by Rickey Perez, Staff Writer

Saint’s Row is being developed by Volition for the Xbox 360 console. Saint’s Row is similar to Grand Theft Auto in that players will be able to hijack cars, kill people, blow things up, and cause mayhem. The game is different in that it has no restrictions as to what you can do.

The radio and advertisement system within the game will be impressive. Six original songs will be premiered in the game. There will be a total of twelve radio stations that can be selected. There will also be two talk radio stations. Something interesting to note is that if you hear an advertisement for a car that is being sold at a lot, you can actually find the car in the game and purchase it. If you find a telephone number in the game you can call it.

The most important progression within the game is about respect. As a gang member, a player will want to show that his or her gang is in control. There are various activities you can undertake to gain respect. If you shoot up a street block, you will gain a lot of respect. You can also kill pimps and steal their hos. If you kill a pimp, you will most definitely see his or her homies come after you.

If you need help attacking a gang stronghold, you can call up your homies and have them follow you into the fight. I saw a demonstration where a gang member storms another gang’s stronghold. The gang member kicked in the door to find a ho going down on the enemy gang member. The funny part of the whole demo was that the guy running the demo accidentally shot the ho in the head. The game is rated mature for obvious reasons already mentioned above. I am not sure about the extent of nudity within the game, but I did see full upper body nudity. There is also a multiplayer option mode where up to twenty four people can fight against each other in a twelve versus twelve gang war.

The physics of this game are amazing. The man running the demonstration decided he would rob a bank. He kicked in the door, then shot at the register. Upon robbing the bank police went after him. He used grenades which sent pieces of the cop car flying. The explosions were pretty impressive.

Since I will be purchasing an Xbox 360 when it comes out this fall, I will put this on my list of games to be purchased. I have played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before, but the real reason why I played was to blow stuff up. In Saint’s Row I will be able to blow stuff up without having to repeat things over and over. One of the biggest positives of this game is that there are no load times. I would recommend this game to anyone above the age of eighteen.

Find more screenshots of the game here