Review: Saints Row 2

Saints Row 2 is a sandbox shooter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It was developed by THQ and Volition Inc. It is the sequel to Saints Row.

The Boss and Johnny Gat punching out some dudes in their hideout's basement.

The leader of the 3rd Street Saints, known only as The Boss, wakes up from his/her five year coma and breaks out of Stilwater Correctional Facility, only to find that the Saints have lost power in the city of Stilwater. The Boss has to rebuild the Saints’ reputation by taking down the three gangs controlling the city, the Brotherhood, the Ronin, and the Sons of Samedi, while dealing with the powerful Ultor Corporation that controls the city.

The player controls The Boss as he/she completes missions throughout Stilwater. There is one mission available at a time for each gang that can be played whenever. Completing a mission advances the story, as well as bring another part of Stilwater under the Saints’ control. The player does this until all three gangs are gone and Stilwater is controlled.

Story missions involve killing people with guns outside, running into buildings to kill people, destroying vehicles, and destroying vehicles while riding in a vehicle, either while driving or in the passenger’s seat. Stilwater is huge and full of different buildings, cars, and weapon, and the games takes advantage of that. The missions are spread out and use different parts of the city, so they never feel old.

But what is really impressive are all the side missions that the player can participate in. There are about fifteen side missions in Stilwater, each six levels long which can be done in two places. A couple of the more creative missions include participating in a destruction derby, spraying feces on buildings while someone drives a septic truck, and avoiding the press while someone has sex with a hooker in the backseat of the player’s car. Rewards for these include a specialized vehicles and ability powerups.

And that is just the missions that appear on the map. The player also gets rewards for pulling stunts like sky-diving, driving into incoming traffic, and taking people hostage. It is almost too addictive, trying to complete every single side quest and get all the hidden things.

Completing side missions earns the player respect. The player needs to earn enough respect before the story missions become available. But earning respect is so easy that it is not a challenge at all.

The best part is how the player can customize everything. The player can decide everything about The Boss, gender, physique, body structure, personality, and voice. And there are so many clothing options that the player can make The Boss look like anyone, from a fairly normal person to a crazy nutjob.

The player can also customize parts of the gang, like how they dress and what they drive. That, plus buying up businesses for money and buying additional hideout which can also be customized, really give the player sense of megalomaniacal power, which is the best part of the game. And almost always getting a unique reward for completing missions just makes the player want to play more.

Driving around and causing trouble alerts the police. The more damage is done, the more police chase The Boss. But it is easy to avoid causing problems, so that is not a big deal And killing gang members does the same thing, except with gangs chasing The Boss.

Combat is easy. Just point the weapon at the enemy and pull the trigger. They will stand there and get shot at. The only danger is finding cover if there are a lot of people shooting at The Boss, or the danger of getting run over by a car. The Boss can also fight hand to hand or with a melee weapon, but they are almost all obsolete.

The story is okay. Nothing big happens, but the characters are all likable and funny. The parts that are not funny are usually cool to watch.

The game is not perfect. The AI is terrible. It is possible to recruit gang members to help The Boss, but they cannot aim and will not take cover. And sometimes they will blow themselves up. At best they can sometimes provide a distraction.

Some of the side missions are not designed well. A couple of them are buggy, or rely on luck to complete. And in the later levels they can become more difficult than fun. It would have been better if they had been shorter instead of dragged out.

Money is way too easy to get, and there is not enough stuff to buy with it. At first buying ammo is a problem, but the income gained from buying businesses solves that.

Saints Row 2 is a very fun and very addictive game. Anyone who likes sandbox games with rewarding mission should be able to waste a lot of time with this game.