Saints Row 1: So Much More Than A Clone

On this week's episode of Under10Hours, we look into Saints Row 1, the ambitious open-world crime game from Volition and THQ. While many disregarded it as a clone of Grand Theft Auto, we look into why it's so much more than that.
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[@NineOneTwenty]

Fun Fact: The game’s manual is written from Troy’s perspective, in the similar style of a journal or notebook. There’s even a newspaper cutout with an article talking about an undercover police officer infiltrating a street gang…

[@Under10Hours]

I've genuinely never noticed that! What an awesome touch!

[@blzr5508]

the art on the manual has a police badge and says stillwater police department

[@AidenRKrone]

Another example of Troy's still-existent camaraderie with the Saints is the fact that you can call him up as a homie (after completing the prison fight club activity). Not only does he roll with you, he also has no qualms about going on rampages with you. And not only does he have no problems about blowing stuff up with you, _he does it in his chief of police uniform._

[@BullworthGraduate]

Saints Row is definitely not a GTA clone, and this is coming from someone who first got into gaming because of GTA. This game is a gem and I am glad I ever got to play it. Hell, still do every few years. It and Saints Row 2 are some of my favorite open-world games of all time. I wish Volition never screwed the series over with Saints Row: The Third and IV. The reboot seems it will be decent, but I won’t get my hopes up.

[@mrcocoloco7200]

Facts. When I saw my Brother playing this game it didn't give me GTA vibe because the gameplay and style felt so different. Man it's a shame that Volition didn't saw it that way.

[@jimfixedme]

Glad you didn't get your hopes up.

[@PapaRPG]

Solid video, Saints Row 1 is one of my favourite games of all-time. One aspect of the game that is often overlooked (at least nowadays) is the Multiplayer mode. If you'd ever like to play SR1 MP, I host lobbies all the time, believe me when I say it's a great time.

[@Under10Hours]

Thanks for watching! I had no idea there was still a multiplayer scene for this game. Even back in the day I only ever played with friends. The cat and mouse days of Saints Row 2 were a ton of fun!

[@X-UP-and-DOWN-X]

Oh Fuck I’d so love to join!!!

[@diamondswish]

When do u host rpg and on what console

[@skylerwilson5378]

Sad we will never see the saints in the way that 1&2 portrayed them I love these games so much no matter how much I overplayed them literally only played 3 for an hour and turned it off haven’t been back since

[@conradojavier7547]

Lore Wise, I see the Vice Kings as What the 3rd Street Saints would Eventually become.

[@ocksie]

another interesting thing to note about Troy is how he wants to minimize casualties, like in the cutscene where he suggests to blow into the police station without having to fire a single shot

[@mfspectacular]

1 hint of many to his glowie status. My favorite is when youre taking the truck early on in the carnales missions, you gotta protect him while he hotwires it & he jokingly says he shouldve paid more attention during training, or something to that effect

[@TayRich93]

I can always play this game so mf enjoyable I miss back then when developers were being creative and giving us good amount of hours to continue the game

[@Nesmaster101]

I got the demo disc of this around a month before launch, played that demo for hours daily until launch. Glitching out of the demo boundary for the AK-47, haha. Loved everything about this in 2006. Visually and mechanically, so much better than GTA. Top notch VA cast. The mission/respect structure added some replayability, since you could do the 3 gang's stories however you wanted. Fun, but simple activities. The CD collectibles that unlocked new tunes. Protect the Pimp online was a ton of fun outside the lag switch cheaters. The only real negatives that stick with me were the FPS dips, screen tearing, lack of cars spawning at higher levels of Insurance Fraud and invincible trees lol. Your description of Mayhem is dead accurate, so hard to win without killing fences/chain link. Edit: The movie theatre feature to replay missions was also a super welcome addition! I think GTA didn't do this until TBoGT, and is missing from RDR1 IIRC. Huge fan of being able to jump back to my favorite missions!

