PDA

View Full Version : Saints Row 2- PS3/360



Shazam!
08-02-2009, 01:55 AM
Saints Row 2 is a sandbox action crime sim developed by Volition and THQ for PS3 and XBox 360.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Sr2_cover.jpg

The Grand Theft Auto series has spurned many copycats over the years. True Crime and Driver had it's moments, the recently released Wheelman was so bad, even Vin Diesel couldn't save it. The original Saints Row for XBox 360 (2006) was probably the most competent GTA imitation yet. While SR2 does add a lot of things that it's predecessor didn't have and does a few things well, it has a few glaring issues that keep it back.

SR2 starts with a bang and picks up where SR left off. You awaken in prison a few years later. Your gang, the Third Street Saints of Stillwater (supposed to be Detroit) are left leaderless and have lost their control of the city to rivals. With help on the inside, you bust out of jail, promptly rescue your former Captain, and begin rebuilding your gang, eliminating rivals, and taking back your turf and the city. The entire map is available from the start of the game.

In the original, you character had only a few lines of speech throughout the game. This was a serious flaw, and took away a lot of immersion. Even Vice City from years ago had full dialogue. SR2's protagonist has full dialogue this time around, and it greatly improves the interactions.

SR2 story mode is great and there are things that will happen and you'll see and hear that will literally make you laugh.

The customization is massive, from your physical appearance, personal clothes, the appearance of your gang, to the cars they drive, your crib and hideout layouts, and even preset speech and walks. You can play as either a guy or a chick.

There are all kinds of vehicles to jack, from bikes, trucks, high end sports cars and even those little police buggy things. There's a ton of side missions, escorting whores, races, hitman missions, insurance fraud, rampages, collections, you name it. There's a lot of territories to take over, houses, apartments and businesses to buy. There's a ton of different weapons and even video games to play on your TVs.

SR2's police are much harder to avoid than in GTA4. Escaping the police is difficult, you can go to certain locations to get rid of your wanted level and it slowly goes down over time, as opposed to in GTA4, when you would just leave the radius of the police.

Now, for the bad. This is what holds SR2 back, and even the original didn't have all these issues.

SR2 looks just bland. It's colors all seem flat.

The cutscenes look ok but could've been better. The voicework is very good and overall so is the sound.

The framerate will stutter at times, even when there seems to be little going on. There is awful clipping issues at certain points. Installing it to the HDD seems to improve some of these problems, but is still unacceptable.

The control of the cars are clunky. They did add cruise control which is a nice touch.

The AI is lacking, and too often will just stand there in the open waiting for you to kill them.

SR2 offers a helluva lot. There is a ton to do, an engaging story, hilarious fun and 20+ hours of playtime for your crime spree. But some of the issues it has reeks of an unfinished product. If it stayed in the studio for a few months more, it could've seriously staked a claim and made a run at GTA's #1 spot. It's a solid alternative, a fun game, and lot to do, but don't expect GTA4's level of polish.

7

Rated M for Mature- Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and alcohol