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Saints Row (2006 video game)

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Saints Row
Game cover
Developer(s)Volition
Publisher(s)THQ
Designer(s)Volition
EngineRendering - Custom
Physics - Havok
Platform(s)Xbox 360
ReleaseUnited States of America August 29, 2006

Canada August 28, 2006

Europe September 1, 2006
Genre(s)Action, Driving
Mode(s)Single player, Multiplayer, Xbox Live

Saints Row is an action-adventure video game, available for the Xbox 360. It was developed by Volition, and published by THQ. The game has been described as being in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in terms of gameplay, with the developers referring to it as an emerging genre called "open world." Both games focus on urban gang activity, with the main character attempting to strengthen his gang's standing within the world.

A downloadable singleplayer demo of Saints Row was released via the Xbox Live Marketplace on August 1, 2006. The game arrived in stores in wide release on August 29, 2006 in North America, and on September 1, 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Gameplay

The game centers on the player, a newly recruited member of the 3rd Street Saints. The Saints are a gang that are coming under attack from three other gangs dominating the city of Stilwater (based on Detroit and Chicago)[1]. With the player's help, the Saints attempt to fight back and take over the city, one neighborhood at a time.

Similarity to Grand Theft Auto

Since Saints Row was largely inspired by Grand Theft Auto games: its gameplay is structured similarly, consisting of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open environment to explore. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons and basic hand-to-hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of automobiles.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain content, they are not required, as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and create havoc (drive-by shootings, robberies, etc.). However, doing so generally attracts unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response from the police.

The game, although very similar to the Grand Theft Auto series and its open-world format, has included some minor gameplay elements which serve to differentiate itself from the GTA games. First, should a player ever fail a mission in Saints Row, the option of instantly retrying the mission is given to the player, instead of having to drive back to the point in the city where the mission originated from. Saints Row also does not revoke the player's weapons if he dies or is arrested. In addition, there is no auto-targeting with weapons, as weapons are aimed freely by the controller's right analog stick, and by default, a player can drive-by shoot 360 degrees from a motor vehicle.

Activities and respect system

The player can also partake in a variety of side missions referred to as "Activities," ranging from street racing, pimping, carjacking, contract killing, robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and even insurance fraud, in which the player earns money for self-inflicted injuries. Completing such "activities" helps players earn respect throughout the various districts of Stilwater. Once the player has earned enough respect in a neighborhood, another story mission or location of an enemy stronghold is revealed. Completing the story mission or taking over the stronghold will help the player gain more territory within the city.

Reputation meters on the HUD display how well-known the 3rd Street Saints are among various factions and the police. The game has a unique respect system and characters will react differently to the player, depending on what he has done in the past and the player's respect levels. Also, the player's appearance and actions will significantly affect his respect level, as well as the difficulty of controlling the city.

The player can engage in whichever "activities" he prefers the most to increase the 3rd Street Saints' respect levels. For example, if the player does not wish to street race and instead wants to kill hordes of people, one can do this and would make the same amount of progress through the game by choosing this route than if one had done the same amount of street racing. The game is tailored to reward the player for whatever he enjoys doing the most. The player's attire also reflects on the respect level.

The player can also choose to become a kingpin instead, without completing any missions, arranging races and building respect in the process. However, by completing missions, the player can unlock jewelry, designer clothes, tattoos and other items for the player's home. As the player takes over new areas of the city, he will have access to different homes, allowing one to store more merchandise and cars.

Some of the chaos caused by the player with the rocket launcher in Saints Row.

Other features

The player may also recruit additional gang members (or "homies") to aid them. Players can obtain these computer-controlled gang mates throughout the game, unlocking additional homies as they progress through the missions. The player can either recruit a fellow gang member when encountered or make a phone call to a character who has offered his/her services.

The game features an extensive character customization mode similar to ones found in recent popular games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. For example, players can customize his character's skin type, facial features, clothing, body type, tattoos, and hairstyle. There are only two notable restrictions: the player is always male, and always the same height.

The game also has an online multiplayer mode for Xbox Live that supports up to 12 people. Players can join a gang and engage in street warfare with other gangs online. Saints Row features 5 different online games. Gangsta Brawl (and the team-based version) is a standard deathmatch. Big Ass Chains (and the team-based version) forces players to collect chains by killing people, and then depositing them for points. A bonus is awarded for delivering more chains at once. Protect Tha Pimp is a team based game, in which one team must escort the pimp to a destination point, while the other team must kill the pimp or prevent their opponents from reaching this point. It is very similar to the VIP mode from Counter-Strike. Blinged Out Ride is another team based game in which two teams must raise enough money from killing opponents and collecting chains to upgrade the team's vehicle several times.

