Saints Row then.....

[Mercury]

I thought that was okay. Fuck-all to it, it seemed, except killing HORDES.

But killing the hordes was pretty, and the combos looked pretty, so I enjoyed it a bit more.

Saints Row demo just made me think "why AM I playing this?"

Agreed. I thought Ninety-Nine Nights was good mindless fun and having never played a Dynasty Warriors game before was something a bit new for me. Saints Row is just plain embarrasing and with Dead Rising following only a week after, it'll be interesting to see how well it sells.

Playing through it again, it seems there's only cars in the demo. Just cars. It's immediately obvious that bikes are missing but I don't recall seeing any of the different types of vehicle that you get in the GTA games such as buses, garbage trucks etc.

Is it confirmed that there'll be no planes or helicopters in the game as well?

No bikes or aircraft.

[scottcr]

even my wife commented "couldn't they have used a bit of imagination".

it's such a blatant rip off of everything GTA - except they've missed the all important sense of humour. It's just nasty.

Although, driving a car into a petrol station and jumping out at the last minute *is* fun.

For about 10 minutes.

SOLD--

[hoot]

I do think multiplayer could still save this game from being complete crap.

[scottcr]

I predict this'll be very popular in the states and with teenage kids.

[veryjammy]

I think it's hilarious when I look on the GameFAQS board for this and there are loads of XBox fanboys screaming 'GTA beater!!!' based on the demo. The demo is one of the most boring things I've ever played, there's nothing to do and nowhere to see. I'm sure even the most positive person on here would admit it's lacking the great level design, humour and character of GTA.

I know I should never look on the Gamefaq boards but I can't help myself, it's like watching a carcrash.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Just played the demo of this, and on the whole, found it to be quite a woeful experience

Most diplomatic!

[strawdonkey]

I quite enjoyed the demo to be honest, though found the whole thing a bit confusing at times what with rival gangs and that.

Agreed on the random people speech though, and even your gang-mates start repeating themselves after a short while.

"You don't fuck around, do you?"

Shit framerate too. Probably one to pick up when it's a lot cheaper.

[Paulando]

Yeah, I definitely won't be buying this. San Andreas plays on the 360 anyway, and it's far better.

[Hass]

I enjoyed the demo. I noticed the framerate issues and tearing was a bit disappointing but hopefully this will be sorted for the final release.

The music was all a bit serious and I missed the funny banter stations of GTA. Combast wise, it's a big improvement on GTA because I actually felt like I was controlling what I was doing. Driving is also good, although the pslow cars aren't really fun to drive. Decent Physics really spice up the environment which is nice. Difficult to judge the play area because it was so flat though I did notice (like another forumite) that going off the beaten track was a bit too difficult for my liking (alleyways to narrow etc.).

Haven't heard anything about the multiplayer but a proper implementation could really be something new. One to look out for I say

[cubeadvance]

I think most of the charm of GTA in general is the fact it's a British game set in America so there's nothing serious about it whatsoever. Saints Row however is an American game, for an American audience. There is zero imagination in it. I couldn't imagine a mission involving hunting down some bloke your cousin got bummed by in prison because he stole his rhymes. There's nothing as tongue in cheek even hinted at in the demo, it's just a seedy, grimey game that has every right to be singled out as bad taste.

[Pob]

Funny, I always thought Volition were a European dev, but checking their website they are indeed based in the US.

I wish they'd give the inferior GTA rip-offs a miss and make Freespace 3.

[Hass]

True, but it's hard to tell if these 3 early missions are representative of the games overall atmosphere. I got the feeling that the demo was fairly work in progress.

[stan]

True, but it's hard to tell if these 3 early missions are representative of the games overall atmosphere. I got the feeling that the demo was fairly work in progress.

It is a shit in progress.

[Mercury]

It is interesting that some people seem to be defending the demo by saying that it is only the starting area of the map. I have just re-started San Andreas and there is loads to do in the immediate area around the Johnson house - play some Basketball, grab a BMX and head to the park, grab a motorbike and head down into the storm drains. Saints Row is completely devoid of character and charm.

[Spunky Monkey]

I didnt like the demo, something didnt feel right and i think it was the graphics. Trees stand out a mile because they are very blocky and sharp from a distance. Textures are flat with bump mapping set to 100%, characters have glow around them, it just felt a bit sickening as if there wasnt really an art direction except to make every filter 100%.

[Roblet]

All the SR demo made me think was how utterly amazing San Andreas would've been if only they'd sorted out that dog-turd of a combat system and introduced free-aiming in cars.

