Saint's Row Multiplayer Impressions - X360

[Atorak]

IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/718/718391p1.html) attended a THQ event in San Francisco yesterday, and offered up some impressions of the multiplayer aspect of Saint's Row.

In the end, Saints Row's multiplayer modes run the gamut of very basic deathmatches (Gangster Brawl) to the mid-range Protect the Pimp to the in-depth, strategic heavily team-oriented Bling Your Ride. By definition, even the worst game is fun in multiplayer, but Saints Row is neither a bad game, nor is it unworthy of your attention. Volition's dedication to a creating a detailed, high-res huge open world with tons of multiplayer options, a great lobby, and a variety of games to pick from give this legs and beings the genre to a new level. Think about it this way: How many times have Grand Theft Auto fans wanted to play it online? In my case, since GTA III. Saints Row will deliver a multiplayer mode worth your while.
Saint's Row + Multiplayer > GTA?

[darkwarrior]

Saint's Row + Multiplayer = GTA with Multiplayer

[Heretic Machine]

Saint's Row + Multiplayer = GTA with Multiplayer

Sounds top-notch to me.

[The Continental]

Unfortunately it's not GTA w/ Multiplayer. The multiplayer takes place in actual levels, not a giant free roaming city, and if you take a look at the videos accompanying that article, the city level they show is completely empty, no civilians or anything.

I want someone to use all this next gen processing power and just give me real multiplayer GTA. I don't care if it has the graphics of GTA3, I want the entire free roaming city, complete with a ton of civilians, traffic, the whole nine. The thought of playing a CTF game in a giant GTA city pleases me greatly.

[Roc Ingersol]

Saints Row is neither a bad game, nor is it unworthy of your attention.
Well there's some ringing praise...

[GunnyMo]

Am I the only person bored to freakin' death with the GTA model? Oooooooo, I can be street and talk/beat/fuck bitches/hos. You mean I can kill cops!? Awesome! A contemporary, urban Hip Pop soundtrack?! Revolutionary!

Mega Meh.

[Morratut]

Well there's some ringing praise...

I was thinking the same. I hope it's good don't get me wrong but i'm still expecting Saints Row to be crap at the moment.

[51|RandoM]

Am I the only person bored to freakin' death with the GTA model? Oooooooo, I can be street and talk/beat/fuck bitches/hos. You mean I can kill cops!? Awesome! A contemporary, urban Hip Pop soundtrack?! Revolutionary!

Mega Meh.

I bought the last two for ps2, don't think I spent more than 30 minutes playing either of them.

[EGO]

Saints Row is neither a bad game, nor is it unworthy of your attention.

Well there's some ringing praise...

Yeah, I was thinking, "That has to be one of the most broken and ill-concieved sentances I've read in a long time."

And they pay these guys!?!?

I'm not sure how practical an ENTIRE CITY is for multiplayer, unless it's a persistent world with TONS of real people. I'd hate to be playing CTF and some assklown runs 5 miles away and hides with the flag.

Oh such fun, looking for the flag for an hour.

Also, the best multiplayer games I've played were about the environment enhancing the play mechanics and fostering conflict & strategy. A big sprawling city that's been built for stealing cars and pimp'n'ho's doesn't sound like funt to me.

[Double T]

yes, yes you are the only one. :P

Just kidding. I enjoy it tho.

[Atorak]

Saint's Row + Multiplayer = GTA with Multiplayer

Heh, perhaps I should update my comment to this one.

I'll wait for the reviews to roll in on this one, but some of those game modes sound pretty interesting...

[Salesmunn]

GTA LCS multiplayer on the PSP is gut-busting, laugh out loud fun and that uses the entire city for multiplayer.

The size of the city isn't a hinderance, it's a benefit.

[Wyrm]

I liked Vice City ok, but once you've played one, you've played em' all.

[TheHulk]

I'm with you GunnyMo... From the E3 video I saw this game looked like total garbage.

[VYPUR]

I want a GTA like game that looks like Gotham on the 360. They added the cone challenge MP game mode to Gotham with the last patch and ALL the streets are open were you can roam anywhere. If they could just add the whores and other cars to run into it would be sweet.

[absolut taco]

Do they have 5 year olds writing their shit? Check out the 2nd to last sentence: "Don't quiet believe it?" I didn't think sound volume had anything to do with this...

[Food Nipple]

The whole blurb reads like some lazy journalist vomited it out in a under 5 min.

[bapenguin]

I'm with you GunnyMo. I'm bored to tears with GTA Style Games.

[da.Guvna]

Well I think it looks pretty damned cool, but I'm with the others as far as civilians etc are concerned. Just a big, lifeless city holds no excitement for me.
At the same time, I guess networking constraints are the reasoning behind not having civs everywhere? Loads more data to synchronise amongst clients once you start dealing with that stuff.

[protocol_image]

GTA multiplayer is nothing new. GTA2 for the PC had online multiplayer, and hoo boy was it awesome! But I didn't realize that the PSP game had it too. I might have to check it out. Does anyone know if the PS2 port of Liberty kept the online? Cuz for $20, that sounds like some heckuva deal.

Saint's Row will almost definately be a rental first, for me. Like all you guys, I'm getting sick of the GTA model. But this has potential....if only I had more faith in Volition...

[EGO]

GTA multiplayer is nothing new. GTA2 for the PC had online multiplayer, and hoo boy was it awesome! But I didn't realize that the PSP game had it too. I might have to check it out. Does anyone know if the PS2 port of Liberty kept the online? Cuz for $20, that sounds like some heckuva deal.

