Saints Row 2

by THQ

Product Features

• Over 40 story missions with additional bonus missions take place in a transformed Stilwater that is over 50% larger than before.
• Limitless Customization ¿ Play as fully customizable characters that are male, female or something in between. Cribs, vehicles and even gangs all have customization options.
• Multiplayer ¿ Co-op full story campaign has seamless integration (for example one player drives while the other shoots).
• Competitive multiplayer pushes the boundaries of immersion in a living Stillwater environment fully populated with police, innocent bystanders and rival gangs.
• Planes, helicopters, motorcycles, boats and cars can be piloted and used as weapons. On the ground new combat options include melee, fine aim, and human shield

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000ZKDOV2
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 14, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,899 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #43 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Action > Shooter

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360 | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com

A worthy successor to Saints Row, the first open-world title on next-generation consoles, Saints Row 2 features all new customization options, including player's: gender, age, voice, crib and gang. In addition, the sandbox just got larger with a totally transformed and expanded city of Stilwater, offering all new locations to explore with new vehicles, including motorcycles, boats, helicopters and planes. Saints Row 2 will be playable online in 2-player co-op through the entire singleplayer campaign or in the all new open-world competitive multiplayer mode never before seen in the genre.

Take back the streets of Stilwater

Welcome back to Stilwater View larger.

One of the new faces on the Row. View larger.

Customization down to the taunt. View larger.

Extreme posse creation. View larger.

Take the battle to the air. View larger.

Weapons that go bang. View larger.

Throw down some skin. View larger.

Backstory
Five years have passed since your former Saints crew betrayed you. As you awake from a coma for the first time since that fateful day, you find the Stilwater you once ruled is in disarray. Unfamiliar gangs have laid claim to your territory, rival factions have taken over your rackets, and cash-hungry corporations have laid waste to your once proud 3rd Street home. Abandoned and left scarred with an unrecognizable face, you seek out a plastic surgeon to begin your new life on the streets. Yet some things never change in Stilwater.

Respect can only be earned and that requires a lifestyle that reflects your unique personality. Your crib, your crew, and your character define who you are on the streets and how you are perceived. The image you portray is as important as the decisions you make in a city ruled by false bravado and impulsive behavior. The only constant is the need for an identity that reflects your individuality. But style and image can only take you so far in a world where actions speak louder than words. Sometimes sending a message to your enemies requires heavy lifting, like that of a rival gang member into oncoming traffic. Respect in Stilwater needs to be taken, and what better way than to grab it from the hands of a gang full of enemies by means of a satchel charge, a flame-thrower or those minigun rounds you've been saving for a special occasion.

Meet Your Homies
But remember that the fight to reclaim Stilwater does not have to be waged alone. The Saints once ruled these streets as a crew of brothers, and their return to the top can help be secured through co-operative alliances. The time has finally come to seek revenge against your rivals to reestablish your crew as the rightful kings of Stilwater, but the streets are crawling with bangers. Check out the crews you'll run into and remember their faces and their ways:

	3rd Street Saints Once the kings of the city, the Saints have been forced out of their titular home of Saints Row by the Ultor Corporation, a giant conglomerate that gentrified the once poor neighborhood. Now operating out of an abandoned underground hotel, the Saints are looking to reclaim the glory that they lost several years ago.
	Ronin One of the newest gangs instilling fear in Stilwater, the Ronin recruit from both the city's Asian population as well as among the immigrants. Their crimes involve peddling vice through gambling, prostitution, street-racing, and protection rackets, and their power has reached even into the boardroom of corporations like Ultor.
	Sons of Samedi Influenced by Voodoo and a history of military corruption in Haiti, the Sons of Samedi are known for their potent combination of spiritualism and fearlessness. Members are attracted to the gang out of respect for their methods, through coercion or a desire for easy income generated through trade in their designer drug called "Loa Dust."
	Brotherhood Formed from the cast-outs and dredges of Stilwater society, the Brotherhood is a solid force of strength and intimidation intent on revenging itself upon the police and city. Specializing in violent extortion, they forego subtlety and nuance and simply take what they want, all the while flashing their allegiance with piercings and tattoos, bright colors, and gas-guzzling trucks.
	Ultor Corporation A ruthless corporate contender, the Ultor Corporation's gentrification of Saints Row created a new skyline for the city and a headquarters for their corporate office at the expense of the poor and the 3rd Street Saints. Now they're targeting another neighborhood, the Shivington projects, fueling gang wars and waiting for the prime moment to move in and reap the profits.

