Sinning With the 'Saints'
Friday, October 6, 2006; Page WE50
While waiting on a next-generation "Grand Theft Auto" (scheduled for October 2007), gamers looking to explore the world of crime can visit "Saints Row." This game borrows a lot from the genre, but it also offers enough new features to make it a must-have for Xbox 360.
In "Saints Row," players can create their own customized character to play, rather than assuming the role of a character and watching the story unfold. It's a world where building your rep with gang members is important, so what clothes you buy at the shops around the city and what tattoos you get have a direct impact on the game. Though the single-player mode allows you to explore all parts of the game's fictional city, there are missions that you can play through to advance the story. You join the 3rd Street Saints, and to beat the game your gang must control all 30 territories in the city. You start with control of just one, and there are three rival gangs (the Westside Rollerz, Los Carnales and the Vice Kings), as well as cops, out to make sure you don't get more.
  Fighting over turf with rival gangs and cops can get rough in "Saints Row." (Thq/ign.com) |
In addition to nicely polished graphics, which look great in high definition, the developer took the time to make the driving aspects of gameplay as fresh and fun as the on-foot action. Each of the dozens of vehicles that you can carjack in the game handles differently, and with cash you can buy aftermarket parts, such as nitrous, that actually affect the driving. Getting around the large city is a snap with the mini-map, which even charts the quickest route for your objective. While you can't drive in the multiplayer levels, the game does offer cooperative play as well as variations of online games for up to 12 players.
It's rated Mature, so violence and foul language are part of the fabric. But the game has been designed to be very accessible to gamers 18 and older. Rounding out the entertaining experience is a voice cast that brings the over-the-top characters to life and a huge soundtrack that comes booming from the radio stations and CDs that can be heard throughout the city.
-- John Gaudiosi
Saints Row Mature; Xbox 360 ($60) THQ/Volition
