OK, this is one of the best games around, so I'm sure that the makers (Volition, THQ, Havoc) will be laughing all the way to the bank while I bash the bugs in the game. After all, I bought/play the game anyway, and I recommend the game to others.

But, I guess it's just the frustrating reality that they don't HAVE to finish debugging a game nowadays in order to make money on it. This game definitely falls into the "good enough to sell" category, even though there are TONS of code problems.

First of all, good stuff:

- Regenerating life meter.

- Great story line in the game play.

- Tons of fun to play.

- Totally customizable (if you spend enough time tweaking the appearance, you can make the main character look like anyone on earth, and you can even be a female... even though I'm sure the players are 98% male).

- Brought back the same 'hood as SR1, with some cool additional areas and stuff.

- Got rid of stupid activities from SR1, kept fun ones and made the difficulty more reasonable.

- Helicopters, airplanes, etc., you can fly 'em all!!!

- Physics engine is not TOO realistic (like in GTA4, frankly I thought driving the cars wasn't fun enough... I want to be able to pull unrealistic 11 g turns in my car if I want to... but in SR2, they definitely got the unrealistic-but-fun formula correct).

- I could go on and on and on, but you get the point.

Yes, you should buy this game (if you are of legal age)!!!

Now, bad stuff:

(This is where the manufacturers laugh... they can listen to me complain all day long, but in the mean time, I still bought it and tell others to buy it too... so WHY should they fix these problems?? Well, maybe just because it would be nice to actually FINISH a game, and to keep fans happy?? Sigh, somehow something tells me that's not a good enough reason for them.)

Anyway, bad stuff:

- Bugs.

- Idiot homies (they can't seem to jump 6 inches over something to get where they need to be).

- More bugs.

- Tons of bugs.

- Idiot homies (they often STAND THERE and do NOTHING when they're supposed to follow you).

- Game freezes galore.

- More bugs.

- Did I mention there are bugs in code?

- Idiot homies (they blow themselves up with rocket launchers).

- More game freezes.

- More bugs.

- Ooops, did you stop a mayhem activity before finishing all levels?.?.?. Good luck finding it. It's gone until you figure out the magic trick to go back to the original place it was, then it'll appear at its new place. (bug)

- Are you driving fast? Oh, nope, not any more, you stop DEAD in your tracks while the game loads the new area (even from HARD DRIVE!!!).

- Bugs.

- Oh, finally, you finished that tough level... oh, no, wait, WHAT???!!!!?? Now the game says "mission failed"!!!??? (another bug)

- Oh, you made $802,000 in damages in mayhem level 6 (minimum required damage = $800,000)... oh, no, wait, WHAT??!!! It still said "mission failed"??!!! (another bug)

- Oh, go and kill that gang in "fuzz" missions... oh, no, wait, WHAT!??!??! The gang members are somehow 5 feet lower on the "y" axis than they should be, and are buried in the pavement, and you can't kill them???!!!?? (oops, another bug, I guess you're starting that mission over again.)

- Hmm, did your game freeze again now?

- And, well, aside from game bugs, I will say that I can live without the stupid diversions... looking for secret areas, trying to find hidden jumps, etc. I think the game shouldn't have as much "hidden" stuff and should do a better job of leading you through all of the goodies.

- The helicopter "point the stick in the direction you want to go" controls leave something to be desired... should have stuck with normal controls.

Anyway, I play this game from my XBOX hard drive, so it's not merely the occasional bad optical drive that causes issues. The game is plainly unfinished. Another "rush the code out the door for the release date" winner of a game. Argh. I wonder when video games will start being subject to the same level of quality controls as the rest of the products we purchase in life. If you buy a pair of shoes and the sole falls off, you can return it. If you buy a new car and 12 things don't work, they fix it. If you buy a parachute and it has 57 holes in it and tears to pieces when you open it, well... ok, maybe YOU won't be getting your money back, but they will go out of business in a hurry. Even video games of the 80s and 90s had pretty good quality control. A bug here or there, sure, but largely bug free and much more rare to have a game freeze. But, nowadays things are different. Video games aren't held to a very high standard. And, spare me the nonsense about the code being that much more complicated now. As true as it might be to some extent, the truth is that these bugs are plainly evident if these manufacturers would just test the game a little more before selling it.

But, as usual, nope, they're modifying the code all the way up to the release date, and they just didn't leave themselves enough time to finish debugging. It seems that they NEVER do nowadays.