Key Game Features:

• Freedom to Explore Through Open World Gameplay - Balancing story progression with all the time-wasting mayhem imaginable, Saints Row 2 contains more activities, diversions, races, cribs, city districts, and interiors than ever before.
• Extensive Mission Play - Over 40 story missions with additional bonus missions take place in a transformed Stilwater that is over 50% larger than before.
• Limitless Customization - Saints Row 2 allows you to customize everything connected to what you wear, drive and where you live as well as gives you access to countless character combinations from facial expression, body type, voice, taunts, gender to walking style. In addition, players can customize gangs various and extreme physical looks (some pretty crazy), fighting styles, gang taunts and tags and vehicle preferences.
• Improved Combat Functionality - In addition to the usual run, jump, punch, drive, stab, shoot model of combat, Saints Row 2 allows you to take human shields and exact finishing moves if you choose, but beware. How you commit crimes affects your notoriety, which determines the response of police.
• Expanded Multiplayer options - Along with a compelling singleplayer mode, enjoy a variety of multiplayer play options including:
• Strong Arm: A team-based multiplayer mode batching together prominent activities from the singleplayer campaign into one series of timed events, with the goal to earn the most cash as a team at the end of the events.
• Gangsta Brawl: A standard deathmatch mode with the single player with the most kills winning.
• Team Gangsta Brawl: A standard team deathmatch mode with the team with the most kills winning.
• Co-Op Mode: Full drop in/drop out coop support and ability to play through the full single player campaign with buddies and with the ability to set online co-op games to public, friends-only or invite-only status.
• Lots of Wieldable Weapons - Whether you talking chairs, parking meters, street signs, newspaper dispensers or your neighbor's garden gnome, use whatever is on hand to take out an enemy.
• An Explosive Weapon Arsenal - When a melee weapon just won't do, send a message to your enemies by dipping into an arsenal that includes: rocket launchers, shock-paddles, stun-guns, satchel-charges, mini-guns, uzis, automatic shotguns and flame-throwers; Some of which can be duel wielded.
• A Vehicle for Every Surface - Put the pedal to the metal in a large selection of cars, motorcycles, ATVs, planes, watercraft and helicopters.
• All New Music - Saints Row 2 will feature an entirely new soundtrack of songs and the ability to create a custom in-game radio station, accessible from any vehicle by building a playlist of songs purchased in-game, with in-game money.

The Silwater sprawled before you as you wake in Saints Row 2 is both familiar and strange, but you will find that the explosive conclusion to the original Saints Row not only has left you wounded and betrayed, but also thirsty for revenge. Now it's time to take back the city that has forgotten you and only you will decide how far you'll go to achieve that.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand Theft Auto IV: The Non-Suck Version, October 14, 2008

By 

Marvin Powell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Saints Row 2 (Video Game)

Saint's Row 2 is just about everything fans of the original could've asked for, and more! Right off the bat, you'll notice just how many improvements have been done over the original. You start off in a coma, and you're asked to either re-create your guy from the last game, or make someone new. And this time, you can have a girl play as Stilwater's legendary gangster! You can go around the 'Saint's Row' equivalent of Chicago as a male or female.

The character customizations have been far expanded, and rival that of another THQ franchise, The "WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW" series. You can fine tune just about any facial feature to your liking, and once the game starts, you can buy your way up to owning cool clothes, which are far superior to the first game's clothing options. Even in Sloppy Seconds, you can customize color, material, and style of your clothing. Of course, keep in mind that Sloppy Seconds has some pretty awful clothes, too! I had my guy back in Saint's Purple in no time! The women's clothing is far less appealing though, although maybe I just haven't unlocked the hot Victoria's Secret wear, yet. The character cutomization truly is more advanced this time around, but a little bit of things irk me in the customization.

