Saints Row Reviews

• Derivative, but a Huge Improvement

  
  By A3AKRQEIX40VWT on 2006-08-30
  So long as you don't include originality as part of your game evaluation process, Saint's Row is a stellar, stellar piece of programming. It fixes five of the six problems with the GTA series, and offers tons of little "next-gen" improvements that make it more palatable for older gamers.
  
  1)Graphics: The draw distances and general graphical ... "cruddiness"... of the PS2 (and even the XBOX) versions of GTA are a thing of the past. The game looks great. There's some pop-up with long streets, but the explosions, character models, and polish is simply a vast improvement. I actually thought San Andreas looked worse than Vice City, so this is almost a two-step improvement for me. The explosions, weather and lighting effects, and reflections are really incredible when you consider the lack of loading times.
  
  2)Auto-Aiming: It's gone. I'm not quite used to the borrowed FPS style yet, but anything would be better than the broken auto aiming feature of GTA. It shan't be missed.
  
  3)Save Scheme: No longer am I limited to the GTA "one save per half an hour of playing" madness. Hallelujah. I can't devote large chunks of time to a game, and if I can't save frequently, I lose interest fast.
  
  4)Restarting Missions. Recovering your weapons and restarting missions from the beginning (actually, before the beginning) was asinine in GTA. It wastes time and annoys gamers without really upping the difficulty. Also won't be missed.
  
  5)On-line. Haven't had a chance to play with my own copy yet, but watched someone else play. It might suck, it might be great, but at least it's there.
  
  6)Timed, pizza-delivery missions. They haven't really reared up yet, but hopefully these annoying time-wasters are gone. We'll see.
  
  The main problems I see with Saint's Row I *suspect* will be solved with Xbox live "updates"/purchases. It took me an hour to realize that there were tons of cars, but no motorcycles, etc. I have a feeling we'll have to pay for the privilege of flying a chopper or driving a boat. That will suck. It better be cheap, because the lack of these vehicle options doesn't feel like a game limitation, but like a conscious programming choice.
  
  The story seems pretty derivative, but I'm not far enough along to really evaluate it.
  
  I can't really see myself ever playing any current version of GTA ever again. After only a few hours of Saint's Row you realize that GTA has too many annoying idiosyncracies that should have been fixed long ago.
  
  For fans of the sandbox genre, this is the game to buy, and may be for quite some time.
  
  

• Highly Recommended for the Mature Gamer

  
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2006-09-10
  If you're a fan of Grand Theft Auto, then you should definitely check out Saints Row. This GTA style game features the gang attacks, carjacking and other mature fun that can be played for months.
  
  Let me first make it clear that this was never intended to be a game for kids. There is a TON of hard core swearing, and it is pretty much constant. Even walking the streets gets you baragged with swearing. Your missions involve driving prostitutes around and listening to them "at work", helping drug dealers make their rounds, bashing up gang members in very violent ways, and so on. This is very clearly aimed towards a mature market, the kind that loves to watch The Sopranos and Scarface.
  
  That being said, Saint's Row provides extremely fun escapist fantasy for those who enjoy those worlds. The graphics quality is extremely impressive. You get day-night cycles, and the sunset with the twinkling stars is gorgeous. Each area of your city has its own personality. You can really enjoy walking along the chinatown waterfront in the early morning. The cars have fun touches like spinning wheel add-ons.
  
  Many things that were annoying about the Grand Theft Auto series are fixed here. I like the aiming system much better, I like how it saves and how it handles death in missions. Most of the minigames are quite fun and ramp up in difficulty at a reasonable rate. For example you can - right from the start - do a ton of "Insurance Fraud" missions and get just about as much money as you could possibly want, and respect as well.
  
  Even the basic character customization is impressive. You can be caucasian, African-American, hispanic, or asian - with a lot of details on each type. Yes, you can only be a guy. Someday they'll let girls into these games, in a way other than a prostitute! The hair, tattoo, body piercings, clothing, etc. choices are pretty impressive.
  
  The voice acting is stellar. You get David Carradine, Keith David, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tia Carrere, and much more. It really helps you to get involved in the storyline. The story is sometimes predictable, but heck, this is a gang story. Of course you know that your gang will gain power while you defeat the others. It wouldn't be much of a game if your gang was destroyed quickly :)
  
  There are of course a few things they could have done better. There aren't motorcycles. There are a few strange glitches - like when you're hit by a car sometimes and fly up, it teleports you to a train station. The game has frozen once or twice but it seems to be after full-day gaming marathons, so it could easily be the XBox having a temporary meltdown. The cars don't seem to be affected much by damage.
  
  In general, this is amazingly fun to play, the world is simply fun to "be in" with its graphics and details, and there are always new things to do.
  
  Highly, highly recommended for a mature gamer.
  
  

• Fun Game

  
  By AW3IJC9MQK87S on 2006-08-29
  This game is basically like the Grand Theft Auto series, but in HD and with more options. I am a huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, so this game is right up my alley. I would highly recommend this game to anyone that has similar tastes in video games.
  
  

• Best of the GTA Wanna-Be's

  
  By A2ONKPI3JH5HUJ on 2007-02-28
  Look, this game is not as good as GTA, especially the amazing experience that is San Andreas. However, this game is still very good and will hold over GTA fans until IV comes out later this year. If you enjoy playing GTA, chances are you will enjoy this game, especially where this franchise made some significant improvements. If you didn't like GTA games and are offended with overt violence, strong language, and direct sexual references, then steer away from this game. Here are the pros, cons, and "washes" as they compare to GTA:
  
  Pros:
  Better graphics
  Better sound effects of cars and weapons
  Cars are cooler
  Superior implementation of the map functionality.
  Save system is improved, but I can not understand in today's day and age of gaming why RPG-action games like this don't have a "save-at-any-time" functionality or at least provide reasonable interim mission save points - which this game did not.
  Ability to save up to 70 cars in your garage
  Insurance Fraud missions are arguably the most enjoyable missions ever envisioned for a sandbox game.
  Some other missions that were direct rip-offs from GTA are arguably more fun like the pimp missions, hijacking, and hit-man.
  
  
  Cons:
  There is no mistaking that overall feeling of an awesome atmosphere you get in any GTA game that just wasn't present in this title. I can't put my finger on it, but you will see what I mean if you get to experience this game vs. any GTA game.
  Story was a little better in San Andreas
  No planes, boats, motorcycles, helicopters, or bicycles.
  Voice acting is superior in GTA San Andreas. With that said, there was just way too much cursing. Cursing in any game or movie is good for adult entertainment when it is appropriate for the setting. This title just went way over the top on the cursing and was mostly out of place.
  Music selection is superior in San Andreas in both amount and quality.
  
