Saints Row is What Grand Theft Auto Should Have Been

Saints Row 2 releases October 14 and you might be ho-hum on this one, especially if you're still playing—or maybe a little burnt out on—Grand Theft Auto IV. Truth is, Saints Row is what GTA IV should have been; sure, it's simpler and the graphics aren't as nice, but it's so much more bad ass. And yes, I'm talking about the first Saints Row, not the brand new shiny one coming out next week. You're probably shaking your head in disbelief right now if you haven't played the first Saints Row. For SR veterans though, they know what I'm talking about.

Saints Row lives up to the reputation that GTA built. Instead of bowling and throwing darts like in GTA, in SR you're pimping ho's and throwing yourself in front of cars for insurance fraud. Sure, in GTA you can walk around drunk, that's fun the first time, but the second and third time it's just annoying. But in SR, when you throw yourself in front of cars to scam insurance companies, that's fun, time after time after time.

Saints Row isn't as pretty as this year's GTA, but SR was published in 2006, so let's get over that hurdle. If you allow yourself to imagine how SR would play with GTA's sophistication, then you're talking Game of the Year status. All I'm saying is, if you haven't played SR yet, and GTA IV left you feeling let down, then definitely trade for SR and spin it around the block a few times; you'll see what GTA could have and should have been. Saints Row is a fun game to play while GTA can feel like work playing it.

I have very high hopes for SR2, even though it probably won't warrant a purchase during the Holiday rush, it's definitely on my watch list for games to trade for.

Saints Row is currently valued at 400 points on Goozex and there are plenty of copies available.