Saints Row: Has the Xbox 360's Grand Theft Auto Finally Arrived?

Saints Row is developer Volition's take on the open-ended crime genre Grand Theft Auto made famous. Volitions take however, is strangely similar to Rockstars. So much in fact that its likely you will feel a sense of déjà vu, and catch yourself thinking "That's just like in GTA" more than once.

Volition is best known for the Red Faction and Summoner series, as well as last years The Punisher. Not a bad track record at all, and Saints Row levels out at just about the same quality of those titles: very good, but not great. Holding it back is mainly the fact that you have played it all before. You begin your story somewhat low down on the food chain in the city of Stilwater. The feel behind the rivalry between the gangs of Stilwater is a little more Warriors and a little less San Andreas. Nonetheless, it's your job to partake in a number of story missions divided up between the three rival gangs: The Rollerz, "the" Los Carnales, and the Vice Kings.

The missions are varied enough to keep things interesting, but should you want to get sidetracked, there are plenty of non-story activities to keep you distracted. This game features everything fans of San Andreas will immediately recognize, from street races and a demolition derby, to a few more unique activities such as insurance fraud (which makes good use of the games excellent physics system and should keep you highly entertained, even if you're not doing all that well at it). When all is said and done, there is a large amount of content available right off the bat, so the singleplayer should keep you busy for quite a while assuming you want to do it all, which you will.