Saints Row 2
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
So the comparisons have started. Which is better: Saints Row 2 or Grand Theft Auto IV? Let’s just get one thing straight – Saints Row 2 is not GTAIV. It doesn’t want to be GTAIV and it isn’t trying to knock GTAIV off. It’s purely offering something different to the sandbox genre. GTAIV is the genuine, narrative-driven mafia story, while Saints Row 2 is the wacky, spin-off spoof that relies on outrageous concepts to get it along. The two games have their similarities, no doubt, with certain areas of the gameplay mimicking each other, the scene directions having similar tones and emotions and even on the presentation front the two games share some common similarities. But still, at their cores, they’re two very different games.
Saints Row 2 uses its own unique features and gameplay mechanics to get the job done. While the title doesn’t use Euphoria - a physics engine which allows characters to react in real-time to collisions and movements and is said to revolutionise the gaming industry - it does have an accessible and deep control scheme that helps you experience one of the most wacky, outrageous experiences ever in a video-game. It didn’t have a high budget so therefore the game doesn’t have the polish and pizzazz that the beast from Rockstar had, but that doesn’t mean anything. Saints Row 2 is still a hell of a lot of fun.
If you never got a chance to play the original Saints Row on 360, don’t stress – the story doesn’t leave you behind. Saints Row 2 takes place a few years after the events of the first title, in which your character was badly burnt in an explosion. This works well with the character customisation, which allows you to perform surgery and fix (create) your own unique thug. You can choose from a variety of different looks, both male and female, as well three different voice types for each sex. There is an abundance of options to choose from, and if hot, thin and tall Asian chicks with deep, male voices are your thing, you can go in that direction if that tickles your fancy. As the game progresses you can earn new features for your character, from taunts and costumes to fighting styles and personality changes. Once you finish creating your perfect thug, you break out of prison with your pal Johnny Gat and aim to bring the Saints back to where they were only a few years ago – owning the streets.
Giving gamers the opportunity to create their own character was considered a risky move even for the first title. Reason being because there was no connection with a character before the game was released. Unlike GTAIV where Rockstar made Niko the star of its advertising campaign, Saints Row 2 relied on its insane features and gameplay missions to get the name out there. Fortunately, the feeling generated when creating your character is more emotional than it is with Niko. That’s because you’ve created the person, given them their own look and voice and made them yours. Even if you’re a male gamer who has designed a female character with long, thick hair and a hot body, that character probably mimics at least one of your traits, be it physically and mentally. Therefore, the emotional attachment is higher.
One of the more impressive aspects of Saints Row 2 is the fact that the map of Stillwater is unlocked right from the get-go. Forget about having to play missions to unlock parts of the city - you’re given full access as soon as you break out of that jail. The map is almost immediately infected with wild activities and diversions so don’t worry about having to spend a few hours on this game before hitting the real action. And the activities themselves are as outrageous as they come. From protecting a rock star by throwing crazy music fans into the propeller’s of a helicopter, to racing down the street in a blazing ATV, or throwing yourself in front of cars to earn insurance money, there is barely a moment in Saints Row 2 that goes by without some hilariously weird stuff going on. That’s what makes Saints Row 2 so special. When people think of this game, they won’t think of its stories, characters or graphics. They’ll think of the wild stuff they did in-between missions.
These side-missions will ultimately earn you respect, and respect is what you’ll need in order to progress through the main storyline. Respect is also gained by killing rival gang members or police officers. Sometimes you won’t have enough respect to start a mission and you’ll be informed to venture out and complete activities before progressing.
The story in Saints Row 2 is solid, having you trying to take out rival gangs - The Sons of Samedi, The Brotherhood and The Ronin – before finally leading to a Saints domination. The cut-scenes are inconsistent in quality, with some offering great voice-acting and action sequences, while others dip in quality and lose production value. There was a similar issue with the original Saints Row, but it doesn’t really damper the experience.
A majority of the missions are enjoyable, with plenty to keep you playing the single-player story for a long, long time. Each rival gang story has a strong number of missions to get through, with the basic “kill everyone in the area” or “drive here and kill him” type missions siding with more original and unique missions.
Saints Row 2 also has a few other great additions and features that add to the gameplay experience. Firstly, there is a checkpoint system during missions that allows you to restart a mission half-way through instead of right at the beginning. This should please those who need more than one attempt on missions, as it stops you from having to trek all the way back to where the mission began, as well as go all the way through the mission from the start. Secondly, while swimming is included in the game, you can press the Y (or Triangle for you PS3 gamers) button to be automatically warped back to shore. This is convenient, especially when you’re accidentally thrown into the water for whatever reason. Swimming is sometimes tedious, especially when you have to swim a long distance back to shore. Thirdly, shooting and driving has been made easier with the addition of cruise control, allowing you to shoot and aim more accurately while driving without worrying about holding the acceleration button down.
