Customer Reviews

Saints Row 2

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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. The Brotherhood of Stilwater are basically just giant-sized bullies. They're all very large people with even bigger vechiles. They like violence just for the sake of it. The weakest gang has to be the Sons of Samedi. Bascially, all they do is sell "Loa Dust" (a kind of cocaine you smoke out of broken lightbulbs!) to college students. They're all very easy to take out and all of their vechiles are pretty weak. With these new gangs though, comes new vehicles, such as bikes, boats, and planes. They're all just about as cool, if not better than the selection in GTA: San Andreas. There are also plenty of new cars, including three new ones that put classics like the Zenith and the Attrazione to shame. Even though they're now a lot more common in a Stilwater that caters to the heartless and corporate republican Upper Class, you'll probably want the three new luxury/sport cars even more. They are the 'Hayate Z70', the Ronin's offical car, the 'Bezier', which is like a MUCH better Attrazione, and the 'Superiore', which is like a Lamborghini Countach. Just don't own more than two of each or else, you'll ruin their rareness of owning them.

The graphics, which I've yet to mention, are incredible compared to the old game, and yet, still have that Saint's Row "toony" look to them. They almost rival GTA IV in their beautiful lighting effects and such. Saint's Row 2 now, also like GTA IV, has the "blurring" effect of when you go too fast in a car or quickly turn the opposite way while running. The beauty of the new Saint's Row really makes you appreciate your 360. Name-brand artists are now featured for the music. No longer any obsure, underground third-rate Hip Hop stars. Arguably, it's a better sounding soundtrack than Grand Theft Auto IV (At least in the Hip Hop department, anyway). This time, when you listen to the radio, it actually sounds like you're listening to the *real* radio, thanks to the more mainstream artists and songs. The one thind thing that sucks though, is there's only about half the number of songs on this game compared to the original. There's also no more custom playlists, either. Instead, you get your own radio station to replace your old audio player. But at least the music is from people like 50 Cent, Nas, Fat Joe, Joss Stone, and Kelis. They're not my favorites, but I know people out there like them. Unfortunately, Aisha singles are still circulating around... not much we can do about that, though. And no, Saint's Row 2 doesn't allow you to go to the Cabaret for a nice Sunday evening out, or have your character watch TV while you're watching him watch TV!

Saint's Row 2 is a bigger, better, more FUN version of the original! I'd rate it about a 4.75 out of 5! *JUST* slightly short of perfection! There are some little problems still around, like the ragdoll physics of your character, and the fact that a six foot fall can still pretty much kill them. Also, don't expect EVERYTHING to be new and wonderful! But, would you really want the game to not have ANY shades of familiarity in it at all, anyway? If you liked Saint's Row the original, then it's virtually impossible to dislike Saint's Row 2! It's very, very easy to lose coutless hours in this game with all the fun, exciting, and crazy things you can do. It's the FUN game Grand Theft Auto IV failed to give us! There are tons of enhancements and new features in the game which will make it THE game you'll still be playing a year from now! (or at least, longer than you did with that Rockstar title!) This is a Don't Miss! Buy it! Buy it now! You won't regret it. I promise you.

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.

