Saints row series

Saints Row was released August 29, 2006 in North America, and on September 1, 2006 in Europe and Australia. Though the game was also announced for the Sony PlayStation 3 to be released at a later date, this port was canceled in favor of putting more resources towards the game's sequel, Saints Row 2, for release on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Saints Row has been described as being similar to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in terms of story and gameplay. The game takes place in the fictional city of Stilwater which is plagued by urban violence between four rival gangs. The Protagonist, caught in the middle of the violence, is offered the chance to join the 3rd Street Saints to help fight the other gangs. In addition to several common elements with the Grand Theft Auto series, Saints Row introduces many additional features, including extensive Player Customization, a 64-vehicle garage, a GPS, an activity and respect system, and online multiplayer modes.

The game was released to commercial and critical success, selling over 1 million copies by the end of 2006, and prompting for development of its sequel.

Gameplay
Saints Row is a third-person shooter that takes place in the city of Stilwater, a large sandbox environment. The game is structured around completing main storyline missions and side activities, earning in-game Cash and other benefits to assist in future missions. These missions typically entail travelling around the city, carjacking vehicles, meeting people, collecting objects at checkpoints, facing off rival gangs in firefights, and other tasks. The game's main story missions are split into three separate arcs, each dealing with a rival gang in Stilwater. Missions are started manually, and free-roam is available immediately after the opening cutscene, and all missions may be exited at any time to return to free-roam.

After failing a mission, there is an option to restart it immediately rather without having to return to the mission origin. It is possible to recruit fellow Saints gang members, and to unlock specal "Homies", who can either assist in missions or grant a quick benefit such as a vehicle driven to their location.

Saints Row introduces a "Respect" system that are tied to "activities" within the game. These activities are located in various places around Stilwater, and include street racing, carjacking, robbery, Drug Trafficking, pimping, kidnapping, and Insurance Fraud. Each set of activities has 8 levels representing the difficulty of the task. Completing each level earns a fixed amount of "respect" relative to the difficulty of the task. A certain level of respect must be earned in order to initiate a new mission, which can be earned by completing any activity. It is optional which activities are completed, there are no compulsory activities and it is not necessary to complete all activities in order to complete the storyline,

Stilwater is separated into Districts and Neighborhoods, initially under control of the rival gangs in the city. Neighborhoods are taken over by the Saints upon completion of Missions and Strongholds.

Police and Gang "Notoriety" bars show the current level of attention from enemies, causing Stilwater Police Department and enemy gangs to give chase.

The Protagonist can be customised using a number of different facial and body features, hair, jewelry and tattoos, as well as numerous styles of clothing available from Stores around Stilwater. The choice of color and style of the clothes can affect the game, as by dressing in the Saints' colors (purple) earns a respect bonus when completing activities. Additionally, vehicles can be customised at Rim Jobs with custom parts and paint jobs, and music can be purchased through Scratch That.

Plot
Saints Row starts in the year 2006 with an unnamed character in the fictional island City of Stilwater, based on cities such as Detroit and Chicago[reference?], in the middle of a gang war between several gang factions. Though he attempts to maintain distance, members from one gang attempt to gun him down; however, the 3rd Street Saints, led by Julius Little, step in and save him. After proving himself to the Saints, he's initiated into the gang and then asked to assist to take over the city from three rival gangs: Los Carnales, Westside Rollerz, and the Vice Kings. Over the course of the game, The Protagonist assists in various offensive and defensive actions against each rival gang, slowly bringing the entire city under control by the Saints.

Because of the three different gangs, there are three linear plots that deal with the conquest of each gang, though events in one plot do not affect any of the other plots. At the end of the game each rival gang has been defeated, and all of Stilwater is under the Saints' control.

The game has a false ending showing The Protagonist receiving a call from Julius, who says he he is making him his new right hand man. However, he implies that he is about to be pulled over by police. At this point, other members of the Saints ask The Protagonist for their orders.

After the credits roll, there are three "epilogue" missions, resulting in attacks on the mayor and the corrupt chief of police of Stilwater in order to try to free Julius. Once the mayor is dead, the Saints then take out the corrupt chief of the Stilwater police, then The Protagonist is invited to the private yacht of Alderman Richard Hughes, the only other candidate for mayor in the upcoming election. He thanks The Protagonist for eradicating his political rival for him, and announces his plans to use his mayoral power to destroy the Saints. During his speech, scenes of several Saints members after the events of the game are shown, with several of them seeming anxious and looking at their watches. As Hughes is about to have The Protagonist killed by his bodyguards, the yacht explodes, and the game ends.

Gangs and characters
Stilwater is ruled primarily by four gangs:

3rd Street Saints

 * Main Article: 3rd Street Saints

The purple-clad gang which The Protagonist joins. The gang is racially diverse, specializing in gang warfare in an attempt to take back the city from the other gangs and restore peace. The Saints are led by Julius Little, with lieutenants Johnny Gat, Dex, and Troy Bradshaw backing him up. Lin works as a spy to infiltrate the Rollerz and Aisha is a R&B singer from Saint's Row signed on with the Vice Kings' record label, Kingdom Come Records. The Saints start their operations from a derelict church in a run-down residential area on East side of Stilwater.

Los Carnales

 * Main Article: Los Carnales

Primarily made up of Hispanics and Caucasians and sporting red colors, Los Carnales specialize in arms and drug trafficking. Hector Lopez leads the gang with his brother Angelo Lopez, who is dating Luz Avalos. Victor Rodriguez is their enforcer, and Manuel Orejuela is the contact between Los Carnales and the Colombian drug lords. The Carnales operate primarily out of the region around the airport and the run-down industrial areas of Stilwater.

Vice Kings

 * Main Article: Vice Kings

The Vice Kings are a mix of African-Americans and Caucasians, and run much of Stilwater's entertainment, including retail, prostitution, and music. The gang is led by Benjamin King with the assistance of ex-hip hop artist Warren Williams and enforcer Tony Green. Tanya Winters is a prostitute who hooked up with Anthony and worked her way into running the prostitution ring. The Vice Kings' gang colors are yellow. The Vice Kings' main territory is the opulent commercial/downtown area, home to big business, museums and exclusive shopping areas.

Westside Rollerz

 * Main Article: Westside Rollerz

The Westside Rollerz are composed of Asian-Americans and Caucasians, and dress in blue. They specialize in illegal street-racing and automobiles.The gang is run by William Sharp and his nephew, Joseph Price. Donnie is the lieutenant in the Rollerz and also is their expert mechanic. The Rollerz operate from the northwest area of Stilwater, encompassing expensive suburban housing as well the area round the Stilwater stadium.

Multiplayer

 * Main Article: Multiplayer in Saints Row

The game also has an online multiplayer mode for Xbox Live that supports up to 1-12 people. Players can join a gang and engage in street warfare with other gangs online. Saints Row features 4 different online games. Gangsta Brawl is a standard deathmatch. Big Ass Chains forces players to collect chains by killing people, and then depositing them for points. A bonus is awarded for delivering more chains at once. Protect Tha Pimp is a team based game, in which one team must escort the pimp to a destination point, while the other team must kill the pimp or prevent their opponents from reaching this point. It is very similar to the VIP mode from Counter-Strike. Blinged Out Ride is another team based game in which two teams must raise enough money from killing opponents and collecting chains to upgrade the team's vehicle several times in the Mechanic.