Saints Row - Xbox 360

I quite like GTA sandbox games. I pretty much have since I first played Grand Theft Auto 3. There's just something about driving around, and creating mayhem. I enjoy the freedom that these games allow. I really enjoyed Grand Theft 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City... and then the GTA series seemed to get serious about itself. It was still fun, but not as cartoon-y and unrealistic. With GTA4 it became a little too serious and I just couldn't really seem to enjoy it, but that's a review for another time.

Saints Row basically made me feel like I was playing Grand Theft Auto 3 again. It brought back the over the top fun that I remember. I was still answering my cell phone, but instead of then having to drive and pick up my girlfriend it was having to drive and stop a gang warfare on my turf. I was involved in insurance fraud schemes that had me running in front of cars. Huge police chases that could go on for miles. Overall it was just insane, over the top fun. That's what I was looking for. This is what I wanted a GTA clone to be. Honestly this is what I wanted GTA4 to be.

When it comes to GTA-like sandbox games I really don't care about the story. I want there to be one, but I don't really care how deep it is or how great it is. Basically I play these games to cause mayhem, and Saints Row excels in this. Hell, there's even a mini-game called Mayhem. Overall Saints Row is just a fun time where you don't have to think a lot.

That's not to say that there isn't some problems with Saints Row. There were actually quite a few missions that were oddly difficult, mostly ones that involved doing a mission that automatically gave you five stars. It's hard to finish a mission when you're getting rammed by FBI vehicles left and right. Frankly I hate missions like this in any GTA game. Also you can't do missions until you fill your respect bar, this get's really annoying after a while. Having to do a couple little mini-missions before you can advance the story is kind of aggravating.

Overall Saints Row was a really fun game with some flaws that can be overlooked. If you're looking for a game that feels like a throwback to GTA3 then this is definitely game you want to play.

Squid.