Saints Row 2

The Good
I'll come right out and say that - as of the time of writing - I've never played the first game in this series (not having a Playstation 3 or X-Box 360 sort of helps in this regard). In fact, I never had an inclination to play this game either, except that the third game with all the expansion content was sold on the cheap via Steam some time ago, so I bought that along with a hard copy of the second as a "what the heck, why not" kind of thing.

Some time ago I played GTA:VC...to be honest, I think everyone has by this point. And much fun was had. After a while the game did get boring, especially once I wrapped up the main plot and had more money than Carlos Slim to play around with, mainly on ammo for the occasional random rampage. So it was filed away and boxed, possibly lost. Since then sandbox crime games have been unable to take me quite like that one, and I really didn't think you could do much to top that experience as a result. But the discount on Steam changed things substantially, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a post-Descent game by Volition that wasn't horrifyingly boring and unprofessional (see my Red Faction review).

The easiest way to describe SR2 is that it's very similar to Vice City (which in turn means it by-and-large shares similarities with GTA3 era titles in general), but calling it a clone really doesn't do the game justice. Because while many of the gameplay elements are certainly at least familiar, in comparison to that older title they are refined here. You have your assortment of scavenger hunts and "big air" jumps to find of course, but also other activities in the form of side missions and (more distinctively) environmental activities like crowd flashing and "car surfing". You can complete a storyline mission and then spend several hours on specific (but non-plot related) tasks rather than running around and shooting people at random or going hunting for unlockable stuff (though you can do either of those here as well, if you wish); as a result its much harder to get bored, especially after the main game is completed. The controls are easy to get use to after an hour or two of play, and the experience either on foot or in a vehicle is generally superior to the GTA3-era games.

The most noteworthy thing about this game is the outstanding storyline. While on the surface it's similar to the mix of humor and seriousness that we would expect from older Rockstar titles, on the whole the story coming from Volition is by and large quite a bit on the darker end in comparison to the GTA3-era games (GTA4, of course, could be a different story). Combined with strong writing and voice acting, even if you missed out on the first game you quickly grow attached to Gat and Aisha, as well as the newcomers like Pierce and Shaundi. Many of the villains stand out as well, in particular Micheal Dorn (Worf from the Star Trek IP) as the intelligent monster Maero. As a result, most character deaths in the game feel significant; at times it can feel like anyone can die. This dark edge is enhanced by the role of the protagonist, who here is especially vicious and does some pretty cringe-worthy things over the course of the game. That's not to say that there isn't plenty of humor here to be had as well, but there's a certain degree of whiplash that can occur between "funny", "not funny", and "wow that was uncomfortable" in this game. For some it can be distracting, but to me it has a realistic "stuff gets real" feel that I appreciate. Outstanding little touches abound, like your character singing along (usually badly) to music playing on the radio occasionally.

The character design aspect of the program is also quite sound. Aside from having a wide range of skeletal or other appearance adjustments that you can make, you can decorate you character in uniforms ranging from the stylish, to the outrageous (or nothing at all). And you adjust your core appearance on the fly if you find something unsatisfactory with the look (or ethnicity, or gender) of your character later in the game.

The music here is very competently selected, with a variety of contemporary, older and classical tunes that you will invariably tune in to as you carjack across Stillwater. Another positive feature is that you can immediately can compose your own playlist from the in-game tracks, so you can avoid the default radio stations (and some of their less interesting tunes) if you wish. Another "kudos" to the plot here as well in the form of the radio stations, since I am on that topic; as the game progresses, some radio stations change DJ's and even formats as in-game events unfold, and you can listen to the latest reports on the in-game story via the radio.

The AI here is competent, with good path-finding and potentially dangerous combat behavior. A mid-range gang or police alert can pose a threat if you are not careful. However, unlike earlier AI efforts from this company via Red Faction, the enemies here are not obviously psychic nor do they all have Expert Marksmanship badges on 10km sniper pistol shooting. The AI puts up a "fair" challenge in that it is possible to die, but if you do die it's because you have made a mistake at some point.

I haven't gotten to the graphics yet, but that's not because they are horrible. I suppose that (in general) they are somewhat dated in comparison to some other 2009 offerings, but nevertheless the art direction is excellent, combined with the professional audio production they very effectively create the illusion of a living city.

The Bad
That being said, I do think that the character models are comparatively "low polygon" when measured against contemporary releases, and are the weakest point of the graphics. Where as the artwork and scenery composition are outstanding this is one area that was somewhat overlooked and it hurts the game's efforts in this area.

One thing I did not like was the fact that I still had to download most of the game from Steam after I had installed it. To be fair, I don't mind buying "non-hardcopy" games at all. But going through the process of getting a disk for a permanent hardcopy and finding that it only contains the barest vestige of the game, just enough to get a connection with Steam going, is very irritating to say the least. While I guess current license laws make it difficult for gamers to actually OWN the games they play in this modern era, it is bizarre and unworldly to have to download the majority of a game off of an internet gaming service when media is already included.

Despite all the strong things I have to say about the storyline, I do feel that the ending was a bit of a letdown, having sort of a rushed feeling. However I saved the secret mission for after the main story, and I am glad I did as it was such a wonderful bookend to the game. The shame of it though is that the mission is not only hidden (naturally) but also potentially playable earlier in the game before you complete the main story; while its sure to affect players of the first game fairly significantly, it's full force is really felt after you've completed all your other major tasks, and it should have been treated as a finale or post-credits activity.

There are also some things that I did not enjoy in the side missions, particularly the later bodyguard missions which are almost luck based, and those portions the "Heli Assault" where you have to transport gang members from one place to another while they hang on to the landing assembly of your chopper (only problem is that if you go over 5 MPH they fall off, so you have to go REAL slow and close to the ground so they don't die from fall damage).

Another irritation is that, despite some compromises to graphics quality, this game runs unusually slow for its age in some areas. My current machine is not a toaster by any stretch of the imagination but there are many instances where the game drops below 30FPS and there doesn't seem to be any explainable reason as to why that occurs. Having played Saint's Row 3 and 4 later on, which are both certainly more graphically intense than this release and by also the same developer, I've yet to run into any unexplained slowdowns those titles which leaves the hiccups in performance a very strange occurrence. The game is still very playable even this issue but it does take some control away from you (very irritating if during a high-speed chase).

The Bottom Line
I really did not expect that I would play a game of such quality from the same guys who did Red Faction. Saints Row 2 was a VERY pleasant and addicting surprise that really showed how much Volition had evolved since that release and the late 2000s. I strongly recommend this game, regardless if you are into crime-related titles or not.