In a long line of Grand Theft Auto 3 clones, Saints Row 2 just happens to be the one game that does things differently. But, does Saints Row 2 prove it's street cred or is it just another wannabe player?
Well, Grab your best crew and meet me down by at Freckle Bitches because it is time for us to get our game on with Saints Row 2!
Saints Row 2 is the sequel to a semi popular "ghetto game" called Saints Row. The game revolved around your character joining up with a gang called "The 3rd Street Saints". With the help of your buddies, you rise to the top of the gang and eventually rule the city of Stillwater, sort of. While in a meeting on a boat, the boat gets blown up and you go down with the ship.
SR2 picks up a few years after the ending of the first game. You wake up in a prison hospital. This is where you are allowed to create your character, seeing how you have been covered by bandages for years. Taking a page out of Sandra Bullock's book, Stillwater has gone under a big change while you were sleeping. The city has changed and the 3rd Street Saints are no more. It is up to your character to put the pieces of your gang back together and rule the streets once more.
The story and writing could go either way with SR2. The story will slowly drift into the background as you play through the game and the writing seems like it was pulled straight out of a Spike Lee movie from the 90's. Whether or not it is any good is completely up to your tastes. Personally, I didn't mind the dialog. It is nice though that the main character talks this time around.
The sound design of Saints Row 2 is great and really shines in certain areas. For starters, everything sounds great. The guns sound like they should and the vehicles sound appropriate to their size. Small cars sound zippy and high while big trucks sound heavy and slow.
The voice acting is appropriate for the title as well. Everyone talks like they stepped out of the movie "Friday". The biggest problem with the voice acting is that everyone sounds so fake (more on that later). I'm not sure if it is the writings fault or the voice actors. Once again, I leave it up to you to figure out for yourselves.
The best part of the sound design is the soundtrack. SR2 combines various genres with fantastic results. Sure, I didn't like the soundtrack as much as Grand Theft Auto's, but some of the songs that SR2 has, GTA IV doesn't. I think I was more excited when I heard some of the songs that played on the soundtrack in SR2. Seriously, doing a drive by to the music of Tears for Fears or A Ha is just plain awesome. You'll know my joy when you experience this yourselves.
Presentation is where Saints Row 2 starts to fall short. The graphics looks nice, especially the characters. There is still major clipping through objects though. The frame rate can get pretty slow at times, especially during the prison break out part at the beginning of the game. The frame rate will drop on you from time to time when there is a lot going on, but it usually evens out when things settle down.
The city of Stillwater looks alright, but it does suffer from the dreaded texture pop. While there is some texture pop in, it still is no where near as bad as GTA IV. Also, Stillwater just feels like some place we've already explored. Sure, some of the areas seem similar to the original game, but the new places seemed vacant. Once again, the original establishments like "Forgive and Forget" and "Freckle Bitches" are back in SR2. I laugh every time I drive by Freckle Bitches.
If there is anything that the presentation does well, it is the fact that there are no load times to enter buildings. Sure, those interiors don't look too great, but its better than waiting for a loading screen to go away.
Gameplay has a lot going for it in Saints Row 2. The first thing you'll do is create your character. This time around, you can choose to be a male or female, instead of just a male like the first game. It is kinda odd to play as a female because all your old friends from the first game like Johnny knew you as a guy. It just seems odd, that's all. Anyways, the character customization is very cool, giving players PLENTY of options to choice from. You can also choice taunts, salutes, and even your own voice. There are only a few voice options, but you'll instantly find a favorite.
Around the game world, there are various shops where you can purchase clothing, jewelry, and weapons to deck out your character. I chose to make an obese Asian woman who ran around in a bra. The choices for clothing didn't seem to great at the beginning, but you'll open up a lot of stuff as you play through the game and unlock certain things.
The game plays very similarly to the original. You can shoot guns, steal cars, punch people, and etc. The shooting controls work like they did in the original. I really enjoyed the shooting aspect of SR2. Your control over where you shoot is directly in your hands with no lock on to utilize. Having full control over your shots makes things pretty easy to say the least. If you are a pro at third person shooters then you might wanna ramp up the difficulty before you start.
The driving doesn't fair too well i'm afraid. If you are used to GTA IV's control then you are in for a rude awakening because SR2 uses an arcade approach to driving. Basically, your car handles like a loaf of bread on wheels. You will slam into everything while driving, which sucks big time.