The AI in Saints Row 2 is a mixed-bag. Sometimes it’s aggressive and smart, be it an enemy or fellow gang member, but other times it’s idiotic and non-responsive. You’ll notice during combat that enemy AI will sometimes use the environment to advantage, taking a hostage or using areas as cover, but other times it will stand right in the middle of everything and take a bombardment of bullets. Sometimes an enemy gang member will be totally oblivious to your presence, while one of his mates will stand right next him, firing a round of bullets right into your character.
While Saints Row 2 offers a great single-player experience, the multiplayer experience is definitely worth checking out as it offers just as, if not more enjoyment than what can be had on your own. There’s co-op multiplayer that allows you to play right through the campaign with a mate and this mode adds a bit more grunt to the difficulty, so expect a lot more action. Single-player campaign is fun, but it’s outrageously awesome with a friend.
There are also the basic online modes that have you competing against friends for the biggest bank account. There’s a free-for-all deathmatch mode, as well as other objective-based modes that are all great fun. The only downfall is that the map can’t be opened in its entirety for a mode, with the game only allowing one area of the map at a time. While this doesn’t cause any problems, the option to have the entire city at your disposal at once for mayhem could have been awesome.
All in all, Saints Row 2 offers a lot of what as offered in the original, but with a few extra welcomed additions. It’s wild, wacky, outrageous and highly enjoyable.
However, the game is not without its problems. The production value is way down on the original, with the development team seemingly focusing more on the additions and more side-missions than the visuals. Also, the tone of the game is more slapstick than serious, but this isn’t really a problem considering the direction of the story anyway. Still, the game can look very, very good.
The real downfall for Saints Row 2 is its abundance of in-game glitches, and there are plenty. While it was mentioned above that the two shouldn’t really be compared, Saints Row 2 has nothing on the competition on the graphics department. It’s a few steps behind, with less attention to detail and lower-quality character design. The environments aren’t as alive and vibrant and the city of Stillwater just doesn’t have the same amount of liveliness that Liberty City had and the framerate fluctuates.
But that’s just the beginning. There are a handful of open-world problems that weren’t present in the original that ultimately bring this title down a notch. If you die during a mission, sometimes you’ll respawn at the same area you died in instead of back at the checkpoint. If you die again, even in the same spot, you’ll respawn at the checkpoint. This seems to alternate. Also, the collision physics seem way off. If you choose to jump out of a plane, allowing it to crash into a skyscraper, you’ll notice that the plane blows up before it even hits the building. Also, pedestrians go flying a split second before you even hit them with your car. Sometimes they’ll become wedged on the front of the car. This is particularly frustrating during missions.
Also, picking up weapons isn’t as easy as it should be. Sometimes you’ll be standing right over a gun but you won’t be able to pick it up. Not until you’re a few steps away from it will the option come on screen for you to pick it up and you’ll notice that the character glides (not walks) the two steps to pick it up. Sometimes the weapon will just automatically appear in their hand. You should also be prepared for quite a few freezes and system restarts, but it’s not like the competitor can laugh at that problem.
All of these problems are really, really disappointing, because Saints Row 2 can actually look pretty darn good. Try and get up as high as you can, or parachute down into downtown Stillwater at night to see what we mean. But that’s where the disappointment lies. We can see the potential, but ultimately, not enough time in the shed was given to perfect the games presentation.
On the sound front, the game makes up for some of the issues on the presentation side of things. There are eleven radio stations with a whole bunch of different varieties of music. There’s 80s, hard rock, metal, gangster rap as well as a few other genres thrown in there and you can tell that the development team has gone for an all-out, anything goes direction with the music, rather than one genre during one era.
The Final Verdict
So, how do you sum up Saints Row 2? On its own, it’s a deeply enjoyable, action-filled, slapstick blast with plenty of great side-missions, a deep single-player and great online. It has some major problems on the presentation and graphical side of things, but all in all, it’s a good title.
Compared to GTAIV? It’s not going to knock that series of its perch, but it is going to offer something completely different. It’s something alternative for those of you who want a less narrative-driven single-player and more side-missions.
Gameplay
8.7/10
Plenty of side-missions, a very lengthy single-player mode and a nicely sized city to play through. Great control mechanics and fun online modes make Saints Row 2 a worthy sand-box title.
Graphics
7.2/10
Saints Row 2 can look good, but the quality dips at times, with in-game glitches and a fluctuating framerate.
Sound
8.5/10
A nice soundtrack with a great variety of genres.
Value
9.0/10
Single-player modes plus heaps of side-missions that are so fun and wacky you’ll want to play through them again. Online is a blast, too.
Overall
8.5/10