Saints Row allows players to customize the majority of cars in the game at certain garages. Once modified, the newly designed vehicle can be saved at the garage and restored if it is ever wrecked or destroyed.

The game is notable for its use of ragdoll physics, using the Havok engine. The implementation of this feature, combined with the chaos the player can cause in an urban setting, often yields humorous results.

Plot synopsis

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 The game features different plotlines for each rival gang, focusing on the Saints' attempts to bring down said gang.

Template:Spoiler For simplicity, the player's character is refered to as "The Player", as this is how most of the characters in the game address you throughout the story.

  • Welcome to the 3rd Street Saints

The opening movie shows The Player walknig down 3rd Street, minding his own business, when an intense episode of violence between the three other rival gangs erupts around him. The last gang member standing takes aim at The Player letting him know he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Player closes his eyes but when the shot rings out he opens them to find the thug dead and Troy of the Saints standing over him. Julius, leader of the Saints helps you up and away from the carnage of the scene and invites you to the Saint's mission (a rundown church) for a gang meeting.

When The Player arrives, Julius gives a speech about the need to take back Saint's Row. The attending gang members are more interested in your presence. The insist The Player must be "Canonized" (the Saint's term for the ritual fight many urban gangs require new members to take part in) before they can accept you.

Once you're welcomed into the gang, Troy takes The Player to buy a weapon. Together they kill several members of the Vice Kings doing business around Saint's row. Afterwards they make a break for Forgive 'n Forget to lose the heat they've collected.

The Player is then told to investigate an opportunity to do some work for a local pimp. Once The Player earns enough respect from these missions they're free to take on the rest of the game in whatever manner they choose.

The following storylines can take place in any order.

  • Los Carnales

Hector and his brother Angelo run Los Carnales with the aid of their enforcer Victor. They are mostly centered around the local drug business.

Dex is the man running the takedown of Los Carnales. The Player starts by destroying several drug labs that Los Carnales own. Dex then asks the Player and Troy to steal a delivery truck Los Carnales uses regularly, turning it into a Trojan Horse which you then use to take over their largest drug lab.

Elsewhere the Saints nearly corner Angelo and kill him, however Victor shows up to save him, shrugging off a point blank gunshot in the process. Los Carnales attempts to strike back by invading 3rd Street which the Player must help fight off. Afterwards you learn Hector (the leader) will be having a meeting with the Columbian drug lords; the Player takes a sniper rifle and kills him during the meeting in an effort to sow distrust between Los Carnales and their suppliers.

Angelo, now out for blood, again takes a crew to kill the Saints. Victor dies in the battle, but not before surviving the destruction of his car with him in it. In the following cutscene you see Troy light a cigarette off his burning corpse. Dex decides it's time to end Los Carnales and take out Angelo by raiding Hector's estate. Angelo escapes and tries to skip town and start up business somewhere else. Dex realizes this could come back to haunt the Saints, so he and the Player drive to the airport and take out the private jet he was planning to leave on. His death gives the Saints full control of the drug market in Stillwater.

  • Westside Rollerz

Apart from being a tuning and racing gang, not much is known about the Rollerz at first. However a man called Mr. Sharp calls the shots, along with Price and Donnie, his lieutenants.

Lin has been ordered to infiltrate the gang as a spy to figure out who runs the gang. She asks the player to steal a transport of cars meant for the Rollerz. The cars are then given back to the Rollerz with a surprise: they've been rigged with explosives which will go off when the engine reacts to the introduction of nitrous oxide. Lin has the Player race the Rollerz while they drive these cars, insisting he be in first for the last lap which will force them to use the NOS. However Troy shows up with a different plan. He rides shotgun with the player and taunts the other drivers into using the NOS.

With help from the Player Lin "rescues" Donnie, the Rollerz's main mechanic, from an attack by the Player. Donnie introduces Lin to Mr. Sharp and Price where she learns of the Rollerz' future plans.

