As you won't be getting your hands on Saints Row until next year, developer Volition's lead designer Chris Stockman is here to prove that your patience will pay off. We sit down with Chris for an exclusive interview on Saint's Row for the Xbox 360.
GamePro: What was the biggest challenge in creating Saint's Row?
Chris Stockman: Building the city from a content-creation standpoint has been the biggest challenge. Our city is enormous and we're packing tons of detail into it. We've purposely created the districts to have very distinct looks and feels, with lots of nooks and crannies for the player to explore. Around every corner the player will find something new and cool to see and do. This, in combination with keeping the world fully streaming with no loading has been a challenge, but the results are well worth it.
GP: Saint's Row clearly has a lot to offer. What do you think separates a game like Saint's Row from the GTA series?
CS:There are a lot of areas we feel will differentiate us in the end. Our core gameplay allows the player much more freedom then other similarly themed games. Our shooting controls are based on FPSs, and don't use a constricting targeting system. This lets the player shoot at exactly what he wants all the time, and makes our on-foot combat far more fun and playable than other games in the genre.
We extend this type of control to our driving as well, so you can fire in a 360 degree arc around the car while driving at full speed. Multiplayer is a huge addition that hasn't really been attempted in previous open-world games. Our goal is to be the trailblazers here and show that you can have and varied multiplayer component in an open-ended game.
GP: What kind of impact does music and audio have on Saint Row's gameplay?
CS: Our radio serves an important role in the game. We have over 70 commercials that reference in-game stores. But more importantly, some of these commercials will announce special sales. If the player visits a store during a sale, he'll get the discount on the merchandise. And by buying a portable MP3 player, the player will have access to music all the time, even when he/she is not driving in a car.
GP: How does Saint's Row expand upon the open-ended, sandbox style of play?
CS: Freedom of choice in game play also plays a huge role in differentiating us from the competition. We've had open world games for years now, but the amount of ways the player can play to beat the game is almost always set in stone. You have to beat a series of specific goals in order to win. In Saint's Row, we do have story missions that must be played to complete the game, but they are only one part of the player's tasks.
In order to unlock new missions, the player has to earn respect, and the player can earn respect in any way he wants. We have a ton of side activities you can do to earn this respect, such as pimping and insurance fraud. And if the player doesn't want to do these activities, he can earn respect by just fighting against the other gangs. No matter what your preference is in how you want to play the game, Saint's Row accommodates it.
GP: Can you share a personal favorite moment from an in-game experience of Saint's Row?
CS: Every time we play the game we experience a few choice moments that bring a smile to our collective faces. For example, we have a system that allows you to recruit other gang members to help you with whatever you happen to be doing. I grabbed 3 other Saints and pulled out my shotgun thinking I would hijack the next car that came along. Well, it turned out to be a truck and, rather than hijack it, I jumped in the back. The driver pulled away and three Saints chased me down the block firing at everyone I was blasting at with the shotgun.
GamePro: What was the biggest challenge in creating Saint's Row?
Chris Stockman: Building the city from a content-creation standpoint has been the biggest challenge. Our city is enormous and we're packing tons of detail into it. We've purposely created the districts to have very distinct looks and feels, with lots of nooks and crannies for the player to explore. Around every corner the player will find something new and cool to see and do. This, in combination with keeping the world fully streaming with no loading has been a challenge, but the results are well worth it.
GP: Saint's Row clearly has a lot to offer. What do you think separates a game like Saint's Row from the GTA series?
CS:There are a lot of areas we feel will differentiate us in the end. Our core gameplay allows the player much more freedom then other similarly themed games. Our shooting controls are based on FPSs, and don't use a constricting targeting system. This lets the player shoot at exactly what he wants all the time, and makes our on-foot combat far more fun and playable than other games in the genre.
We extend this type of control to our driving as well, so you can fire in a 360 degree arc around the car while driving at full speed. Multiplayer is a huge addition that hasn't really been attempted in previous open-world games. Our goal is to be the trailblazers here and show that you can have and varied multiplayer component in an open-ended game.
GP: What kind of impact does music and audio have on Saint Row's gameplay?
CS: Our radio serves an important role in the game. We have over 70 commercials that reference in-game stores. But more importantly, some of these commercials will announce special sales. If the player visits a store during a sale, he'll get the discount on the merchandise. And by buying a portable MP3 player, the player will have access to music all the time, even when he/she is not driving in a car.
GP: How does Saint's Row expand upon the open-ended, sandbox style of play?
CS: Freedom of choice in game play also plays a huge role in differentiating us from the competition. We've had open world games for years now, but the amount of ways the player can play to beat the game is almost always set in stone. You have to beat a series of specific goals in order to win. In Saint's Row, we do have story missions that must be played to complete the game, but they are only one part of the player's tasks.
In order to unlock new missions, the player has to earn respect, and the player can earn respect in any way he wants. We have a ton of side activities you can do to earn this respect, such as pimping and insurance fraud. And if the player doesn't want to do these activities, he can earn respect by just fighting against the other gangs. No matter what your preference is in how you want to play the game, Saint's Row accommodates it.
GP: Can you share a personal favorite moment from an in-game experience of Saint's Row?
CS: Every time we play the game we experience a few choice moments that bring a smile to our collective faces. For example, we have a system that allows you to recruit other gang members to help you with whatever you happen to be doing. I grabbed 3 other Saints and pulled out my shotgun thinking I would hijack the next car that came along. Well, it turned out to be a truck and, rather than hijack it, I jumped in the back. The driver pulled away and three Saints chased me down the block firing at everyone I was blasting at with the shotgun.
Alot of things excite me in that article, they talk about multiplayer. And FPS shooting which should be amazing
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