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 progress backing up far more often than you would remember to do manually, so at least on the occasion your game does freeze, you won't lose a whole lot of progress Hint: KEEP THE AUTOSAVE ON!! The pop-in's are annoying, to be sure, and should NOT be a part of a true next gen title like this. By pop-in's, I mean those annoying times when you are driving down the road and the system doesn't draw it completely, and sometimes you don't see certain structures until you are right on top of them or crash into them. Again, this is not something you expect to see on consoles as powerful as the PS3 and the 360, and it is NOT as bad as it could be. In all honesty, it doesn't really get in the way of the game, but it is definitely a chink in the proverbial armor. One other issue is that the PS3 version does not have Trophies. Now, while I am not exactly a Trophy whore, Trophies on the PS3 and Achievements on the 360 are definitely a nice addition to the gameplay. So if you have both consoles and are into Achievements/Trophies, I suggest you consider the 360 version since it does have the Achievements. There is speculation on a Trophies DLC pack in the future, but Volition is quite tight-lipped about this. So, a bird in the hand is worth...well you know. I have the PS3 version and I do not feel cheated, just so you know. A minor niggle I have with the game is definitely nit-picky, but here goes anyway: There is no reward for 100% completion! Seriously. Given the insane variety of rewards for everything from spitting on the sidewalk to accumulating tricks with your vehicles in this game, one is left puzzled as to why you get literally NOTHING for achieving 100% completion. The truth is that if the game were not so shamelessly generous with rewards and unlockables this might be a bigger problem. As it is now it's more of a cute little idiosyncrasy that makes me believe that Volition was so busy stuffing rewards into this game that they simply forgot about 100% completion. Oh well, trust me, you won't miss it too much. It's just a tad little anticlimactic is all. The next weakness of the game, and this is somewhat more serious, is the lack of humor and variety on the radio stations. Now this was truly puzzling to me, because the in-game dialog during missions and cut-scenes is well written, top notch, and often funny as hell. This leads me to believe that Volition absolutely has the ability to write excellent comedy, only they made it a conspicuously sparse on the radio stations. Oh sure, there are some funny commercials, DJ bits, and other radio witticisms, just not nearly enough for my taste. I should mention at this time that the actual music on the various radio stations was damned good. You really get the feel and variety of the panorama of a big city's musical and cultural diversity from the stations. Even genre's of music I normally never listen to, like Rap, Hip hop, and dance, were quite enjoyable in this game.

In closing, I know this game is six months old, but I HIGHLY recommend it. The replay value alone is fabulous.

As the title implies, I found certain things between this and the GTA series that made the game great, and few things between the two that made me want to grind my teeth down to nubs.

SR 2 picks up rather well after the end of the initial release. You, a Hispanic/African American/oddly hispanic looking but with a cockny accent, awake in a maximum sercurity prison after being blown up at the end of the first game. After an alarmingly easy prison break (I'd expected the tutorial levels to consist of cafeteria fights and an eventual guard bribe, or at least something to reestablish the background other than a 2 minute dissertation), your character proceeds to rebuild the 3rd street saints. You've apparently also had a significant amount of facial reconstruction, as its commented on by just about everyone, and also manages to help you free your best friend and head lieutenant after walking past 40-something cops and security guards.

This highlights my only real problem with the games, which is its storyline difficulty. Its far too easy. I expect games to increase in difficulty as they progress, and to a degree it does, but not enough to be more than barely noticeable. Story missions can all virtually be done on the frist try unless you happen to stumble by an exploding car. Your health regenerates if you manage to dodge enough bullets, and you can take more punishment than Robocop, despite having no kevlar or any armor, even on normal difficulty. The diversions and jobs however, more than make up for this. They all consist of 6 levels, the 3rd of which can be completed with 1-3 retries, and the 6th apparently can only be done by people who obsess over these kinds of games to a degree thats unhealthy. The difficulty is also variable, as enemies vanish and appear at random.

Despite this nit, which is a big one, this game is fantastic. The jobs are fun, and some of them could make a game on their own. A few will make you wince, nmely the one where you spray poo on everything that moves, but aside from, the side missions are almost more fun than the story missions. The story missions are also fantastic. While none so far have made my jaw drop, they are unique enough to not feel repetitive, they are well voice acted, and have a compelling storyline for each of the gangs, and a few you'll gleefully replay over and over, as the villians get theirs in rather entertaining ways (Case in point: "Get up." You'll know it once you reach it)

The customization is fantastic, and creative, though a few points are obscure, namely why some items are more stylish than others. The guns are entertaining, and a bit too easy to acquire. Items are cheap, so you won't have to grind for 10 hours to buy new gear or houses. The AI for enemies and your allies is vastly improved. All told, if this was made a little harder, and a little gritter, just a drop or two, this would've been 5-stars, and probably a top ten of all time.

Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA 4) was gritty, had a good story but decided to make the gameplay more realistic. Realism doesn't always lead to fun. The mini games really sucked: darts, bowling, watching a caberet. How about being pestered by whiney friends that constantly called you on the phone asking that you hang out with them or lose their approval rating, was that fun? Realistic? Yes. Fun? No! And now GTA 4, just got slapped right across the mouth, with the release of Saints Row 2 (SR2)! Why would I say such a thing you ask.

Saints Row 2 is arcadey, has a more colorful graphic palette. And the characters look more cartoony. The gameplay is NOT realistic, but this is more of an advantage here. Below is a list of just SOME of the fun you can have and there is so much more to SR2:


Zombie uprising- this is a mini-game about killing waves of zombies, using mele weapons and fire arms. (This is similar to resident evil and even contains blood and gore, scary goodness).

Septic avenger- drive a septic truck, shoot sewage to devalue property, smother cops and laugh at pedestrains. (Funniest mini game in SR2)

Celebrity- be a bodyguard for celebrities as you try to protect them
against crazy fans, dispose of fanatics any way you wish! (I enjoyed throwing the fanatics into a jet engine and having them chopped up).

Fight club- fight against thugs or even prisoners in a ring to the death.
(If you ever watched Ultimate Fighting on t.v. you'll like this one).

Cat and mouse- simple deathmatch game between you and your co-op partner, one of you pilots an attack copter while the other tries to escape in a race car. (I thought this was a nice twist on killing your friend).

Fuzz- ever watch the t.v. show cops? You are playing as a cop busting criminals for fame and cash. (I always wanted to be a bad cop and abuse people, this fulfills my fantasy).

Trail Blazing- you wear a fire-proof suit and drive around on an ATV setting pedestrians and vehicles on fire to gain extra time on the clock. (The most chaotic and difficult race, because the explosions can disorient your direction, but oodles of fun.)

Ambulance Emt- you are paramedic and must revive injured victims before they die. (I liked helping the injured by using the analog sticks to electrically charge the shock paddles was fun).

Fire Truck- you are fireman, douse fires with a fire extinguisher. (driving the truck was difficult, but felt satisfying putting out those flames on burning objects and people caught in flames).

Taxi driver- pick up customers and drop them off at their desired destination, to earn time, money and a bonus. (fun and easy way to earn some extra cash, it becomes more challanging in later levels).

Tow Truck- Drive your tow truck and take away vehicles from their deadbeat owners for cash, time and bonus. (I enjoyed towing vehicles and having the owner come after me with a baseball bat, I shot him dead).

Ho-ing- have sex with prostitutes and help them achieve orgasms for the next level. (The weakest and stupidest of all the mini games, you use the analog stick in certain directions to pleasure her, the graphics only show the analog stick on screen followed with sound effects).

Base jumping- go the top of a tall building and then jump off, deploy a parachute and land on the designated area. (I always like jumping off stuff anyways, its also funny when you commit suicide because of the ragdoll physics).

Tagging- mark your gang territory by spray painting walls and earn respect points. (I enjoyed putting up my gang's graphics and enraging rival gang members and even the police).

Barnstorming- use and aircraft and fly through tricky areas without crashing (Very challanging and requires a skillful pilot).

Drive-by- earn money, points and respect for doing drive by shootings while cruising with your car, against rival gangs. (Saints Row was made for drive by shootings especially since your car now has cruise control).

Streaking- take off all of your clothes and run through the streets naked while trying to shock as many people as possible with your nudity. (I liked the reactions of pedestrians, they were varied when you ran past them, some: got mad or violent, others laughed, others were grossed out).

Store hold-up- rob stores at gun point and steal their cash, but get ready to shake off the cops. (Another good way to make some extra cash and becomes easier if you have homies help you rob the stores).

Hostage- carjack any innocent driver and the passanger will be held as a hostage, until they pay you the ransome money, trying to avoid cops at the same time. (Earn more money and laughs when the cars have multiple passangers).

