Zero Punctuation reviewing Saint’s Row 2pretty much covers my issues with GTA4
I haven’t played SA2, but I’ve heard a lot of praise from people who’ve played both it and GTA4. Funny that SA2’s developers seemingly know what makes a better GTA than the original developers do.
Three huge advantages to Saint’s Row:
The game is funny, often with insane situational humor. Your character is a badass, and nobody pretends otherwise unless they’re trash-talking him. Which usually precedes their imminent deth.
You are the boss. The crew is yours. There’s none of this working your way up the ranks and killing a hundred men for 50 bucks.
Finally, the world is colorful. GTA4 is immensely detailed, but it’s mostly detailed in shades or grey. SR2 is vibrant, from the dank slums to the white-hued neighborhood or Saint’s Row, to the cheery suburbs.
And, you can use people as human shields then put a bullet through their head when you’re done with them.
GTA IV mini-game: bowling. Saint’s Row mini-game: insurance fraud.
I think they’re both marvelous in many ways, but SR/SR2 are just more fun.
I have played all the GTA games, including the top-down GTA 1 and 2. Thus far, I think my favorite has been San Andreas, for the sheer amount of stuff you can get into.
In GTA IV it feels like they focused on depth rather than breadth. Many fewer activities and vehicles, but everything beautifully detailed.
One think that irked me: after you finish the storyline, There’s nothing to do but walk around finding pigeons to shoot, go on meaningless “dates” or cause mayhem, which is fun up to a point. I couldn’t even be bothered. And I read that once you get all 100, there’s no reward. You’re also richer than god at this point, and there’s nothing left for you to spend your money on.While we’re on the subject – I played through about 1/3 of Vice City on the 360 (emulation). At times the frame rate gets so bad you can’t finish the missions; is this due to the emulation, or was it this way on the original Xbox? The whole thing feels jerky and poorly animated, even compared to GTA 3 IMO. It’s a shame because I like the music, the 80s graphics and ambiance.
ETA: I just finished Saints Row (the first one), 100% complete, and loved it. It’s like a bunch of GTA fans got together and made a list of all the annoyances in the GTA games, then fixed them and called the result Saints Row. I’ve ordered Saints Row 2, so there goes another 100+ hours…
It must be the emulation. Vice City was a great game.
I’m not sure if I liked Vice City or San Andreas better. Probably Vice City, just because it felt like it was really the 80’s. III was also a good game. I bought IV as a midnight release and played it for 30 minutes. I then sold it to a used store for $30 I think. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that. I hated the game. The only other game I’ve ever sold was Halo 3, but I atleast beat it first. I don’t like anything Halo related either…
No, it’s not just Insurance Fraud. It’s Insurance Fraud where you find ways to brutally kick your own arse.
Bah. Halo multiplayer is sublime. You’re missing out.