Saints Row -- The Mechanics of Organization.

I have spent roughly twenty-five hours in Saints Row just doing other activities beyond the story missions. The game offers a great system of keeping track of what's been done and what needs to be done as far as all the optional activities that exist in the game. While GTA offers a means of where things are in a general fashion via an in-game map, Saints Row offers a far more detailed and clearly organized in-game map that greatly helps in keeping tabs on everything. Couple the map with the game's waypoints system that shows up both on the map in the menu and the mini-map on screen and you have a system in place that makes it impossible to get lost. It's simple, thorough, and greatly appreciated. The game also offers up a log of all the activities in the game. You can tell how far you are in each individual activity at a glance. A couple of the activities in the game like Chop Shop and Hitman have you searching for very specific targets whether they be vehicles or NPCs. There is an extremely cool feature that allows you to pin their information to the heads up display. For the Chop Shop activities for example, you need to find a type of car. You can pin the image of the car, the required specifications, and the general area in which to locate the car to the upper left corner of the screen. So you can drive around without losing track of what you're looking for. The game goes even further. Once you've got something pinned to the HUD, the target will show up on the in-game map if you're within close enough range. This greatly helps reduce any potential frustration. It's because of these very well thought out systems that I've enjoyed just working on the optional stuff while ignoring the story missions. The as you want it approach of Saints Row is a definite step up compared to the as you find it approach to GTA. Saints Row results in a system that is clear and concise and without any confusion. Next time should cover the mechanics of...