For example, you can't choose height once again in your character. In the first game, the Protagonist was way too short. About 5'6" or so. In this, he's kinda too tall. Maybe 6'1" or 6'2", but he (or she, as females have the same towering height as your men) completely towers over everyone else in town. Also, the body options are kinda weird. It's like, you can only choose a body "type" for them, like obese, or thin, and you can't fine tune things, like their stomach or chest. For women, their breasts are kind of too pointy. For men, their body shape is kind of odd, with big arms and a slightly disproportionate body (assuming your guy isn't an obese fellow). Some things are kind of too in-depth (like ear customization, for example. Who cares about ears?) While the body customizations could've been more expanded. Also, the "Personality" features aren't as in-depth as I was hoping for. Basically, you choose voice, walking style, compliment taunt, and insult taunts. The voices are basically White, Black, and Hispanic male and females. The White guy voice is British, probably because the game developers are also, British, and they wanted a local guy in there. I'm guessing most people will end up using the Black Male voice or White Female voice. The gender equality goes beyond your main character though, and also shows up in the gangs, too, as before, only about 10% of your enemies were female, as now it's about 40% of women in the enemy gangs. And it seems like the entire police force seems to made up of women, which is a little odd.

When you actually begin, you start off with a prison break, and get access to the newly expanded fighting system. While very simple to use, it's actually quite hard to master, and I like that. Basically, you can punch two different ways, do combos, and block. There's other things you can learn later too, like the new Human Shield option, where you can toss people acorss streets like they're only 10 pounds light. Of course, this is just for your basic fighting style. You'll learn new ways to brawl later in the game, as well! You also now also pick up inanimate objects like cinderblocks, trash cans, or virtually anything, and use them as makeshift fighting weapons. Your non-firearm weapons have greatly been expanded, and the variety of different melee weapons rivals that of San Andreas. However, in this game, you can make much cooler use of them! I stongly suggest once you hit the streets of new Stilwater, to find a Ronin gang member and steal his or her katana blade. That thing rocks! Both objects and newer melee attacks are also available in Grand Suck Auto IV, but Saint's Row 2 makes much better uses out of all of them! It's a complete no contest here in which game's are better. With weapons, all your favorites are back, and the annoying habit of constantly having to switch out guns for ammo to get different ones that have been taken off of your enemies is gone! Because now, we have dual-weilding, baby! Your guy or girl will be able to shoot out two Vice 9's, at once, now, and do it like the pro they are! Unlike San Andreas, you won't have to level up skill points to earn advanced weaponry weilding because the game assumes your guy is already a master of the firearms from the first game! I love how convient Volition are! They're willing to cut the crap (like having to swim miles to make it to shore) and just give you the fun gaming goodness you want from the get-go! When you deal with explosives, if you're too close to the blast, it'll blast out your character's ear drums and they'll be temporally deaf! It's a nice touch with really shows you how much explosives can mess your character up! Saint's Row 2 also gives you Autosaving, so if your game freezes on you or the power goes out, you can start off from the last mission or activity you completed. Autosaving at first doesn't seem to useful, but once an unexpected something DOES happen to you or your game, you'll be so glad it's there! I made it to Lv. 6 of Drug Trafficking and didn't save any of it when my 360 shut down on me. But with the Autosave feature, I was able to restart from the end of Lv. 5 and not lose a thing! It's such a great and convient feature to have!

Once again, you'll have to earn respect to do new missions, but the Activities now are a lot more fun, and many of the lame ones from the first game, except the stupid Insurance Fraud ones, which I've always hated, are gone. Activities are now divided by Diversions (the lesser, old Activities) and the true "Activities" now are the ones that take much longer time to complete, such as Chop Shop and Hit Man, which once again make a return. I hopped in a car with my girl and immeadially started a Drive-By activity on some Sons of Samedi. Now, in the Diversions, there are six levels instead of eight, and for some, you can continue up to each level without interuption. I didn't even know I was on Level 5 in Drive-By until I actually checked up the top of the screen. The new diversion activities are awesome. "vehicle Surfing" is tricky but fun, until you fall of the car, that is! In "Trail Blazing" you get to race to a checkpoint all while on fire, blowing up cars on impact and lighting people on fire, earning time. It's sort of a mix of Mayhem and Racing, and it's very fun. "Fuzz" is the Stilwater equivalent of Cops and you get to play as the all-around corrupt police officer, hurting people breaking the law, and getting good and violent footage for the TV show. By the further levels, it gets really fun and interesting, like stopping a Pirate-Ninja war! "Crowd Control" has you playing as a celebrity bodyguard, stopping mobs of crazy fans from hurting your client! Depending on the level, you can trhow people into chopper blades, toss them into attack dogs, crush them with a bulldozer, cram them into an airport security x-ray machine, or chuck em into an oncoming el train!

