Customer Reviews

Saints Row 2 PS3

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Saints Row 2 is the sequel to an xbox 360 only open world crime game. It is impossible to not compare this game to Grand Theft Auto 4 but if you give both of them an impartial look, they play very differently. Perhaps the best way to describe Saints Row is the "anti-GTA 4".

GTA 4 was one of the most massive games ever created. The expansiveness of Liberty City can be a bit daunting. The whole game just oozes polish from every polygon. The amount of resources that Rockstar must have poured into the making of the game must have been staggering. If this is the case, why are so many people's copies gathering dust? I can only speak for myself, but the game was lacking one very important thing. The game was just not fun. Despite all the polish, the voice acting, the story, I just didn't enjoy it.

The reason why I say all of this is because Saints Row 2 is almost the complete opposite. It is one of the most fun games I have played in recent memory. Then when you bring a friend along in co-op it just gets insane. Playing with another person over PSN is a blast as you cover each other's back blasting gangmembers, cops, and the Ultor corporation. It's hard not to crack a smile when your partner is speeding down the wrong side of a highway weaving through traffic while your blowing away your motorcycle riding pursuers with a grenade launcher. Not to mention the heaploads of customization options you can make to your protagonist, your cars, your houses, and your gangs. You can invite someone over just to show them your super tricked out rides.

Not that the game is perfect. The graphics are good, but not necessarily great. The colors in certain areas can seem a little washed out. The shooting mechanics could use a cover system a la gta 4, but you can grab anyone nearby and use them as a human shield which works out pretty good as well. Also the game has a plethora of adult situations and very coarse language. I'm not very squeamish when it comes to exposing responsible kids to a some PG-13 or even light rated R kind of stuff, but the thought of playing this game around an impressionable child makes me uneasy and probably shouldn't be done. So if you have young ones, definitely have them occupy themselves in another room or wait until after bedtime to bust this baby out.

All in all, if you even a casual fan of open world crime games, you owe it to yourself to at least give Saints Row 2 a try. Heck, you can even hit me up and I'll play with ya!!! PSN ID RellPhoenix

I must say, before this game came out I was really getting sick of these "serious" game titles like GTA4 and MGS4. I thought both had great gameplay mechanics but I felt like they were trying to beat me over the head with "morality" and trying to make you feel bad for doing immoral things.

Thanks to Saints Row 2 we finally have a title that doesn't take ANYTHING seriously (least of all itself ;) ). The humor is VERY juvenile and the story requires no thought what so ever (though it is very stylish and well-voice acted). But I think this is a good thing. You don't HAVE to feel bad about mowing over civilians and casualties in gunfights. You can just jump right in and have FUN.

The customization is awesome as well. The different clothing options are insane (and FAR more diverse than the overrated GTA4) as is your ability to customize (and keep) almost ANY vehicle to your liking. Also, you quite literally unlock different
clothes/vehicles/fighting styles/weapons for just PLAYING the game. I can't think of any other videogame that does that

The only bad thing I can say about Saint's Row 2 is that it can be taken as VERY offensive in it's portrayal of different ethnic groups. I realize that it's making fun of EVERYTHING it possibly can but be warned if you're easily offended by stereotypes.

In any case Saint's Row 2 is a game that gives players of sandbox titles exactly what they want: Fun without consequences :)

Yes this game is ''Over the top'', which means it's going to be crazy!
There is so much to describe, no matter how detailed this review may seem, it will not compare to the game itself. Now I just have to figure out how to start it...

Lets see... Opening up the case and inserting the disc. After waiting through the loading screen the main menu will load up. Whether or not you have a saved game to continue;or are starting a new one, or wanting to play online this is the place.
Starting a new game will have you creating your character.

Character customization: Body size, muscle mass, skin color, age, hair, facial hair, voice, taunts, walking options. The insanely in-depth face/skull options (jaw,nose,cheeks,etc.) There is only one thing it misses that I wished it had: height.

Gameplay: In Over the Top style games you are always more powerful than most other characters. In this game you are more powerful than anyone! You have a classic health bar that can regenerate overtime, while not taking damage. Throughout the game you can unlock or find weapons that have thier perks and downsides. When you press 'O' (Circle) and hold it in, it brings up the weapon wheel. It has a melee slot, pistol slot, SMG slot, shotgun slot, assault rifle slot, special weapons slot, explosives slot, and the fist. You can only have one type of gun in a slot at a time. (Ex. you can only have one shotgun in the shotgun slot)this description is getting quite large so now we will move on to cars.

