| Saints Row 2 - Multiplayer Hands On |
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MSXBOX-WORLD was invited by THQ to San Francisco last week to cover the unveiling of Volition?s much-anticipated Saints Row 2 multiplayer modes. While we published a brief synopsis of the new modes last week, I wanted to take an opportunity to share with all of you my personal feelings regarding Saints Row 2?s multiplayer modes -- based on several hours of gameplay.
As many of you guys out there know, there has been a lot of fan speculation as to whether or not Saints Row 2 would feature any of the multiple game modes that made Saints Row 1 so popular. In a bit of a shocker, it was revealed at the event that many of the individual Saints Row 1 game modes had been cut in favour of an all-new ?Mega Mode? called ?Strong Arm?. Strong Arm takes many of the activities from single Player Saints Row 1, and has incorporated them into an entirely new way to play multiplayer within the game world.
I have to admit at first I was conflicted with this announcement ? what was I going to do without my beloved ?Protect the Pimp? mode? Soon though my fear gave way to excitement as developers from Volition explained the core concepts behind Strong Arm.
In Strong Arm, players play through a set series of rounds, with each round consisting of various activities. The activities within each game round consist of many of the game modes from Saints Row 1 that many of us loved and enjoyed. The winning team of each activity gets a cash bonus that goes towards their overall score. At the end of a round the team with the most cash wins the round. Whichever team wins the most rounds wins that Strong Arm match.
The neat thing about Strong Arm is that everything is customizable by the host. The amount of game rounds, the amount of activities per round (to a maximum of 8), the weapons load outs, time limits, score limits ? pretty much anything you can think of that can be customized IS able to be customized. Most game rounds we played were filled with a wide variety of activities, and it kept the game feeling very fresh throughout my playtime.
In terms of the activities themselves, they were a joy to experience within a multiplayer context. Fan favorites like Insurance Fraud, were an absolute hoot, filled with flying bodies and mass multiplayer chaos. Demolition Derby, on the other hand, gave each team target cars to destroy. I affectionately referred to this activity as ?Vulture Derby?, given that I would follow enemy gang members around and steal their kills with well timed grenade tosses. This of course would lead to bloody retaliation. Adding to the chaos of Demolition Derby was an absolutely gigantic AI controlled monster truck, that spelled instant death to anyone unfortunate enough be caught in its path. Believe me when I say, you will be caught in its path. Many MANY times. There was something really hilarious about two gang members fighting it out to get a car kill, only to have both be flattened by the Monster Truck of Death.
I also got to try out ?Escort? mode, which consisted of taking three hoes across the neighborhood to their clients. This mode lead to many tense car chases, leading to horrible deaths more often than not. In addition even when I did make it to the drop off point, there was often an enemy gang member waiting to get the drop on me.
It was interesting to note that one could take a number of different strategies in each of the game modes to accomplish the goal of earning the most cash. Within Strong Arm, there were walls that could be ?tagged? by either team, spray-painting their graffiti logo on it. Tagged walls provided a bonus to whichever team held it, such as doubling the amount of money for kills. This lead to differing strategies...I noted that some teams would not bother with the activities, instead trying to get all the tags, and score more cash through tag bonuses. Other teams would split up, with half the team going for tags, the other half doing the activities. A team that concentrated on kills for instance, while holding the double cash tag, could very well keep the cash gap close, even if they lose some of the activities.
In addition to Strong Arm, I briefly tried out Gangster Brawl. Gangster Brawl also featured ?tags? throughout the maps but is basically straight up death match. Although Gangster Brawl features 12-player multiplayer, I found that the 4 on 4 of Strong Arm just seemed to provide a far more dynamic multiplayer experience. Don?t get me wrong, Gangster Brawl is still fun (and also features Team Gangster Brawl from the original Saints Row 1 as well) however Strong Arm is going to be THE mode that I believe will see the most playtime.
Multiplayer features a robust ranking system with multiple badges that can be earned. Each badge consists of 12 different rankings. Examples of ranking titles included soldier, gangster, assassin, while one of the badge titles was called ?Brain Surgeon?. You can be sure these rankings and badges will appeal to those people that love playing the ?metagame? of completion. Upon consideration I decided this can only be a good thing, helping to prolong the life of Saints Row 2?s multiplayer community.
On the whole Multiplayer ran very smooth with no hiccups to speak of in terms of framerate. Graphically it seemed that multiplayer wasn?t as souped up as single player in terms of effects, but I think this is very forgivable considering the amount of sheer chaos happening on the screen at once. I got to try both the PS3 version and 360 version and didn?t notice any real difference between the two aside from me hating on the Sixaxis. Obviously I?ll be picking up the 360 version...and I?m guessing most people who played Saints Row 1 will probably do the same. The game just feels ?right? with a 360 controller in hand.
In closing I have to say I wasn?t sure what to expect when I went down to San Francisco...however I left the event with a very good feeling regarding the multiplayer game modes. Strong Arm is a breath of fresh air compared to the ?me too? all too common in other game?s multiplayer modes.
Really when it all boils down to it multiplayer is just a hell of a lot of fun...and speaking for myself, that?s the single most important thing in dictating whether or not a game needs to be bought or not.
Posted By: Scott Strickland
Date: 2008-09-30
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