Saints Row 2
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Saints Row 2
Welcome back to Stillwater, baby!
It’s official. Saints Row 2 is the most ludicrous game I think I’ve ever played. The sandbox style gameplay is back and it’s bigger and better than ever. Saints Row 2 takes the kitchen sink approach to gaming and throws everything into the mix making it almost a complete package. Granted, some improvements still need to be made in the technical department, but Stillwater is more engaging and definitely crazier than ever.
Gameplay
You’ll start the game where the last one left off...well, a few years later, actually. If you’ve not played through the first game just know that Saints Row 2 starts off with something of a spoiler, so for purists, you may want to finish the first one before diving into the sequel. (If you don’t want to have any surprises from the first game blown for you, I suggest you move on to the next paragraph.) Anyway, your character has just awoken from a years long coma after being blown to kingdom come at the end of the first game. From here you’re introduced to the incredibly deep character creation system, which I’ll touch on later, and then thrust into a full-fledged jailbreak. Once out, you’re introduced to the new and improved Stillwater, as since you’ve been out, mega-corporation Ultor have completely cleaned up the Row and turned it into a vacuum-sealed clean cut town. Clearly this is a problem, so the first thing you do is track down the members of your old gang and fight to take the city back. However, that’s easier said than done. You’ll get back into the swing of things with some help from old and new friends alike, and of course, you’ll have to get through a few new gangs (Ronin, Sons of Samedi and the Brotherhood), to prove that the Saints still own the streets of Stillwater.
If you played through the first game, you’ll be familiar with the mission structure right away. You need to earn respect in order to participate in missions, and in order to do that, you’ll need to engage in random activities that you’ll find throughout Stillwater. The activities are a lot more varied than the previous game and there are some true gems among them. Some of the old favourites return, such as Snatch and Escort, but it’s the new additions that really steal the show this year. Fight Club, Fuzz and Trail Blazing are a few of the activities added this year, and for the most part, the new additions are winners. There are a few that are certainly less interesting than others, but you don’t really have to do anything that you don’t find particularly enthralling in this game to earn respect. There are plenty of activities and the respect system has been modified so that you earn a moderate amount of respect just for completing one level of an activity. Gaining respect will likely only take you a matter of minutes this time around, which leaves you free to complete the story-based missions at your leisure. One addition really worth mentioning this year is a game that you can access from your crib’s entertainment area...Zombie Uprising. This is truly an awesome addition to the game. Developers take notice, if you’re going to throw any sort of mini-game into the mix this generation, this is how it should be done.
Once you’ve had your fill of activities and have earned enough respect, you’re free to play through some missions. The objectives seem a little more varied this time around, which also helps to break up the feeling that you’re just playing the previous games run here, shoot this missions again. Yes, there are still plenty of those missions here, but it doesn’t feel as stale as the previous games did after the first 10 times or so. One thing that’s always made the series enjoyable is that the missions have a tremendous amount of freedom. You’re free to complete the mission in whatever way you see fit. Don’t feel like gunning down a vehicle that’s carrying some recently freed inmates? Ram the crap out of them with your vehicle. There’s a variety of ways to complete each objective, and so long as the goal is met, there’s no penalization for being as creative as possible, which is refreshing. Missions are also made easier by the ability to recruit fellow gang members to tag along with you. The AI is still as sketchy as it was in the first game, however, so you’re still likely to be taking out a lot of enemies yourself while the AI tries to figure out how to properly use a doorway.
If by chance you do get bored of running things in Stillwater, you can take the game online and play through the game in co-op, Strongarm and Gangsta Brawl modes. Co-op mode is pretty straightforward, as you’re just playing through the game with a buddy. It’s good fun to play through Stillwater with a friend, and the missions are a heck of a lot easier with a human companion rather than the sketchy AI found in the single-player mode. Something that’s extremely cool about the co-op mode is that while you can take on missions together, you don’t necessarily have to. If you don’t feel like playing a mission, but your partner wants to move the story along, you can literally walk off from the mission and wander the streets of Stillwater until you find something that interests you. That’s freedom, my friends, and it feels pretty darn good.
