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Saints Row 2 delivers in a big way. The original Saints Row had the spotlight to itself when it was launched a little over two years ago. Since then many games, including Grand Theft Auto IV, have been released setting the bar even higher for Saints Row 2. The game is very much like its predecessor and once you realize how much fun you’re having, that turns out to be a very good thing.
Saints Row 2 begins immediately after the first game. You still play as the same character from the previous game--if you played Saints Row you’re probably wondering how that is possible—but the game plays it off by making it seem like the character barely survived the explosion. This, of course, allows you to design a brand new character (male or female) to continue the mayhem. (For more on the character creation system, check out our hands-on preview.) Within minutes, you’re being bailed out of the prison that you’re in and the game kicks off with a bang.
In the last game, you helped make the Saints the rulers of Stilwater. Since that time, The Brotherhood, Ronin, and Sons of Samedi have taken their place—and their Saints’—as the kings of Stilwater. In the 43 missions that come later, you’ll have to move the Saints back to the top spot where they belong. It isn’t easy. You begin with little cash, bad cars, and no real place to call home. You don’t even have the allegiance of former Saints members. Once you start earning money (and respect) you will be able to afford the bigger and better things, as well as gain the loyalty of more Saints members.
The missions are as crazy as they have ever been. (For some specific examples check out our hands-on preview.) But know that you’ll be putting down a lot of enemies with both hand-to-hand fighting and weapons, destroying cars, chasing peoples, and just generally blowing things up and causing mayhem. Saints Row 2 wastes absolutely no time in getting the game started and you’ll see a ton of action even in the first couple of hours, which is a nice treat. The game’s story, while definitely not Oscar worthy, doesn’t take itself seriously and is better off because of it.
In addition to missions, you’ll also be spending a lot of your time doing activities for respect. As with the previous game, these are required to make you eligible to complete a real mission. These activities include some cool new ones like Toxic Avenger (where you’re spraying sewage on things) and Heli Assault (where you’re controlling a helicopter as air support for your comrades). Popular ones from the first game like Insurance Fraud, as well as the bodyguard, demolition derby, race, and drug selling is also still here. There are also strongholds, which are different neighborhoods in the city that you can take over, giving you cash per day.
With a singleplayer component that can easily extend to nearly 20 hours, you’ll be glad to know that the game also has online co-op play. You can play the entire game with a friend or play a particular mission, which is cool. Online co-op works very well—some of the missions are tweaked slightly for the second player and they seem generally harder, too. On top of that, the game boasts a online competitive multiplayer mode. You’ll spend most of your team in Gangsta Brawl (you need to murder your opponents to gain control of a piece of the map) and Hitman (where each side is trying to protect its VIP). There are also “diversions” in multiplayer, allowing you to play, for example, a game of cat and mouse where one player is a car and the other is a helicopter that needs to shoot down the car. Once the player does it, it’s time for the other player to be the helicopter.
Visually, Saints Row 2 is a considerable improvement over the original game. The character models, in particular, look a lot better thanks to sharper textures. The lighting effects look great, too. Of course, the focus of Saints Row 2 is Stilwater, the game’s host city. The city is much larger than it was in the first game, and it’s cool to see how some things have changed from the last game. Overall, the game looks quite nice, especially in HD. In case you’re wondering, the level of detail in the characters or the city don’t quite compare to Grand Theft Auto IV but you’ll be having so much fun that it’s hard to notice.
In terms of audio, the soundtrack’s band recognition has been highly increased. You’ll find acts like Run DMC, Hot Hot Heat, Paramore, and even recent stuff like Ne-yo and Plain White Ts. All in all, there are about 120 songs—although the setlist is skewed towards reggae it seems. The voice acting steals the show, though. Jaimie Pressly, Michael Dorn, and Daniel Dae Kim play the roles of Maero, Maero’s girlfriend and Johnny Gat, respectively. One of the really cool things about Saints Row 2 is that it lets you choose from six voices for your character, which you hear in each of the cutscenes.
Let’s be clear: Saints Row 2 isn’t a genre-changing experience. Arguably, it doesn’t do as much to propel the genre forward (in terms of story-telling, etc) as some of its peers. But the game is also wickedly fun. In terms of pure, unadulterated fun, Saints Row 2 is in a league of its own. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Oct 23, 2008
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