Poker- go to a casino or video game machine and play the game of poker, with the cash you wager. (I don't know how to play poker, but to those of you whom do, you will like this).

Racing- you can race, with cars, motorcycles or even boats, trying to beat your best time. (And with the beautifully designed map, it makes it even more enjoyable).

Flashing- all you wear is a trench coat, but unsuspecting bystanders get shocked when you flash them your nude body. (Similar to streaking and just as funny).

Blackjack- go to a casino or video game machine to play the game of blackjack with the money you wager. (The game is fair and balanced, it doesn't seem to cheat you out of your cash).

Heli assualt- provide air support and pilot an attack copter, armed with a mini gun and homing rockets to protect your gangs against attackers. (Good action shooter, your partner can be the gunner).

And these are just some of the diversions you do when you are bored or want a break from the campaign missions. Most of them can be played co-op with a partner optionally. You still have the campaign missions, which sets you against four rival gangs, destroy their strongholds, buy real estate, do any of the various activites, buy weapons, steal any vehicle. Unlock perks and special bonuses And enjoy a excellently designed city that is huge and fun to explore. Gain power, respect, money and destroy your rivals!

Customize, the look of your character by choosing its gender, age, race and then create his/her facial features. Buy different styles of clothing in shops, dress ghetto, classy or sporty or wear outlandish costumes! Customize your vehicles by adding nitrous, or hydrolics, rims, spinners, spoilers, decals, change their colors and more! You'll spend hours exploring the customization features alone; it is very robust and easy to use.

Still not enough for you? Saint Row 2 also features online multiplayer modes such as: deathmatch, team deathmatch and strong arm modes! Saints Row 2 is the game that GTA should have been! If you like open world games, you should not hesitate to buy it! Don't expect "realism", just expect fun!

Pros:

+open world
+tons of side missions
+great campaign
+bloody and brutal
+duel wield weapons
+human shields
+intense action
+great vehicles
+excellent map design
+excellent story
+excellent multiplayer online
+excellent weapons
+excellent sound effects
+excellent music
+excellent voice-acting
+excellent controls
+unlock perks and bonuses
+tons of customizations
+play campaign co-op
+ragdoll physics

Cons:

-rare instances of game crashing
-minor collision detection problems
-minor graphical glitches

A lot of people have waited a long time for this game, and the question, as with many others, was, will it live up to expectations/match the hype? For me, it does. There has been a lot written about "Saint's Row is a GTA ripoff," and things to that effect, but I have always seen it differently--I will try to explain what I mean in the course of this review. I was not really intending to write a review of GTA IV here, or a comparsion, but when you consider Saints Row 2, or the first game, for that matter, it's really difficult not to compare the two. I feel that they are all good games in their own right; I happen to prefer Saints Row 2, and will do my best to expain why.

Now, to the review: The original Saint's Row was the reason I purchased my 360-I had read all the previews and was so interested to play the game, I purchased a new console to do so (like I bought my PS2 so I could play Vice City). At the time most people disparaged the first Saints Row as a "GTA clone" or GTA ripoff," but, I didn't see it that way, in fact, to me Saints Row instroduced some things that I think GTA IV incorporated, so from my view, GTA IV is a Saints Row ripoff--for example some things Saints Row had first-

1. GPS
2. Cell phone interface, including easy access cheats
3. When you die you lose some money but NOT your weapons (thank god, finally)
4. NPC's look more liike people, than cartoon characters

But, that's just my view. I always have felt that, Saints Row is more "FUN" than the GTA games. The new Saints Row, even more so. The game begins with your character in the prison hospital; at this point you get to choose the gender and ethnicity of your character, and pick his/her voice. I'm just wondering how many guys made their character a female, and ran around in their underwear for awhile (I know I did, lol). The cut scenes can be very amusing, that way.