  
  Washes - neither better or worse than GTA:
  Open world sandbox environment enabling diverse ways to execute missions
  Driving mechanics of the cars
  Despite popular opinion, weapons functionality, though different, have about the same difficulty/ease factor.
  Map size and mission amount/scope is more epic in San Andreas, but this title is probably a little bigger that GTA III and possibly Vice City. Not too shabby.
  
  
  

• Big disappointment - rent, don't buy!

  
  By A3NVYMWYVUQNNK on 2006-09-07
  Overall I was disappointed with this game. The other reviewers have pointed out some real improvements to San Andreas, and I suppose there is something to that, but there's something about not being able to fly a plane that just sucks. I finally found an airport, drove around for like 5 minutes before finding a plane only to learn that I can't fly it. What a huge letdown as a gaming moment, I mean I gave up on Saint's Row right there.
  
  Okay, the map function is much better, the navigation is much better, there are lots of activities, ways you can modify your character, etc. The graphics are better, but not by that much. But there are no motorcycles, bicycles, planes, helicopters, or jetpacks! The reason why Rockstar is so brilliant is that they exponentially improve each version of GTA, but these guys basically cloned San Andreas (without the rural parts) (and without the vehicles) and improved it ... sort of, in some areas only.
  
  Rockstar is going to eventually come out with something so much better than Saint's Row that everyone will completely forget that game even existed.
  
  After San Andreas, I just can't be asked to play any GTA-type game that does not have a working submarine (plus skateboards, bikes, many different kinds of motorcycles and planes, a hot-air baloon, a space shuttle, parachutes, speedboats, jetskis, roller-skates, windsurfers, canoes, and maybe a shopping cart.) It's just not worth my time and I have no idea why a game maker would think it would be. All those things WILL be in the next Rockstar game because those guys are not idiots.
  
  Rent this game but don't blow 60 bucks on it, not unless you really like the whole "activities" thing.
  
  
• The best Grand Theft Auto rip-off ever!
  By A3G4BFD7FN8VF1 on 2008-05-13
  Saint's Row is a game that is a blantant rip-off of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, from everything right down to the way you steal cars out from people driving them on the street. But make no mistake: This isn't some rushed piece of garbage simply set out to make money off the GTA franchise. It has a little bit of TLC put into it by the game developers, as well.
  
  Similarities to GTA:
  -You can do storyline and free roaming missions
  -steal and customize cars
  -participate in Turf Wars taking over neighborhoods for your gang
  -customize your main character
  -wield a large variety of guns
  -listen to a large variety of music
  -and generally play the game however way you want.
  
  Enhancements over GTA:
  -Much superior graphics
  -better map
  -a GPS system for your maps and vehicles
  -customizable cell phone, with allies you can call for backup
  -customizable music playlists (in case you get sick of the randomness of the radio stations and want to hear your music anywhere, anytime)
  -the hands-down BEST car customization in any non-racing video game, ever!
  -health items (food) you can access anytime
  -self-regenerating health that heals up from about-to-die to full health in about one minute or so
  -superior firearms (albeit none of them look very unique)
  -a slightly better menu interface to access your firearms (I just wish they hadn't put the food and weapons in the same system; it gets confusing)
  -the police are the most minor threat in the game
  -public transportation is available to you (although you more than likely will never use it)
  -if you find yourself stuck in water, you can skip having to swim to shore with the "warp" feature, which will do that for you. Pretty cool feature! Why aren't things like that in other games?
  -shooting style & difficulity are fair (The shot target is in the fixed-center of the screen and you move the camera to aim, but it's a little harder to use then in GTA)
  -both men, AND women, can be recruited as allies in your gang, or killed in other gangs. Hurray for murder equality!
  -celebrity voice acting (I instantly recognized Mila Kunis as Tanya and Michael Rapaport as Troy)
  
  Worse from GTA:
  -No bikes or motorcycles to ride which is diaspointing
  -no boats or planes either (not that they're really needed here)
  -character can barely swim
  -only one safehouse in the entire city/game
  -clothes choices are lame and uninspired
  -despite the good voice acting, the dialogue is terrible and it sounds like it was written by the whitest people on the planet (shades of "187: Ride or Die")
  -an excessive overuse of cursing (if you're going to use it in every other word, it's impact and gravitas is completely lost)
  -the A.I. is stupid, and the enemy gangs have that "random spawning" effect whenever you have a "wanted level" by them
  -it's mandatory to do the side missions as you have to earn "respect" in order to do the main storyline missions, and respect is only gained from the side missions
  -many of the side missions are hard or just plain annoying, like the later level Escort missions
  -your character, although he has great stamina, has terrible running animation, and trying to shoot while running just looks retarded.
  -the prices of things are way too high/too much (if you're just staring off and haven't saved up any cash, a fifty dollar hamburger may be a bit much). I'd prefer them if they kept them at "real-world" prices.
  -the "humor" of the game is just weak and lacks any level of subtlety whatsoever, like the Wendy's burger chain parody, "Freckle B*tch's" for example
  -the radio stations are horribly put together, and their names are awful, too.
  -the music is generic and lame, and there's only a few "name brand" artists contributing to the game's soundtrack. Mainly, the Clipse and Twista.
  -there's no difficulity setting and the main missions in the game are a bit too easy (while the side missions are often too hard)
  -the "escape the police" method in this game is weak and lame. It's a drive-thru confessional booth, not that you'll ever really need to use it. I never even been in "Forgive and Forget" before.
  -your recruited allies are complete idiots and you'll spend more time than anything reviving them because they rushed headlong into a dozen or so shooting enemies. They're more of a hassle to use than any kind of help, sort of like bringing young children along for grocery shopping.
  
  -it's pretty easy to die in situations that don't call for it. Your health bar, despite it's regeneration, can't take much damage and a few shots from two or more enemies can take you from full health to death pretty quickly. Like, in three seconds quickly. This is darn frustrating and happens A LOT in the stupid Pushback missions that pop up randomally that you can't avoid skipping over.
  -there's NO Body Armor, anywhere in this game, which only adds on to the annoying "easy to die" problem I mentioned above.
  
