Want a good time full of havoc and craziness? Then Saints Row 2 is your answer. Do you want those fond moments of pure zaniness that you may have had with your favorite Grand Theft Auto title before GTA IV hit? Then Saints Row 2 is your answer. How about the chance to create your own wild character.
Starting off a few years after the original left off, players will recreate their character’s attributes to their liking and prepare them for a world full of mayhem. Customization for your thug includes facial reconstruction, hair styles, voices, walking stances, a personality and much more. While this isn’t exactly creating a character in Tiger Woods ‘09, there are a few options here to get lost in.
The objective in Saints Row 2 is, of course, to rebuild the legacy of the Saints by any means necessary. Once busting out of jail, and freeing your main man Johnny Gat, you are off to building your gang to reclaim the empire that was once yours. If you’re afraid of being restricted from the onset of the game in terms of accessibility, have no fear, Saints Row 2 allows players to roam anywhere they’d like in Stilwater.
Your competitors in Stilwater in Saints Row 2 include: The Songs of Samedi, The Ronin, The Brotherhood and the Ultor Corporation. You’ll be able to interact and start making a name for yourself right away -- In fact, one I stepped off the speed boat from my jail escape, I saw three gang members walking down the street and four pimps in a back alley. This is when you realize that Saints Row 2 is outlandish to the point where it’s exciting.
Missions are still varied and should keep your interest due to that there aren’t many repeat missions that occur one after another. Even better is that the missions have a new checkpoint system implemented to keep players from becoming frustrated from a much-unneeded death. Overall, players shouldn’t become tired of Saints Row 2 as fast as they may have with Grand Theft Auto IV.
One problem that isn’t easy to overlook is the graphics; they aren’t up to par. After customizing my character, I took him to the streets and was thrown into a few cutscenes that displayed his horrible pixilated eyebrows. The environments aren’t detailed as they could’ve been and framerate does drop from time to time. But the biggest problem with Saints Row 2 has to be the lack of interesting character models. Hopefully next time, more work is put in on the artistic side of Saints Row.