Anyway you make your character, then an NPC who is a 3rd St Saint, gets himself stabbed so he can get into the infirmary, and help you bust out of prison. The first "mission" involves you two fighting your way off the prison island, and getting back to town, which has changed a lot since you have been away. From here, gameplay is similar the to the first Saints Row-you do side missions of various types to build up your "respect" gauge, once your respect indicates at least "1x" you can then play missions and try to beat strongholds. You gain "respect" by completing the various levels of activities, killing cops, klling enemy gang members, and now, new features-you can gain respect by skillfull driving-coming close to other vehicles without crashing into them ("near miss") getting air, going on 2 wheels, driving on the wrong side of the street without being hit, etc. The cleaner the near miss, or longer you are on the wrong side, higher you fly etc, come more "stars"--sort of like "kudos" in the PGR games. This is cool!

Now, here's my main point. this is why in my opinon Saint's Row 2 is a better game than GTA IV. It's simply more fun. Now, GTA IV is a great game. But after awhile things about it get OLD-your "friends" nagging you all the time to hang out, and my LEAST favorite thing--all the damn "chase" missions--where you drive somewhere (usually way across town or, later, on another island), find a location, kill a bunch of people there, then, the final target escapes the area and you have to finish the mission by chasing him/her all the way BACK across town. After 5 or 6 of these you get SICK of it. In fact, just today I decided to play today, put the game in, and came across just a mission. I put quite a bit of time into GTA IV so that I could unlock all the islands, now, I just don't care about playing it that much anymore because I know I will be facing a couple more dozen "chase" missions. There are a couple in Saints Row 2, also, but not as many, and not as frustrating, to me, anyway.

Anyway, here is why I prefer Saints Row 2 to GTA IV: (and what's improved since Saints Row 1)

1. You can select your characters gender/appearance/voice, etc.
2. ALL AREAS OF THE CITY ARE UNLOCKED TO BEGIN. I have always HATED that in the GTA games, you are locked out of other areas of the city, sometimes till pretty deep in the game.
3. You generate money-once you have completed several story missions, and control a few areas of town, you are generating a couple of thousand dollars a day; then when you buy a couple of stores, another thousand or two; you can then buy clothes, weapons/ammo, etc
4.HITMAN and CHOP SHOP activities improved-now once you start a hitman or chop shop list, as you roam about the game will show you where the hitman target is (you dont have to have a specific weapon for them anymore, yay), and if you happen to jack a car that's wanted, the game will show a message "wanted by the chop shop" and draw you a GPS route to the chop shop. Cool! (and both are good ways to make easy money and a lot of respect).
5. New activites: You can now drive a taxi for fares, drive an ambulance as a medic (instead of just picking up groups of people you actually go on scene and do CPR, etc- and many other things, including driving a flaming ATV into things and people, driving a septic truck and spraying poop on things and people, and many, many others. Also old favorites, like SNATCH, ESCORT, DEMO DERBY, etc. are still there, in more locations.
6. The aiming system: Saints Row has no "auto aim" or "lock on," and I think this is BETTER. It does take some getting used to, after all the years of GTA, but the problem with GTA'a aiming, is it almost always "locks on" the wrong target. So while an enemy is pumping you full of shots, you are "locked on" to somebody else. Sucks. In Saints' Row, you "free aim," you have a gunsight on screen that changes size and shape, depending on the weapon equipped; when your shot will do damage the gunsight turns red; when you are aiming at a friendly, it turns to a green cross, telling you not to shoot. Easy. Once you get used to it, it really is better.
7. Retrying missions: If you fail a mission you can usually choose to restart from a checkpoint, if it's a mulitpart one. This eliminates a lot of driving.
8. Easy use of cheats: Like GTA IV, once you enter a cheat code into the phone, you can bring it up again and select it. This is nice; you don't have to remember it/key it in every time etc. To those that will say, "but that disables ome achievments" I don't care. Achievements are OK, but I'm not that invested in them; I don't care about getting 100% compeletion either; in games like this, I just want to play through the story missions enough to finish and get the ending.
9. The health system: One of my favorite things-if you are taking damage, take cover somehow, and gradually your health will regenerate. This can be helped by carrying food items. The game does not have "take cover" as such, but you can still crouch behind objects, go around corners etc. I still prefer this to the GTA health bar to 0- "wasted"