There are more ways to earn respect now, too. Inspired by the Balls Meter from the "Scarface: The World Is Yours" game, you can now earn respect by doing ballsy things that Tony Montana did in his game, like driving in the wrong lane of traffic and taunting bad people like cops and gang members, and also now pimps and hoes, who are now official "enemies", as well. The only thing missing is the ability to yell at people who crash into your car while driving. Just don't get TOO much respect before using it up on missions, though, as after Lv. 99, your respect is Infinite, and that sort takes all the fun out of it, having Infinite respect and all.

The new Stilwater is a much darker, depressing place than the old Stilwater, which is ironic considering that the old Stilwater was probably much more violent. It's about 50% larger, and the new places are less inviting to you than you'd think they'd be. They clearly don't like your kind around there. The new gangs have a bit more unity than the old ones did, and respect each other's territories, leaving the endangered Third Streets Saint's pretty much their only common enemy. Many parts of old Stilwater have been rebuilt by Ultor's multi-million dollar city renovation. With Ultor Corporation owning Stilwater and turning it into a bleak metropolis for the Upper Class and snobby, you'll have the incredible feeling of both familarity and newness, all at the same time. Some old, favorite neighborhoods will look familar, but will be dark, barren and full of bums and prostitutes. Others, such as the humble Saint's Row, have been completely taken over! Seems like at least 20 years of change since 2006, though, when our old familar Stilwater was Ultor-free. Only a few list of people actually return for the sequel, but luckly, it's all the ones you would want to see return, including your best pal, Johnny Gat. Also in Stilwater are the new gangs. They also follow the same trend of having a Drug gang, a street punk gang, and a Corporate Business gang. Taking the place of the Latin Los Carnales, the Caucasian Westside Rollerz, and the Black Vice Kings are the Haitian Sons of Samedi, the Caucasian Brotherhood of Stilwater, and The Asian Ronin. The fourth, "unofficial" gang are the Ultor Corporation, themselves, and they run pretty much everything in new Stilwater, including all of the police. The Ronin are probably the deadliest gang, as they all carry katana blades and chase after you on high speed motorcyles, which comes off as a lot more vicious and scary than the standard street car pursuits the other gangs do. I won't say too much, but there's a little bit of "Kill Bill" as you progress through the Ronin storyline. They're definitely the best to take on out of the three... Read more ›

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but buggy, October 19, 2008

By 

DAG - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Saints Row 2 (Video Game)

The game says I'm 45% complete. I own 7/11 cribs and lots of cars... I've messed around extensively with the customization of the character, the cars & cribs. Below is my current impression of the game.

Pros:

* Customization of the characters, cars, your gang, and the cribs are awesome, even more extensive than SR1.

* Cruise control

* All sorts of real-time facial expressions.

* Peds aren't totally suicidal anymore (they don't readily jump into the street like SR1).

* Now there are motorcycles, helicopters & planes... and many more interesting vehicles. One I like is the "Bear" which you can steal from the police ~ it's an armored vehicle with a powerful machine gun on the top, and you can customize it =)

* Lots of fun things to do. Many of the old activities are still there, plus new ones.

* There are lots of interiors. The scope of the city, inside & out is impressive.

* Both a pro and a con ~ your character doesn't remove the body when killing someone and taking their car. Sometimes results in weird overlap... other times it just looks funny and realistic.



Cons:

* Cars disappear and appear right next you... so if you spot a car that you want to steal, don't take the camera view off of it, even if it's right next to you. SR1 also had psycho car pop in/out... and I was REALLY hoping they would fix that for this game, they didn't.

* Customization is completely buggy, it often doesn't save or view properly. That goes for both the cars & the character (especially the character).

* Physics in SR2, or should I say "physics" is terrible. Everything about it is unrealistic. Generally this doesn't affect the fun-factor, but it would be nice to have some realism.

* Anybody can pull you out of your car, even if you're going 20mph and you're flooring it.

* Car handling is like SR1 ~ unrealistic. For those that complained about GTA4's realistic driving, you'll be pleased with SR2's arcade style handling.

* Car damage is as unrealistic as SR1.

* I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure the police work exactly the same way - they know where you are no matter what, they can warp instantly, their cars are ridiculously fast, and the stars are removed by simply killing time (or going to Forgive & Forget).

* The game freezes (not often though). Save often.

