Saints Row

[Nino]

Was a letdown for me. I didnt have high expectations and I knew there would be framerate issues because it was an ancient build but besides that I coulndt enjoy it. It stole way too much from San Andreas and didnt add a whole lot of new things. Sure it looks nice and the physics are fun to play with but the city is boring, the cars are pretty meh, there are no bikes, boats and planes (not in the demo and as far as I know they're not in the full either). Where San Andreas had awesome humor, great art and a lot of variaty in the setting, Saint's Row had none of that. The whole urban thing seems forced, the radio station was annoying and the enemies/main characters had no characteristics to them. In San Andreas you had awesome character as OG Loc but Saint's Row has stupid faceless gangsters which are only identifyable by their shirts.

In short; they stole a lot from San Andreas but not enough to make it enjoyable and they didn't add enough of their own ideas to justify the stealing. What do you think?
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Nevermind, Saints Row time, bitch!

[YLA G]

its indeed a 99% copy

[Chris]

I myself liked it. I kind of wonder what a San Andreas demo would've looked like in an early build. Probably not so good. About the airplanes, we know there's a Helicopter at least from the making of video(on the disc anyway). The radio thing was a little annoying, but they only played like 3 or 4 different songs. The complete version has 300(I think?) different tracks.
Yeah, they stole a lot from San Andreas, but that's because a lot of San Andreas works. Saints Row even uses the same controls.

Something missing from Saints Row is like the little recorded tricks you do in cars and bikes and shit. Like when you did a wheelie, it would say 30 feet, or 50 feet or whatever. Or a long ass jump in a car would be recorded, or landing on two wheels. I liked that in San Andreas.

[Back to Saints Row]I like how you can shoot out specific things on the cop car, like the six different lights on the top and that detail. I like the damage on the cars. I like how you open a door to a building, and there's no loading ever.

I died a couple times from the metal flying away from the exploding cars. I want the game. It's the only game where you're like 'Whoa cool' when you die instead of getting pissed off.

[Rival24]

I totally agree with you Chris .

[kobejonez]

Not a bad GTA clone, but there may be lawsuits. I'd be super p1ssed off if I was the designer of GTA and out for blood.

[Studley]

It was hella disappointing. I moaned in another thread that I hated San Andreas' "gangsta" setting. So in the Saint's Row demo, I gave up as soon as I got to the mission that asked me to "round up ho's".

Draw distance is impressive, pathfinding on the map is a nice touch, and I suppose it'll look OK once they sort the framerate out for the release version. But yeah, it's just GTA 360, but not in a good way. Zero for originality.

[Curry]

I don't care about zero for originality. They took a working concept and improved on the by far worst thing of the GTA series: PS2 graphics from the previous century.

I liked the demo and I won't be buying the game, since GTA wasn't my style and so this blatant but imho well executed copy isn't either.

[Studley]

I'm not saying I won't love the next GTA, even though it'll be a carbon-copy with updated graphics. This is just trying too hard to stomp directly on GTA territory, even down to the same sort of setting as their last game.

(Actually the worst thing about last-gen GTA was the load times when going between islands and entering buildings, but Saint's Row seems to have eliminated them altogether - which can only be a good sign)

[Number 13]

I have to say I enjoyed it, and I've been a GTA afficionado since the first one back on the PC.

It's not perfect, but game engine aside, I think it's more like GTA2 rather than any of the others, in that it's more about the 'respect' thing than any sort of plot driven mission structure.

It's not, like GTA, a targeted plot based on the character (whether it be Fido, Vercetti or CJ) but rather one in which you've created your own gang member and build your way to the top - think Top Spin's career mode, but with violence!

I'd assume there'll be some sort of water transport in the final build, because that river looks far too tempting, and there were little piers. If there wasn't going to be boats, why bother with that at all?

I found the controls a little difficult at first, because I've gotten so used to using the RT to accelerate (thanks PGR3!) and so kept accidentally shooting people (eep!) but that aside, I enjoyed it.

It's not GTA, but it'll fill the gap nicely while we wait for the real deal to come out. Like buying shop-brand cola when you can't get Coke. Know what I mean?

And the radio stations will be fixed for the release, I'm sure. A demo is, after all, cut down by nature.