To give balance though, there are a few things I don't like that much:

1. Damage modeling on the cars-I agree this isn't so good...GTA IV does this better, no doubt. But I think the "spirits" of the game being different, vis. this game is for "fun" I can forgive that.
2. "Pushbacks" I didnt like these in the first game, and still dont. A "pushback" happens when, you get a cell phone call that an area your gang contols, is under attack from the gang you put out of there. You must then respond to that area, and repel the attackers--you win the "pushback" by killing from 5 to 12 "lieutenants' of the gang that are marked on the map. "Pushbacks" aren't especially difficult, just annoying because you are very outnumbered, and need to have max ammo for whatever weapons you are carrying. The good side of them is, once you've finished one, you have killed enough enemies to move your "resepct" up enough to do a new mission. The bad thing is due to the "numbers game" you will get killed a lot and have to retry. Two tips for this: always have plenty of ammo, and stay in the car as much as possible.
3. Flight controls. You can fly helicopters and various general aviaton planes. But the contols are awful. It is fun though.

Saints Row 2 is a great "sandbox" game. It's not GTA IV but it's really not rying to be. They are both good games for different reasons, but I can tell you, I will be playing this game a lot more, because it is FUN!

As someone who loved the original Saints Row, I was glad they made a part 2. I am glad the player gets to talk this time around, though the British accent for a white male is really weird in a game like this. The concept is basically the same as the first game except now you are more of a leader than a follower. I like how they tied together the first and second games with all the characters as I was worried they were going to make this game its own entity with the "same character". I love Johnny Gat and he looks even cooler this time around. The graphics are a disappointment - I know its a cartoonish game, but the first one looked a whole lot better in my opinion. There seems to be this haze that makes it even worse when looking at things, no matter the time of day. I think fighting and the weapons are much cooler in their effects and how they are represented.

That being said, the originality between this game and the previous really isn't there. It's basically the same story and goals - earning respect, doing missions against rival gangs, conquering rival strongholds, etc. There is more variety with the respect challenges which I like and its not as easy to succeed in the early level of the respect challenges either. This game is fun, but still seems to be lacking something. I wish I got to choose how to attack the rival gangs for once in a sandbox game. It would also be nice to have the AI of my gang be smarter and have more of an effect with their guns. I watched Johnny fire 8 shotgun blasts into someone and it didn't kill the guy. Forget it when he uses a regular pistol. It's like the computer controlled gang members really have no effect.

I like the game, but I honestly felt more of a connection and interest in the original rival gangs than this one. These gangs seem very far fetched and weird to see on the streets just walking around like everything is normal. I like that my character is the leader and not just a silent runner for the big guys. I like that the respect bar adds up faster this time around through various methods besides respect activites. It's better than GTA in fun and replay ability but still not a perfect "gang" sandbox simulation.

I really wish Volition would've had a demo version out like they had with the original SR. Why? Because, i was intially disappointed with this game when i frst turned it on. It didn't seem to be as compelling as the original. But i gave it a chance and played it a lil' more the next day. I decided i judge the game too fast.

Something to note is that this game is not like GTA 4 at all. This game actually doesn't even try to be. It feels very arcadey. I've still yet to finish the game but i've completed all the Brotherhood missions. SR 2's dialouge is just as engaging as the first game. When i started the Brotherhood missions, i only wanted to play them to see more of that story! It's great. The charecters don't seem to curse for no apparent reason as much anymore, which is good, because it was annoying in SR 1. The voice acting isn't bad, but it isn't as good as SR 1, which is strange seeing as the first one had A-list Hollywood actors.