First the Rollerz are going to hit a convoy for car parts which the Player foils by destroying the trucks. He comes up with a new plan to stip cars down for the parts, but again the Player intervenes. Mr. Sharp has noticed how the Saints are always one step ahead and figures out that Lin is a spy. Using her he leads the Player to a trap where they are both captured.

They are placed in the trunk of Lin's car where later Mr. Sharp reveals the truth to Donnie before shooting both Lin, and the Player. Donnie (who thought Lin was his girl) drives off distraught while Mr. Sharp pushes the car into the river; this is where Lin dies while helping the Player escape. Not one to let this pass lightly, the Player must chase down Mr. Sharp and kill him.

As a result Price is upset, his best friend is missing and Mr. Sharp is dead. Price plans on leading every Rollerz member he can find to burn Saints Row to the ground. With Julius's help the Player chases down the Rollerz convoy, however Price escapes when the Player is thrown from Julius's car. Price calls the Player and declares that it is time to finish it. He tells the Player to meet him at Foreign Power, a car dealership. The Player is nearly run down by a truck that Price is driving, and after a successful chase Price is killed.

  • Vice Kings

Benjamin King runs this gang with the help of Warren Williams, Anthony Green and Tanya Winters.

Aisha, Johnny Gat's girlfriend and Stilwater's biggest Hip Hop star, calls and tells him that she needs help rescuing her sister - who was kidnapped by the Vice Kings. After rescuing her Aisha asks Johnny to help her find a way out of her recording contract with Kingdom Come Records, a label owned by Benjamin King. Johnny decides to rig her limo with a bomb and have it go off in front of the studio thereby faking Aisha's death.

While driving Aisha in her modified limo The Player must fight off a stalker obsessed with Aisha. After parking the limo and making a getaway, the bomb goes off destroying much of the building. It is revealed Tanya, the girl who is head of Vice King's the protitution ring, is sleeping with both Warren and Green while keeping both of them in the dark. The time has come to put the hurt on Tanya.

After removing several patrols you capture her brothel in Prawn Court. The Vice Kings counterattack and the Player fights them off. Afterwards you learn of a stronghold Tanya is currently in and raid it, however Johnny is shot by Green and captured. In order to find Johnny the player takes the role as Tanya's driver in order to learn where Johnny is being held. The plan goes bad when Julius calls the Player and informs him Troy didn't know about the operation and sent a hit squad after Tanya, which you must escape from.

Tanya asks the Player to take her to Green's penthouse, where he knocks out Tanya and kills Green in order to rescue Johnny. It is discovered the Vice Kings are working with the cops so Johnny and Dex come up with a plan that puts the Kings in the firing line. Dressed in Vice King colors Johnny and the Player cause havok around Stilwater, destroying a statue of Richard Huges, the alderman of Stilwater, in the process.

Johnny decides to further distrupt the relationship between the Kings and the corrupt cops, unvailing the RPG with which the Player tears every crooked cop apart. As the cops are coming down hard on King, he is betrayed by Warren and Tanya who begin a coup d'etat against him. King calls Julius for help, the latter sending the Player to rescue King from an attack by his former gang.

The Player and King track down Warren and destroy the car he was driving, but it is Tanya who ultimately kills Warren in order to take control of the Vice Kings. King refuses to walk away with Tanya in charge, so King, Johnny, and The Player plan an invasion of King's former penthouse.

Before they can get inside they need the elevator code which Tanya changed. They torture it out of Stefan, owner of Impressions, Stilwater's trendiest clothing store. (His ads can be heard on the radio as The Player drives around the city.) The trio makes their way to the penthouse office where they shoot Tanya through a window, and King finshes the job by stepping on the fingers Tanya is using to clutch the ledge. She dies by landing on King's parked car, which King hands over to the Player as they leave.

From here the storyline is linear again.

  • 3rd Street Saints

Now the Saints own the town and Julius promotes the Player to be his Right hand man, however his phone call is cut short when the police pull him over.

The player recieves a call from Chief Monroe of the Stillwater Police, claiming the Player's actions during the Vice Kings missions cost him and his friends a lot of money. Money the Player will work off as "community service" to Monroe, but moreso in exchange for Julius's life. At first he wants you to kill the current mayor, leading in the reelection polls, by parking his campaign bus on the train tracks.