  -the randomally popping up, mandatory "defend your turf against invading gangs" Pushback Missions. They were just as random and annoying in San Andreas and they're even more annoying here. What's worse is, in order to successfully defend your turf, you'll have to seek out special "lieutenants" instead of just killing everybody in sight. And these 12 or so lieutenants tend to hide out in weird, hard-to-reach places, and you'll have to make your way through dozens of enemies, risking your life, just to make your way to them. It was easier in GTA when you just had to kill everybody invading your land. Here, you'll literally be in an urban battlefield going against dozens of enemies, making your way to one of the four spots in the area your enemy lieutenats are at. (they only hang out three at a time and are scattered wide across the entire neighborhood warzone.) The worse thing about these missions are that they're more or less mandatory, and you won't have time to save whenever they pop up, and they'll pop up often after JUST completing a really hard mission or side quest. At least in San Andreas, it was fun to do these missions, partly because they were do in intervals and all you had to do is be the last man standing. Here, they're just a REALLY annoying chore.
  
  -each gun has it's own set of bullets, making it hard to get ammo. In other games like GTA, bullets are shared between guns of similar types (universal pistol ammo, universal shotgun ammo, etc.), but here, each gun is different with it's own unique bullets in them, and you can only have one gun type (pistol, shotgun, etc.) at a time. BUT, because you can't use ammo from other guns, that you'll often find off of dead bodies, you'll constantly be having to decide whether to swap your gun that's low on ammo out for the one of a gang member you just shot. If so, you'll quickly run of of ammo for that, too. If not, you'll just have an empty gun on you. And thus, you'll be deciding which gun you have that is more fuel efficent, quite often in heavily heated turf wars or in missions with tons of enemies to kill. What's worse is every single gangster carries different random guns on them. If the Vice Kings just all had Vice pistols and the Carnales had a different pistol type they all shared, it'd be a lot simplier. But, no, every time you kill someone, it's "do I run out of ammo, or pick this up instead, even though it only has five more bullets in it than the one I already have?" Basically, you'll easily use up all the ammo for whichever gun you have and will have to replace it for another gun (which only has a few bullets in it) and back and fourth like so. (In other words: YOU'RE *ALWAYS* RUNNING OUT OF AMMO!)
  
  
  Overall, Saint's Row is a worthy edition to the GTA genre of video games. Although it's a rip-off, in every sense of the word, it's defintely not of inferior quality. In fact, Saint's Row is even better than most of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game, at it's core is nice, but what really bogs it down are the minor negatives, which as you can see, really begin to add up. The game is much better than Three Stars, but all these little things keep it from being Five Star worthy. Other than the numerous minor flaws, the only problem is the story, which is pretty lame and generic, and the script, which is just laughably cheesy in it's attempt to sound "urban" or "gangsta" or "hip hop" or whatever. San Andreas' dialogue and script felt 100% genuine. Saint's Rows, however, sounds forced, like they were too lazy to do their research and just decided to "wing it."
  
  It would be easy to just make a Grand Theft Auto clone that's pretty bad (True Crime has proved that, for us). It would also be pretty easy to try to make your own game, using many of the famous GTA elements involved (I.E, CrackDown). But Saint's Row, however, is a true Grand Theft Auto imitation, that manages not to photocopy the game, but use it as a worthy starting off point for their own series. I like mostly everything in this game, and the only real things keeping it from being superior to every GTA game ever made on the older consoles, is it's cheesy dialogue, numerous small annoyances, it's and cheesy writing, and lame attempts to be "funny."
  
  Other than that, Saint's Row is a worthy duplication of the "sandbox shooting and driving" genre created by GTA itself, and it definitely deserves to be played, even if only as a week-long rental, by ANY Grand Theft Auto fan.
  
  
• A GTA Clone that doesn't suck
  By A1ABIGEN5L1VMX on 2006-09-12
  Overview: If you like any of the GTA games you are going to love this game too. Out of all the GTA clone games that I have played this is probably the best. The reason is probably be cause they never really changed anything from the Orignal GTA games. Go ahead and jack a car beat a walking bystander or cop. Almost everything that you loved from GTA is in Saints Row (sorry no having sex with hookers to regain life.)
  
  Graphics 4 stars:
  The graphics in this game is a whole lot better than anything you have seen in GTA. The Cars are pretty impressive and the major characters have great detail. Creating your own thug is a nice touch. Although you might have trouble making your virtual thug look like you. Though I have seen some really good copies of some famous people. The Buildings in the city look great also. The look when you blow up a car is awesome you can see the waves of heat coming off of the car makes it look oh soo good. Main point is Saints row is easy on the eyes.
  
  Sound 5 stars:
  Just like GTA you can change the radio station while you are driving around in a car. You got your R&B, rap, reggae all that good stuff. When you get out of the car you can still hear the music like you would hear it coming from a closed car (nice touch) The Gun shots in the game are pretty accurate all guns have their own unique sound. Exposions sound really nice too. You can also go too music stores and buy music for your mp3 player so you can listen to music while you walk around. Voice acting is on par with GTA even though your Character doesn't talk and everyone else doesn't shut up. F*CK is one word that you will hear a lot in this game so keep the kiddies away.
  
  Controls 4.5 stars:
  HA no more stupid targeting system the aiming control is done as a 3rd person FPS shooter with an aiming reticle. Drive by's are you still use the aiming reticle for more accuracy I found it a little difficult to aim and drive at the same time but I got used to it. You use also use the shoulder buttons to throw punches in the game. Driving is very smooth in saints row all the cars have their own unique turing acceleration and speed.
  
  Gameplay 5 stars:
  Just like GTA you can jack cars rob shops shoot innocent and not innocent people. Break in to shops at night break into the safe and sell the good to a pawn shop. Take hostages and make them give you money. Commit insurance fraud snatch hoes from rival gangs drive hookers around so the can get some privacy from the press, race, be a hitman, traffic some drugs, these are just a taste of what you do to earn some money and respect. In saints row you need respect to have the right to do missions. Go to a clothing or Jewelry store to change you clothes or accessorize. Even visit a platic surgeon to change your appearance. You can store tons of cars in your garage and they allways end up back inside your garage even if it was left on the other side of town. You can bring you car to a car shop and pimp it out. Ok so the city isn't as huge as Vice city but you experince no load time whatsoever going to different parts of the city.
  
  So anyway Saints Row is a Very fun game nothing revelutionary but it has everything you love in a GTA clone and no dissapointments. Game not recomended for young children.
  