But, anyway, hypocritical rant over, because here I am loving this game and telling you to buy it too!!! Totally a 5-star game except for the nasty bugs.

• from

I finished Saints Row 1 ("SR1") with 92% completion and I enjoyed it very much while waiting for GTA IV to be released. I thought that SR1 introduced several new features for the sand-box genre and that it looked very good at the time. Now, having finished GTA IV three times (twice with 100% completion) and while I wait for the downloadable content, I decided to buy Saints Row 2 ("SR2") in hopes of having as much fun as I did with SR1 and more, since I assumed the game would improve from SR1....

After 3 painful hours of looking at SR2, I needed relief fast, so I popped in GTA IV and just drove around Liberty City so that I can cleanse myself of the nightmare of SR2. I came to realize yet again what a game released in 2008 for the 360 SHOULD look like, or resemble at the very least. I sold SR2 back to GameStop the very next day.

Pros:

Lots of features, side missions to earn respect and customizations, including vehicle customizations

Difficulty Levels

Cruise Control is a cool new feature

Improved combat system over SR1 but still, you can't take cover, other than via "human shield"

Cons:

Cartoonish-style, non-polished, choppy and stiff graphics with very little fluidity or smoothness.

Lots of bugs, including cars despawning from the streets constantly (turn your character 360 degrees and chances are the car(s) driving down the street have already disappeared).

Sometimes when a cop-car approaches you, the cops warp/teleport out of their car as opposed to actually opening the door and coming out.

While surrounded by cops with 3-4 star cop-notoriety, I was able to beat down 7-10 cops using only a nightstick and saw my health go down by 10%, at the most, despite getting shot at by cops with a shotgun at point-blank range. And this was on "normal" difficulty mode. I assume on "hardcore" mode, it's possible to lose half of your health, at most, but then watch it regenerate back up again - wow, how realistic and how challenging is that?

Driving looks and feels absolutely horrible. Cars are big and bulky with loose, unrealistic handling. When you hit any object with your car, whether it's another car, tree or pole, you simply bounce off like a pinball and just keep on going.

No secondary camera angles. While on foot or in a car, you can not zoom out to see more of the world, leaving you with just one camera angle with a close and intimate look at the atrocious graphics, considering an October 2008 release for the 360 console.

SR2 is a poorly made game and the makers should be ashamed to release it in late 2008 and compare it to or compete with the quality and the realistic feel of GTA IV, which is not perfect, of course, but it is still the best. The open-world sandbox genre will always belong to GTA. Yes, SR2 has many features and customization options but what is the point when the game looks and feels so terrible? Again, I finished SR1 and liked it a lot but SR2 is one of the worst looking games I have seen in a very long time.

• from

I was highly disappointed. I know people compare this to GTA4 and being a big fan of GTA, I was hoping it would be a similar twist on gameplay. However (and this is already stated clearly on PR), there is no realism really to the game at all. The reason I like GTA is because of the physics and the damage you can see to the cars, etc., but SR2 is nowhere near that. And for me, that ruined the game. I couldn't play it. It might not bother other people, but the "fun factor" for me is smashing stuff and seeing the damage. Also, the acceleration and control/feel of the cars was awful, nothing real about it. I know GTA has bugs too in this area, but the physics factor in it is so high, that the bugs don't even matter to me.

The customization was cool, but that's icing on the cake, and this cake was horrible.

• from

First and foremost, I won't even compare this game to GTA IV because it's not MEANT to; Volition has come out and said long before the game's release that it's not trying to replace GTA.

One of the biggest selling points for me was that I could play as both a man or a woman. And once I learned that I could visit a plastic surgeon at any time and change my gender back and forth, I was even happier. I also appreciate the fact that Volition supplied six different voice tracks for the protagonist, each with its own personality and nuance, giving the game a distinctly different feel for each playthrough. For example, the British actor would read one line as "hey mate" when it's supposed to be "hey man." Little touches like this give the voice tracks their own personalities. I was struck at how different a cutscene feels when the hero has a different voice and attitude.

Pros:

-Be male or female (or a freak; be a man with a high, female voice!)

-Great VO work, engaging supporting characters with personality

-Variety of missions and activities (especially Septic Avenger; spraying sh** on people is hilarious!)