[@Rebellion2xxxx]

when I played saints row 1 skipped gta 4 for so many years only started playing when saints row the third dropped what was a disappointment . saints 1 and 2 are the only true saints rows in my eyes

[@CHRISPYakaKON]

The first few games were dope before it went off the rails 😩 not gonna lie, not really excited about the reboot

[@Under10Hours]

We'll see what happens. I expect it could either be good or bad. I am expecting the worst, but giving it the benefit of the doubt before I judge it.

[@Rebellion2xxxx]

fuck the reboot it's saints row the third all over again

[@MobileTech296]

@@Rebellion2xxxx except SRTT had actual good gameplay and story. 😂

[@acunt]

I hate the term GTA clone, it's such a broad term to use. what makes something a GTA clone when GTA does so much? an open world? story centred around the criminal life? driving? rampaging? I can never get a specific answer from ppl who use the term and its quite frustrating to hear til this day. SR was never like GTA and it didn't need to change to be different from it.

[@RaposaCadela]

For a short time as a kid I had a 360! From all the bootleg CDs I had, I played this game the most, way more than I did GTA 4! For me it felt like an evolution of GTA:SA, that took better gameplay and variety over better graphics. GTA 4 rules but, Saints Row was one of the few games that I actually played the missions at the time. I didn't know a word of English so I skipped all the cutscenes, but I distinctively remember the exploding boat and then realizing the game was over. Since then I've only played Saints Row 2 on PC, but that version is a shamelessly cheap port that just wears down on you the more you play. At least it did me all times I tried revisiting it. I really wish SR1 was on PC, man!

[@Under10Hours]

I think this series has really done a lot to keep open world and missions fun together, and Volition did a really good job of melding the two. It's really a shame about the port of SR2 on PC. I've heard nothing but terrible things about that one.

[@forrandomsites3336]

Funny story about saints row 2 is that the devs somehow managed to lose the original source code of game. The PC version is actually running a modified version of the Xbox 360 version, hence why if you use a vm and set it to use only 3 cores and set the resolution to 720p, it becomes a very stable experience, there are mods to fix theses issues but they are a hit or miss scenario. It's why im pissed Saints Row the third got a remaster but the first two didn't(which desperately needs one).

[@GG-jt8st]

​@@forrandomsites3336 I'm just glad they found the source code again.

[@MobileTech296]

If you’re playing SR2 on PC you should..no, you NEED to..install the Gentleman of the Row mod. It’s so good at making the game run on PC that Volition hired the guy who made it. Until his untimely passing in 2021 he was in charge of the remaster. RIP Mike Watson, aka IdolNinja.

[@RaposaCadela]

@@MobileTech296 :(

[@aairbear7179]

Duuude the Saints Row series will always have a special place in my heart. SR3 is one of the first games I really fell in love with as a teenager. Absolutely adore every game in this franchise, even 4 and Gat Out of Hell. The level of freedom these games give you really allows for some truly insane moments to occur and I always look forward to what whacky thing will happen whenever I play them again. 1 might not be as polished as the later entries but it still has some truly spectacular moments and super memorable story. Very much looking forward to what the reboot brings to the table.

[@ProperlyGaming]

Saints row 1 was awesome, the only thing i look back on and think "that shit sucks" is the hitman activity in the game. The targets just never fucking spawned in, youd have to sometimes go around for hours before finally finding a target.

[@howmanybabiesdidNestleKill]

When I first start SR 1 and SR 2 the first thing I do before doing any other activities or missions is go around and activate every Hitman list. That way I’ll usually end up running in to the targets during casual gameplay. By the time I’m done the main story I’ve run in to and killed at least half of them.