Vehicles: Trains, Planes, and Automobiles! Wait a second... there is also helicopters, boats, ATV's, dirtbikes, UFOs, and more! Vehicles range in size and are all awesome. Monster trucks, APCs, a little 50cc pocket rocket, jets, speed boats, Military attack helicopters, bulldozers, Rigs, and so much more!! All land vehicles are customizable. Trick out you ride with NOS, spoilers, aftermarket bumpers, paint jobs, wheels (rims, tire treads, spinners). You can also change the wheels seperately with each axel.

Side missions: Fuzz- Be a cop and beat down teenagers, drunks, and prostitutes. Air assault- Fly an AH-1 Cobra protecting your gang van and desroy other gangs rides attacking it. I can't exactly remember the name of this one but you are a security guard and you can throw people into the wildest/painfullest (if that's even a word) traps! Groups of chainsaw guys, plane engines, and even an oncoming Elevator Train! Plus insuraunce fraud, Mayhem, drug trafficking, Blaze (your wearing a firefighters suit on a ATV and you're on fire!) and more that I can't think of at the moment.

Campaign- I can't remember it exactly but it follows after the boat explosion in SR1 and other gangs have taken over and you gotta show 'em who is boss and take back Stilwater!

A great game, bored with the realism of GTA 4? Here is your ticket to action packed arcade gameplay! Graphics are cruddy due to the games large size. Fun and customization makes up for it. 5/5

*Update forgive me of my typing errors above but Saints Row the Third or SR3 is coming out this holiday! Based in a new city called Steel Port. It has crazier customization and better graphics. Plus it has a new physics engine. Cars can be crushed beneath a tanks tracks! That's right, tanks with actual tracks! Can't wait!

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of open world games. However, I just didn't find SR2 to be exciting at all. The wierdest part is that I didn't like GTAIV and I did like the action that started off in SR2. But then is dragged and it dragged hard.

Gameplay
Let me say that the game play is really fun. I did enjoy the fighting mechanics. They are easy and really fit on the PS3 pad. Shooting was a bit of a hit and miss but enjoyable as well. I only wish that they had a auto target system, but it still got the job done. Headshots were interesting to come by. The driving was really fun. It reminded me of GTA San Andreas. The cars are all great and the cop cars are really fast. It helps when you are on chases. Taking over helicopters reminded me a bit of the original Mercenaries. It is easy to do.

Story
This is where things got a little wierd for me. Now I know that most games don't always have you doing righteous things, but I really felt bad playing this game. We have all seen the bad guy that wants revenge thing before so this should be no surprise. But I was a little shocked when your partner guns down what appears to be some 60 year old judge. It just didn't feel right. Also, I didn't like the fact that you can't play the game straight. What I mean is that instead of the open design of GTA, where you could do only story missions or sidequests whenever you choose, this game forces you to do a whole bunch of side quests and mini games before it opens up the next story mission for you to go through. I found that to be extremely frustrating especially when you were getting into the main story and then you have your attention diverted to do sometimes pointless side quests. Being a cop with a film crew like COPS was interesting until your umptenth time of trying to get enough points to move the game forward.

Overall
I would say that there are some great online mechanics in the fact that you can actually take someone with you to help out missions during play. That was fun. But overall, the pacing is what killed me. Breaking up what was an interesting story from time to time just to do meaningless tasks in order to continue was really annoying. Especially when you get to the juicy parts of the game. But if you can stomach that, then there is a chance that you might enjoy the game. I would say that GTA might be a better fit.

I bought this game for my boyfriend for Christmas but gave it to him early and he has been playing in non-stop for three days now. Grand Theft Auto has been his favorite game until now. He said that he gives Grand theft a 98 out of a 100 and Saints Row a 100!! The graphics are better and the music is much better. Its really cool how you get to create your own character to play the game. I even enjoy watching him play!!

I haven't played this game before so I never knew how Saints row was before 2. I expected the worst but after many pleasing reviews I tried this game out.

