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Saints Row 2
October 21, 2008 | 12:21 PM PST
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Saints Row 2 is the direct sequel to the Xbox 360 title that released nearly two years ago. You start in the Stilwater maximum security prison after (Saints Row 1 spoiler) recovering from near death experience in a massive explosion (end spoiler). You meet a fellow inmate who was recently shanked and you both make a daring escape to freedom. After you break free, your task is to reclaim Stilwater for the 3rd Street Saints and you need to do that by starting the gang from scratch.
What's Hot
There are few restrictions from the beginning. After an action movie like opening sequence, you have total free roam over the city and it is yours for the taking. You can go anywhere and do anything. That starts and ends with the story you help create.
Saint Row 2 creates the fictional City of Stilwater and presents it in a cartoon fashion. Not graphically but stylistically. The mission you take from some seedy and greedy characters will let you know this isn't a game to be taken seriously. For example, you can vandalize property and earn money for it. While it sounds status quo for an open world gangster game, you are given a sewage truck to spray turds at people and buildings. That is just the tip of the iceberg as there are other missions and distractions that would feel at home in an episode of Family Guy.
The missions are broken into what I would call chapters. Each rival gang has their own set of missions and you goal is to snuff out all the other gangs and claim Stilwater for the Saints. Simple task, in theory, but don't expect to have the neighborhoods fall like dominoes. Gang battles can happen anywhere on the map and you'll often see some of your homies defending street corners from invading gangs. Once you pull up to a mission, there is a preface that explains your immediate objective. You have control over how you want to progress. You can take on all the gangs at once or strategically single one out until they are wiped off the streets.
Customization is a huge strength for Saints Row 2. Starting with the main character, you have complete control over what the guy looks like. The options go deeper by allowing you to pick your fighting style and what you sound like along with what gender you want your person to be. In addition to that, you pick what your gang members look like, what cars are the official rides of the Saints and where you call home. Within those choices, you can take strange and absurd twists like having your crew dress as 80's style rappers.
What's Not
A game with so many working parts, testing and a solid Q&A team is vital. The first Saints Row had some major bugs and issues and the same problems plague Saints Row 2. There were moments during my time with the game that missions wouldn't work properly like enemies wouldn't appear correctly leaving me to blow myself up to try again hoping the mission would reset. There are other times where when you are being driven around by your gang crew, they'll flip the car and the driver will sit in the car while you fail. Large holes like these lead to some aggravating moments.
The other problem with the game is one of the new moves you can perform is too powerful for the single player mode. When you use someone as a human shield, it will freeze anyone who is on that person's team to quit shooting you. For the police and other "good guys" it makes sense but when you are in the middle of a gang war and when you take a person hostage, you are guaranteed a win. It feels like you are exploiting the game because you wouldn't think gang members would feel compassion to save another foot soldier like that when they have their mortal enemies in their sights.
Final Word
The first Saints Row filled the gap for a lot of gamers by offering an alternative to the Grand Theft Auto series. Now that both games are out on the market in the same year, the question on everyone's mind is if there is room for more than one organized crime game. The answer is yes. Saints Row 2 is a completely over-the-top hyperbole of violence in video games that laughs in the face of people who dare take it seriously.
The gameplay has been expanded but not evolved over the last in the series but there is plenty of destruction and mayhem to go around to care. Bugs and annoyances are still present for Saints Row 2 which is unfortunate because it hurts the game when the technical problems rear their head in missions that you need to accomplish to beat the game. Word of caution to parents, keep this game out of the reach/ear shot of children otherwise you'll have a lot of explaining to do. The game doesn't know the meaning of the word "limit" and will push limits further than before. No matter what version you get (PS3 or 360) you are getting a great package.
What the Game's About
Saints Row 2 is the direct sequel to the Xbox 360 title that released nearly two years ago. You start in the Stilwater maximum security prison after (Saints Row 1 spoiler) recovering from near death experience in a massive explosion (end spoiler). You meet a fellow inmate who was recently shanked and you both make a daring escape to freedom. After you break free, your task is to reclaim Stilwater for the 3rd Street Saints and you need to do that by starting the gang from scratch.
What's Hot
There are few restrictions from the beginning. After an action movie like opening sequence, you have total free roam over the city and it is yours for the taking. You can go anywhere and do anything. That starts and ends with the story you help create.
Saint Row 2 creates the fictional City of Stilwater and presents it in a cartoon fashion. Not graphically but stylistically. The mission you take from some seedy and greedy characters will let you know this isn't a game to be taken seriously. For example, you can vandalize property and earn money for it. While it sounds status quo for an open world gangster game, you are given a sewage truck to spray turds at people and buildings. That is just the tip of the iceberg as there are other missions and distractions that would feel at home in an episode of Family Guy.
The missions are broken into what I would call chapters. Each rival gang has their own set of missions and you goal is to snuff out all the other gangs and claim Stilwater for the Saints. Simple task, in theory, but don't expect to have the neighborhoods fall like dominoes. Gang battles can happen anywhere on the map and you'll often see some of your homies defending street corners from invading gangs. Once you pull up to a mission, there is a preface that explains your immediate objective. You have control over how you want to progress. You can take on all the gangs at once or strategically single one out until they are wiped off the streets.
Customization is a huge strength for Saints Row 2. Starting with the main character, you have complete control over what the guy looks like. The options go deeper by allowing you to pick your fighting style and what you sound like along with what gender you want your person to be. In addition to that, you pick what your gang members look like, what cars are the official rides of the Saints and where you call home. Within those choices, you can take strange and absurd twists like having your crew dress as 80's style rappers.
What's Not
A game with so many working parts, testing and a solid Q&A team is vital. The first Saints Row had some major bugs and issues and the same problems plague Saints Row 2. There were moments during my time with the game that missions wouldn't work properly like enemies wouldn't appear correctly leaving me to blow myself up to try again hoping the mission would reset. There are other times where when you are being driven around by your gang crew, they'll flip the car and the driver will sit in the car while you fail. Large holes like these lead to some aggravating moments.
The other problem with the game is one of the new moves you can perform is too powerful for the single player mode. When you use someone as a human shield, it will freeze anyone who is on that person's team to quit shooting you. For the police and other "good guys" it makes sense but when you are in the middle of a gang war and when you take a person hostage, you are guaranteed a win. It feels like you are exploiting the game because you wouldn't think gang members would feel compassion to save another foot soldier like that when they have their mortal enemies in their sights.
Final Word
The first Saints Row filled the gap for a lot of gamers by offering an alternative to the Grand Theft Auto series. Now that both games are out on the market in the same year, the question on everyone's mind is if there is room for more than one organized crime game. The answer is yes. Saints Row 2 is a completely over-the-top hyperbole of violence in video games that laughs in the face of people who dare take it seriously.
The gameplay has been expanded but not evolved over the last in the series but there is plenty of destruction and mayhem to go around to care. Bugs and annoyances are still present for Saints Row 2 which is unfortunate because it hurts the game when the technical problems rear their head in missions that you need to accomplish to beat the game. Word of caution to parents, keep this game out of the reach/ear shot of children otherwise you'll have a lot of explaining to do. The game doesn't know the meaning of the word "limit" and will push limits further than before. No matter what version you get (PS3 or 360) you are getting a great package.
February 8, 2010
