The original Saints Row. A solid 360 exclusive, a solid early console title (since it came within a year since the 360 came out) but definitely a game that has aged rather...roughly
I know much of it was caused by it coming out before a lot of features that we now can't live with were becoming the standard (such as checkpoints) but there's a lot of other questionable gameplay design choices that were (thankfully) all fixed by the 2nd or 3rd game. One gripe I have with the game is the frustrating amount of grinding the game forced me into committing to by forcing me into performing the side activities. While some of the side activities can be entertaining and I can understand the design philosophy (most players wouldn't play the side-missions otherwise unless they were seeking to 100% the game) I do believe it's not being done justice here given how hit and miss the side-missions are, especially in comparation with the subsequent games which both have improved the side-missions as well as make the game much less of a grindfest, relying you to play the bearable side-missions until you can't gain any more experience from them (or if you're lucky to realize the hostage submission gives a decent amount of experience for what it's worth).
Side-Missions aside, the story, while nothing memorable to write home about, was alright enough. The missions were challenging but in a fun way for the most part. They're definitely very arcadey and straightforward, especially when we're talking about the Stronghold missions. I definitely enjoyed the missions for the most part because they were challenging enough while also not feeling too unfair (well, the lack of checkpoints made them seem more unfair but looking at the big picture they weren't too bad)
The overall atmosphere was pretty charming. I'm very nostalgic about the mid 2000s so given how the game came out in 2006 it definitely felt like a time capsule from the era. Everything about it made me look back at 2000s hip hop culture (for better or for worse) as well as the 2000s overall.
Saints Row, quirks and annoyances aside, is a solid gta clone. If you want a straightforward gta clone with a gangwar centered story then I can't help but recommend the game if you own an XBOX 360, XBOX One or XBOX Series X. The game is exclusive to the XBOX, mainly the 360, but the developers have made the effort to make the game available on the newer consoles, in order to help the game not stay forever stranded on one platform for the rest of time (looks at you, JSRF). The lack of ports is explained with the fact the developers have apparently lost the source code, thus being unable to natively port it to any newer platform or the PC. Is it worth picking up a 360 for? No, not really. However, is it worth dusting off your old 360 to take it out for a whirl for, maybe to even hype yourself up for the reboot? Sure. There's a lot of fun times to be had.
The original Saints Row was back before Saints Row became this post-ironic commentary on video games and pop culture so expect it to take itself much more seriously than what you'd expect with Saints Row 3 or even 2. There's no dildo weapon, no barrel rolls, no futuristic stuff or any of the most outwordly. The most out there you'd get is with the radio commercials, gangsters wielding rocket launchers or with Stefan the fashion consultant speaking in third person. The game is a straighforward gangster story with little of the quirkiness that ended up defining the franchise.
3/5
I know much of it was caused by it coming out before a lot of features that we now can't live with were becoming the standard (such as checkpoints) but there's a lot of other questionable gameplay design choices that were (thankfully) all fixed by the 2nd or 3rd game. One gripe I have with the game is the frustrating amount of grinding the game forced me into committing to by forcing me into performing the side activities. While some of the side activities can be entertaining and I can understand the design philosophy (most players wouldn't play the side-missions otherwise unless they were seeking to 100% the game) I do believe it's not being done justice here given how hit and miss the side-missions are, especially in comparation with the subsequent games which both have improved the side-missions as well as make the game much less of a grindfest, relying you to play the bearable side-missions until you can't gain any more experience from them (or if you're lucky to realize the hostage submission gives a decent amount of experience for what it's worth).
Side-Missions aside, the story, while nothing memorable to write home about, was alright enough. The missions were challenging but in a fun way for the most part. They're definitely very arcadey and straightforward, especially when we're talking about the Stronghold missions. I definitely enjoyed the missions for the most part because they were challenging enough while also not feeling too unfair (well, the lack of checkpoints made them seem more unfair but looking at the big picture they weren't too bad)
The overall atmosphere was pretty charming. I'm very nostalgic about the mid 2000s so given how the game came out in 2006 it definitely felt like a time capsule from the era. Everything about it made me look back at 2000s hip hop culture (for better or for worse) as well as the 2000s overall.
Saints Row, quirks and annoyances aside, is a solid gta clone. If you want a straightforward gta clone with a gangwar centered story then I can't help but recommend the game if you own an XBOX 360, XBOX One or XBOX Series X. The game is exclusive to the XBOX, mainly the 360, but the developers have made the effort to make the game available on the newer consoles, in order to help the game not stay forever stranded on one platform for the rest of time (looks at you, JSRF). The lack of ports is explained with the fact the developers have apparently lost the source code, thus being unable to natively port it to any newer platform or the PC. Is it worth picking up a 360 for? No, not really. However, is it worth dusting off your old 360 to take it out for a whirl for, maybe to even hype yourself up for the reboot? Sure. There's a lot of fun times to be had.
The original Saints Row was back before Saints Row became this post-ironic commentary on video games and pop culture so expect it to take itself much more seriously than what you'd expect with Saints Row 3 or even 2. There's no dildo weapon, no barrel rolls, no futuristic stuff or any of the most outwordly. The most out there you'd get is with the radio commercials, gangsters wielding rocket launchers or with Stefan the fashion consultant speaking in third person. The game is a straighforward gangster story with little of the quirkiness that ended up defining the franchise.
3/5