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| Saints Row |
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| Action/Shooters |
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| Volition |
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| THQ |
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1st September 06 |
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31st August 06 |
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18+ |
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(M) - Mature |
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Hands on Preview. (Multi Player)
What do we know about Saints Row? Well aside from being compared and scrutinised for being a very similar game to the highly successful Grand Theft Auto series; Saints Row will be the first open world game to appear on Xbox 360 and next generation consoles in general. The most recent open world title to appear has been Atari’s Driver 4 on Xbox and so to compare the two titles is perhaps a fairer comparison considering the years between San Andreas and Saints Row. In Saints Row players get to partake in a number of illicit activities as the gangster of their own making using a highly developed customisation feature which lets players tweak and shape one of four character skins (Afro American, Hispanic, white and Asian) to their hearts content. With sliders to change the physical appearance in numerous ways, players can literally spend hours creating the look of the player they want to be in the game. Not only do players get the chance to create the physical appearance of their character but also what clothes they wear, although this is limited in the sense that more items get unlocked as the game progresses.
During Saints Row’s single player, gamers can drive cars, enter buildings, shoot guns and generally cause havoc in a living breathing city full of pedestrians, cops and of course other gangsters. The developers are keen to stress that the player remains in control at all times and dictates the action according to how individual players want to play. Well that’s the single player and we’re not here to talk about that so much as recently THQ invited Msxbox-world and a bunch of other journalists from Europe, Australia and across the states to San Francisco to sample the multiplayer component of Saints Row. Now before I start this preview I must stress that gamers wishing to be able to play in the entire single player city with a bunch of mates in tow, best wish for something else as it’s simply not going to happen. Right, now that this little misunderstanding is cleared up lets take a look at what will feature in Volition’s gangster simulator, Saints Row. Well I say simulator as the team have actually gotten some details from real life ex gang members (allegedly).
Having arrived at the event which was held in a small club called Mighty which would normally be pumping out fat beats from DJ’s we were greeted by the freckle bitches whose job it was to not only look freckly but to also hand out burgers. All attendees were given a drink and a gold chain with an Xbox 360 memory card attached. Cool now I really looked “bling” . Well ok, “bling” in the stainless steel painted with gold paint sense. Inside the rather dark club there were rows of tv screens and Xbox 360 consoles each running the multiplayer build and set ready for 6 on 6 play. A large screen overlooked proceedings as well as two smaller screens next to the bar which featured the game’s co-op mode. Each of the attendees were given a coloured wristband which divided everyone into teams ready to face off in the multiplayer.
To start things off and sporting a lovely hat; Volition’s Vice President Dan Cermak took the stage to give a brief introduction of the game and its features. After which the teams got together to battle it out. Using the memory cards that we were given upon entering the event we were all able to create our online character using the same tool that is available during the single player. This is quite neat feature as it means gone are the generic templates that you would find in other games. Due to the depth of the character customisation it is clear that gamers will be able to spend as little or hours building an online persona that looks like them or anyone else they choose. Also players earn money during play which they can then spend on buying better clothes for their on screen likeness. So with the options to add shoes, shirts, jackets, trousers (pants), accessories and tattoos I was all set for some gangster boogieing.
During our time with the multiplayer we were introduced to four modes of play which included Gangster Brawl, Protect the Pimp, Big Ass Chains and Blinged out Ride. Gangter Brawl is a standard death match mode which can be played in teams or as all versus all. This mode is fairly self explanatory as gamers kill each other until the score limit is reached or the timer expires. No doubt the options to tweak the settings such as number of spawns will be available with the final game. Controlling the character in third person was very simple although the default sensitivity was a little high but totally workable. Anyone with an ounce of skill will be able to pull off headshots very easily within no time especially as the on screen sights turn red when hovering over a target. Players started out with a default pistol and could pick up an Ak-47, Shotgun, SMG, sniper rifle, RPG and Molotov cocktails. On a negative note the changing of weapons requires the press of the B button to bring up a menu and then the right thumb stick to cycle through the weapons. Whilst this offers quick access to ones armoury I found that this meant stopping whilst doing this; obviously leaving you vulnerable to attack. Jumping fans will be pleased as there is a jump button included as well as the ability to sprint for short bursts and scale low objects such as crates and boxes to reach higher areas.