... and a whole host of other bugs I won't bother mentioning. Some of them are huge, most small.


It's hard to compare this game to GTA4... I'd say it's more fun in the sense that there's more to do... but when it comes to technical issues this game is just sad. The thing that really bothers me is how cars disappear/appear so quickly and easily. That totally drives me nuts, especially when I spot a car that I want but I can't stop it immediately. Taking your eyes off of it means it's probably going to disappear.

I would recommend waiting till the price drops. This game is good (and better than SR1) but not $60 USD good.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Think San Andreas on Steroids and you will come away with Saint's Row 2!, April 28, 2009

By 

Dr. Paul "[e-mail]" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Saints Row 2 (Video Game)

Okay, let me preface this review with the fact that I have been a died-in-the-wool GTA fanboy since GTA III first graced the gaming scene and literally changed the way the world previously thought about gaming. GTA was the pinnacle of the sandbox genre where you were thrust penniless and friendless into the open cesspool of a major urban jungle, or more accurately, a jaded, cynical, and extremely comical metropolis. The series has always led with humor and about the most outlandish, over the top, unbelievably unrealistic gameplay you can imagine. Yet, with the "living breathing city" that Rockstar imbued their sandbox with, the games actually managed to feel somehow more real even with the seemingly contradictory lack of realism.

Fast forward to 2008, and Rockstar decided to make GTA an exercise in pomposity with GTA IV, a game that actually has the audacity to preach to you. Gone are the days of rags to riches, now replaced with the boring snoozer of a "rags to better rags" metaphor. Where GTA used to be all about light hearted and zany fun coupled with riotous guffaws of laughter, thanks to GTA IV, it is now an exercise in excruciating mind-numbing tedium intermingled with a lugubrious sense of realism. The game has the impudence to almost scream "crime doesn't pay" at you every time you saddle up and drive this so called "Euphoria Engine" nightmare. The story is so agonizingly depressing that I really believe the game would have been better off euthanizing Niko, the main character, about halfway through the story. The whole affair is like a Greek tragedy without the poignant writing. Near the end you are presented with two choices which branch off the storyline. Clever idea, except that either choice punishes you with a morbidly depressing outcome that all plays out like poorly enacted production of a Euripides play.

Right about now you are likely scratching your head in wonderment as to why I am reviewing GTA IV. I can assure you, I'm not. I wanted to set up the prelude for my Saint's Row 2 review. If I had to boil down my review of this game to one sentence, I would say that "Saint's Row 2 is everything that GTA IV could have been, should have been, but sadly wasn't!"

Where the sandbox in GTA IV was made out of an amalgam of steel and and titanium in its utter constriction, the one created by Volition for SR2 is made out of the golden sandy goodness of utter fun. It is riotous, exciting, diverse, engaging, immersive, and often gut wrenchingly fast paced. The guy below me put it aptly when he said that "Saint's Row 2 is the Anti-GTA IV" because Saint's Row is what happens when you get a bunch of programmers together who like to laugh until they cry and spend their nights dreaming of absurdly stupid and insanely fun ideas to make their game soar to the stratosphere with raw unadulterated fun. While GTA IV is what happens when you decide to condescend to your fans and deign to inform them, through your game, that realism is the new fun.

It isn't, not even close. Again, the reason for the constant references to GTA IV is because SR and GTA IV are the first true sandbox games of this generation, and truly they are the antithesis of one another. Where GTA IV puts you behind the wheel of cars that are absurdly tedious and laborious to steal, ridiculously slow to accelerate, and that slip all over the road as if the entire landscape had a sheet of ice covering it, Saint's Row 2 vehicles are easy to steal, handle like they are on rails, turn beautifully, and can be completely customized. One of the marvels of the Saint's Row universe is that because the customizing is so incredibly diverse, you can see the same exact car ten times and it will look so different that until you really get to know the game they will look like en different cars!