  
• GTA ripoff big time, how about some originality?
  By A2PIX2K56IZZYX on 2006-09-27
  After playing Dead-Rising at a friends house on his 360, I had pretty much decided I was going to buy one for myself, but after playing this boring, cheap-looking GTA rip-off, I'm not so sure. I was never a huge GTA fan to begin with, so you can imagine my 'joy' when after playing for 45 minutes or so, besides being totally bored, I felt like I had been playing San Andreas the whole time. I'm not kidding people, this is the exact game, drugs, ho's, pimps, ridiculous dialogue, lame tricked-out cars, lots and lots of guns...........yawn, been there, done that!!!!!!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against violent games, Silent Hill and Manhunt are two of my favorites of all time, but the violence in those games serves a purpose, it's needed to tell the story and define the lead characters. The violence in Saint's Row is a joke, just glorified gang-warfare with so many dumb and un-necessary explosions I was closing my eyes most of the time to save myself from a seizure.
  
  The dialogue between the pimps and ho's will absolutely crack you up, I'm pretty sure pimpin' today is nothing like it was in the 70's, but someone forget to tell this game that, absurd!!! I'm pretty sure a few woman's groups are gonna' have a field day with this title. Like I said earlier, after about 45 minutes of playing my friend and I just turned and looked at each other and just started bustin' out laughing, we both commented on how we had'nt played a game this bad in years. He bought it at Game Crazy, and upon returning it, the guy at the counter said he had had many complaints, and it wasn't the content he said people were upset about, it was just the fact that it was a lousy game-play, poor control, GTA missions we've all already done, and just a huge bore. So, needless to day, my friend was very happy cuz' the clerk understood and gave us a full refund........
  
  Skip this one people, if you're that desparate for an envelope-pushing 'adult' game, play 'Dead-Rising' a few hundred times more (what an awesome game) or go old skool and play Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt, or hell, even go back and re-visit San Andreas, any are better then this re-tread!!!!!!!!!
  
  
• so much more than a clone
  By A2OR09N5HH20PY on 2007-09-11
  Saints Row is one of the best games on the 360. I have spent almost as much time in this game as oblivion. the comparisons to GTA are inevitable when it comes to saints row, but i dont feel like they're ripping them off. they took the good ideas and moved them to the next level. to hold a lack of originality against this game would be completely insane. you might as well cast out every FPS for the last 10 years. now THOSE games are clones.
  
  Graphics - some pop up occurs when you're driving fast, but other than that Saints Row has a smooth framerate with nice textures and lighting effects. not the best looking game on the box, but it deffinitely doesnt look out of place.
  
  Gameplay - WAY better than any GTA ive played. ive grown so tired of that nearly broken auto-targeting of GTA. Saints Row decided to go in an fps direction. the game plays almost exactly like an fps with the aiming reticle in the center of the screen and all that but in a 3rd person view. all the cars handle well. everything in this game works very well.
  
  Story - meh... its decent, but the characters dont have that same draw as many gta characters and the stories surrounding them. there is a major plot twist toward the end, but you'll have to play through it to find out. basically there's 3 gangs, one ruling each part of the city, and its up to you and the Third Street Saints to clean up the town.
  
  Sound - GREAT soundtrack. classical, 80's hair metal, techno, rap, rock, and a little pop punk all thrown in the mix. its also really cool how your character has an MP3 player you can store songs on you buy in the in-game music store. its kind of pointless b/c if you want to listen to music the whole time you play you could just use whatever you have saved on the system.
  
  there's so much to do between missions other than killing hundreds of pedestrians. side missions include: saving ho's from mean pimps, driving one around while she does business in the back, racing, demolition derby, causing mass chaos, stealing certain cars and delivering them, kill certain people from a hit list, and others i cant remember right now.
  
  theres tons of stores to visit as well. Clothing stores have hats, shoes, belts, pants, shirts, coats, ect. you can get tattoos and the tattoo parlors. you can get piercings and bling at the jewelry shops. of course you can buy guns and such at the gun stores. theres liquer stores scattered through the city (you can get weed there too!). theres a few barber shops and plastic surgery centers. theres a couple car dealerships around too.
  
  another thing that needs to be mentioned is the character customization. you can choose from black, white, hispanic, or asian to start things off, and from there you adjust everything from their weight to the distance between their eyes and the style of hair.
  
  i was disappointed in the lack of aircraft. thats my only complaint about the entire game, and a very minor one.
  
  if you like the open world genre at all, and you havent played Saints Row yet, you need to right now.
  
  
• A dead liberty
  By A5XYX70ARGQEV on 2006-09-01
  Beware this game!
  
  If you have a none HDTV the retail version of this game may disappoint you big time!
  
  I have a 480i widescreen TV. The demo played ok on it, the graphics shone out--zing, zing.
  
  However, something has gone horribly wrong with the retail version. It looks like a dog on my TV (jaggies and low res textures)! The graphics dont look 'next gen' more like poor quality early PS2 games.
  
  The word on the forums is that there is a technical problem with the Widescreen encoding on some resolutions. A patch will be released sometime to fix it--However, no confirmation that this will improve the graphics or ETA on the patch.
  
  
• Bad development full of bugs and half finished
  By ACUOXOSWMTL21 on 2006-09-10
  I swear the developers lost half their plans for this game in a fire or something. This is the worst game I have ever played. This game is more annoying to me that TMNT for NES was.
  
  AI
  The AI on this game though sometimes good is limited to about a 60 IQ when fighting. Though at first the AI seems great soon enough you realize that your homies are dumb. They will go running into a gun fight against 5 gang members with big weapons and they will die every time. When you throw a grenade, they run straight into it. They will run right in front of you when you are shooting and die.
  
  Plot
  Though at first the plot seemed good and even though the voice acting is superb, you soon find through the missions the plot gets less and less deep. In fact some of the plot is missing. You'll find yourself wondering if you just missed a whole cut scene, but you didn't. Also it gets very very simple. You can basically guess what's going to happen next.
  
  Missions
  Not only are some missions near impossible because you will be up against 8 guys with RPGs but the game will throw such insane things at you that you can't possibly survive. Like going into a mission or defending your turf. You will be doing fine then suddly when you're almost done 3 or 4 cars of guys will drive up and they will all jump out and shoot you full of holes with machine guns. You have 3 seconds to kill them all. You don't have enough time to regain health. Some missions seem simple like hijack a truck and bring it back. Simple except 3 gang cars will be shooting at you and blowing out your tires while trying to run you off the road. Not only that, sometimes the cops will join in too. One time I was run off the road and the truck was stuck. I couldn't move it. I couldn't do anything but wait and watch the timer reach 0.
  
  Glitches
  This game is full and packed to the brim with glitches and bugs. Not only will it sometimes slow your game down so much you can barely move but will sometimes freeze the screen and you have to load from save. Glitches go so far as falling through the highway and crashing your car in a ravine. Not falling off the highway falling through it. I've gotten out of a car and appeared waist deep in concrete. I've had my guys decide not to get in a car. I've been unable to get out of the car. I've had a car impossibly flip over a small curb and start on fire and it wouldn't let me out. I've had the controls freeze up so I can't move while people are firing at me. I've had my car disappear when I get out and move the camera away to kill someone. I've had cops come bust me when I didn't do anything. I've had a guy hit me and my guy wouldn't get up then I was blown up by a grenade. I was hit with an RPG and then couldn't get up in time to be hit with another RPG and die. I've had enemies spawn right behind me and kill me. I've had people kill me with a machine gun or handgun from such a far distance I couldn't even see them. I would need a sniper rifle to kill them they were so far away. I had a guy shooting at me with a gun and taking half my life away. I shot back at him with the same gun and even though my sight was dead on I didn't hit him once. I've died when nothing was hurting me. I've had cars randomly appear and run me over killing me in a mission. I've had my character magically disappear a loading screen comes up then I appear somewhere completely different on the map and it wasn't a hospital or store. Just a random place. I've had enemies I'm supposed to chase down disappear from the road right in front of me and appear somewhere completely different on the map I can't even get to. Your homies have no accuracy but the gangs against you are dead on with the most inaccurate weapons.
  
  Some glitches in this game were so bad I couldn't play it. Some parts were so rediculously hard it took pure luck to beat it. I'm not bad at this game. I've had witnesses. I'm not the only one to say these things. I'm going to try and get my money back from THQ. This game is badly developed and seems only half done. All the glitches I stated were playing the game normally and using cheats doesn't have any affect on it. I've tried both.
  
  This game isn't hard it's badly designed. It's nothing wrong with my 360 or the disc it's the programming. I've done debugging on program code before so I know the difference between a hardware error and a software error. If you go to THQ's website you can't get online support for this game. This game didn't have a website or any link on THQ until a few days ago. This game had absolutely no quality assurance and this makes me afraid to purchase any THQ game. This game has more glitches and problems that any other game I have ever played dating back to NES. I would not buy this game and don't recommend it. This game would be great if it weren't littered with problems. It's just a horrible halfway done rehash of a Grand Theft Auto game. It is NOT worth even a dollar. This is a faulty product.
  
  
• Innovative
  By A2PZRYV6WAEOYT on 2006-10-23
  Welcome to Stillwater, a modern American city full of great food, commerce, and unrestricted gang warfare. With the 3rd Street Saints, Vice Kings and the Carnales waging a city wide turf war for supremacy, there has never been a better time to visit.
  
  The game opens up with your customized character getting caught in the crossfire of a gang war. You are saved by Julius, the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, and are recruited into his gang in an effort to clean up the streets. The first couple of missions serve as a sort of introductory sequence that teaches you the mission structure of the game and introduces you to some core characters. The game has three different story arcs, one for each rival gang, for you to tackle in whatever order you would like.
  
  After each story mission you must build your respect before you will be offered the next one. There are numerous ways to build your respect, but the easiest way to do it is to take on various side missions located throughout the city. These missions range from drug trafficking to street racing. The activities get harder as you complete them, maxing out at level 8 and awarding you a prize such as unlimited shotgun ammo at your crib or taking less damage in car crashes.
  
  Almost all of activities are pretty fun, but the two most enjoyable are probably mayhem and insurance fraud. In mayhem, you are tasked with going to a certain area of the city and causing as much damage as you can within a certain amount of time. You are always given a few weapons with unlimited ammo and bonuses for destroying certain targets. Destroying everything in sight with a rocket launcher on mayhem's level 8 is one of the most enjoyable moments of the game. In insurance fraud, you attempt to throw yourself in front of traffic to collect money from lawsuits. You earn bonuses based on things like air time, hitting police cars, and the number of witnesses.
  
  Besides those side missions, there are a few other ways of gaining respect. Robbing any store you want will give you a small amount of respect. Tagging over other gang's graffiti will also net you some respect. To help you speed up the time it takes to earn respect, you can spend your money on clothes, jewelry, and tattoos for your character. These items give you respect bonuses when you complete missions. Overall, the side mission system works pretty well. It creates a good pacing for the game, preventing you from blowing through the missions in just a few hours.
  
  Besides allowing you to unlock new missions, as you gain more respect you will be able to recruit more "homies" (up to three at one time). "Homies" are friendly gang members which will help protect you by shooting out of car windows while you drive and following you around on foot. They do a pretty good job of helping you kill whoever is attacking you and hardly ever get stuck on objects such as trees. When they die, you have thirty seconds to revive them before they are permanently dead. At first this sounds like it would make the game too easy, but the "homies" are not overly effective, and don't take too much to kill. If you had to go find new ones every time one of them died, it would become pretty frustrating. So having 30 seconds to revive those that died turns out to be pretty convenient.
  
  When you are not building up respect, you will literally be taking back the city block by block. Completing a story mission in a certain area of the city will put that area under the control of your gang. Controlling areas of the city actually has some impact on the gameplay. You will see friendly gang members patrolling the streets, providing you a safe area to run to if you are being chased by police or enemy gang members. Controlling different districts also gives you money every day that you can get from your safe back at your crib. The more territory you control, the faster you gain money. You also get new save points as well. The game allows you to save whenever you want, placing you at the closest save point from where you saved when you reload the game. So controlling more save points is definitely nice. Sometimes rival gangs will attack territory that you control, at which point you need to stop whatever you are doing and rush there to help push back the attack. If you wait too long, you risk losing your territory. This is a nice touch, and makes you feel like you are just one small part of a larger turf war.
  
  The story missions themselves are pretty well designed and not overly difficult or annoying. There were many missions in Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas that I personally found extremely annoying and simply not fun to play. While the missions in Saints Row are challenging, I didn't run across any annoying missions like those in the GTA games. I always felt like I was making progress. The cinematic sequences for each of the missions are pretty well directed. The voice acting is great as well. The storyline turns out to be memorable and one of the highlights of the game.
  
  While playing the game, it's safe to say that you will be doing a lot of driving and shooting. The game features tons of cars, all with rock solid control. While none of them are real licensed cars, they all look different from each other and handle differently as well.
  
