in my book). On the subject at hand, Saints Row had bloody awful dialogue, its true. But its basic gameplay was in some areas a much needed improvement over GTA. GTA's refusal to implement a proper mission management system after all this time is just beyond me. There are many things that GTA does which SR will never touch, but there is plenty of room for both on this market. |
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"Saints Row 2 has better combat than Grand Theft Auto IV, which for many was a bit of a fudge (although we got used to it pretty quickly). It's not even as if Saints Row 2's solution is clever or original. You point the gunsight where you want to shoot with the right analogue stick"
You are aware that pressing the left trigger half way instead of all the way gave you the exact same free aim with the right stick as Saints Row and every other 3rd preson shooter in recent memory has? Squeezing it all the way gave you the lock, so you had the best of both worlds. And if you just wanted to have aim on the right stick and no lock, you can turn off auto-lock completely in the game options, and even in online modes. Where's the fudge? |
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kinky_mong
11/08/08 @ 09:58
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You are aware that pressing the left trigger half way instead of all the way gave you the exact same free aim with the right stick as Saints Row and every other 3rd preson shooter in recent memory has? Squeezing it all the way gave you the lock, so you had the best of both worlds. And if you just wanted to have aim on the right stick and no lock, you can turn off auto-lock completely in the game options, and even in online modes. Where's the fudge?
They were possibly playing it on the PS3 which has terrible analogue shoulder buttons making pressing the button halfway a challenge in itself. Anyway I really enjoyed the first Saints Row because it completely overwhelmed my quite low expectations of it, and while playing GTA4 there were a number of occassions where I thought "Saints Row did this better". This one is a definite purchase for me, especially because the developers realise that Rampages (or Mayhems) are actually enjoyable to do, whereas Rockstar decided to scrap them in favour of FUCKING stunt jumps and pigeons! |
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@kinky_mong
"whereas Rockstar decided to scrap them in favour of FUCKING stunt jumps and pigeons! " That's some crazy mini games there: 1. F*cking Stunt Jumps - do you have to get a chick from lovemeet before attempting these? 2. F*cking Pigeons - that's just plain twisted, I'm surprised the Daily Mail hasn't been shouting about that one. First hot-coffee, now hot-pigeons. |
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KungFuSpoon
11/08/08 @ 10:29
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I think it's actually stupid to compare Saints Row or Saints Row 2 to GTAIV, because while they're sandbox crime simulators, they do totally different things. GTAIV was gritty, serious and down to earth, Saints Row is higher than a kite. Lets face it while GTAIV is not like the past GTA games, it's not as silly, destructive, over the top or comically violent. Saints Row on the other hand is, it's taken the mayhem and destruction element of the previous GTAs and multiplied it, Saints Row reminded more of the original GTA than anything else, when me and my friends used to spend more time using the weapons cheats to blow every thing up then we did actually playing the game.
Saints Row and GTA are taking two separate paths, while they share certain elements and while GTAIV is the better designed game, with less bugs, that has a better story, dialogue, acting, characters, just a more evolved experience. Saints Row will just be more fun. Not to say that GTAIV was a bad game, I loved it, best game of this year, but it's more of a game that's to be admired then enjoyed. It's not all about the crazy out there antics, starting a rumble which results in you driving round the city in a tank, it's about the story, the scope and the experience. And while that might make it a better game than Saints Row will be, Saints Row will have that element of pure, unadulterated, destructive over the top manic fun. |
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BillyBrush
11/08/08 @ 10:43
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a gangster dressed up as a hot dog shooting a helicopter down is just the kind of post GTA irony that this industry needs...
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benstarkie
11/08/08 @ 12:19
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I was a little disapppointed by GTA IV too... good game don't get me wrong but I thought the imagination put into the missions was pretty much zero (with a few notable exceptions). What I wanted was GTA with Hitman levels of variety when making a kill. I understand this wouldnt be the case with every mission but it got a bit samey after a while. Plus the buddy system was awful.
I spent hours on Saints Row shooting trains with rocket launchers. But then I did have Reefer madness. Hope the trains are as much fun on the second iteration. Also I hope they bring Julius back so he can say "thoooooose muddafuggerz". The dialogue cracked me up tbh |
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BillyBrush
11/08/08 @ 12:40
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Can you use a jetpack in GTA4 - no, no you can't
you can't base jump anymore either, but thanks to saints row 2 - you can! |
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Vice.Destroyer
11/08/08 @ 12:52
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Reading some of these comments, you do wonder where the people have gone that judge a game solely on its own merits. But then I remember that I am going to be spending my own money and my own time, so I'll disaccount every negative opinion. Personally, I had a lot of fun with Saints Row. I've long since given up trying to see the point of view that there was more salient humour in GTA IV. It was amusing up to a point, but there is only so many times you can hear promos for Americas next top hooker, see political broadcasts on your TV and see amusing websites on the in-game internet.
I thought Saints Row was great and can't wait for the sequel. |
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benstarkie
11/08/08 @ 13:21
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I think it is hard to NOT judge a game within the context of very very similar games. IE Pro evo and Fifa. Invariably similar games are compared with each other, as is the case with pretty much every other medium- like similar sounding music acts being compared. But I agree that it is important to take a step back and just appreciate a game for what it is or does- like fifa used to be a good arcade kickaround and pro ev more sim-like- so enjoy them for what they provide rather than what the other one does better.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 11/08/08 @ 14:22
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Vice.Destroyer
11/08/08 @ 14:13
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Clever answer, Ben. I think that I fell into the typical fanboy trap of taking genuine criticism of a game I enjoyed, personal. (Don't ask me why. I don't work for Volition).
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wobbly_Bob
11/08/08 @ 14:59
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I'm really looking forward to this. GTA4 was a massive let down IMHO. The "no checkpoints" for missions finally put the nail in the coffin for me and I never finished it. It seems to me that Rock Star take themselves far too seriously now days and have forgotten what made the GTA games fun in the first place, and I'm just glad that Violation haven't forgotten. Bring it on!
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benstarkie
11/08/08 @ 16:33
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@ vice.destroyer
We are all guilty of it! Completely agree with your comments about the radio progs etc in GTA- painful at times! |
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MuppetThumper
11/08/08 @ 17:46
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'gangsta rap cool' inspired bullshit, i'll be steering well clear. one for 14 and 15 year olds only.
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Comments: 1-39 of 39 in total
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