Video Games Today

When people think of open-world games the first game people think of is GTA. I mean why not? It's a great game series that sells very well. And as with any media that does well, there WILL be those who copy it. And in the case of Saints Row 2, that may not be such a bad thing.

The game begins very simply. After the events of the first game, (You take over the city as a gang member of the purple clad Saints, and then you explode on a boat...yep the first game had a horrible ending) you awake after being in a 10 year coma. The catch is...you're in prison. The game says that you were horribly scarred in the explosion from the first game, and that your body was rebuilt using plastic surgery. This is where you create your own character with the best character creator seen in any game yet.

The possibilities are endless. A 6'2 man with a muscular build, the face of Michael Jackson, sounds like Britney Spears, and walks like a pimp. Seriously, it can even get that weird. I decided to recreate Pvt. Agustus Cole*Train* from the Gears Of War series.
Once you finally get control you escape from prison, and the bulk of the game begins.



Gameplay
Saints Row 2 uses a generic third-person camera, while it isn't anything new, it gets the job done, most of the time. You go through the game much the same way as you do in GTA games. Drive around the world doing missions for different people in your conquest to retake the city, and build up your gang, and protect your turf. Between missions the game forces you to do some side missions to unlock "Respect Points." This annoyed me more than anything, if you want to just do a quick play through the main missions; Too bad, you can't. The side missions go from fun to just plain stupid. One of them has you being a bodyguard to some celebrity or random guy/girl. While people run at them with weapons, and you have to defend them. While it may not be "fun" it's not long, so just do a few rounds of an activity and get some RP so you can play a few missions in a row. The main missions themselves are alot of "Go here", "Kill this guy", "Break this", "Protect this", and "Blow this up", but they're different enough to keep from getting boring.

There are tons of vehicles in the game. Cars, Trucks, Vans, Helicopters, Planes, Motorcycles, and they all are easy to drive. They aren't ultra heavy like the ones in GTA, and the damage isn't as detailed as Burnout, but it still looks and feels decent.

Story
Not much I can really say about the story. It's about the equivalent of a TV movie, not bad, and not good...just enough to keep you interested without being overly engrossed in the story. The city has changed alot since the first game, but there are still some familiar places. The voice acting is good, and the jokes will make you laugh.



Multiplayer
The game sports 2 multiplayer modes. Versus, and Co-Op. Versus is fun. Fun but I couldn't see myself playing it over all the other games I have. The Co-Op is the best part of the multiplayer. Being able to play the whole game Co-Op at any time, with two completely different character, and the game even scales the amount of enemies to keep the game from being too easy due to the added fire power. Unfortunately the Co-Op only works on Xbox Live, no splitscreen play.

Final Verdict
The game is a definite buy for those who liked GTA: San Andreas, those who bought GTA:IV who though it was too serious, people who laugh at poop jokes, and anyone who wants to take over Stillwater again. For the rest of us, it's a rent.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew