Saints Row

"The only GTA clone that has a shot at beating GTA."

Saint's Row is the one GTA clone that I believe is as good as, if not better, than GTA itself.

Graphics- 7/10
Your character model tends to look great. All of the other character models look awful considering that this is next gen. The cars look decent and the environment looks worse than I expected.

Soundtrack 7/10
Depends on what you like. It seems like the game focused on rock and hip-hop. There are three rock stations that each seems to share songs between them. The same can be said for the hip-hop stations. The talk radio isn't going to make you bust a gut, but it is still funny. The is also a classical music station, a reggae station, a metal station, a techno station, and an "easy listening" (elevator music) station. There is also an audio player feature that allows you to play your own playlists. You could already do that but this makes it a bit easier to do so. And the fact the radio still plays when you bail out of a car is a nice touch.

I decided to split gameplay up into multiple sections.

Gameplay all around 10/10

Gunplay 9/10
This gunplay is a combination of Ratchet & Clank and an FPS. It uses a reticule instead of lock-on and a weapon selection ring that works quite well.

Driving 8/10
I usually drive with the left stick accel/brake option on. It allows for more control when aiming. That's right. You can aim while driving. The cars handle like you expect they will when looking at them.

Things to do 10/10
You will have to do some of the activities to earn "respect" to unlock missions. You can race, steal girls for pimps, blow stuff up, steal cars, be a hitman, traffiking drugs, and commit insurance fraud. There is still more stuff to do. There is even a plastic surgeon.

Replay Value 7/10
You can replay missions and cutscenes so there is no need to ever select NEW GAME a second time. But it would still be just as fun.

Buy or Rent?
Buy. You may be able to beat the story on a rental but there is so much other stuff to do that it just won't do.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/06