Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the What’s It Like arena where we are hosting our first free-to-view Series Showdown!
In one corner, wearing the “Definitive Edition” Shorts is a Trilogy that needs no introduction, somewhat classic, somewhat controversial, but always original, Grand Theft Auto! In the other corner, sporting the “Purple Package” trunks is Saints Row, often reduced to being called a GTA Clone. Does it have what it takes to set itself aside from GTA and grab Switch owner’s attention?
With that in mind… Let’s get ready to rumble!
Before we sound the bell for round 1, would you mind liking and subscribing to my YouTube channel? It’s the best way for smaller outlets like What”s It Like to be found, and I can’t thank you enough for doing so. If you like the idea of this video series, let me know what I should focus on next in the comments below!
We’ve gone over the rules in the dressing room, but for those in attendance, this is how this showdown is going to work. I won’t be talking about GTA V which is arguably one of the best open-world games ever created. We are only comparing the titles that are available on the Switch in the 2 packages being the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition and the Saints Row Purple Package. While the GTA Trilogy has 3 games, and Saints Row only has 2 games, we will be taking a look at gameplay, graphics, performance, and features like that to see which one comes out on top. As always, I welcome respectful discussion about the video, you don’t always have to agree with the judge’s decision! Let’s have some fun and get to it.
Starting off with Graphics and performance:
The Definitive Trilogy of GTA had a significant change in graphics with this iteration, adding new effects, damage models, and model upgrades. Unfortunately on Switch at least, the graphics have a distinct haze or blur, and there’s a metallic look to everything, somehow making the environments seem more artificial than the original versions. Compare this to Saints Row which may look dated against other games, with a more grain-like effect rather than blur. Saints Row 3 did indeed come out 10 years after the Original GTA 3, giving technological advantages in favour of the newer series.
Performance-wise, both games manage to hold decent frames, even in the thick of the action, with GTA being consistently better at the cost of visual fidelity. Saints Row tends to have minor jitter in both 3 and 4 when things heat up, or traveling at speed as it loads in new areas on the fly. GTA seems to get a few lucky hits in here, but I feel like this round goes to Saints Row due to its advantage as a more modern engine, and the Definitive “Upgrade” actually made GTA lose out on some of its details and the things that made its art style special.
Round 1 to Saints Row
The gameplay will be split into 4 turbo rounds:
Starting with Mission Structure… The missions in GTA are well executed and largely kept seated on the grounds of realism, creating a gritty feel whether tackling a sneaky car bombing while your target is eating lunch, a shootout with a rival triad, or chasing the damn train CJ! Saints Row Missions tend to be more bombastic and over the top, ranging from fighting aliens at the White House, or Skydiving out of a C17 while shooting opponents mid-fall. Again, Saints tends to have the advantage of more modern mission structures so the mission design of Saints Row Wins this round.
Gunplay… The GTA Trilogy has reworked modern shooting controls which certainly make it a bit easier to fight your way out of things, but is still rather dated, whereas Saints Row has a combination of melee and ranged attacks which make combat fast, fluid, and exciting. Again, point to Saints.
Driving in both games is fun and exciting, but there’s something that GTA has never been bested at. While in Saints you can do everything that GTA can do, GTA handles the physics so much better, creating a more realistic, yet arcadey feel that is balanced and reminiscent of the sublime Driver series. GTA finally lands a hit and puts a point on the board!
The final speed round is the open world. Is bigger and busier better? Saints Row has the advantage of cramming a lot of things to do into its open world, but Saints Row 3 and 4 both share an almost identical map in the world of Steelport with some minor alien enhancements in Saints Row 4. The GTA Trilogy manages to create a more immersive world despite having significantly less to do by varying its setting with each game. GTA 3 is obviously New York, Vice City, Florida, and San Andreas is Los Angeles. Where Saints Row tends to have more gameplay mechanic variety, GTA offers a more diverse and varied world to explore, allowing The GTA Definitive Edition to land another point on the board.