-New features such as human shield, cruise control, fine aiming, dual wielding

-More customization options (clothing, tatoos, hairstyles)

-Excellent GPS is back, plus now you can place "bookmarks" on the map as reminders (i.e. during a mission you find a tag spot, and want to remember its location for later)

-Stores are now open 24/7, meaning you no longer have to wait around endlessly to buy that one specific shirt you want

-Fresh soundtrack with songs you haven't heard in other games

-Instantly warp between a store and your wardrobe, making it easier to mix and match your clothes

-Some cool easter eggs to be found

Cons:

-Bugs/glitches from first game are back (such as cars disappearing, NPCs getting stuck in your vehicle)

-Idiot homie A.I. (guys, did you know you can walk AROUND obstacles?)

-No way to give commands to homies

-No auto-lock on or aim assist of any kind, making shootouts harder than they need to be (the option to toggle it on or off would have been nice)

-Digital music player from SR 1 has been canned (you can't listen to music when on foot anymore)

-Melee fighting system (Brotherhood style, Ronin style, etc) largely feels gimmicky and wasted; outside the "fight club" activity, there is no reason whatsoever to use fisticuffs when you could simply shoot your enemies

• from

I am a reviewer who never played the first game due to seeming like a rip off of GTA with part 4 being said it would be released sometime. The graphics were bad too. But I got this as an impulse buy and man oh man, I think I will burn out my 360 due to playing this all night.

The co-op is insane and so fun.

This game is awesome since you can create your own character. Not being stuck playing some scumbag russian douche.

If you're a guy you can play a WHITE, BLACK and BROWN guy. Though the white dude is british for some unknown reason.

If you're a chick, the same applies except the british part.

This game would have gotten a 5 star rating but I dropped it down one for a huge reason.

There are many glitches in this game. One huge one was that I jumped into the water and went way under not even visible then all of a sudden I was falling from the sky with a chute in tow.

Pretty wild. But all is fun. No matter what happens. My 360 froze 3 times while playin, but I was playing from 8pm to 3am so I think it might have been my 360 saying "chill the funk out playa". Get this game. You'll dig it.

Smaller cut scenes that get to the point not drag it out. Cheers.

• from

Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA 4) was gritty, had a good story but decided to make the gameplay more realistic. Realism doesn't always lead to fun. The mini games really sucked: darts, bowling, watching a caberet. How about being pestered by whiney friends that constantly called you on the phone asking that you hang out with them or lose their approval rating, was that fun? Realistic? Yes. Fun? No! And now GTA 4, just got slapped right across the mouth, with the release of Saints Row 2 (SR2)! Why would I say such a thing you ask.

Saints Row 2 is arcadey, has a more colorful graphic palette. And the characters look more cartoony. The gameplay is NOT realistic, but this is more of an advantage here. Below is a list of just SOME of the fun you can have and there is so much more to SR2:

Zombie uprising- this is a mini-game about killing waves of zombies, using mele weapons and fire arms. (This is similar to resident evil and even contains blood and gore, scary goodness).

Septic avenger- drive a septic truck, shoot sewage to devalue property, smother cops and laugh at pedestrains. (Funniest mini game in SR2)

Celebrity- be a bodyguard for celebrities as you try to protect them

against crazy fans, dispose of fanatics any way you wish! (I enjoyed throwing the fanatics into a jet engine and having them chopped up).

Fight club- fight against thugs or even prisoners in a ring to the death.

(If you ever watched Ultimate Fighting on t.v. you'll like this one).

Cat and mouse- simple deathmatch game between you and your co-op partner, one of you pilots an attack copter while the other tries to escape in a race car. (I thought this was a nice twist on killing your friend).

Fuzz- ever watch the t.v. show cops? You are playing as a cop busting criminals for fame and cash. (I always wanted to be a bad cop and abuse people, this fulfills my fantasy).

Trail Blazing- you wear a fire-proof suit and drive around on an ATV setting pedestrians and vehicles on fire to gain extra time on the clock. (The most chaotic and difficult race, because the explosions can disorient your direction, but oodles of fun.)

Ambulance Emt- you are paramedic and must revive injured victims before they die. (I liked helping the injured by using the analog sticks to electrically charge the shock paddles was fun).

Fire Truck- you are fireman, douse fires with a fire extinguisher. (driving the truck was difficult, but felt satisfying putting out those flames on burning objects and people caught in flames).

Taxi driver- pick up customers and drop them off at their desired destination, to earn time, money and a bonus. (fun and easy way to earn some extra cash, it becomes more challanging in later levels).

Tow Truck- Drive your tow truck and take away vehicles from their deadbeat owners for cash, time and bonus. (I enjoyed towing vehicles and having the owner come after me with a baseball bat, I shot him dead).