I'm not gonna go into what's good with the game, because if you've played the original or read the other reviews you already know. Crazy amounts of customization, Activities, Diversions, Free-Aim, etc. Here are the bad things. This game is BUGGY!! Not to the point where it's unplayable, but it's really infuriating. The one-button weapon select feature was great in SR 1, but it's bugged here. I've been in Stronghold battles where i died, because, the game WON'T allow me to change to the weapon i'm trying to select or eat the burger i'm trying to eat to stay alive. The vehicles drive like crap. I mean, you're suppose to control the vehicle with the analog stick, and therefore should be analog, but it's way too loose. Wether you lightly tap and hard press to the left, the vehicle will manuever the same. Sometimes my charecter will get caught on an invisible object and even visible ones. I once couldn't proceed forward because a life preserver was in my way... Really? Bullets travel thru walls and doors at times.

I had to vent. lol. This is a good game. But Volition really needs to put out patches to fix these bugs and glitches. If I had to make a choice though, i'd have to pick GTA 4.

I can't say enough good things about this game. If you played the first one, you know the basic set up. You still battle gangs for control of the city, earning respect and then playing missions when you fill your respect meter up, etc

But the number and type of side missions has been doubled, at least. The cut scenes are better and longer. The story is more involved and you care more about the characters. Way more variety in the amount of stuff you can see and do; you can fly helicopters and planes now, and pilot boats. You can use a sewage truck to hose down people as part of a mini-mission

More clothes, more weapons, more vehicle types than before. You can earn respect now by doing things like driving on the wrong side of the road for an extended time, or jumping your car off of things. Every part of the game just makes more sense and feels more natural than it did the first time around

Plus they made the city bigger! What more could you ask for, seriously? If you liked Crackdown or any of the GTA games, you really should give this a try

When the first Saints Row came out early on in the Xbox 360/PS3 generation, Xbox fanboys crowed about its "superiority" to GTA: San Andreas, which wasn't surprising, given its exclusivity to Microsoft's then-new console. The problem was that Saints Row, despite being one of the first GTA-style games of its generation, was actually behind the curve in a number of ways compared to San Andreas. Boats had been in the GTA franchise since GTA III, with motorcycles and helicopters entering the scene in Vice City, and planes and....well, just about everything else being added in San Andreas. All this was absent in the original Saints Row. In addition, San Andreas gave the player essentially a whole state, with 3 cities, countryside and small towns to play around in, while Saints Row kept things in a not-so-big, single city. In fact, San Andreas was so ambitious that it was foolhardy for people to claim that Saints Row would make anyone "forget" about San Andreas. That being said, Saints Row did bring some things of its own to the table, such as HD graphics, superior controls, more solid framerates, a multiplayer option, customization and over-the-top side missions. But the question remained how the franchise would fare in the face of GTA IV.

I will admit that I gave GTA IV 5 stars in my review here, in large part due to its technical achievements and sheer immersiveness. But in all fairness, it was also a step back. In pursuing that "sense of realism", Rockstar Games may have gone too far, removing the vast variety of activities, vehicles, and other factors that made San Andreas so mind-blowing. Several months after GTA IV's release, Volition released Saints Row 2, and you know what? It was a major improvement in the franchise, and dare I say it, surprisingly more fun than GTA IV. In fact, while it still couldn't quite top what San Andreas did in terms of scope, variety and ambition, Saints Row 2 actually managed to top San Andreas in terms of control and user-friendly design in some ways. It was clear that Volition realized Saints Row 2 needed to at least try to incorporate a number of things that were missing from the first entry, and as a result, created one of the best "B-games" out there.

