Battle of the GTA clones

By Mikel Reparaz
published

They all tried to beat the best, but which one really did? We make 'em fight to find out

Saints Row
THQ | Xbox 360

The setup: You're a random nobody who gets jumped into the Third Street Saints gang after their leader saves your life. In Saints Row, being asked to join a gang is apparently the equivalent of being summoned to Hogwarts to become an X-Man, and all sorts of cool adventures ensue as you set out to conquer the city of Stillwater from rival gangs.

The rides: A slick assortment of civilian and gang-themed street machines, which you can drag into a garage and customize to your liking.

The violence: Nicely varied, with characters that catch fire, get thrown like ragdolls from explosions and go down quick with a few well-placed shots from your guns. Your personal armory runs the gamut from pistols to submachineguns to RPGs, and a few of the cruder weapons - knives in particular - let you get close-up and gruesome with your victims.

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.