Tuesday, June 10, 2008

New Saint's Row 2 trailer: Pompous Stupidity or Sheer Genius?

Within the past week, THQ and Volition released a new trailer for their upcoming game: Saint's Row 2. If you haven't seen it, take a look.



Reactions to this trailer have run the gamut, with many being pleased or amused by it, and just as many finding it in bad taste and saying things like "how f***ing dare they," "too over the top," and "unusually pompous."

Honestly, I'm in the group of folks who are pleased. I can't say that I don't enjoy Grand Theft Auto IV, it's an extremely solid game with boatloads of replay value. Unfortunately it just takes itself too damn seriously and that seriousness not only raises the standards to a level it can't quite hold on to, but it also causes the game to lose the over-the-top, gritty yet lighthearted sense of humor that we've come to expect from Rockstar's big moneymaking franchise. The sense of go anywhere and do anything that was the hallmark of the three dimensional GTA games is also gone and GTA IV often left me feeling like options had been taken away rather than added.

With Saint's Row 2, it seems that Volition has made the true spiritual successor to GTA: San Andreas. Based on this new trailer it looks like I will be bombarded with options, and not just gimmick mini-games. I really could care less about going to a cabaret, bowling or playing darts, Shenmue already did mini-games like that and it wasn't fun then either, (though Shenmue on the whole was fantastic). I would rather car surf, or rob a liquor store as a cop, or hell, even just fly a fucking plane. I flew one in the last GTA, in fact I had a variety of planes to choose from. What the hell happened?

No matter how many arguments I hear about Saint's Row ripping off Grand Theft Auto or how this advertisement just appeals to the lowest common denominator, I will have to disagree. It illustrates how Saint's Row 2 will actually give you options, it will give you choice. That's something that even critically acclaimed artistic masterpieces like Bioshock and Mass Effect are trying to figure out. Saint's Row 2 already has it figured out; don't give me a simple black and white decision to make, give me a whole city where I can do what I want and achieve my goals how I want, when I want. That is choice. If I want to spray sewage on civilians with a stolen septic truck, that is choice, and that advertisement is sheer genius.
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