  There is a pretty good selection of weapons in the game as well. Most of what you would expect to see is here, including pistols, machine guns, rifles, rocket launchers, grenades and more are present. The shooting controls are vastly improved over those of Grand Theft Auto, allowing you to control the player like you would in a first person shooter. You won't find any lock on targeting here. This goes a long way in making the firefights much more intense and fun then those in GTA.
  
  The game features other big enhancements over Grand Theft Auto, the most important of which is the map system. At any point during the game you can bring up the map to set waypoints and locate new activities and missions. You can sort the map by stores, activities, missions, strongholds, and cribs to make finding locations very easy. The on screen minimap will show you the most efficient route to your waypoint or next objective, which makes navigating around the city a breeze. This is especially helpful during fast car chases.
  
  Another small but significant improvement is the ability to shoot enemies in cars through the windshield. So instead of having to fill the car full of lead to get it to stop, you can instead take out the driver with one well placed shot to the head. This is extremely useful while in car chases. Since you can drive and shoot at the same time, it's not that difficult to shoot the driver of the car chasing you through his windshield.
  
  Besides those gamplay enhancements, Saints Row is also packing some amazing visuals. The entire city of Stillwater is rendered in glorious high definition. Everything in the world is extremely detailed. The game also features pretty good looking lighting and real time weather effects. The cars in the game look excellent, especially the way they crumple on impact. When cars explode, they send pieces of metal and tires flying everywhere. The frame rate is mostly pretty solid, though it can take a dive at times when there is a ton going on. However, this never hindered my enjoyment of the game.
  
  The biggest criticism that you could have against the game is its lack of originality. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with a game copying another, especially when it manages to improve on its inspiration. The fact that Saints Row sticks pretty close to the Grand Theft Auto formula means that inherits many of the good qualities of the GTA series, making Saints Row a pretty good game in the process. Since it does manage improve upon GTA in many aspects, it's worth while for fans of the GTA series to play it. It's probably fair to say that if you liked Grand Theft Auto then you will enjoy Saints Row. If you found some aspects of GTA annoying, as I did, then it may turn out that you like Saints Row even more. In my opinion, Saints Row is the best game of its kind to be released. When GTA 4 comes out later on it may vary well topple Saints Row, but until then, Saints Row is the king of free roaming action games.
  
  
• They're selling a game that's barely halfway finished
  By A2AD63ZI1TEUY2 on 2006-09-10
  In a pathetic effort to cash in the on the success of grand theft auto, the people at volition created what is a shining example of what grand theft auto would be if the people at DMA didn't care about the gamer.
  
  I can hardly put into words how disgusted I am with this obscenely over hyped piece of garbarge, but I'll try for the sake of this very honest review.
  
  Saints Row is a video game where you drive fast cars, that go beyond the speed of the xbox 360's ability to program your surroundings.
  
  I too recall playing some areas of grand theft auto, and it taking a short while for the surrounding buildings to render. In Saints Row, a game made in 2006 mind you, you'll find yourself sitting on the road in the position you'd be in while driving the car that just dissappeared.
  
  In Saints Row you play a guy who doesn't speak at all, and deal with idiotic cutscenes where characters from "you got served" try to exploit that for some comedy relief.
  
  The storyline is as enthralling as playing the turf war missions in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, because that's pretty much all you do as far as that goes.
  
  The challenge in this game isn't simply dodging bullets and driving really fast, it's dealing with unrefined programming code.
  
  In a mission where I had to protect someone, they wouldn't get into the vehicle I had for them, simply because the vehicle was on a slope. Forget the fact that bullets were tearing through his flesh, he just wasn't comfortable getting into a vehicle that was on a slope.
  
  While shooting back at gang members at the end of a dead end alley, I was suddenly shot from behind. Looking behind me, the game placed a car full of gang members directly behind me in that dead end alley. I died, and at that moment decided to sell this piece of garbage game.
  
  There are no motorcycles, boats, or helicopters (that you can pilot). They put all their effort into the cars, which fell short in my opinion.
  
  I encourage anyone interested to rent this game, and prove me wrong by getting excited more often than you want to just throw your controller at the tv. Fair warning, you might want the five dollars you paid to rent the game back.
  
  
• A must have 360 game.
  By A2TTXJFM3C0SYR on 2006-11-09
  If you like GTA or GTA style games, there is no doubt that you need this game. With charater creation, online gangs, very good car customization, ragdoll physics, crazy explosions, and much much more, I have been having a ball playing this game. I highly recommmend it.
  
  
• A Rushed Imitation of A GTA Game
  By A143P0NKQDNWYL on 2006-11-20
  Saints Row is basically an imitation or parody of GTA. Okay we know this. But is it good? Not really. Thing is there seems to have been a rushed effort with this game. Sure there were good intentions, but there was alot left unfinished in this game. You can't pick up hookers. Why even have beat-the-pimp-up levels when you can't even pick them up? The character you customize can't talk. Customization is limited to generic males. The missions are either ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard. There is no middle ground. The cheat system is also redundant since you can't get acheivements with the cheats on, thus you can't make any progress in the game with them on. So why have the feature to begin with? The story line is about as generic-wannabe-GTA as you can get. You don't have the option of picking the gang you can join. This would have been nice. This game is for a rental not a buy. But if you do buy it, buy it used like I did. You'll feel very ripped off. Wait for the next GTA!
  
  
• Move over GTA, Saints Row is here.
  By A26113AWK9B7Y9 on 2007-02-13
  The game Saints Row tells the epic tale of one gang called the Saints as they battle rival gangs to become the rulers of the city Stilwater.
  
  It starts off letting you customize your character - anything from nose size and hair to muscle definition and weight. From there you're allowed to run around, punch & kick enemies & civilians, hijack or buy and customize cars, spray paint walls, buy clothes and jewlery, purchase guns (and boy is there a wide variety of guns such as RPGs, handguns, shotguns, grenades, etc.) , buy CDs, call up your homies to fight along side you, and MUCH more. In order to do missions you have to earn respect. To gain respect you can do "activities" scattered throughout Stilwater such as snatching hookers away from their pimps, protecting drug dealers as they do their things, race, participate in demolition derbies, steal cars for stores, kill rival gang members, and many more. Also, if you wear a lot of purple (the Saints' color of choice) you can gain extra bonus points.
  
  The missions themselves are BRUTALLY fun (with the exception of maybe 3). They go from destroying planes, storming mansions, robbing cars, blowing up buildings, rescuing people... its all really fun, and your rewarded with viscerally appealing and cool sounding cutscenes afterwards.
  
  To earn money you can rob stores (eitrher by holding them up or by opening the safe yourself), beat up people and take their money, do the activities I mentioned, or beat missions. The more money you have, the more things you can buy.
  
