Saints Row vs Grand Theft Auto

As you have probably already read numerous reviews of Saints Row by now I thought I’d lay it out for you. While each game is very similar (except for Saints Row being newer of course) I thought you might be interested to know what’s different.
Saints Row Pro’s:
1. The physics rock! Sadly they are pretty much limited to car explosions and rag doll bodies, but its still cool! Especially derailing a train with an RPG.
2. Non linear game play! While the missions are the same, what you do in between is up to you, play only the parts that are fun!
3. Create your own character! Tonnes of options to customize your character, if you feel like it, you can be a skinny white guy with a green afro. You can pimp your ride too, with more options than GTA. Best of all, when it blows up, you can get it back.
4. The graphics! At least until the next GTA instalment the graphics trounce GTA. By the time San Andreas came out the graphics looked really really dated.
5. Your crew. While GTA had fellow gang members, compared to Saints Row they sucked. In Saints Row its easy to recruit gang members and they actually do what you want them to. There is nothing quite like cruising down the road in your car, with 3 of your crew inside shooting up ‘tha police’.
6. The combat is more visceral. Less blood but better controls, weapon sounds and gang combat make Saints row more fun.
7. It’s easier! Not that I found GTA to be hard, but it was frustrating to have to repeat certain missions multiple times to complete them. In Saints Row I have rarely had to repeat a mission yet they are still fun and the game is still lengthy enough for me.
Grand Theft Auto Series Pro’s:
1. More weapon variety. GTA has a larger selection of weapons than Saints Row.
2. Motorbikes, planes and helicopters oh my! Think its self explanatory, but saints row doesn’t have these.
3. The city is bigger. Well in San Andreas anyway, but Saints Row has a more realistic feel to the way its designed.
4. The frame rates better, not sure I can say this as I only really played GTA on PC, which will obviously run better. Unfortunately Saints Row’s frame rate drops at some points. Not really badly but definitely noticeable. Then again it has better graphics than GTA and its on a console so its not a fair point.
Conclusion:
Still playin’ through the game and so far only 25% through, while you can see not every aspect of Saints Row is better than GTA it is still a damn fine game. It is definitely a better game than San Andreas was. As for Vice City? Well I loved the setting too much to put Saints Row above it, but if you buy the game, you wont be disappointed. That said, I still expect the next installment of GTA to top Saints Row, fortunately the Xbox 360 release and PS3 release will be simultaneous. That does however presume the PS3 is ever actually released.