Ho-ing- have sex with prostitutes and help them achieve orgasms for the next level. (The weakest and stupidest of all the mini games, you use the analog stick in certain directions to pleasure her, the graphics only show the analog stick on screen followed with sound effects).

Base jumping- go the top of a tall building and then jump off, deploy a parachute and land on the designated area. (I always like jumping off stuff anyways, its also funny when you commit suicide because of the ragdoll physics).

Tagging- mark your gang territory by spray painting walls and earn respect points. (I enjoyed putting up my gang's graphics and enraging rival gang members and even the police).

Barnstorming- use and aircraft and fly through tricky areas without crashing (Very challanging and requires a skillful pilot).

Drive-by- earn money, points and respect for doing drive by shootings while cruising with your car, against rival gangs. (Saints Row was made for drive by shootings especially since your car now has cruise control).

Streaking- take off all of your clothes and run through the streets naked while trying to shock as many people as possible with your nudity. (I liked the reactions of pedestrians, they were varied when you ran past them, some: got mad or violent, others laughed, others were grossed out).

Store hold-up- rob stores at gun point and steal their cash, but get ready to shake off the cops. (Another good way to make some extra cash and becomes easier if you have homies help you rob the stores).

Hostage- carjack any innocent driver and the passanger will be held as a hostage, until they pay you the ransome money, trying to avoid cops at the same time. (Earn more money and laughs when the cars have multiple passangers).

Poker- go to a casino or video game machine and play the game of poker, with the cash you wager. (I don't know how to play poker, but to those of you whom do, you will like this).

Racing- you can race, with cars, motorcycles or even boats, trying to beat your best time. (And with the beautifully designed map, it makes it even more enjoyable).

Flashing- all you wear is a trench coat, but unsuspecting bystanders get shocked when you flash them your nude body. (Similar to streaking and just as funny).

Blackjack- go to a casino or video game machine to play the game of blackjack with the money you wager. (The game is fair and balanced, it doesn't seem to cheat you out of your cash).

Heli assualt- provide air support and pilot an attack copter, armed with a mini gun and homing rockets to protect your gangs against attackers. (Good action shooter, your partner can be the gunner).

And these are just some of the diversions you do when you are bored or want a break from the campaign missions. Most of them can be played co-op with a partner optionally. You still have the campaign missions, which sets you against four rival gangs, destroy their strongholds, buy real estate, do any of the various activites, buy weapons, steal any vehicle. Unlock perks and special bonuses And enjoy a excellently designed city that is huge and fun to explore. Gain power, respect, money and destroy your rivals!

Customize, the look of your character by choosing its gender, age, race and then create his/her facial features. Buy different styles of clothing in shops, dress ghetto, classy or sporty or wear outlandish costumes! Customize your vehicles by adding nitrous, or hydrolics, rims, spinners, spoilers, decals, change their colors and more! You'll spend hours exploring the customization features alone; it is very robust and easy to use.

Still not enough for you? Saint Row 2 also features online multiplayer modes such as: deathmatch, team deathmatch and strong arm modes! Saints Row 2 is the game that GTA should have been! If you like open world games, you should not hesitate to buy it! Don't expect "realism", just expect fun!

Pros:

+open world

+tons of side missions

+great campaign

+bloody and brutal

+duel wield weapons

+human shields

+intense action

+great vehicles

+excellent map design

+excellent story

+excellent multiplayer online

+excellent weapons

+excellent sound effects

+excellent music

+excellent voice-acting

+excellent controls

+unlock perks and bonuses

+tons of customizations

+play campaign co-op

+ragdoll physics

Cons:

-rare instances of game crashing

-minor collision detection problems

-minor graphical glitches

• from

There is so much more to do in SR2...

-4 different campain choices= 4 gangs to choose from

-lots of new guns and vehicles

-Planes

-Bikes

-quads

-helicopters

-Better custimization

-custimization of cribs

-way more activities

-way bigger city/ new city

-cruise control-very helpful

-good car handling unlike GTA 4 which sucked

-better graphics

-male or female

-your guy talks

Also if you have like 4 gang members following you and you hope in a 2 seater vehicle your 3 other gang members will steal another car and follow you -- very very helpful when doing missions. Also you get this awesome little dune buggy in the game and you can custimize EVERY vehicle in the game.

Cons-

*not a lot of hair choices

*missions are kind of short

*the clothes arent as cool as SR 1 but still good

Thats all the things i didnt like in the game. Overall i would recommend this game to ANYONE especially if your a GTA fan this is 10x better.

• from