  Also, as you take over enemy turfs for your own they will do these things called "push backs" on random areas. This is when rival gangs try to take back their lands, and its basically an all out war between the Saints and the enemies until you kill the red highlighted lieutenants scattered throughout the territory. Once thats done, you can resume your game. Also owning more territories gives you more money each day... by the time I beat the game I hasd about $8 grand coming to me each day.
  
  Moving on, this game has an EXCELLENT sound track. There is something like 100 songs from different genres such as hip hop, rock, and classical to listen to and many of them are really catchy. They even have some big namers on it like Xzibit, Wu-Tang, Winger, and Fall Out Boy (but I dislike FOB). Ontop of that, if you have a hard drive for your system you can upload your own songs into the game which is great. The sound effects are really top notch - like the guns shooting and things blowing up. Additionally, the voice acting is superb as well. Everyone portrays personality through curses, crude humor, and anger.. not to mention THQ also got some big times to do some acting such as the guy who plays Goliath from the Gargoyles and the girl Jackie from "That 70's Show".
  
  The graphics are great in Saints Row. Everyone looks lifelike, and the city looks so realistic. The weather changes from sunny to rainy, night to day... its breathtaking. The cars look AMAZING, be it really new and shiny to old and rusty, everything has an authentic feel to it. Easily better looking then Grand Theft Auto.
  
  But like always, no game comes without faults. For starters, the weapon selection screen is hard to get down and sometimes when you choose a weapon it wont exactly change to that weapon. Ontop of that, shooting while driving is a nightmare. The ally AI is sometimes incredibly dumb and when you want them to get into a car with you they will just stand there. Finally, the ending was terrible - you kill the last guy and take over Saints Row. Julius, who is the head of the Saints, tells you he still thinks something is amiss and that you're his right hand man now. Then they show you cocking a pistol and overlooking a crew of your boys. Then this mission called the "3rd Street Saints" mission opens up where you have to take a bus and destroy it, and when thats complete you, Dex, and Gat have to blow up like 5 police cars... evntually you meet with a guy running for mayor and he says "thank you but I have to kill you". He proceeds to surround you with like 50 of his goons, then the ship blows up. Uh huh..
  
  To sum it up, Saints Row is a MUST HAVE for X-Box 360 owners or people who enjoy GTA-like games. There so much to do, and its so fun to do it that you just have to own this game.
  
  
• First Impressions
  By A3VMS3P2YEBHLE on 2006-08-30
  I spent a good amount of time with the demo, so I knew what to expect. Played last night for a good 3-4 hours. I will keep this short, but for any fan of GTA, you need this game. I'm going to go-ahead and say better than GTA: SA. Again, i've only played a small percentage of this game, but it's top notch. No corners have been cut on the development. It was supposed to be released several months back, but it was pushed back to make improvements - very wise move. Finally, a game besides boxing, that gives me a reason to actually use my 360. Will be taking some sick days at work for sure. The detail is amazing. The sound, the gameplay, the music, the weapons, the huge city - all incredible. Get your hands on this game ASAP.
  
  
• SR looks better than GTA, but thats about it...
  By A37UXILL8TEICL on 2006-09-08
  seriously, guys, none of you are serious gamers if all you can do is whine about how Saints Row is better because its "easier" than GTA... WUSSIES! You can say that it looks better, but that's the only improvement. The GTA game play is actually challenging, and there are consequences when you make mistakes. Its one of the rare games that forces you to get better. Play them 100 percent and you've logged more hours than some people work in a year. Plus, they ripped off Rockstar.
  
  
• The best game to date for the 360.
  By A1DIG32U6B8V3X on 2006-09-11
  Of course that is my opinion, however what a fun game. I know this game is alot like GTA, to many ways to count. The graphics are really great and gameplay is fun. This is the type of game that you can play for the next few months and not get tired of it because there is so much to do in the game. This is what we want as gammers. I like the fact that once you do a few missions you are not limited to what area of town that you can go, there are no road blocks set up which I think is awesome. I am unable to write a full review seeing how I am only 11% done with the game. Buy the game play it and love it. Not a game for younger kids.
  
  
• Great game, just wish there was more to play
  By A15Y3FME7X21I4 on 2006-09-12
  From the minute I put this game in, MIND-BLOWING was all I was thinking. However about 20 mins in I noticed somthing. I had read some of the other reviews and thought ok GTA VI, but this is almost a carbon copy of the "true crime" series. From the shooting, and driving, and I'm not 100% but I am pretty sure that alot of the cars are straight out that game. Also the story is very short, I just got the "Addicted to the Row" acheivment (play for 20 hours, and I am 72% complete and 100% complete with the story. That is about it for the negatives.
  
  On to the good stuff. The graphics are unbelivable, if your driving at dusk or dawn, you can see the shadow of the rims spinning on road under the car. If half of you car is in the shade, then you only get half of a shadow. Play GTA and you will see what I mean. Even though the story was short it was entertaining and well played, the missions made sence. The weapons are nice, they arent unlimited, but they are more than enough for any real gang member, I would assume. The mini games are fun. The car customization is nice, but I was expecting more engine mods, all you can do is NOS, or hydrolics. There are however "vehical specific" mods, which give it a nice feel.
  
  Overall, great game, it just needs to be longer.
  
  
• Dont buy this game, wait for the new GTA
  By A38HZK29V4SH83 on 2006-09-19
  This game was a dissappointment for me because it doesnt raise the bar, it falls short of the bar set by the GTA franchise.. GTA san andreas is a much better game than this. The only thing better about this game is it's graphics( and that's because it's a 360 game) and it falls short in all other categories.. A completely new version of GTA will be release on 360 and PS3 at the same time, i suggest gettin the new GTA instead. it will be way better than this game.
  
  
• My two cents on this game.
  By A38F96T6FGDYA5 on 2006-09-23
  I first became interested in this game when I saw the preview in Maxim. So, I kept my eye out for it. On a whim, I bought it when I saw it at the store. I have finished the game, and I've come up with the following...
  
  CONS:
  1. Draw in of the game. It reminded me of playing the PS1 when you'd see nothing, and then, all of a sudden, you'd see the city just pop in.
  
  2. The radio stations: Now, i like the KRUNCH, however, theren't weren't that many songs, so I got to hear Winger way too much. Plus, you could hear the DJ talking, but not the person he was talking with on the phone at times. I use the Dolby Digital optic cable.
  
  3. also with the sound, there were times that the sound would just cut out for no reason.
  