Saints Row 2 uses a reputation system where most things you do give you rep points. Whether you are driving on the other side of the road through oncoming traffic or shooting rival gang members in the head, reputation will be rewarded no matter what. You wanna get your rep high because you'll unlock loads of extras through the rep system. Your clothing can even give you a boost when you earn rep from missions and mini games.
Speaking of mini games, did I mention that Saints Row 2 has some of the most outrageous mini games around? Well, it does. The things you'll do in SR2 can range anywhere from spraying septic contents onto buildings and people on the street to streaking down the street trying to avoid the cops. The mini games are very clever this time around in SR2, while bringing back the ones from the original game like Snatch!, races, and insurance fraud. The new mini games are the ones that will stick out the most though.
Saints Row 2 also brings players a complete cooperative experience allowing players to team up with a buddy and play through the entire game cooperatively. The co op is probably the best part of SR2 and I haven't even begun to mention the robust multiplayer modes. If you don't wanna play nice with your friends then you can head onto Xbox Live for some competitive multiplayer action. The competitive stuff is limited to only three modes, two of which you have seen before, countless times. The real unique mode is called "Strong Arm" mode, where two teams of players compete to make a certain amount of money before the other by completing various jobs. What is cool about this mode is that you can interfere with the other team. Even with all these options, there is the problem of lag. If you've got a good connection, you should be fine. For everyone else, get ready to stutter around these games.
With all the great things i've said about Saints Row 2, the bad ones begin to stick out. From the beginning of the game on until the end, the entire world is open for players to run around in. While you may think that is a great thing, it can turn out to be very overwhelming to new comers. Like the first game, the world is just overwhelming to start off. All the areas need to be found in order for them to appear on your map, whether those things be places or activities. Once you get the hang of it though, you'll grow to love Stillwater.
Another aspect of the open environment that annoyed me was that it is extremely easy to get lost, once you've unlocked a lot of the locations. You'll end up consulting your map many, many times to try and figure out where exactly you are. The way point system does help a lot, but the city itself just doesn't have enough distinguishing factors to make each location interesting, which will lead you to get lost a lot. I know this is just a nit pick, but it got on my nerves.
Like stated earlier, the presentation is a real problem. There are minor cases of texture pop in and there are serious clipping problems. The frame rate can also drop to dangerously low levels, especially in that opening sequence. There are few other times where the frame rate would drop, but those will depend on whether you bought the game on the Xbox 360 or PS3.
Stillwater has a lot to do in it's city limits. The problem with all those games is that you'll get tired of them so quickly that you might only play through them once until you need to increase your reputation. I don't know how, but spraying septic tank contents just didn't hold my attention like I thought it would.
The cooperative play is a blast to play, but the competitive stuff just doesn't hold a candle to GTA IV. Seriously, all we get are three modes? That is kind of a let down, don't you think? Honestly, unless you are an absolute achievement whore, you'll probably avoid the multiplayer all together.
My biggest complaint with Saints Row 2 is that it tries SO hard to be gangster and ghetto that it falls flat on it's face more than enough times. Everything about the story, dialog, and setting is laughable, in a pathetic way. It's both sad and histarical that they tried SO hard to make this game seem gangster and ghetto. Saints Row 2 seems like the kid in school who pretends to be from "the hood" but has actually never been to the hood. You can't help but laugh at him, but you feel sorry for him too.
Saints Row 2 is a great game all together with a lot of interesting ideas. The biggest thing here is that people are going to compare this game to Grand Theft Auto IV. Honestly, I say let them. SR2 and GTA IV may be open world games, but they play completely different. Saints Row 2 is like a parody of a ghetto gangster movie while Grand Theft Auto IV is a hardcore gangster flick that is for mature audiences only. The ways that SR2 pokes fun at itself is just great to see in games. I think the greatest thing about Saints Row 2 is that it isn't trying to emulate GTA. Sure, you can shoot people and steal cars, but that's like saying someone can't review a game because someone else already did it. You just don't say that...
I give Saints Row 2...
8 freckle bitches out of 10.
It's a great game that does things differently for a change. If you like open world games, add this one to your collection, now. If you are curious, give it a rent before you buy. If you don't like open world games, why are you reading this review?
"Damn it feels good to be a gangster..."
