Saints Row 2 Review

Saints Row, when it was released back in 2006, never really appealed to me as a game. I had heard that it was just trying to be GTA with a bit of gang killing thrown in. After playing Saints Row 2, my opinion somewhat changed. This isn't a mere copy of the Grand Theft Auto series, it is a fantastic game in it's own rights with it's own unique style of play; and in fact, it could even be seen as better than Grand Theft Auto.

You begin the game from where the last one left off. It's not really a spoiler, but in the end of the last one, you are seen getting blown up on a boat. In the beginning of the second game, you are in jail on an island. Awaking from a 20 year coma, you are introduced to the player editor. The idea behind this being, that you were “horribly morphed” from the boat explosion.

The editor itself is fantastic. If you think, Spore’s Creature Creator meets human, then you can picture this. It's truly outstanding. I mean, who would think that you can change 14 different things about your ears alone. As well as it being thoroughly extensive, it is absolutely hilarious. You can choose either a male or female character, but no matter which one you choose, they can still have the same traits. For example, you could have a male character with a woman's voice, or a female character that taunts her enemies by tea-bagging them! It's genius.

After you finish editing your either strangely masculine female or over feminine male, you get into the real game. The movement of your character is very easy to get hold of, and you are introduced to some other basic stuff early on. Weapon shooting and weapon changing is done very easily but can take some getting used to, especially if you are a GTA player.

Once you get off the island you were imprisoned on, your mission is to regroup your gang. Twenty years have gone by, and the city of Stilwater, has changed a bit. A company called Ultor have taken over the city and turned it into a modern metropolis. Their wish is to keep everything perfect, but there are of course gangs of people that want to ruin that peace. You are part of one of those gangs. After breaking out of jail, you meet up with a fellow gang member from the last game with a goal to rebuild your crew and re-take control over the city.

In the second game, there are now 4 gangs: 3^rd Street Saints (your gang), Ronin (pimps), Brotherhood (tattoo freaks) and the Sons of Samedi (druggies). Each gang controls one part of the city. Your main goal is to take out each gang, one buy one. By doing so, you need to wipe them out in various different ways. Take the Sons of Samedi for example, they mainly specialise in importing, exporting, growing and selling drugs to anyone they can. Once you have wiped out their business, their members and their leaders, then they are eliminated.

One good thing about Saints Row 2 is that you can't just complete the game instantly. You have to take time exploring the city, completing various side missions and gaining enough reputation to continue playing along these main story lines. This idea that THQ have brought in, instantly adds hours to the game length, which is great for everyone that wants the best for their money.

Some of the side missions are ingenious, and then again, some aren’t. An example of a fantastic one, is Insurance Fraud. It makes the best and most out of a brilliant physics engine that the game has, by encouraging you to quite literally throw yourself in front of cars to claim compensation. After doing so for a certain period of time, adrenaline mode starts, where every time you hit a car, the physics engine overloads and sends you flying into the air, it's brilliant to watch, and to play. Other good examples are Mayhem; where you destroy everything you can in a certain time with unlimited ammo; and Septic Avenger, where you go around spraying everything you can with toxic waste. As I said though, there are some bad ones. Heli Assault is one, the idea is that you fly around, protecting your 'Homies' as they run certain errands. Sounds simple enough, and usually it is. The problem is, the helicopter flying is terrible. Saying it was unpredictable, would be an understatement. You could be flying, quite causally over your 'Homie', take a turn, and be flipped upside down in mid air. Once this has happened, there is no way of counter acting it; so you are quite simply, doomed to fail.

As I am on the subject of bad points, I may as well state the few others there are. On many occasions during some side missions, the AI can be very stupid. An example would be the AI attempting to turn the corner and repetitively ramming into a wall whilst I get shot to pieces in the passenger seat. The only other real gripe I have, is the lack of checkpoints. All too often during missions, I get a long way through, get killed, and start all the way back at the beginning of the mission. It can be a tad annoying sometimes but there is a simple solution for this; not to die.

Humour is something that works brilliantly with Saints Row 2. I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of the cut scenes during the game and various acts that take place during play. The voice acting is something that adds to the effect, which each and every character having a quirky impact throughout the entire game. Some crack jokes, some look funny and some are just plain wacky. I haven't enjoyed playing a game in such a way for a long time.

The game shows off a lot of cool features that make you think more often than not: “Oh, that's quite a cool little feature”. During the few loading screens there is in the game, instead of there being random artwork, you are presented with various screen shots of previous cut scenes you have viewed. As well as this, there are times in the game where you are destroying drug stashes. If you get to close to the drugs after they have been eliminated, there is a possibility you will get high, and the screen will turn into a frantic mass of waves and psychedelic colours.

Transport throughout the game, with the exception of helicopters, is very good indeed. It isn't realistic in the slightest, but it is defiantly a good feature. If you are in a car, and wish to go on a frenzied killing spree, you can press LB and switch on Cruise Control. This gives you the freedom of shooting at objects outside your car, without worrying about holding down the accelerator. Bikes are also very good to handle and planes aren't too bad either.

Achievements that can be unlocked throughout the game reflect how the makers of this game want you to play - thoroughly. You only get a couple achievements in the beginning, and a single one each time you successfully wipe out a gang. The rest are more specific in things such as completing each and every level of a side mission and doing special moves in free roaming. Of course there are secret ones too which I can only assume are for successfully tagging each and every specified spot around the city with your spray can, and collecting all the CD's you find around the city.

Co-operative mode is a great input into the game as it gives you a chance to run a around rampant with your friend sitting either next to your, or online somewhere across the world completing missions and destroying structures in endless ways. Although the single player is massive, it's always a lot better to have something like a co-op mode just to enhance the gameplay that little bit more.

Saints Row 2 is in a word, fantastic. In the games that I have played where free roaming and mindless killing have been involved, I haven't had more fun. It's fast paced, frantic action packed fun. It doesn't get boring, it doesn't get annoying and it's definitely one that will keep you playing for a very long time. Even if you haven’t played the first game, this is one that will surely keep you entertained visually and mentally.