[@mfspectacular]

I rushed the hitman activities my last playthru & it made the rest a breeze. The platinum spas, rpg & gold deagle are too good. No way to complete those w/o a guide tho, & plenty of patience lol

[@ggMwaniki]

I was one of those people who thought Saints Row was just another GTA clone wannabe., but a couple years back I played SR2 and absolutely fell in love with it. I decided against playing the first game since I lowkey hate mute protagonists (unless you're Gordon Freeman) so I watched the entire story on youtube and marveled at how amazing the plot and character development is for an open world shooter like this. SR the third is also a favourite of mine. Didn't touch SRIV though looked too wacky for my tastes.

[@TheAverageGamer1]

Honestly bro pick up sr4 it's not a good saints row game BUT it's a hell of a good time

[@Under10Hours]

Yeah I think if you're looking for another Saints Row game, 4 is a massive disappointment, but it is arguably one of the best superhero origin story games of the last decade haha

[@ludicrousfool7953]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gISYpWeepa2YaZY I know this may seem odd, but there’s a part of this video that’s actually very relevant to the series, especially if you plan on covering the next entries in them. It’s about 4:40 in, and it has to do with the ending of this and how it affected the series. It’s both interesting and shocking. The GTA clone label is really unfair because while it’s clear this and many other open world games took inspiration from it, they clearly had their own ideas on how to handle aspects like side content and combat, which I think is something this series has generally done better than GTA. As an aside, man this game is not stable on original hardware. Screen tearing and frame drops are everywhere, though thankfully backwards compatibility on modern Xbox systems has rectified this (the game was meant to come to PS3 and Wii as well, but both were canceled, meaning this became exclusive to 360 by accident).

[@Under10Hours]

I'll check it out thanks! The performance was shockingly bad. I remember the first time I tried and failed to finish it, I was stunned at how bad it ran.

[@HS_Rick]

I remember getting a good amount of second hand games with my mom back in the day and this game was with it! Steel case too :D

[@Under10Hours]

I had no idea there was a Saints Row steel case and now I must have it haha

[@Miltypooh2001]

I don't think saints row is a gta clone some people say otherwise because both are open world where you go around and shoot but it's almost like saying cod is a clone of medal of honor

[@jacklindsey8400]

I do kina wish they'd re-release 1 and 2 too, I've played 3 and 4 on switch but I'd like to understand ALL the call backs honestly, though maybe with some upgrades cause that is a LOT of screen tearing... also *insert buggy saints row musical here*

[@Under10Hours]

It would be amazing to be able to play the originals on more modern hardware. Eventually I stopped noticing the screen tearing because it happened so often 😂

[@community444x]

Alot of ppl act like they like saints row 1 or say they played it JUST because they heard bout a reboot. but back when I was 6 7 and 8 years old and i couldn't play GTA but my older brother (who was into street stuff himself) had Saints row 1 for his 360. I looked up to him and so when I got to play that game I felt like a lil gangster. And just loved how gangster the first one was. I've always like true gritty gangster movies/games.

[@renownedfear187]

i wonder how many who played red faction & saints row [2] realize. both games involve the same corporation "ULTOR"

[@Joshcool_124]

Great review man, Saints Row 1 is my favorite in the series and I still play it till this day because of how great it is, obviously it has its problems here and there but the positives outweigh the negatives

[@themancalledben2731]

If you play this on Xbox Series X at 120hz with VRR on it will smooth out nearly every framerate and frame pacing issue

[@Sanyo12K]

Sucks this game never got a PC port it was one of my favorite 360 games

[@Under10Hours]

Yeah I am surprised we haven't seen some kind of port in the time that SR3 and 4 have had remasters and rereleases. But with how bad the SR2 port was, maybe it's for the best.

[@narutosk3]

Novelty turned into monetization. Great video!

[@Under10Hours]

Thanks for watching!

[@socialchum]

this is an excellent video tbh, new sub for sure if this is only the beginning

[@Under10Hours]

Thanks so much for watching! I am happy you liked the video!