While the main character from GTA IV is a slow moving, horrifically heavy, plodding guy who walks and runs (if you can even call it running) like his clothing is made of led, your Saint's Row 2 character's movements are fluid, smooth, organic, and again, fun. Speaking of the main character, in SR2 you can now COMPLETELY customize your character right from the beginning of the game and change him or her at will. That's right all you feminists out there who wanted to get in on the fun. You can play as a girl. Let me just state something categorically: I have never, and I mean NEVER, been a fan of customizing. I used the first default character and profile in every game I played, spending MAYBE the obligatory two minutes with a few superfluous tweaks, and off I went into the game. Well, the first time I played SR2 I spent no less than an hour customizing my character before starting the first mission. You would not believe the variety you are presented with. It is almost overwhelming. I chose a girl and quite a little hottie I might add. Hell, she's a lot easier on the eyes than Niko's big, hairy, slavic butt. You can change everything from body type, hair style, voice, hair color, a plethora of skin tones, make up if you like, and on and on. I managed to get myself a stunning little cutie and dressed her like a total slutty sex kitten. Nice! You can also purchase and unlock a plethora of clothing and jewelry items, some of which will have you rolling on the floor laughing in their absolute absurdity.

While we are on the subject of the character, this is another area where SR2 shines, people's faces. One of the problems with GTA IV is that all the faces of the people, both main characters, bosses, and side characters all have pushed in faces that look like a cross between a pit bull and a pancake. Not so in SR2. The women in this game are pixelated honey's! If you want to have some serious eye candy to look at, then you are going to love the faces and bodies of the women of Saint's Row 2. Now, this is not to say that SR2 has better graphics overall than GTA IV. It doesn't. GTA IV, because of its rather right wing fundamentalist realism, and its lackluster "crime doesn't pay" fortune cookie wisdom, naturally has as its primary boast, some pretty incredible graphics and visuals.

Volition, on the other hand, decided to lay back on the graphics (perhaps just a little too much) and concentrate on packing this title with some absolutely awe-inspiring gameplay. Instead of just the run-of-the-mill "drive here, pick up character A, shoot some people, drive him or her to point B, pick up character B, shoot some more people, fall asleep, and then drop off your AI partners," SR2 brings a palpably fresh perspective to the table. In addition to the normal sandbox GTA'esue missions like the ones I listed above, you can hijack a sewage truck and you must squirt liquid feces all over the buildings (AND THE PEOPLE!!!) and deface public property, causing enough monetary damage to pass the level and discredit the local politician who your would-be boss has targeted. Then there is Insurance Fraud, which rewards you for racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bone breaking damage to yourself, all accompanied with ghastly bone crunching sound effects as you chain together your rather bizarre stunts. You begin a chain by throwing yourself in front of a moving car or truck and are rewarded with more and more dollars, stringing your damage combos together, based on how long you can keep the damage meter going without timing your combo out. If that sounds like fun it is because it is.

Are you feeling a little stressed and want to cause uncountable damage to people and property? Then go to the Nuclear Island (yes there is a Nuclear Island complete with those cool looking giant steam cylinder generator things!) walk into the "Mayhem" activity and you will be given a damage goal and a time in which to achieve it. You also have a combo meter which keeps going up as long as it doesn't time out or you don't take any damage. This is made even more fun by the absolute plethora of breakable items in the environment that keep on adding to your damage total. You can work for local mob bosses who give you hitman contracts, which you can choose to put on your HUD while searching for your targets. Each "client" has a particular area where they like to hang out and the game sort of hints you toward. Another area where GTA IV failed is in its almost painful lack of viable rewards for the maddeningly boring tasks the game asks you to perform. So unlike the thankless tedium of GTA IV, Saint's Row 2 rewards you with a lavish array of uncountable weaponry, infinite ammo, wild and pimped out vehicles, tons of money, and a slew of other unlockable items. This truly is San Andreas on steroids, because SA was famous for its awesome rewards and devilishly wild variety of gameplay crossing into every single genre you can imagine. Saint's Row 2 takes what San Andreas did best up yet another notch. The game also features three difficulty levels, but I found that Hardrcore, the highest, worked fine for me. Another absolutely beautiful addition to this game is co-op. The way Volition created this game you can go online or just link two consoles together in your home and play through everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, with a partner in co-op mode. Get your USB headsets ready, folks, because I can assure you that this is a blast. Having trouble getting through Level 6 on "Mayhem" because you cannot damage enough property? Just saddle up with a partner and do it together. Best of all, BOTH OF YOU get full credit for the completed activity as well as whatever unlockable reward the activity, diversion, or career mission happens to open.

So with all of these virtues, what are the flaws of Saint's Row 2? Well, for starters, the game is inexcusably glitchy, prone to random freezes now and again. It isn't as bad as some games, but to be quite honest, it is quite annoying, Thankfully the autosave feature will have your... Read more ›

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