Dec 12, 2007
Pack up your plasma rifle because its time for us to don the wizards cap and break out the dice. Sacred 2 doesnt have a lot of competition on the 360, but then thats because its closest rival is the average superhero romp Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Youd have to go back to Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance II on the original Xbox to find something vaguely similar. Newcomers to the series fear not: Sacred 2 takes place 2000 years before the first game, so no experience is
We're genuinely excited about Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the PC. The promising title looks like the next natural step for those with any love for dungeon crawlers like Diablo or Titan Quest. Unfortunately, we doubt the 360 version will strike the same chord, as its audience may be unfamiliar with the mostly PC-centric genre.Visually, Sacred 2 has come far since its predecessor first released. Small details, like blades of grass swaying gently
Although well-received by critics, the first Sacred was much bigger in Europe than in the US and UK. It had a robust and entertaining combat system, which only rarely succumbed to the fatigue of repetition that the genre is known for.
Every day, some gat-toting punk game blasts its way across your console, frontin' like it's the next Grand Theft Auto... unless you're an Xbox 360 owner, in which case you're still thugless. Veteran developer Volition aims to change this with Saint's Row. On one hand, as yet another would be heir to the Grand Theft Auto empire, this ambitious prince may discover too late that it'll take more than mimicry to dethrone the reigning king. On the other hand, this is indeed one ambitious prince ...
We can just imagine the brainstorming sessions that went on deep in the bowels of Illinois-based Volition as it pondered the way ahead for the next generation of its games. And it would have boiled down to this: "Erm, how about we do a GTA, but, er, make it better? Stick it online or something?" "Yeah, that sounds good."
And so Saint's Row on 360 was born, with its gats precisely targeted on Rockstar's jewel in the crown and anything else of its ilk out there on the game shelves. But is this
Are you sick and tired of Grand Theft Auto-derivative games? Wait, let's rephrase that: Are you sick of reading about GTA-derivative games? If so, we're wasting each other's time here. But you're urged to keep your mind open, because Saint's Row might just change your mind about the free-roaming drive-and-gun genre.
The most striking aspect of the game, of course, is the graphics. Saint's Row wasn't just put on Xbox 360 so that its publisher, THQ, could charge an extra $10 at retail. While the
Let's get one thing out of the way first: Saints Row is almost exactly like Grand Theft Auto in every way. However, lacking any other game like it on the platform, this seemingly cookie-cutter version lights up the 360 with combustible mayhem on an order not yet reached by other titles
After mere seconds of play, the controls display a simple elegance that is instantly recognizable if not totally easy to get the hang of. Once you've scored a gat, you can shoot anything you like simply by
The original Saints Row was perhaps the most successful Grand Theft Auto copycat to date, and its sequel is promising to up the ante with a series of tweaks to the winning crime sim formula. Unsurprisingly, gang warfare is still the order of the day as you guide your chosen gangbanger through an expanded version of Stillwater City. But while the games themes remain unchanged there is talk of a darker storyline that picks up some years on from the explosive final act of the first game -
When talking about Saints Row 2, it’s impossible not to immediately acknowledge the hulking beast that is GTA IV. The Saints Row series is forever doomed to live in the shadow of one of gaming’s hugest franchises, and has so far come up short in its attempts to overthrow the king.
Saints Row 2 is not pretty, it is not refined, and it is not realistic. "We're going for a very over-the-top feel," commented James Tsai, the game's lead designer, as we chatted with him at THQ's yearly preview event.
The game is very over-the-top, both in gameplay and story, the latter of which has been criticized as an exercise in tired racial stereotypes and naive views of "street life." James disagrees. "It's about having fun. The
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