I was shocked. This game is everything GTA 4 should have been and more. You can customize cars, faces, taunts, crew, houses, fihting styles, and a lot more. Side missions are a complete blast. From playing like an officer and creating brutality to faking an insurance injury this is so funny and honestly I liked the storyline too. It was funny. It was also sad when certain main characters died off. The car handling is fun, you can parachute when you fall so it wont take up your health. The meter loads health back up and if not why not eat a cheeseburger from the shop you went to.

The graphics aren't as bad as some people think. If you like fighting games, customization, online and fun co op, fps, posse, driving, music, gta, sims etc games you will love this!

I was caught off guard to how good this game was. Just get it!

You'd think RockStar and THQ traded places after playing this masterpiece. This is exactly what GTA IV should have been, an extension of San Andreas. Unlike GTA IV which removed everything from San Andreas, Saints Row 2 keeps it all, and yes, I mean ALL. Unlike in GTA IV, in Saints Row 2 you have planes, parachutes, stores, property purchasing, gangs, full character customization, a huge city, a huge selection of vehicles, tons of weapons (way more then the lousy 12 included in GTA IV), tons of things to explode, almost everything can be picked up, and far more. Of course, thanks to the Xbox 360, in order to include all these great features there had to be compromises. The graphics of this game are certainly no where near as good as GTA IV's, but the game is still amazing. As I've said in other reviews, when a game is developed for Xbox, the developers have to make a choice between gameplay and graphics, THQ chose right and picked gameplay, RockStar picked graphics. Although this game is way better then GTA IV, there are some things I still would have liked to see that aren't here, mainly the ability to do more damage to the vehicles. Also, there's no blood splatter in this game like in GTA, but thats about it. It's a GREAT game. Please, at least rent it, you will LOVE it so much more then GTA IV, you may never buy another GTA again.

Saints row 2 is the definition of silly and fun. For the cheap price you can purchase this game for, it is well worth every cent.

Hi,

Just got this game and played it. I have read a lot about the fun, but also the bad graphics and dissapearing cars issue and other graphical hiccups.

I am only a few hours into but it is a game I have played 2x in one day. Not since Mercs 2 did I do this. It is a very fun open world crime/gang game.

Also the graphics to me look good, just like mercs 2 and the sabotuer did. The character customization is what sold me on the game. I love being the female main character. That's why I bought Wet, Mercs 2, and Mass Effect 2. You can tell the company put a lot of time into this the world is alive with so much people, cars, business, and the missions/side mission I have played were in different and very cool locations.

Also the gameplay is pretty tight. I am not fully used to the driving yet but like the cruise control and hand brake style of driving where you can accelerate and decelerate and use the hand brake all while staying in cruise control.

I like how fluid the character moves and the shooting seems to have some weight and it's bloody without be overly gory like borderlands. Another game I loved.

There are tons of missions and side missions and you can enter a lot of buildings which is cool for a sand box game.

Now I am not into the gang stuff in real life, but I like the gangstar movies. I am still enjoying it anyway. Also the music is pretty good they got rock, metal, 80's, jazz, classical, regaee, and some others. Really not sure about the jazz. Oh yah probably hip hop too.

Anyway about the cars dissapearing and graphic hiccups being stuck etc. Maybe I've been lucky or something but not noticed any of that. I know when I put the disc in it installed the latest update so maybe the update was to fix those issues.

Anyway, I will update this review later just wanted to emphasize that the grapics are good and the gameplay is fun and tight.

Kevin

added next day 4/9/11

Played a few more hrs and so much fun. I am getting the hang of driving real fast and love how you can shoot and drive.

Also the missions are so much fun and varied in environments and scope.

I am really enjoying this game. The company really went all out to make a game like a living world.

Kevin

Saints Row 2 is a FUN open world game. It's like Sims meets GTA but less on the serious side of GTA. Some of the side missions are hilarious like Septic Avenger, where you spray sewer you-know on buildings for revenge while cops chase after you, rescue hos from their pimps, and so on. You can customize cars, clothes, your looks, race, voice, and cribs. I became very addicted to this game, never getting tired of it, and always coming back to play the activities and missions. Saints Row 2 is quite a lengthy game for your money's worth. I've finished almost half the missions yet I'm only 25% complete. The activities add that much to the game. If I complete everything at the rate I'm going, I'll be at least 100+ hours in. I can't wait for Saints Row 3 coming out...I hope it's as good as this one.