Peace

[Curry]

Also I heard some complaints about not being able to fly: with this kind of textures and geometry that's nearly impossible without having to rely on the HD for caching..... and they're formally not allowed to do that considering there are Core owners out there.

[Number 13]

Originally Posted by Curry

Also I heard some complaints about not being able to fly: with this kind of textures and geometry that's nearly impossible without having to rely on the HD for caching..... and they're formally not allowed to do that considering there are Core owners out there.

Didn't stop Football Manager, though.

And is it Dynasty Warriors that requires something like 800mb for a save game? I can't remember, but if so, then that's a game that basically requires an HD to play in any sort of meaningful way.

MS should bite the bullet and admit the Core systems were a bad idea and offer Core owners a small discount on HDs just to get everyone on equal footing, IMO.

[trj156]

The controls really did it for me. GTA pissed me off to no end with that auto aim shit, i couldnt stand it. And besides, this game will have online play. It may be too gimmicky to enjoy for an extended period of time, but it should be fun.

[Zerodisorder]

Well, i myself was surprised by it, unlike everyone else form what i hear, i had no slowdown problems at all what so ever. Also the graphics werent bad, not amazing liek everyone wants them to be, but well done. And I have always find Gta to be over rated. Bad graphics, bad controls, and a storyline that ya really didn't care about. So i'm sure this may have a lot of simialarities, but i can't bash it because GTA was the pioneer. We wouldnt have call of duty if it wasn't for medal of honor starting it, yet call of duty has overtaken medal of honor.

[Curry]

Originally Posted by Number 13

Didn't stop Football Manager, though.

And is it Dynasty Warriors that requires something like 800mb for a save game? I can't remember, but if so, then that's a game that basically requires an HD to play in any sort of meaningful way.

MS should bite the bullet and admit the Core systems were a bad idea and offer Core owners a small discount on HDs just to get everyone on equal footing, IMO.

I fully agree but consider it highly unlikely

[Nino]

But the 'core' is a pretty good idea if you think about it. You and I might like our HDD's but Joe Average just wants to play Madden 07 when it comes out. He doesnt need a HDD. And it puts the pricepoint 200$ under the 'core' version of the PS3.

[Studley]

I'm intrigued by what the multiplayer might offer. I guess it'll probably be carnage - like that GTA cheat which gives weapons to all the pedestrians - but there are some awesome possibilities. For instance, imagine a multiplayer mode where your team have to get a package from A to B. And the other team have to stop them by any means. You could whack the package in a vehicle and speed towards your destination, but then the opposition put up a roadblock and have guys with rocket launchers on the roofs of buildings... that would rule.

It's not going to be that cool though, is it?

[Nino]

Originally Posted by Studley

It's not going to be that cool though, is it?

Nah the modes were along the lines of 'capture the hoe' and deathmatch.

[Chris]

And protect the pimp.

[Studley]

Just got OXM UK, which worryingly "only" gives it 8/10 (they tend to give all major games a big rating boost).

Plus points:
Fun multiplayer mode
Hugely detailed and very realistic city
Real-time physics add to the experience

Negatives:
Very derivative, poor sense of humour
No motorbikes or planes

Overall: 8/10: Solid, but lacks the intelligence of GTA

[Chris]

 edit:

didn't read anything because i'm a dumbass.

[Studley]

Read again. I'm not giving anything to anything

[Chris]

Fixed.

[Studley]

One interesting thing from the review that I didn't know about:

The best part of the game isn't a story mission at all. It's a challenge called Insurance Fraud, where the objective is to leap in front of speeding vehicles. The more injuries you sustain and the more witnesses you clock up, the more you earn in damages.

And there's a demolition derby mode

[kobejonez]

The Insurance Fraud thing sounds cool and the multiplayer could be a lot of fun. And as for Planes, Trains, Bikes & misc other vehicles, well get on the boards and nag the devs for downloadable content, if enough of us who are bothered ask for it they WILL bow to the demand. I'm gonna.

[Studley]

I doubt that major gameplay additions like planes would be DLC, that's probably being saved for Saint's Row 2. I suspect they're missing for a reason - the draw distance / framerate probably drops loads when you're looking at that detailed a city from high up.