When he is dead, Monroe calls the player to inform him Julius won't be released until the player has done more "community service". Johnny is pissed that he has to be "Monroe's bitch" and Dex agrees that Monroe needs to be killed in order to send a message to Monroe's partners. Dex and the Player set up a sniping ambush along the dead mayor's funeral route, however chaos ensues when the one police cruiser they thought Chief Monroe would be riding in turns out to be several which are all part of the procession.

Dex tells the Player to solve this by destroying all the police vehicles present. The Player is contacted by the man who was trailing in the mayoral race, the Alderman Richard Huges, and is asked to meet him on the his yacht. (During gameplay, the player may hear several radio commercials by Alderman Huges describing his plans to be tougher on crime if he's elected mayor, as well as a plan to wipe out 3rd Street altogether.) Huges thanks the player for handing him the election since his plan for 3rd Street is now being lauded by the populace.

During his speech, several other major characters are shown, most notably Troy leaning against a wall holding a police badge, and Julius on a overlook of the yatch the Player is on. Julius glances at his watch before walking away. Huges ends his speech by telling the Player he's going to have him killed. Before his orders can be carried out, however, a bomb beeps then explodes, destroying the yacht.

As the explosion subsides, a splash can be clearly heard. And during the credits that follow, a news report plays describing the final events of the cutscene. The reporter on the scene states no bodies have yet been found and it is unknown who may have been on board. This has created a great deal of controversy amongst gamers as many feel the ending is a cliffhanger with The Player's ultimate fate being unknown at this time. It is speculated future downloadable content may explain this further. Template:Endspoiler

Gangs and characters

Stilwater is ruled primarily by four gangs:

File:Saintsrowjulius.jpg
Julius, voiced by Keith David.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes songs from Fall Out Boy, Idlewild, Editors, The Aquabats, Local H, Ghostface, Rhymefest, David Banner, Xzibit, Daz Dillinger, De La Soul, Method Man, Clipse, Tempercalm, Masta Ace, Little Brother, Strong Arm Steady and Sy Smith. In total, the game features 12 radio stations and over 130 music tracks. Like all Xbox 360 games, there is support for custom soundtracks. There is also an ingame music player accessible through the pause menu. The player purchases songs for the music player at record stores in Stilwater using in-game money.

Reception

Prior to the retail version of Saints Row being released, the demo set an Xbox Live Marketplace record for being downloaded more than 350,000 times in the first week of its release. [2]

The game has received generally positive ratings. Although most critics have noted the striking similiarities in gameplay that Saints Row shares with releases from the Grand Theft Auto series, most critics have praised the game for the inclusion of new features and its improvement of existing ones from GTA. Saints Row has received ratings of 95/100 from GamePro (adjusted), 8.75/10 from Game Informer, 80/100 from Official Xbox Magazine, 8.5 from IGN, 8.4 from Gamernode, and 8.3/10 from GameSpot. GamePro called it "the best reason to own an Xbox 360 this side of Oblivion," [1], while IGN noted "despite its distinct lack of originality, [the game] is fun." [2]

Most critics have praised the "Activities" and the online multiplayer, as well as the free-form control scheme, which utilizes the controller's right analog stick to aim weapons. Common complaints about the game are over graphical problems common from the GTA series, as well as forced, hit-or-miss humour.

Although welcomed by critics and fans alike, the online multiplayer has suffered from significant lag since the game's debut, making it difficult to play. This issue will need to be fixed by a patch, which Volition is currently developing. [3]

Though the "true ending" of the game leaves much consideration about a sequel, its cliffhanger leaves much to be desired, according to many fans of the game. [citation needed]

Trivia

  • One of the game's buildings, the Ultor Dome, makes reference to the Ultor Mining Coperation on Mars in Red Faction.
  • The McManus Sniper Rifle is named after the character, Michael McManus from the movie The Usual Suspects.
  • The postal truck in the game is named Newman, a reference to the Seinfeld character Newman, who was a mailman.
  • A sport utility vehicle in the game resembling a Ford Bronco is named the Nordberg. Nordberg was the name of the character played by O.J. Simpson in the Naked Gun film series.
  • Julius and other characters in the game refer to the player character as 'playa'. This is ambiguous, as it could mean 'player' as in 'Player 1', or 'playa' as in the slang gangster term.
  • The player character only speaks four times throughout the whole game, throwing off unsuspecting players.

References

  1. ^ http://www.saintsrow.com/
  2. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/news_spots.html?date=2006-08-21#6156122
  3. ^ http://developer.saintsrow.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4497
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