Thursday, August 31, 2006

Saints Row First Impressions


As a huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series (my favorite series of all time, in this order are: 1.GTA, 2. Madden, 3. Halo 4. Metal Gear), how can I possibly resist a game that steals most of its great ideas and is proud of it? I can't. So it is with a great deal of enthusiasm that I picked up Saints Row yesterday. Here are some early high points.

The mapping system - Vastly superior to GTA's. A simple menu pops up, you pick where you want to go and follow the flashing dots. It reminded me a lot of Perfect Dark Zeros arrows that lit up your destination after wandering around too long. Although it takes some of the fun out of wandering around town, I expect the next GTA to have this in it.

The graphics - The GTA series has never really been known for its graphics but the game play is always so great its never needed to. Aside from the characters faces, the game looks awesome.

Create-A-Player Feature - Gamers have never been able to create themselves in a game like this, now you can. Its a lot of fun to do and very detailed.

Multi-player - Again, something the GTA series has never had. To be honest, I haven't even tried it yet but I'm excited about the idea. I just hope it doesn't suck.

I imagine since Saints Row "borrows" (or steals) so many ideas from GTA, Rockstar will probably be looking to see what Saints Row improves on and hopefully will incorporate some of those things in the next GTA game. Is Saints Row better than any GTA game? The jury is still out on that, I need more time with the game. But as a die-hard fan of the franchise I'd say its in the neighborhood.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a bad game. This is my first delve into the 'rockstar' type of game (never played GTA), and enjoying it. The only issue I have, maybe it's just me, is the camera angles get a little screwy at times - when driving, during some fighting, etc...? Anyone else noticing this, or am I just used to FPS style?

FrostyMelon

Terry Terrones said...

No you're right on about the camera. It is kind of frustrating. I found it to be more so with the driving than anything else. I'd take a turn and the camera wouldn't adjust. Pretty annoying. The multiplayer is incredibly laggy as well.

I'll probably have to add some things in a post that I won't be able to get into the review.

Anonymous said...

I've also noticed a framerate issue, when driving or with multiple 'stuff' onscreen...there seems to be some screen tearing and slowdown going on.

Anonymous said...

...to finish up my previous framerate post - even with the issues the game is a pretty good time. The f-bomb being dropped every minute or so doesn't bother me, but, those with kids need to watch out.

FrostyMelon

Terry Terrones said...

I couldn't agree more. Very fun game. The more I play it, the more I like it. I do find the GTA similarities almost stalker creepy...but I'm not complaining. I just wish I could fly something or ride a motorcyle. The city itself is also smaller and not as distinct as the last 2 GTA games but visually its great (except for character faces which is a recurring problem with all 360 games, hopefully they'll figure it out soon).