In a long line of Grand Theft Auto 3 clones, Saints Row 2 just happens to be the one game that does things differently. But, does Saints Row 2 prove it's street cred or is it just another wannabe player?
Well, Grab your best crew and meet me down by at Freckle Bitches because it is time for us to get our game on with Saints Row 2!
Saints Row 2 is the sequel to a semi popular "ghetto game" called Saints Row. The game revolved around your character joining up with a gang called "The 3rd Street Saints". With the help of your buddies, you rise to the top of the gang and eventually rule the city of Stillwater, sort of. While in a meeting on a boat, the boat gets blown up and you go down with the ship.
SR2 picks up a few years after the ending of the first game. You wake up in a prison hospital. This is where you are allowed to create your character, seeing how you have been covered by bandages for years. Taking a page out of Sandra Bullock's book, Stillwater has gone under a big change while you were sleeping. The city has changed and the 3rd Street Saints are no more. It is up to your character to put the pieces of your gang back together and rule the streets once more.
The story and writing could go either way with SR2. The story will slowly drift into the background as you play through the game and the writing seems like it was pulled straight out of a Spike Lee movie from the 90's. Whether or not it is any good is completely up to your tastes. Personally, I didn't mind the dialog. It is nice though that the main character talks this time around.
The sound design of Saints Row 2 is great and really shines in certain areas. For starters, everything sounds great. The guns sound like they should and the vehicles sound appropriate to their size. Small cars sound zippy and high while big trucks sound heavy and slow.
The voice acting is appropriate for the title as well. Everyone talks like they stepped out of the movie "Friday". The biggest problem with the voice acting is that everyone sounds so fake (more on that later). I'm not sure if it is the writings fault or the voice actors. Once again, I leave it up to you to figure out for yourselves.
The best part of the sound design is the soundtrack. SR2 combines various genres with fantastic results. Sure, I didn't like the soundtrack as much as Grand Theft Auto's, but some of the songs that SR2 has, GTA IV doesn't. I think I was more excited when I heard some of the songs that played on the soundtrack in SR2. Seriously, doing a drive by to the music of Tears for Fears or A Ha is just plain awesome. You'll know my joy when you experience this yourselves.
Presentation is where Saints Row 2 starts to fall short. The graphics looks nice, especially the characters. There is still major clipping through objects though. The frame rate can get pretty slow at times, especially during the prison break out part at the beginning of the game. The frame rate will drop on you from time to time when there is a lot going on, but it usually evens out when things settle down.
The city of Stillwater looks alright, but it does suffer from the dreaded texture pop. While there is some texture pop in, it still is no where near as bad as GTA IV. Also, Stillwater just feels like some place we've already explored. Sure, some of the areas seem similar to the original game, but the new places seemed vacant. Once again, the original establishments like "Forgive and Forget" and "Freckle Bitches" are back in SR2. I laugh every time I drive by Freckle Bitches.
If there is anything that the presentation does well, it is the fact that there are no load times to enter buildings. Sure, those interiors don't look too great, but its better than waiting for a loading screen to go away.
Gameplay has a lot going for it in Saints Row 2. The first thing you'll do is create your character. This time around, you can choose to be a male or female, instead of just a male like the first game. It is kinda odd to play as a female because all your old friends from the first game like Johnny knew you as a guy. It just seems odd, that's all. Anyways, the character customization is very cool, giving players PLENTY of options to choice from. You can also choice taunts, salutes, and even your own voice. There are only a few voice options, but you'll instantly find a favorite.
Around the game world, there are various shops where you can purchase clothing, jewelry, and weapons to deck out your character. I chose to make an obese Asian woman who ran around in a bra. The choices for clothing didn't seem to great at the beginning, but you'll open up a lot of stuff as you play through the game and unlock certain things.
The game plays very similarly to the original. You can shoot guns, steal cars, punch people, and etc. The shooting controls work like they did in the original. I really enjoyed the shooting aspect of SR2. Your control over where you shoot is directly in your hands with no lock on to utilize. Having full control over your shots makes things pretty easy to say the least. If you are a pro at third person shooters then you might wanna ramp up the difficulty before you start.
The driving doesn't fair too well i'm afraid. If you are used to GTA IV's control then you are in for a rude awakening because SR2 uses an arcade approach to driving. Basically, your car handles like a loaf of bread on wheels. You will slam into everything while driving, which sucks big time.