Car handling in it feels a bit wrong, the city is bland, the fist-fighting is horrible (made me think of the system in Chronicles of Riddick, but even woolier), and the script is boring and po-faced (or at least, what little of it I didn't skip was).

[Hass]

It is a shit in progress.

Hilarious

[moosegrinder]

You know it's going to sell loads

[El Stevo]

If they had used the triggers for braking and accelerating, they could still have used the Right Bumper for firing during drive-bys, which would have been a million times better.

I wish the Saints would stop arguing and get along.

[SteveH]

If they had used the triggers for braking and accelerating, they could still have used the Right Bumper for firing during drive-bys, which would have been a million times better.

I wish the Saints would stop arguing and get along.

It's already been confirmed that you'll be able to use the triggers in the final game.

[El Stevo]

It's already been confirmed that you'll be able to use the triggers in the final game.

I see. Very good.

[Roboplegic Wrongcock]

Quite enjoyed this, but some of the car handling is weird it has the same problems that games like True Crime have the cars feel strange to handle contrast that to GTA's well handled cars and it becomes a problem.

Graphics are slightly bland theirs none of the great character design of GTA, nice effects though especially when the cars blow up and they stay alight for a while with the heat haze effect.

I'll probably buy but I’ll wait till the price goes a little lower...

[Wallpaper]

I think most of the charm of GTA in general is the fact it's a British game set in America so there's nothing serious about it whatsoever. Saints Row however is an American game, for an American audience. There is zero imagination in it. I couldn't imagine a mission involving hunting down some bloke your cousin got bummed by in prison because he stole his rhymes. There's nothing as tongue in cheek even hinted at in the demo, it's just a seedy, grimey game that has every right to be singled out as bad taste.

I completely agree, I've recently started playing San Andreas again and its just dripping with character and charm, then going back to SR demo just made me realising how un-engaging the whole place is, I just can't see it drawing me in like a GTA despite the fun driving and physics.

Also after seeing a few videos of the multiplayer, the one thing that I thought might just redeem this, it all seems to be in small enclosed areas, are there not gonna be free roaming multiplayer modes where you get to romp around the whole city?

[Lazychu]

Had a look on IGN earlier at the gangs video, with clips from various cutscenes and it was just crnge worthy. Every 2 seconds, a gun, a baseball bat, a something- just as long as it's violent. Obviously every women wasn't wearing much and was either getting slapped or blowing someone away.

Fucking depressing.

The only redeeming feature seems to be some decent physics.

[therev]

I've been playing the demo an awful lot over the last few days. Like, hours of play. It's all about the pipe bombs, for me.

[Monkichi 3.0]

Woooah there, some of you are getting a little carried away. For all the things it does wrong, it also does others right. Much better than GTA even:

+ Great physics. GTA totally lacks this (except the vehicles).

+ Character creator.

+ In-car aiming.

+ Ability to pistol whip someone if you run out of ammo.

+ Ability to do different combos.

+ Cars aren't made of cardboard and fine china so when you bump someone slightly it doesn't look like you've crashed into a brick wall at 100mph.

+ NPC animation are very good. I see people reading the paper, interacting with stuff. People stumble when you shoot them, or climb fences to get away etc.

+ It does look graphically good in places.

However, it does fall down in other places:

- Baseball bat and some other weapons don't feel satisfying.

- Driving is very mediocre. The vehicles lack physics and start/stop too quickly. It's just not fun to drive.

- Dire dialogue.

So, as long as GTA returns the favour and steals the positive points we have an amazing game to comein the form of GTA4.

[Monkeyboy]

+ Character creator.

Admittedly, it is amusing to whack all of the character creation sliders to the max and/or the minimum and create a big, fat monsterous freak. But then that's true of any game that has such things, I guess.

[Roboplegic Wrongcock]

I also like the way waypoints are done showing you realtime multiple routes that you can take.

[Guest]

Admittedly, it is amusing to whack all of the character creation sliders to the max and/or the minimum and create a big, fat monsterous freak. But then that's true of any game that has such things, I guess.

Hmm so you are saying you want a game where you just create big freaks who then have to fight or have sex. Great!

[Monkeyboy]

Hmm so you are saying you want a game where you just create big freaks who then have to fight or have sex. Great!

No, I don't want a game like that. I'm just saying it was practically the only amusing thing in the Saints Row demo, if we're busy comparing it to San Andreas.

Did I take your post too seriously?