Saints Row does a great job with the controls and how well they feel while on
foot and in a car. The cars handle very nicely and I didn't find myself swerving
across multiple lanes unless I wanted to...which I often did! Weapons are
handled by a combination of the B button and the analog stick. Each “style” of
weapon (shotgun, missile, pistol, etc.) has its own slot that can be quickly
accessed. While there is no “lock on” feature when shooting, the controls
respond smoothly enough that it isn't missed too much. For a game that is all
about gangs and being tough, it's nice to see that it treats you fair enough.
The majority of the missions are doable and are not hard to figure out. During
fights you are able to regain heath if you go long enough without taking a hit.
There is even a way to bring back one of your downed homies during a fight by
pouring a cold 40 on him. You may have noticed that I mentioned driving
cars...well unfortunately in Saints Row you only get to drive autos, no bikes,
no planes, no hang gliding. After the rich amount of options in GTA it is a let
down to not have the same variety of rides in a “next gen” game. But on the plus
side, Saints Row does on up GTA with its on-screen mapping.
The graphics are mostly great, maybe not awe-inspiring, but certainly better
than any thing we've seen before in this type of game. There is more detail than
ever including the lighting effects and smoothness of the game. That said, there
were some pop-ups that I was really hoping wouldn't be there and some strange
clipping issues. But overall it is a huge step in the right direction. As
impressive as the graphics are the audio is just as solid. I already mentioned
the great voice acting and, like GTA, there are a ton of music tracks covering a
wide variety of genres including even classical. Nothing like a drive-by
shooting with a little Mozart cranking out of the subwoofers!
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
84%. Saints Row is a fun game that
certainly copies GTA but also adds just enough to make it stand on its own.
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