Saints Row 2

October 29,2008 - The first Saint's Row was a surprise hit, a game that challenged heavyweight Grand Theft Auto in terms of innovation and execution. Although Saint's Row will forever be tethered to the likes of Rockstar's flagship series, developer Volition looks at that fleeting example as encouragement in creating a stellar and enjoyable sandbox game. Saints Row 2 is as every bit as enjoyable as the first game and implements a few features even better than GTA IV. Rockstar better look out for a potential glory-snatcher on the horizon, because Saint's Row is not backing down from any challenge.

Saint's Row 2 begins a few months after the events of the first game, in which case your specific character has been blown away while aboard a glitzy yacht and suffers serious injuries. It is here where you begin the customization process for your character, utilizing the numerous skin tones, faces, physiques, and clothes available to make your own unique character. This one simple feature excels in various ways for Saint's Row 2 as it gives the experience a more personal touch, never relying too heavily on scripted events or character influences, as well as opening up the minds of gamers to create the most ridiculous and hardcore gangsters ever witnessed. Your character's appearance will be shown to full scale in every cutscene, so if you happen to go all out and dress your street-tough hoodlum in a banana suit then you’ll watch as he confronts a rival gang dressed as a yellow fruit.

Similar to the first game, the basic concept of Saint's Row is to take out three rival gangs around the city of Stilwater and regain status for your own gang, the Third Street Saints. Although these rival gangs are scattered all over Stilwater, the entire map is opened to you at the start of the game, meaning you can venture out on your own path and take down the gangs in any order you see fit. Taking a break from fighting is as easy as picking a new mission from another part of town. Since you never have to rely on doing one strand of gang missions to the end, you can mix-and-match to your own choosing.

The mission structure is something that Saint's Row strives on and Volition knows that the key issues of maintaining a solid gameplay experience rely heavily on that factor. The missions in Saint's Row 2 are well varied, if not a bit too predictable. Many of the missions rely too heavily on trial and error and require basic 'killing all the enemies' scenarios over and over again. There are some truly exceptional missions that break up the flow of monotony once in a while, but surely the bulk of the time regaining territory for your gang will be spent wiping out other gangs.

The single player campaign is good enough on its own merits, but its side missions really make Saint’s Row 2 shine. All of the ridiculous and off-beat missions from the first game are back, as well as some new ones such as Trail Blazer and Septic Avenger, which add originality into the mix but aren't as nearly as enjoyable as the previous games. Earning money is the key to success in Stilwater, so performing these side-quests is necessary. Meanwhile, activities like driving hookers to potential buyers, causing as much damage possible within a time limit, and standing in front of traffic in order to rack up a hefty medical bill are still tons of fun to play.

The GPS system is back from the first game (with a minor overhaul) that lets you easily look at the map to follow a street-by-street path to the next objective. Checkpoints have also been added to help lessen the burden of extraneous missions that require lots of time to complete, something the first game severely lacked. A new option also lets you hit cruise control when you are driving to help alleviate problems with drive-by shootings. By simply hitting the left trigger, you can hold down the button to give you the advantage of utilizing both analog sticks for an easier outing. Also, warp accessibility options when swimming was a welcome touch as well.

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