By B-game, I mean a game that doesn't hit you as a "system-seller", or a game that doesn't even bother to try to catch your eye with cutting-edge technology. Saints Row 2 isn't a horrible-looking game, but in comparison to GTA IV's atmospheric graphics, SR 2 was certainly behind the times, with a washed-out color scheme, and a decided lack of detail which, while providing a generous assist in terms of steady frame rates, could be best described as "generic". The city of Stilwater isn't really based on any specific city, and while that does mean it comes off feeling a bit cookie-cutter, it also gives the designers more freedom to make it "video-game friendly". This time around, Stilwater is a noticeably bigger place, and has more variety. The aforementioned freedom means the developers could stick a minature mountain right in the midst of the city, throw in an Animal House-inspired university campus next to it, create an elaborate museum peninsula, complete with transplanted Greek Ruins, throw in a prison island, and power the whole lot with an island with a sprawling nuclear power plant. Oh, and there's a trailer park area, for fans of Red County from San Andreas. It's still only one city, and sadly there's no real countryside areas (although there's a farm and suburbs mixed in), but Volition deserves credit for trying to mix things up even while using the same city from the first game. It also should be noted that there are a fair number of interior environments, tunnels, and canals that encourage exploration.

The story itself is no great shakes (it's actually not linear enough to give that sense of progression I prefer), but does provide ample framework to put your character in some whacked-out situations. Speaking of your character, one of the game's massive advantages over the GTA series is just how much you can customize your character. Male or female, various different races, muscular, young, old, pretty, ugly- the character creation feature is akin to Oblivion's robust editor, and you can even change your character's physical features mid-game at the plastic surgeon's office. There's plenty of clothing options to go along with that, and frankly makes GTA IV's character "options" look like a joke. In fact, it's this concept of freedom with your avatar that translates into pure fun in various aspects of this game. The controls in this game are extremely player-friendly, with free-aiming, zoomed aiming, a handy sprint-button, and one of the most entertaining aspects: grabbing people. You can grab most other characters, spin them around as a human shield, and most importantly, toss them when you're done with them. I cannot emphasize enough how entertaining it is to go around throwing people in this game, matched only by kicking them in the crotch (which you can do if you're dual-wielding firearms).

In a similar vein, the game encourages you to create as much chaos as possible, by not stripping you of your weapons if you die. You don't have to worry about being arrested either; in the world of Saints Row, the powers that be must've issued "dead and not alive" orders to the police. In a sense, it almost seems that Stilwater is a sort of videogame hell, where dead bad guys from other videogames are reincarnated as hapless citizens, to be tormented by the player. The design ethos here rewards the player for just about any decision he/she makes, whether it's car-surfing, hijacking people in their cars, pulling off stunts, mugging, or simply dressing in a cool outfit. And speaking of "optional" activities, the side-missions in this game are something else. The insurance fraud activity returns, encouraging you to injure yourself as much as possible, while the "Fuzz" and "Crowd Control" activities allow you to express your inner sociopath with the full appearance of societal acceptance. And as for "Septic Avenger"....well, who knew spraying fecal matter on everything in sight paid so well?

In regards to the first game's failure to look beyond cars as transportation, Volition has more than made up for that failure in SR2. Boats, jet skis, motorcycles, helicopters (including an attack chopper), armored personnel carriers, passenger jets, and even WWI bi-planes with machine guns- you'll find them here, along with the ability to activate a parachute if you're falling from high enough. Vehicle handling, while somewhat arcade-ish, is done well enough in most cases. The weapon variety puts GTA IV's selection to shame, while unarmed combat is quite satisfying.

Most importantly, this game has been designed to be gamer-friendly. You can replay missions you've already completed, and the "chaos creation" aspect of this game is tuned so well that it's comparable to Just Cause 2. The customization aspects of the game (which also include car customization, choosing a theme for your gang, and design options for some of your safehouses) allow for a level of personal attachment that one might not expect, while the constant stream of rewards for completing missions, side-missions and activities provides motivation for staying engaged with the game (in completing 92% of the game, I've logged over 60 hours). If GTA is a parody of the real world, SR2 is best described as a parody of a parody, and should be enjoyed as such. There's room enough for both franchises here, and I laud Volition for rising to the challenge (which they also did with Red Faction: Guerilla, coming from the disappointment of Red Faction 2 which almost killed the franchise). Let's hope Rockstar Games uses this as motivation of their own to bring back some of what we missed from the GTA franchise.