The Judges are declaring the Gameplay round a tie.
The narrative will also feature 3-speed bouts starting with Story.
Saints Row tends to be an absolutely wild ride from start to finish in both 3 and 4. Saints Row 3 sees the Saints as pop culture icons, fighting their way up the chain of organised crime to take over the world, and Saints Row 4 sees you start off as the President of the United States, fighting aliens in a matrix-style reality. Saints tends to rely on zany and crude humour to push the envelope with what they could get away with resulting in a funny story that leaves the player asking themselves how they got away with it, and with that said, the shock value eventually wears thin at times to become an exercise in adding as many swear words in as they can into the narrative. GTA on the other hand plays out more like a social commentary caricature of life in the United States, originally going for shock value but evolving to tackle issues like systemic racism, glorifying weapons and violence, over-sexualization of women, and censorship. It’s handled well in a similar vein to how South Park does it, bordering on the ridiculous while making light of some hard-hitting topics. GTA very clearly hits Saint Row here with a quick one-two combo to add another point to the scorecard.
Despite the well-written story of the GTA Series, Saints Row hits back with a huge variation of wild and out-there characters full of personality like Johhny Gat amongst others, as opposed to GTA’s cookie-cutter stereotypes. Sure, characters in GTA may have different motivations and agendas, but they don’t do a lot to separate themselves from each other. Both feature great voice acting but Saints Row talks loudly and proudly in this case. Point to Saints.
And where would we be without the soundtracks and radio stations in all of this storytelling? Saints Row features some amazing tracks from Deftones, Junkie XL, Kanye West, and even Mozart as you rampantly trundle about town causing all manner of chaos. There’s a fantastic mix of Rap, Techno, Classics, and Rock to tune into while cruising. GTA Definitive Edition has the advantage on this round with a wider range of soundtracks covering the 80s through to more modern times with Flock of Seagulls, Yes, Pantera, The Outfield, and Lynrd Skynrd. Combine this with the comedic stylings of DJ Lazlow, and over-the-top ads and talk shows, and it’s clear that GTA scores a point in the Soundtrack Department, also claiming victory in the narrative round.
We are all tied up on the scorecard at the moment and it’s anyone’s game, and as we head into the final round I assure you there will be a winner declared at the end of it!
The final round comes down to what game is ultimately more enjoyable, replayable, and immersive. Saints Row comes out swinging with varied game mechanics and a lot to do but ultimately runs out of steam with repetition. I feel like this is really affected by the overpowered abilities in Saints Row 4, removing a lot of the challenge of the game and grinding the satisfaction of achievement to a halt. Both Saints entries opened up strong with large set pieces, but eventually, I found myself aimlessly running around Steelport causing mayhem in free roam with little or no challenge.
The GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is more slow burn, slowly unlocking new areas to explore and activities to partake in, making it a more immersive experience. I have replayed GTA 3 more times than I care to admit and even got sidetracked while capturing footage for this article because I really enjoyed it, even though I feel the Definitive moniker is anything but. While it certainly isn’t without its issues, The GTA Trilogy manages to tell a captivating group of stories over 3 decades that still manages to hold up to this day.
Despite its shortfalls, The GTA Definitive Edition scrapes through to be the winner by decision as we go to the cards. Both franchises are great in their own right and offer 2 very unique experiences while following a similar format. Reflecting on GTA’s legacy, this should have been a victory by knockout, but the “Definitive Edition” no matter how modern it may claim to be, did the opposite as intended and worked against a lot of things that make GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas so great in the first place. That’s not to discount Saints Row in the slightest, as it brings its own unique style and flair to the open-world crime genre, and this close fight would have been even closer if Saints 1 or 2 was available to play on the Switch.
Even though I’m done refereeing this bout, I want to know what you think. Keep in mind this is only between the games that are on Switch, which are the GTA Definitive Trilogy and The Purple Package. Tell me your thoughts!
