Saints Row 2

Okay let’s get this straight, a lot of people out there are going to moan that Saints Row 2 is nothing in comparison to Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar may have delivered us the fine wine but Volition’s cheap soda is equally (if not more) worthy to play. These guys didn’t aim to hit marks for realism but they’ve got the upper hand for creating fun without frustration. One thing’s for sure is that at least you can drive a police car through a pay-n-spray with Saints Row 2!

This game certainly has comedy value and already within 10 minutes of the game I had humoured myself with the in-depth character creation menu. Giggling as I played with the detail levels of facial features, manipulating body proportions, previewing the gangster taunts. It was no surprise I had ended up creating the most freakiest lady alive who made Lotney ‘Sloth’ Fratelli (The Goonies) look beautiful.

So I took my protagonist into the world of Saints Row and I soon saw more to my character than it just being a freak of nature. Not only is the import of my custom getting me hooked on seeing how my hero develops, there’s also many options to change the environment around me. Dressing up my homies, styling my gang’s graffiti tag, picking out the cars for my gang, decorating the crib and so much more! I reckon Volition knew the key to connecting with gamers on a deeper level, or at least with me. They have given Saints Row 2 an amazing and reasonable amount to alternating our desires. At the same time the game has given us a very similar freedom of game play found in Grand Theft Auto. Goldilocks would agree that the balance in this title is just right!

Because of the less serious work on the model physics, adding to the comedy you’ll find a lot of people you beat up or kill can have some amusing KO positions. Sometimes their body limbs are floating off the ground! Also to note you’ll have to face the consequences of reckless driving. Although the god-like handling is quite satifisfying and grants you no excuse in not being able to lose the cop tail, once you tempt yourself to step on the gas crashing into places or driving along where you wouldn’t normally, your vehicles will stuck in awkward places and turning those wheels left to right isn’t going to save you every time.

Checking out the radio options in the pause menu, you can create your own radio channel for when you go hi-jacking cars. One great way to enhance the gangster atmosphere is to add “Bossa Cubana” by Narholtz, Gerhard to your custom channel. My other highlight is that they’ve cleverly added a meaningful song to Saints Row 2. Tune into 107.77 the Mix FM because nothing better expresses the theme of the game than the song, “everybody wants to rule the world” by Tears for Fears. Like I mentioned earlier Violition had packaged fun and comedy together nicely.

The brawls with your enemies is 50/50. The manouvering of your character has an arcade feel to it, almost like Syphon Filter slash Lost Planet. You don’t have to worry about your character starting to get all touchy, feely with their surroundings like Altair is constantly doing in Assassin’s Creed. Thus it makes an easier job enabling you to pretty much strafe around shooting living targets and getting where you need to be. Easy does it.

Up close with bare hands you can get some fancy little action shots, maybe a crunchy knee to the face or winding kick to the stomach. There’s a range of interactive objects to use as weapons from knives, guns to bin sacks and bar stools. You’ll be able to pick something up wherever you are.

Now I’ve got major beef with the weapon selection menu. They should have made an inventory scroll function. Because you can’t change weapons while on the move and this is annoying especially when two pimps are chasing you. I just wanted to pull my shotgun to blast them but having to stop to change whats in my hands, I usually get knocked over and having to take a good beating before I can get back up.

Overall Saints Row 2 features a wide variety of interesting story chapters. The pace is good and with the divided plot is neither too short or too long. There’s plenty of activities to nip into whether you fancy going for a fast ride, going off on the rob, killing certain targets or running around in a truck spraying sewage all over people’s properties. Unlike Grand Theft Auto IV where you suffer horrible withdrawal symptoms of hanging out with Roman Bellic, Saints Row 2 is definitely far from hitting boredom of repetition or loss of interest.