What is a neat feature is the fact that in the pre game room players are able to run around shooting each other as a warm up whilst other players ready up. This is great for a laugh and a good way to get warmed up prior to the real deal. Playing the actual death match was very easy to get into and with the area being fairly decent sized meant that there’s enough room for close and long range combat. Some vehicles were also available in which players could run over opponents and shoot from although the risk is that using vehicles makes you simply become a large target for RPG wielding players.
Protect the Pimp was the next game mode we were able to play and I must say my favourite of the four modes on offer. In Protect the Pimp the premise is simple you have two teams with one team having the pimp on their side with the aim of protecting and guiding him to a safe zone on the map. The other team is there to simply stop that from happening by killing the pimp. A map which is displayed in the corner of the screen indicates where the safe zones are with arrows indicating whether the point is above or below the player. The person who becomes the pimp each round is random and is also unarmed. However the pimp has an awesome pimp slap move which is a close range attack that kills in one hit.
Due to the set up being system link and with no headsets available meant that no real tactics could be deployed however I could immediately see the potential. Via Xbox Live attacking players will be able to co-ordinate attacks and defending players will be able to use lure tactics such as hiding the pimp near corners and using another player to lure opponents into their trap. However with the time limit that runs through this mode means that players will need to weigh up the pros and cons of potentially wasting valuable time. I think the onus of being successful at this mode is being able to communicate well and keep the pimp back and the rest of the team clearing the way forward. I think once players have learnt the maps then we will see some highly competitive, tactical, yet fun games in this mode.
The third mode we sampled was Big Ass Chains which as the name implies features Big Ass chains, (ahem). Well this mode offers its own spin on the death match theme in that players who are killed drop big ass gold chains. The object of the game is to kill, collect chains and then take them back to a random point on the map. However there is a trade off; players can opt to take single chains back to the drop off point however they will score minimal points. If a player collects more chains and drops off a bunch of them at once then they will score highly; much more than the accumulated points from dropping them off individually. Well this may sound relatively simple however I found that there was a tendency for some players to hover around the drop off zone for a cheap steal of chains (chains can be collected from an opponent once they are killed). This mode is far more suited to team play as then tactics can be employed where some players will defend areas and routes whilst others attack opponents for those big ass chains! I liked this mode however we weren’t able to play in proper teams and so I felt we missed the essence of what could potentially be an exciting and popular mode.
The Final mode on offer was Blinged Out Ride, which again was a team based mode in whereby two teams kill to earn money or collect and drop off chains which in turn is used to pimp out their car. Once the car has been pimped to the max players must then drive the car to a specific location on the large map to show it off. However the other team who is trying to do the same can damage your car and so madness ensues. This is a real fun mode and probably the most open of the four but also requires some steady team work if players are to be successful. Due to the nature of the set up at the event it was very hard to co-ordinate and form proper strategies however once gamers on Live get their heads together then I can definitely see this mode as being one of the most played.
Sadly I didn’t get time to play the co-op mode but was told that it featured maps where two players face off versus the AI. One map is called mob rule whereby the two players have to move illicit items to a specific point on the map whilst avoiding gangs. The other is called turbulence and is an escape from an airport where the two players must fight their way through a cop infested lounge to the exit.
To surmise, I thought the multiplayer modes were very fun albeit a little limited in terms of the levels mostly looking underwhelming in their design; however with more maps being available in the final game then hopefully there will be some variation to keep things sweet. I think with a little tweaking on the players part to set the controls to their liking and the options to balance games out means that there is certainly lots of potential fun here. Once players spend time with the modes and learn the nuances of team play then I can foresee that there will be some tough gangs out there to beat, making Saints Row’s multiplayer highly competitive, especially if there are featured leader boards. The team are also planning some downloadable content which will include clothing, tattoos and missions which are planned for shortly after release and will be usable in both single and multiplayer modes.
Saints Row has been building a lot of hype and expectation over its single player game and now gamers can look forward to some rather cool multiplayer modes. As long as the team make sure things remain balanced and iron out any exploits prior to release then gamers can expect some good times ahead. After an interview with Dan Cermek which you can view by clicking here, it was time to get a quick drink and be handed a special Saints Row beverage and then off home to bed to end what could be described as a wonderful day despite suffering jetlag. A Saints Row demo is available now if you pre-order from certain stores as well as being available in the next issue of OXM. The Live Marketplace demo is due on the 1st of August and the game hits retail in the US on August the 29th 2006 and the 1st September in Europe.
You can view Saint Row movies by simply clicking here,
You can view Saints Row screenshots by simply clicking here,
Preview By: Robert Cram
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