Over the past five years, Rockstar North (once known as DMA) has created -- and set -- the standard for games in a genre that, for lack of a better term, are "Grand Theft Auto" or "GTA" games. Some might call the genre "urban mayhem," but whatever you call it, Grand Theft Auto III created a genre, the same way Castle Wolfenstein 3-D and Doom did with first-person shooters. Thus, at least right now, every game that competes in this genre competes directly with any one of the GTA games, all of which have raised the bar in videogame production, theme maturity and language, open-world design, and lastly, production cost (they're expensive games to make). That is, until another developer does it better than Rockstar. Volition's Saints Row is the newest contender on GTA grounds, following all three GTAs, Activision's True Crime, Sony's The Getaway, EA's The Godfather, etc., and it's both a ballsy, brave, fun game while simultaneously being guilty of the heaviest degree of copy cat-ism, me-too derivation, and just-plain over-doing it.
Saints Row, however, portrays Volition (The Punisher, Red Faction 1 & 2, Descent: Free Space) as an erudite student of the genre. This next-gen, open-world action-shooting-racing game solves numerous problems born in GTA, and the Champaign, Ill.-based studio has whittled away at the concept, forming a highly polished design that plays well, feels good, and that functions smoothly and with great ease of use. Saints Row is not only a 30-40 hour single-player game with a smart progression system, a breadth of engaging missions, and tons of car and character customization, it's the first game in this genre to successfully negotiate online and multiplayer waters, including online and SystemLink co-op functionality.
Drive-by shootings enable you to shoot along with your homies.
I'll tell you the truth right now. I've had major reservations about Volition's game for a long time. It was supposed to be a launch title, but it was pushed back for a variety of reasons (it didn't look good, it didn't play well, it wasn't finished, etc.). On the surface, it appears to be the greatest con of all time. The game imitates practically everything good about GTA and recreates it with a swagger and guiltlessness that pierces my ribcage like a dull rusted knife. How can Volition feel good about itself while doing this? How did they manage to imitate GTA so unobtrusively? True Crime and The Godfather, at the very least, experimented with diverse typeface designs, banal humour, and radio station concepts. They only borrowed ideas, not the entire damned thing.
But, like with so many great writers, artists, singers, and game developers (Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet wasn't his original story; he just did it better than the original playwright), replicating an idea is one thing; copying an idea and improving it is another. Ideas travel freely from development studio to development studio, whether it's Z-targeting from Zelda or soul sucking from Legacy of Kain. When an original game like GTA is copied and pasted, you feel betrayed, but you come to terms with it and give credit to the artist who copied it, enhanced it, and went a step farther. While Volition is guilty of plagiarising Rockstar, it has also improved GTA in many aspects, making the experience of playing a game in this genre broader and bolder.
Just like GTA
In most ways, the gameplay is identical to that of Grand Theft Auto. It's free-form, allowing players to walk, run, swim, fight, shoot, drive, and choose objectives in any sequence they want. Players can freely swing the camera around with the right analogue stick while moving the characters around with the left analogue stick in third-person view. The left triggers and bumpers are used to punch, kick, and block, while the right trigger is used to shoot if the player has a gun. You can shoot, choose weapons (as long as they don't require two hands), and recruit other Saints while driving. You begin the game by joining the Saints, and then learn how everything works through in-game tutorials each time you face a new interaction. On the whole, the plot is solid. The narrative is marginally better than average, but the characters flesh it out brilliantly thanks to excellent voice actors and generally insightful speech, despite the game's overt use of filthy language, forced humour, and shamelessness of the hip-hop "feel." The F-bomb will be dropped every fourth word by the major characters, pedestrians, and even the radio — and it gets old. Using the f-bomb sparingly is significantly more effective than swearing every syllable. Nonetheless, there are enough twists and turns to keep the story intriguing and valuable.
Volition got a lot of things right, especially when it came to gun restrictions. It laboured tirelessly to establish a good control system, which was rather simple. They let it go free rather than struggle with a lock-on aiming system. Picking a weapon while holding the B button, selecting a weapon on a radial dial, and pulling the right trigger to shoot are the steps to aim. When a non-gang member, such as pedestrians or opponent gang members, is rolled over, the small circular reticule glows red. There is no auto-aiming this time. The reticule moves about freely, employing a steady, not-too-fast, not-too-slow mechanism that doesn't obstruct the view. It does the job, and it does it well.
New Progression
The game is constructed on a novel progression system that changes how a player develops, with Volition appearing to take what it likes and dislikes from GTA, True Crime, and The Godfather, and then tweaking it slightly. Players acquire "Respect" as a currency by completing both story and non-story assignments (called "activities"). Respect builds up in a half-circle metre and can be used to activate new missions several times before being "spent." In general, the more battling, bashing, and murdering you perform (in missions), the more respect you will receive. Volition distributes them democratically, evenly sprinkling them between story-missions (which advance the main tale) and activities (which earn respect but do not advance the story). The even distribution of Volition is clever,because it gently encourages players to explore and participate in a wide range of objectives rather than merely rushing through the key missions to the conclusion. By completing levels, you earn respect and money independently of one another, as well as a territory if the objective is a Stronghold assignment or a Story mission. The objective of the game is to collect all of them.
