{tag [Review]} {tag [X360]}  

To be fair, I went into this review feeling a bit biased. I had low expectations for this game, and in all honesty, I didn't expect to like it. The video quality in Saint's Row is far superior to any other game in the "Free-form thug 3rd person shooter" genre...you know anything that copies the Grand Theft Auto format: steal cars, drive around while listening to music, accept a mission, complete mission without dying or getting busted, collect money, open new missions, repeat. But therein lies the problem: its all been done before.

Video - 85%
As previously stated, the graphics are the best I've seen in this type of game. The environments are beautiful, and the level of detail is obvious, even at high speeds. While speeding through a neighborhood, trying to evade the police, I noticed the state of the buildings, and commented to my girlfriend, "Where am I? It looks like hell!" Sure enough, I paused the game, jumped to the menu, and checked the map; I was in the projects! My only complaint? I felt the graphics were not where they should be for a next generation console game. They just weren't crisp enough. The character models were not detailed enough, but addition of a avatar creator was a nice touch.
 

Audio - 90%
The audio is excellent. The voice acting is one of the games truly strong points, and helped lend creedence to the otherwise lacking storyline. Volition and THQ spared little expense to get some quality acting. Keith David, as Julius Little (leader of the 3rd Street Saints), is exceptional, and was an inspired choice. Michael Rapaport, Tia Carrere, Michael Clarke Duncan, Clancy Brown, and David Carradine also provide some excellent voice work.

The soundtrack was also quite good, with 12 in-car radio stations and 130 songs from artists like Xzibit, Fall Out Boy, Method Man, and Motion City Soundtrack. But the audio really won me over when I heard an old song from one of my favorite bands. Cruising with "Bound For the Floor" by Local H blasting through my speakers was a lot of fun.

The ability to use custom soundtracks, and the in-game option to "buy" tracks at the music store to play on my "music player" were also nice touches.

Controls/Interface - 95%
This is where this game truly surpasses the original it tries so hard to replicate. The controls are far more forgiving, particularly while driving. In the Xbox versions of GTA3 and GTA:VC, driving at times could be difficult, and it was easy to lose control. Not so in Saint's Row; the controls were much more forgiving, and therefore, enjoyable. I don't want to worry whether or not I may flip my car on a leisurely ride to rob the corner store! The use of the reticle for weapon and item selection was also a vast improvement over previous versions of this genre. Easy to learn, simple to see, the reticle was a great choice.

Gameplay - 40%
The games big problem: it's all been done before. Nothing new to see here; move along. Couple that with a storyline that I simply could not fully immerse myself into, and a lack of style (the reason GTA:VC was such a success even though it was a clone of GTA3) present in other games of the genre, and you are left with a pretty looking and sounding clone, with no depth.

Summary - 78%
Overall, the game was fun, but not a lot of fun. It was pretty, but not gorgeous. It sounded great, but was not intriguing. It was a lot of good things, but nothing (aside from the controls) was spectacular. There was nothing new here, and its a shame, because had this game come out with GTA3, it would have given it a run for its money.