The last time the Gamehelper crew took a look at Saint's Row for the 360, it was set for release during the oh-so-important, Xbox 360 launch window.  Fast-forward 9 months to the present and we're finally going to get our hot little hands on the retail version on August 29^th.  But, thanks to the wonder that is the Xbox Live Marketplace we've got a nearly fully featured demo of the game now available for download (careful, it's a big'un at 905 MB). 

While writing this preview, it's tempting to take the easy way out and proclaim Saint's Row to be little more than a Grand Theft Auto clone.  But that would be a disservice to you. Yes, Saint's Row is very similar to GTA: you'll steal cars, crash them and then shoot at any and every pedestrian in sight.  But, is that a bad thing?  GTA is special because it established a genre.  Is Half-Life little more than a clone of Wolfenstein 3D?  Is Starcraft just a Dune II clone?  New game types have to have their beginning somewhere.  It's inevitable that Saint's Row will be compared to GTA, as it should be.  But, the question is: Does Saint's Row stand on its own two baggily panted legs?

I'll admit, I was waiting for Saint's Row to take a tumble when I fired up the XBL demo, but it was still standing tall by the time I reached the end of the end.  Whatever the reason for the long delay, it was well worth it.  Saint's Row oozes polish.  The single neighborhood provided in the demo is well fleshed out and more importantly, full of variety.  The streets are filled with people and cars and for the most part, they're all different.  The level of diversity in the inhabitants of Saint's Row is impressive.  Take a stroll around the streets of Stillwater (the fictional setting of Saint's Row) and you'll be hard pressed to find a group of suspicious look-alikes.  Even the cars are loaded with distinct elements: from rides pimped out in chrome and slick paint jobs to rusted out behemoths unfit for the road; variety truly is the spice of life.

From the demo, it's easy to see that Saint's Row will give you a well-crafted playground in which to wreak havoc, and wreaking havoc is what sandbox games are supposed to be all about.  There are plenty of people to terrorize, rival gangs to fight and countless head-on collisions just waiting to happen (wait till you start ejecting people out of their cars through the front window, it's so satisfying).  Combat, for the most part, is as simple as point and shoot.  There's no lock-on feature in Saint's Row.  While this does mean it can be difficult at times to track your enemies, it also means that you'll be avoiding a lot of awkward camera positions that can be even more frustrating.   But, what would a GTA-style game be without an arsenal that would make Rambo blush?   A quick stop in "Friendly Fire," your local firearms dealer, hints at the future possibilities for some rather gratuitous violence.  Of course, by gratuitous, I mean terribly addictive.

Saint's Row is looking to be no simple clone.  It's been through quite a comprehensive course of gene therapy.   Throw in an online multiplayer mode (not available in the XBL demo) and you've got one very promising package.  If the missions prove to be as diverse as the population of Stillwater, Rockstar and the GTA franchise might be looking at their first real competition.

- Teal00