The main plot objectives are themed around the Saints' ascension to the top and vary in style, depth, and complexity. You'll recognise these: get this thing, return it; escort this person, securely return him; bomb the snot out of gang XYZ; prevent the Rollerz from jacking four cars, escort a certain gang leader to murder them all; and so on. Some missions have a single goal, but as you go, they will grow in size and complexity, with several sections. Regardless of which groups you eliminate first, the game tracks your progress and increases the challenge. I chose to eliminate the Vice Kings first, then the Rollerz, and finally Los Carnales, However, you can defeat them in any sequence or at the same time. The multi-tasting strategy's only flaw is that each gang engages in Push Back missions, in which they start little wars to reclaim territory, and they occur at random, leading to the idea that fighting one gang at a time is easier than fighting three.
Get initialized and then smoke all the other gangs.
The side missions or activities are far from useless; in fact, they are quite valuable. Volition designed its own set of side missions to replace GTA's taxi, cop, EMT, and fire truck missions, which never varied in difficulty. Do you want to begin a hitman mission? You're given a list of targets in a set zone, and you must locate and kill each one using a specific weapon. What about fraud in the insurance industry? This is without a doubt my favourite pastime. You go to a crooked lawyer, who advises you to do as much damage as possible by being hit by automobiles in order to acquire money and respect. This is simply a Havok engine mini-game in which you crumple to the ground in front of an automobile by pressing the left or right trigger. It's ridiculously entertaining (and very much like Crusty Demons). By getting hit and gaining as much height and distance as possible, you win bonus points. You'll also score bonus points if witnesses spot you being hit, being hit by many automobiles, or causing accidents involving other vehicles. The mini-games have time constraints and shift from location to location, so you'll have to think of new ways to break your bones (oh yeah, and your health instantly regenerates during fraud missions). You can commit head-on collisions, jump from second-story train stops, and everything else you can think of. This is a Havok engine mini-game in which you crumple to the ground in front of an automobile by pressing the left or right trigger. It's insanely enjoyable (and very much like Crusty Demons). Gaining as much height and distance as possible earns you bonus points. You'll also score bonus points if bystanders spot you being hit, being hit by many automobiles, or initiating a collision involving other cars. The mini-games have time constraints and vary from location to location, encouraging you to shatter your bones in more creative ways (oh yeah, and your health instantly regenerates during fraud missions). You can commit head-on collisions, jump from second-story train stops, and everything else you can think of. "Points: LOTS" read the screen one time after I had collected so many points (I earned about 420 points by getting hit by a cop while in a car, smashing through the window, while his car hit multiple others while being witnessed).There are numerous other "activities," such as Chop Shop (return cars for modding); Snatch (escort prostitutes while they do their business in the backseat while paparazzi, private investigators, and even enraged spouses pursue you); drug trafficking (escort a drug dealer on multiple deals), and so on. Volition organises each mini-mission into a level, after which you can choose whether to continue to level 2 or stop, increasing the difficulty and challenge levels for more pleasure. Strongholds occur every now and then, resembling an opponent's base and consisting of structures crammed with foes that you must murder in order to gain the stronghold and the territory. These are always difficult gun-slinging tasks that necessitate a lot of shooting and a few homies to keep you company. By the way, the entire "homie" feature is beautifully designed. When you press up on the D-pad while near one, they will join your party, whether you're walking or driving. They'll shoot when you shoot or when you're shot at, and if they're knocked out, they can be revived in 30 seconds, which is a good feature. Having "homies" is something I enjoy.
Life in Stilwater
In the meantime, Stilwater's ambient world has its own life. Pedestrians, cops, and traffic all operate without your assistance or presence. The 24-hour diurnal system, as well as the weather system, operate independently (mist, rain, sunshine, clouds, but no snow). As a result, you can freely roam the city in search of trouble to cause, which is the game's main goal. The cityscape is made up of stores where you can buy stuff (weapons, clothes, CDs, automobiles, face jobs, and so on), all of which have an impact on gameplay. For example, if you wish to make your own playlist, you can "purchase" tracks by searching for them buried in the environment (similar to GTA's hidden packages) or purchasing them in a store.
Toggle to the right menu, build a song list, or import your own song list from ripped music by pressing Start on the controller. Similarly, buying flashier clothes and jewellery earns you more respect, and completing each assignment while wearing the correct colours (the Saints are purple) earns you bonus "colour" points. Customization is important in Saints Row, allowing you to dress yourself and modify cars, and you'll even be able to create your own player at the start of the game.
Post a Comment