Ever since Grand Theft Auto 3 raised the bar on freeform open-ended gameplay, many games have been trying to surpass it. The games have ranged from great (Mercenaries), to average (True Crime: Streets of LA), to horrible (Driv3r). At the recent X05, THQ and Violition showed off Saint’s Row, the latest attempt to dethrone Rockstar’s premier franchise. How does it stack up?

Unlike the Grand Theft Auto games, Saints Row allows you to define the look of your character far more then San Andreas. Instead of just tattoos and clothing, you get to define facial features, allowing you to create almost any face you want. You also get to define height, weight, and skin color, giving you a huge selection of options to choose from. With enough experimentation, you could probably create a famous actor or pay respects to GTA by creating Carl Johnson. Outfits can also be changed, though you have to earn money before you can buy the fancier clothing. Oddly enough, you can’t be a female lead character, but once you’re generated it’s off to the streets of Saints Row.

Once we started roaming, we became impressed just how huge the city became. While there was still some pop-up involved, the detail of the world was incredible. The game controlled more like Total Overdose than GTA. Left Analog moved your character while Right Analog moved the camera and aiming reticule around. Hijacking a car was as easy as tapping Y while next to the door of a vehicle. The character even made a funny comment as he was yanked out of his car. Driving was easy with the sweet Xbox 360 controller, and unlike the GTA games, the hero is capable of firing out the front of his car instead of just the sides. We didn’t notice any motorcycles yet, but the police did manage to bring in a helicopter (which we blew up).

Wanted levels are built by in a manner similar to The Simpson’s: Hit and Run. A wanted bar fills up around the radar in the lower left of the screen. When it reaches its max, you earn one star and the bar resets. Keep attacking civilians or stealing cars and the bar builds faster, earning you stars until it tops out at five. We didn’t see any way to lower the star limit quickly, but we did see the wanted bar slowly start to drop once we got back on the road.

We saw a few side missions in the game. In particular, robbing stores. Unlike GTA where you just held up a gun and took the money, Saints Row forces you to follow the shopkeeper into the backroom where he slowly opens a safe. If there are civilians in the store they will raise the alarms faster, which gets heat on you much quicker. Robbing empty stores seemed to be the way, but one shopkeeper pulled a fast one on the hero and set off an alarm as he opened the safe. This kind of variety made things a lot more interesting then just getting a two-star wanted level. Another type of mission we heard of was insurance fraud. Essentially, you toss yourself in front of a vehicle and try to get hurt. Clicking the left thumbstick turned our hero into a lifeless lump, which got thrown a lot father when you get hit. If they are any witnesses around, they gain you a money boost for each injury you suffer.

One of the best features we saw was the ability to modify your car. Every single car in the game can be modified. From the ugliest truck to the hottest sports car, pulling it into a mod shop offered several different types of upgrades. We saw both visual and performance upgrades, allowing us to turn that crappy truck into a tricked out speed machine. Though we didn’t hear much of the soundtrack, we were impressed by the choice of voice actors. Your main character doesn’t speak at all during the game, but we did hear Michael Clarke Duncan as an ex-gang leader offering you backup.

While it may not be able to top the mighty GTA series, Saint's Row looks like it will come closer than any game before it. Stay tuned to AMN as we approach launch day for more coverage. *