Saint's Row will almost definately be a rental first, for me. Like all you guys, I'm getting sick of the GTA model. But this has potential....if only I had more faith in Volition...

I used to play GTA2's MP TO DEATH! When I found out there was no MP in GTA3 on PC, I got it on the PS2... then got bored and haven't picked one up since.

[miah]

I've played all the GTA games, even GTA for the PS1 (basically the same as the PC versions). I've been a fan for a long time, I dont think 'lets kill cops', i think 'lets kill elvis'. But anyways, I'm interested in this game, and the other sandbox game coming out (can't remember what its called now, but you play a special agent, and can work in teams(with friends online), and level your char, to fight crime on the streets). I'll check it out when it comes out, gamefly is good for that.

[miah]

I used to play GTA2's MP TO DEATH! When I found out there was no MP in GTA3 on PC, I got it on the PS2... then got bored and haven't picked one up since.

GTA3 San Andreas did have some multiplayer challenges in it, they were fun.

[F3nyx]

Am I the only person bored to freakin' death with the GTA model? Oooooooo, I can be street and talk/beat/fuck bitches/hos. You mean I can kill cops!? Awesome! A contemporary, urban Hip Pop soundtrack?! Revolutionary!

Mega Meh.Ignorant blanket statements about GTA aren't just for the media anymore, I guess. Look, even if you ignore the fantastic storyline missions in San Andreas, there's still a hell of a lot to do, and very little of it involves shooting cops or beating hookers -- unless, of course, you decide to shoot a cop or beat a hooker.

As for the soundtracks... they're anything but "contemporary." They're period music, and they contribute immensely to creating an immersive setting. San Andreas' soundtrack is less than 30% hip-hop, so I'm not sure where you're getting that generalization from.

I liked Vice City ok, but once you've played one, you've played em' all.Dunno about that. San Andreas is an order of magnitude larger than Vice City, with substantial improvements to gameplay... it's hardly a rehash. Unless you're sick of the entire sandbox genre, you'd probably like it.

[SexualChoc]

I am bored with the whole 'Urban Sandbox' thing. I was thinking what sandbox game I enjoy, and they have all been superhero games. Mercenaries was good too. San Andreas set the bar, and now all they need to do is work on everything within it. It doesn't need to be bigger, but new elements, new graphics and new innovation what should be focused on. Saints Row, while merely filling the void for GTA IV, seems to have tackle a fair few of these. The physics are especially good. Graphics are good, but I expected more from a next gen console. Still, I suppose we will have to see what Rockstar give before we make any judgements on these sort of games.

[GunnyMo]

Ignorant blanket statements about GTA aren't just for the media anymore, I guess. Look, even if you ignore the fantastic storyline missions in San Andreas, there's still a hell of a lot to do, and very little of it involves shooting cops or beating hookers -- unless, of course, you decide to shoot a cop or beat a hooker.

As for the soundtracks... they're anything but "contemporary." They're period music, and they contribute immensely to creating an immersive setting. San Andreas' soundtrack is less than 30% hip-hop, so I'm not sure where you're getting that generalization from.

Dunno about that. San Andreas is an order of magnitude larger than Vice City, with substantial improvements to gameplay... it's hardly a rehash. Unless you're sick of the entire sandbox genre, you'd probably like it.

Funny, I've played through every single GTA and the blanket statement stands. The genre is played out. Period.

[F3nyx]

Funny, I've played through every single GTA and the blanket statement stands. The genre is played out. Period.That's the rough equivalent of saying that the FPS genre was played out after Quake. Sandboxes aren't new anymore, but they've got a lot more room for innovation than most genres do.

Which genres, in your opinion, are still full of unexploited potential?

[GunnyMo]

I guess I'm just tired of these games being marketed as "street" and "urban" when all they are, at their core, are wanna be hoods playing at being bad. 187: Ride or Die, GTA: Liberty Cities, Hustle, etc. It just irritates the hell out of me, I suppose.

I've seen no innovation in the GTA series after Vice City other than bigger cities and the natural improvement of gameplay mechanics. It is the time of the GTA clones.

And, yes, I am tired of many of the FPS out there. Even Prey bored me very quickly. Good looking game, cool weapons but, after several hours, I was bored to tears. I guess I just can't sympathize with the main character. Oh, poor Indian, you hate your people and now aliens are going to show you the way? Meh. I'm sure I'll finish it eventually but I'm tired of the same ol' run and gun FPS just as I'm tired of the "hood sandbox". Sandbox outside the "hood" is a great thing as Oblivion has proved. Bigger, more immersive worlds are great.

[SuperMonkeyFighter2]

Funny, I've played through every single GTA and the blanket statement stands. The genre is played out. Period.

Speak for yourself on that one ... I appreciate your opinion, and will certainly not flame you for it, but personally, I am excited by titles like GTA and what they bring to the table. I like open ended games ... Spiderman 2 was a fun (albeit very short) open ended game that would not have been made (probably) if not for the GTA games.

All games are posers with their "attitude" ... action games where you play a gritty, run down hero, street games where you play a thug, fighting games where you are the last kung fu master, etc ... this is gaming.

[GunnyMo]

I didn't say I didn't like open ended games. I love them. Oblivion, Spider Man 2 are two excellent examples. I'm tired of GTA clones. That has been my whole point. It must be the old guy in me getting tired of this "urban" trend. :D