September 2006 Issue

[rickjames]

The writers of the Gaming Chronicle will add their video game impressions, reviews, previews, and general opinion columns below this post.

(If you are interested in writing for the Chronicle, then click on the groups link in the header. Then chose the Chronicle usergroup, and then click join.)

[rickjames]

Saint's Row Review -- Xbox 360


It has almost become human nature to judge games that are similar to Grand Theft Auto as mere copies of the great game by Rockstar. People automatically judge it by comparing it to GTA because of their similar qualities but Saint’s Row seems to get almost everything right and has many of it’s own innovations to the genre that GTA sparked. The GTA style has developed a new style of games, almost like plat formers, so just because Saint’s Row follows this concept does not mean that it is a complete copy of GTA. Saint’s Row utilizes the power of Xbox Live to it’s advantage to make it a great single and multiplayer game for Xbox 360 owners.

Saint’s row puts the player in the game as he/she is able to customize the character and starts off with you trying to prove yourself to the Saint’s, a local gang, by participating in hand to hand combat with the other gang members. When finally in the game, missions become available to be completed, revolving around the three other gangs in Stillwater, the area the game is based. The story revolves around the Saints’ attempt to control Stillwater by taking out these three rival gangs, the Carnales, The Westside Rollerz, and the Vice Kings. The story is told through the cut scenes in between the missions and even while in gameplay. While trying to take over the rival gangs, the story develops and flows nicely throughout the game and remains interesting.

Saint’s Row is mission based, but what makes it so enjoyable is all the variety in free roam. Usually, more than one mission is available to do. Completing all the missions against one gang at once is possible, but it is also possible to mix it up and do missions of each gang. These missions require respect points which are earned by doing the various activities in the game like Chop Shop, finding specific cars and fixing them up, or Hitman, locating and killing the requested citizens. Respect is also earned by other things you can do while roaming around such as stealing a car and taking the passengers hostage.

Stars are acquired for disobeying the law, the more stars more aggressive the police. Along with the stars, there is also indications of how aggressive a certain gang is depending on the actions of the character towards them.

The missions in Saint’s row are all very different from each other and are one of the strong points as they never get old with them and every one can be exciting. They can range from going in an enemy strong point to find a specific person and kill them to finding a person and scaring them into revealing information. Unlike GTA, most of Saint’s Row missions aren’t time based, which makes it a bit easier, but not too easy.

The free roaming reinforces the missions and gives the player endless options on what to do, only limited to the players’ imaginations. These endless options extend to the way in which money can be acquired, whether it be by holding up a store, to cracking the safe yourself and taking the items to the pawn shop. The city of Stillwater resembles a real city and the people react to what you do. Days and nights go by as in real life, certain stores have sales on days. The radio even announces the sales and events in the city of Stillwater. You can even see people committing suicide, and by driving away as you point a gun at them. There are also hidden CD’s and tag spots which unlock songs and abilities for your character.

This brings me to the graphics which make the city of Stillwater alive even though the graphic style is not as realistic as GTA’s, although they are obvioulsy better. The cut scene and gameplay graphics are almost the same and in gameplay signs are clearly visible except on rainy days adding to the realism. The explosions and fire are one of the best seen in any game and the strong point in this game. Blowing up cars will be a enjoyable routine.

There are, however, some graphical glitches found in the game. When the camera is in a certain position, the screen can be all black, or in one multiplayer level, the stairs are blue in a certain position.

The controls take some getting used to as they are some new things in the game such as different buttons for punching and kicking. One of the major differences is that there is no lock-on system which means the cross-hairs are controlled by the player with the right analog stick which works better in action than on paper. It gives the player more control and options.

One of the major draws of Saint’s Row to many who bought it was the online play. Although there are lag problems and such, which will be fixed with the patch coming up, the online play delivers hours of fun. Along with the regular deathmatch and team deathmatch, Saint’s Row has some unique game types that are surprisingly fun to play. In Blinged Out Ride the team has to be the first to upgrade their car to level four which is done by earning money by either killing the opponent or by taking the chain to the drop off point. Once the team gains enough money they are able to drive your car to the Chop Shop to get it upgraded. Protect Tha Pimp offers two sides, either offense or defense which require killing the pimp or protecting him and Big Ass Chains involves collecting chains and bringing them to the drop off point.

The best feature of online play is that the characters are custimizable just like in single player so everyone looks different. Clothes and jewelry are purchased by earning money in the ranked matches. Another great addition are the gangs which are similar to the clans in Halo 2.

As most online games, Saint’s Row features ranked matches and player matches, but one of the surprises is the Co-op mode which has two levels in which you and a partner can complete. Although they are not very original, it can be enjoyable.

Most people that have played a game like Saint’s Row say that it is impossible to get bored of it. Although this is an exaggeration, Saint’s Row does have a lot of replay value mostly because of the multitude of activities available.

Saint’s Row is one of those games that will make people buy the 360 instead of the PS3.

8.9/10

[rickjames]

Xbox 360 News:

Halo Wars, a Real Time Stratagy (RTS) game for the 360, has been announced. Ensemble Studios hopes to put a stop to the trend of bad RTS's on consoles.

The official website:

www.halowars.com

[danny12]

Coming Soon: I am gettnig Just Cause for my birthday, Kingdom Hearts 2 arriving from Amazon in around 5 days and Vice City Stories when its out so look forward to my three reviews of these games