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Saints Row 2
Released On: Oct 14, 2008
81
8.5
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 75 Critic Reviews
81
87% Positive
65 Reviews
65 Reviews
13% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 75 Critic Reviews
81
87% Positive
65 Reviews
65 Reviews
13% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Arguably, it doesn’t do as much to propel the genre forward (in terms of story-telling, etc) as some of its peers. But the game is also wickedly fun. In terms of pure, unadulterated fun, Saints Row 2 is in a league of its own.
There is so much crammed into Saint’s Row 2 (if you have a juvenile, slightly insane creative side to you) that you will seldom be at a loss for something to do.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 287 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
246 Ratings
246 Ratings
9% Mixed
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
5% Negative
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 287 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
246 Ratings
246 Ratings
9% Mixed
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
5% Negative
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
amazing game so good i played it multiple times and never got bored the story is great and there are some pretty funny parts and some sad or serious parts over all just a very good game
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Xbox 360
Creatively, it’s all good. And you couldn’t have asked for more things to do in a game. It’s like a ginormous buffet of junk food. So bad but so good. I think I’ve found this year’s ultimate guilty pleasure. Funny thing is, I’m not feeling that guilty about it.
Saint's Row 2 is as every bit as good as the first game despite its glaring technical faults.
Saint's Row isn't a very original game. It's a tweaked version of the previous game that offers a lot of fun, especially with a friend in the coöperative mode. Everyone who missed the useless violence in GTAIV will be very satisfied with Saint's Row 2, since that game basically is about just that.
Still, Saints 2 evolves the genre with its character creator and the ability to play the entire game cooperatively online. [Dec 2008, p.74]
It’s not necessarily badly constructed, but in many ways it is badly intentioned, failing not just because of its conga-line of racial and sexual clichés, but because of the way it makes it a little bit easier to criticise videogaming as a hollow and sadistic pursuit. [Dec 2008, p.91]
THIS GAME IS PERFECT, PER-FECT , PERFECT , PERFECTION, YOU CAN LITERALLY DO ANYTHING YOU WANT, AND THIS GAME HAS DETAILS THAT YOU CAN NEVER FIND IN OTHER VIDEO GAMES , THE GANGS, THE CHARACTERS , EVERYTHING, THAT'S WHY THIS IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO GAME OF ALL TIME
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Xbox 360
Whilst SR2 was never going to age gracefully; it didn't look brilliant when it was new 10 years ago, it's still the same fun romp that it ever was. This was without doubt the peak of the SR series which was likely the most successful GTA clone series ever made. The first game capitalized on the gaming worlds longing for an open world game during the wait for GTA IV. This second game came out around 6 months after the release of GTA IV and that works to it's detriment and to it's benefit.
One thing GTA IV left a lot of people wanting was just some good old fashioned mayhem, carnage and violence. Whilst it is a technological marvel of its time IV was very heavy going and a departure from the sheer zaniness of San Andreas. IV's gritty realism meant that you couldn't really go on rampages or the like without it feeling like a massive departure from the games tone. SR2 certainly doesn't opt for gritty realism, in fact it tries extra hard to be extra zany.
This is a game where you are ranked for shooting people in the nuts, a game where you can throw people from high bridges, spray houses with excrement, help a suburban housewife sell drugs, watch as a crowd of pimps gets into a brawl with a mob of cops. Ragdoll physics abound and are as entertaining now as there were then. SR2, then, is a game where you don't really feel bad about running about 8 people on your way to the clothes store. It encourages you to be a psychopath and that is a large source of its fun. Combat is simple but fun and engaging with a good variety of weapons.
In fact there is a good variety of absolutely everything in SR2. You can customize nearly everything you come into contact with, cars, planes, boats, bikes, helicopters and of course yourself. The character customization to this day is quite in depth and helps you create the sort of character that is likely to drive around killing and maiming all he sees. It leads to a further level of hilarity when in a semi serious cutscene your character is delivering lines with a bright pink bandana, kibuki make-up, no shirt, jean shorts and sandals with socks. The whole game panders to the idea that it is comically absurd. It's only very loosely based in reality but this was the perfect mix they came up with. Later games were zany to a fault and felt like they were trying too hard, this version was just right.
The game-world is unquestionably the best one Volition ever made. For its time it is huge and they did well to add such a diversity of locations in the different districts. From the college campus to the museums, the undergrounds caves, high end shops to the projects even the cemetery and suburbs. Every area looks and feels different and is populated with NPCs to match. 10 years on this is still a gameworld worthy of praise and for all the realism of Liberty City I still think that between the two game worlds this was the better setting.
Where it falls down however is graphically. Even for its time it wasn't great and now it has aged to the point of being pretty terrible. Textures are jagged, pop in is constant and blatant, cars are boxy and their designs are uninspired. There is a wide variety as there is with everything in this game but there isn't really any designs that made you stop and think that time and effort went into them. The driving physics and controls likewise were and are awful. Admittedly they are tuned more towards fun than realism but they take a lot of time to get used to the sensitivity of turning. Whats more cars all sound terrible, reach their top speeds very quickly and then play the same droning note of noise at top speed which gets old very fast.
The story is hilariously juvenile. One thing I've never understood is the praise the rest of the world gives the games story. It's laughably poor and really what puts it on a different, lower tier than GTA IV. The dialogue is corny and awful. They don't really try for laughs too hard too often and when they do the jokes fall flat. With this in mind the cut scenes are all mostly skippable nonsense. The three gangs and the final Ultor storylines are dull, poorly scripted and not engaging in the least.
But that isn't what SR2 was ever about. It was about being a true sandbox, a place to just have fun, blow stuff up and not think about the consequences which, ironically, was what GTA was when it began before it made the step to blockbuster AAA gaming and starting focusing more on storyline and narrative.
10 years on this is still a great game and one I just spent 20 hours completing again. It is the best of the series and despite it's aging graphics and a couple of bug issues it was a blast to play through again. It doesn't take itself seriously nor does it encourage the player to do so whilst playing it and along the way it makes you have a lot of fun. This is probably still a better open world than some attempts nowadays (Mafia III...) and it speaks to its quality that it still holds up well today.
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Xbox 360
This is a fun game. It's a lot like Gta and it's not as near as good as Gta. Fun weapons to kill with. The multiplayer is good but it's a lot like Gta so I sort of felt buying the same game but a weaker campaign but still is worth getting. Campaign 7/10 Multiplayer 7/10 Saints Row 2 7.4/10
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Xbox 360
This game gets boring and annoying very quickly. Very unrealistic !!! And the crappy graphics will give you a headache if you play more the 20 minutes. They had good ideas and made them crappy. In assuming sr3 will be just as bad. Rent it for a couple days but don't waste your money by purchasing it!
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Xbox 360
Summary Saints Row 2 is set years after the original Saints Row in a Stilwater both familiar and strange. The explosive conclusion to Saints Row has left the player wounded, betrayed and thirsty for revenge, and now it's time to take back the city that has forgotten him. A sequel to the first open-world title on next-generation consoles, Saints ...
Rated M
for Mature
Platforms:
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox 360
- PC
Initial Release Date: Oct 14, 2008
Developer:
- Volition Inc.
Publisher: THQ
Genres:
