A few weeks ago, I picked up Saint's Row 2, due to the numerous, though somewhat underground, recommendations from my more trusted sites. If there is one thing that stands out about SR2, it is that the game is fun. It knows what it is, knows what it wants to do, and it goes about doing it in a very straightforward, no nonsense, almost in-your-face (haven't seen that term since the 90's, have you? Poochie's dead!) manner. Could it be better, maybe bigger, and with more radio stations? Of course. Better graphics? Sure. And does it do anything you haven't seen before? Nope. In fact, it felt like I was playing GTA III all over again. And that's where the problems begin...
...problems not with SR2, but with GTA IV. Yes, I've been through this again and again, but it seem to keep eating at me, kind of like Pittsburgh Steeler fans. GTA IV was an amazing game. Beautifully constructed, incredibly designed, and cared for to the nth degree by it's makers. But it just didn't mesh. It's parts, taken individually, are superior to most anything on the market today. The story was a well cooked, bacon wrapped fillet. The world was a fresh blueberry pie a la mode. Either of these by themselves are wonderful. Together, eaten in the intended order (steak then pie for most of us), they compose the parts of a memorable meal. But, due in part to the medium, and in part to the developers' choices, you couldn't eat them that way. It was bite of steak, then bite of pie, and repeat. And the two tastes together just don't improve one another.
Nico was a (mostly) good person forced to do bad things due to circumstance. He honestly wanted to changes who he was into who he always wanted to be. Now, he may not have made the best choices, but they were always made with the goal of moving beyond his past. Naturally, he wasn't perfect, and was seemingly numb to the acts of violence he committed during the story missions. But he also was aware of that, and motivated to change. It was the classic "every time I get out, they pull me back in" story.
And it was that story (the steak) that failed, quite miserably for me, to mix with the game world (the pie). In between missions, most of us wanted to relive some classic GTA moments; driving down the sidewalk, shooting random people, maxing out the star level, and, of course, utilizing the hooker cheat. And that's where the Nico of the game world betrayed the Nico of the story. He would spout off lines and quips, and seemingly revel in his sadistic, homicidal activities. Beating a random person with a baseball bat was suddenly a joyous event for a man who wanted to leave the past behind him. And it just didn't sit right. In fact, it just pulled me straight out of the game every single time. I ended up not doing more than a third of the things you can do outside of the main story, simply because they were things that the Nico they worked so hard to present would never do. And it's a shame.
In contrast, your unnamed "hero" in SR2 has no qualms whatsoever about murder and mayhem. He/She revels in it from beginning to end. Claude (GTA III) and Tommy Vercetti (Vice City) are the same way. And that makes all the difference. As a player, it allows you to more easily immerse yourself in both the game and the character, and freely interact with the world as would make sense. As a developer, understanding your game as a whole would seem to remove potential barriers, and let you create even more fun for your players. Can you see Nico driving around in a sewage truck in Liberty City? It really doesn't fit. But in SR2, why wouldn't you? Even in a sandbox game, context is important. Rockstar wanted to give you a meaningful story in an open game world. Volition wanted you to have fun in their game world. Two good games, two different approaches, two different results.
Going forward, I think Rockstar could be on to something here, and they have a couple of possibilities to go about it. They could create just story driven games, smaller in scope, but delivering the emotional impact that they were looking for from our eastern European friend. Or, and this makes more sense, using the DLC add-ons, they can provide a constant stream of new characters, with different motivations and goals. I expect most of the people that buy things like "The Lost and The Damned" have done the "GTA thing", and are looking for meatier ways to continue the game. The opportunity is there for many different takes, and explore the "thousand stories in the naked city."
Of course, it would be nice if one of these new main characters was a bit, well, off. I'd much rather drive down the sidewalk with someone who truly enjoys it.