  4. Games freezes at times. I had to replay two missions over b/c the game froze up, right after it showed me that the mission was completed.
  the
  5. My biggest complaint was the fact that several times, I'd be driving along, and my car would just disappear. It happened quite a lot. I'd still be in a sitting position, but i couldn't go anywhere, b/c there was no car. Sometimes, i could hit y and get out and just get another car, and other times, i had to restart the game.
  
  PROS:
  
  1. Of course, the graphics are awesome. It was nice to see reflections of the lights of the police car chasing me.
  
  2. the fact that you DON't lose all of your weapons when you are killed or busted.
  
  3. The ability to mark waypoints on the game is wonderful.
  
  4. The ability to save a lot of cars in one garage, and to fix them in your garage too.
  
  The game is addictive to play, and I wasted a lot of hours and sleep time playing just one more time until i completed the mission. It would've been nicer if your character talked a little more, but it wasn't bad. Ireally don't care that there were no motorcycles or bicycles, boats or planes to drive in the game. I do look forward to the next installment of this game, but I'll also continue to buy the GTA as well.
  
  
• Would recommend this title!
  By A2KSCLKU7IH3W on 2006-09-23
  This game is so addicting, I played it whenever I had free time this week, and suprisingly enough I've beat all the main missions. That is my biggest dissapointment, that I finished the story line in less than 20 hours of gameplay. Now all I have left to do in the game is all the "filler" activities like find CD's through out the city *BORING*, and finish 1 or 2 short levels of escorting or finding those last 3 cars on the chop shop list and of course all the other "filler" that I'm not interested in in the least. But, definitely go buy the game if you think paying that much $ for 20 hours of pure excitement and fun is worth it, or go rent it twice from the movie store and beat it. I bought the game on Monday and I beat the main missions * I was 68% done with everything in the game when I won * on Friday evening, keep in mind that I go to school and work. That is the biggest disapointment, easy and short.
  Are you ready for this playa?
  
  
• GTA on crack
  By A35OJ7V2VAKD04 on 2006-10-16
  I've seen the constant, and inevitable, comparisons to GTA but I enjoy this game much better. They've fixed a lot of shortcomings in the GTA series, including the customization aspects. There's been some criticism about the lack of motorcycles, boats, and helicopters in this game. I admit, I miss the motorcycles a bit, but I always hated the controls for piloting a boat or helo. I suspect these will come in an add-on later.
  
  I enjoy the non-linear storyline from having several gangs to challenge, as well as the selection of side activities. You can focus on eliminating one gang at a time, balance your gameplay, etc. It keeps the game from getting tired. Bottom line is that if you enjoyed GTA, you'll enjoy Saints Row.
  
  My only gripe is the single-player storyline leaves the game with a very disappointing conclusion. I had hoped for an open ending, allowing for the addition of add-ons and new gangs via XBox Live, or the possibility of starting your own gang and continuing gameplay. I dont enjoy online play, you run into too many idiots out there, and I'd like to be able to customize the game to continue playing as a single player. Sadly, after dozens of hours of committed gameplay, all you get for your trouble is...well, I dont want to spoil it, but you'll be pissed.
  
  
• GTA on speed
  By A22AD8M2SSOFHJ on 2006-11-02
  I enjoyed Saints Row except it seems like Grand Theft Auto almost part to part. Playing this games story mode is a little slow and daunting. What I really enjoy is playing online. That is where the real fun exists. Playing battles against eleven others makes it a lot of fun especially with the live experience. That is why my rating is higher than what it should be. Without online I would only give this game three stars.
  
  
• really fun, but some downs
  By on 2006-11-18
  saints row is one of the only, if not the best immatation of the GTA series. The gameplay on it is very addictive, like the ragdoll affect witch they could have screwed up was perfect. when you run someone over they dont just get thrown under the car like all the other driveing games. The bodys with fly over the car, or get stuck in it or break the windsheild, very cool. the guns are great but sometimes hard to find without cheats. the cars are great and there are ALOT of cars. another cool thing is the side missions witch can be entertaning. also the you can have homies' witch follow you around and help you. over all the game is great and if you can, get it. the only thing that was hard, and i might be the only one who has trouble with this, is the cheats. If you look them up online they have letters instead of numbers (which you submite to your phone instead of the regular button cheats) even though im probally the only one with trouble with this it is still a very good game.
  
  
• Saints Row - Kids love this one.
  By A3W2P4R2INIQYB on 2007-03-14
  My two kids love this game.. so by far one of the best purchases I have made for the XBox 360.
  
  
  
• Hamburger is to Filet Mignon as GTA is to Saint's Row
  By A21B36LSDJWNN1 on 2006-08-31
  Saint's Row is a very polished game from the graphics to the sound bytes, to the story line.
  
  I concur with the previous reviews the improvements added to Saint's Row were much needed. If you are a fan of GTA you will be all the more appreciative of the improvements. If you are starting with this game and then were to play GTA - likely you would lose interest quickly.
  
  If you are a fan of the GTA genre, this game is a must have.
  
  
• It's the little things.....
  By A38PZ3688BRUIM on 2006-09-01
  Im a fan of the "little" things in games eg, when you open up your car door you cant just run throught it, when you shoot a car it leaves a bullet hole etc etc.
  And this game has it all.
  Great fun, live seems to be ok but i dont think many people are gonna be buying it just for that compared to Battlefield 2.
  Read the rest of the reviews because they say it all....if your a fan of GTA then this is a good step forward and gives us a look at next-gen and whats to come.
  
  
• A barrel of Laughs
  By A2W3JMA1P62IXL on 2006-09-06
  I don't think I have laughed this much in years! While the game is 'violent' there is a lot of humor in it as well. From a variety of cutscenes to the absolutely insane Insurance Fraud missions, this game has a lot of humor and enjoyment.
  
  While I'm a pretty big fan of the GTA series, I actually believe I might like this game a little bit better. That being said, we'll see what the newest GTA installment adds. Like the previous reviews have mentioned a lot of the painful tasks are gone and you can just run around and enjoy this one. No more eating to keep your stomach happy. (Please! I have to do that in real life...) Save any time, anywhere. It will simply load you up at the closest save point the next time you jump into the game.
  
  This is more like a free form city with tons of minigames. I've spent 10 hours so far just running around doing minigames and 1 or 2 of the main quests missions!
  
  If your a fan of GTA this is a must buy and if your not this one isn't nearly as intimidating as GTA. Give it a rental try and see how fun it is. Totally addicting!
  
  

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