[@Powsifu]

there are actually 4 instances where Troy reveals himself to be a cop. When Dex wants to move into the police station to steal from the evidence locker, Troy will show concern for his fellow officers and he knew how and where it was for the saints to break in and the other is when Dex doesn't give him info on why he needed the truck for the police evidence locker "heist"

[@warrengraham5145]

One of the best games of all time in my eyes.

[@dankusmemeus7093]

I always felt like it was more inspired by gta rather then a clone

[@TheChgz]

I only ever played 3&4 until just a month ago when I got the first four on sale for xbox. I am so glad I decided to play 1&2 because they are totally different to 3&4 but in a really good way! I love how gritty they are but still manages to crack a joke in here and there. They are so much fun to play too. Something a lot of modern games forget to do, let the player have fun! I'm just sad I never played them back when they came out

[@Forzamon42069]

Calling Saints Row a GTA clone is like calling Forza Motorsport a Gran Turismo clone. You're not wrong, but you also aren't right either.

[@Post_Leako]

Is there not a mission that involved spraying poo on people's houses or am I conflating fever dreams with reality again?

[@Under10Hours]

That was introduced in SR2 and it’s the best

[@gravybate2283]

I'll never forgive those who ruined a perfectly good thing

[@Alolan.Vulpix.Getting.Railed]

SR 1 and 2 were great because its as awesome as GTA, but its not GTA, it still had grittyness, it still had the perfect level of sillyness (not much) then it devolved in SR 3 4 and reboot into a literally stupid exagerated overdramatic overly stupid version of itself

[@TooArchaic]

You deserve more subs bruh

[@mrcocoloco7200]

Wow you got a lot of views on the Saints Row 2 Review but not a lot in the Saints Row 1 Review. What a shame but I understand.

[@X-UP-and-DOWN-X]

I LOVE SR1 & 2 soooo much!

[@nostalgigamer]

Never bothered with the series because I liked GTA so much, but it looks like I missed out.

[@Under10Hours]

It definitely adds its own flavor to the open world concept! If you can track down a copy of any of the games, I still think they're worth checking out. Especially 2, imo.

[@crimlomotty2907]

Saint row online was fun af lol Protect the pimp

[@shodan2002]

Any open world game that has gangs guns cars and a open world will be compared to gta Mafia sleeping dogs cyberpunk and more. I don’t get why volition had a problem with that shit even their new game gets compared to gta lol

[@noktar5711]

Loved playing protect tha pimp back in the day it was soo awesome,🖤

[@izzycoile5082]

Only thing I don't like about the first one is all the dead ends you can't even take short cuts without hitting a wall

[@madnesdoes]

I like saints row better than gta except for the fourth game we don't talk about.was there a fourth game i can't seem to remember

[@Under10Hours]

The 4th game was a great superhero game and a god awful Saints Row game

[@izzycoile5082]

Is Benjamin king supposed to be suge Knight?

[@BlindedOtaku]

Unlike Guts, it didn't take too long to get off the boat

[@polterghost_]

It was never on PC so I never played it

[@ryszakowy]

'gta clone" that surpassed the gta and right after gta commited suicide with mediocre at best gta 5 and nightmare to play online saints row followed suit to complete anihilation

[@samuelwoodouse4482]

Why does he know at a glance what last years shoes are

[@mfspectacular]

You know the vk mission where you pose as a limo driver to rescue gat? Tanya will bring that up while youre driving, the player apparently remembers it. One of the only times another of the gang missions "cross over"

[@MobileTech296]

@@mfspectacular I always loved that. It made no sense if you did the missions out of order, but was a neat little tie in between them.

[@puralumbre]

PTP was the best

[@WakeUpNeo77]

Can someone explain to me how Saints Row is “sexist” without being a liberal or having a feminist POV.

[@-scrim]

The new one looks like dogshit. How times change.

[@xan8123]

Why is there a sexism warning i liked all the female characters and felt they were always equal in the game

[@slimeballSR1]

If anybody would be willing to join up and play some multiplayer xbox live on this game, comment your discord.