Strongarm is essentially a free-for-all mode in which you participate in several activities, such as Insurance Fraud, Racing, and Hitman to earn cash from your team. The crew that earns the most cash owns the city. The only real problem with this mode is that some of the activities just aren’t fun, and the game just degenerates into a "screw the activities, I’m just going to shoot people"-fest. Gangsta Brawl is your standard Death-match and Team Death-match type of game. Both are fun in small bursts, but definitely not something you’ll find yourself lost in for hours on end.
So let’s get into the one area that’s seen the biggest improvement in the game: the customization system. As I said before, this is the area that you’re introduced to right off the bat, be it in multiplayer or story mode. This is quite possibly the deepest create-a-character mode I’ve seen. You can adjust everything, and I mean everything about your character. One major change is that you can now create a female player, which is a nice change of pace. From there, you can alter your characters appearance, their voice (he/she talks this year...a lot), the way they walk, the way they fight and their personalities in general. There’s a ton of options to start with and more to be unlocked throughout the game, so you can spend hours getting your character just right. As well as customizing yourself, you can also customize your fellow gang members, the vehicles that your crew roll in, and the cribs that you’ll no doubt be visiting often (if only to play Zombie Uprising). As always, if you get sick of looking at your creations you can scrap them and start over again at the plastic surgeons. While there’s always room for improvement in any game, you’d be hard pressed to want more from the creation system available here. It’s seriously that good.
One area that does need a bit of improvement is the technical side of things. Several times and on several different consoles the game locked up on me, which is disappointing. Thankfully the game has a new auto-save feature which means that unlike last year you won’t lose hours of activity if you haven’t saved often, but it’s still an annoying issue that THQ will hopefully patch. There are also quite a few glitches with the GPS system and problems with cars or people disappearing in the middle of missions, as well as the afore-mentioned AI issues. The problems aren’t necessarily game-breakers, but they are things that should have been addressed before the game shipped.
Graphics & Sound
Saints 2 is definitely a good looking title. While the graphics may not blow you away, the character models and vehicles are all relatively well detailed. That said, the game hasn’t really improved much over the previous game, with the exception of the cut-scenes, which display better use of shading and lighting techniques. Overall though, the game looks pretty sharp, with only minor graphical hiccups during the gameplay.
On the audio side, the game sounds pretty much like the original. The voice-acting is great, though some of the NPC’s can be a little much. One thing that they’ve fixed is the repetitive nature of the NPC’s you hear around the city. You don’t hear people cursing you out as often, which is nice. The radio stations are all back from last year, and the soundtrack is nice and varied. All said, if you’ve played the first game, you’ll know what to expect here.
Value
The amount of customization alone in this game is definitely worth it, but if that weren’t enough, there’s a ton of activities and missions to keep you hooked for quite some time. The combat system has also been revamped and adds depth to melee combat, so if you get bored pimp-slapping people, change it up in the customization area and you can start body slamming fools. Volition played it smart by offering so much content. If one of the main missions isn’t sparking your interest, you can move on to another gang’s story and come back to the previous mission later. If you find yourself just too tired to get involved in the story at all, go back to your crib and play some Zombie Uprising for some mindless fun. There’s a wealth of options here and really the only thing that will totally put some people off the game is the lack of serious content, as the game goes out of its way to prove just how ridiculous it can be. For fans of low-brow humour though, this game has it in spades.
Conclusion
Saints Row 2 is a natural next step for the series. It offers a wealth of options at every turn and is the true definition of what a sandbox title should be...F.U.N., with emphasis on the F.U.Pros
+ Deep customization, and I mean deep.
+ Excellent new activities.
+ Refined combat system works well.
+ Great voice-acting from the cast.
+ Zombie Uprising.
+ Co-op mode is well-executed.
Cons
- Technical issues can cause you to replay missions over a couple of times.
- Graphics could stand a little more polish.
- Driving and shooting is still problematic.
- Online multiplayer modes (aside from Co-op) aren’t overly engaging.
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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