Saints Row 2 uses a reputation system where most things you do give you rep points. Whether you are driving on the other side of the road through oncoming traffic or shooting rival gang members in the head, reputation will be rewarded no matter what. You wanna get your rep high because you'll unlock loads of extras through the rep system. Your clothing can even give you a boost when you earn rep from missions and mini games.
Speaking of mini games, did I mention that Saints Row 2 has some of the most outrageous mini games around? Well, it does. The things you'll do in SR2 can range anywhere from spraying septic contents onto buildings and people on the street to streaking down the street trying to avoid the cops. The mini games are very clever this time around in SR2, while bringing back the ones from the original game like Snatch!, races, and insurance fraud. The new mini games are the ones that will stick out the most though.
Saints Row 2 also brings players a complete cooperative experience allowing players to team up with a buddy and play through the entire game cooperatively. The co op is probably the best part of SR2 and I haven't even begun to mention the robust multiplayer modes. If you don't wanna play nice with your friends then you can head onto Xbox Live for some competitive multiplayer action. The competitive stuff is limited to only three modes, two of which you have seen before, countless times. The real unique mode is called "Strong Arm" mode, where two teams of players compete to make a certain amount of money before the other by completing various jobs. What is cool about this mode is that you can interfere with the other team. Even with all these options, there is the problem of lag. If you've got a good connection, you should be fine. For everyone else, get ready to stutter around these games.
With all the great things i've said about Saints Row 2, the bad ones begin to stick out. From the beginning of the game on until the end, the entire world is open for players to run around in. While you may think that is a great thing, it can turn out to be very overwhelming to new comers. Like the first game, the world is just overwhelming to start off. All the areas need to be found in order for them to appear on your map, whether those things be places or activities. Once you get the hang of it though, you'll grow to love Stillwater.
Another aspect of the open environment that annoyed me was that it is extremely easy to get lost, once you've unlocked a lot of the locations. You'll end up consulting your map many, many times to try and figure out where exactly you are. The way point system does help a lot, but the city itself just doesn't have enough distinguishing factors to make each location interesting, which will lead you to get lost a lot. I know this is just a nit pick, but it got on my nerves.
Like stated earlier, the presentation is a real problem. There are minor cases of texture pop in and there are serious clipping problems. The frame rate can also drop to dangerously low levels, especially in that opening sequence. There are few other times where the frame rate would drop, but those will depend on whether you bought the game on the Xbox 360 or PS3.
Stillwater has a lot to do in it's city limits. The problem with all those games is that you'll get tired of them so quickly that you might only play through them once until you need to increase your reputation. I don't know how, but spraying septic tank contents just didn't hold my attention like I thought it would.
The cooperative play is a blast to play, but the competitive stuff just doesn't hold a candle to GTA IV. Seriously, all we get are three modes? That is kind of a let down, don't you think? Honestly, unless you are an absolute achievement whore, you'll probably avoid the multiplayer all together.
My biggest complaint with Saints Row 2 is that it tries SO hard to be gangster and ghetto that it falls flat on it's face more than enough times. Everything about the story, dialog, and setting is laughable, in a pathetic way. It's both sad and histarical that they tried SO hard to make this game seem gangster and ghetto. Saints Row 2 seems like the kid in school who pretends to be from "the hood" but has actually never been to the hood. You can't help but laugh at him, but you feel sorry for him too.
Saints Row 2 is a great game all together with a lot of interesting ideas. The biggest thing here is that people are going to compare this game to Grand Theft Auto IV. Honestly, I say let them. SR2 and GTA IV may be open world games, but they play completely different. Saints Row 2 is like a parody of a ghetto gangster movie while Grand Theft Auto IV is a hardcore gangster flick that is for mature audiences only. The ways that SR2 pokes fun at itself is just great to see in games. I think the greatest thing about Saints Row 2 is that it isn't trying to emulate GTA. Sure, you can shoot people and steal cars, but that's like saying someone can't review a game because someone else already did it. You just don't say that...
I give Saints Row 2...
8 freckle bitches out of 10.
It's a great game that does things differently for a change. If you like open world games, add this one to your collection, now. If you are curious, give it a rent before you buy. If you don't like open world games, why are you reading this review?
"Damn it feels good to be a gangster..."