Words: Mav

Pix: Courtesy of THQ

Finally we have the second outing for Saints Row- the gangsta sandbox game that most call a GTA clone but many call a great game in it’s own right.

The first Saints game received mixed opinions, partly due to the fact that GTA purists felt no need for it- they are similar to the nth degree with car jacking, radio stations, third person action etc. However, the second outing builds on the first in many ways and has successfully fixed the GTA clone problem in many areas by bringing in features that GTA does not have.

The game is of course a sandbox game like it’s predecessor, allowing the player to explore a massive city environment, finding new things all the time and doing missions for the various inhabitants. It delivers in spades and will not be a game you finish in a few days. There are new things to do, lots of side missions and activities and the game has a great ‘pick up and play’ feel. The city lives and breathes with citizens going about their daily business around you (that is, mugging each other and robbing shops). It is immersive despite the over the top violence and crazy humour, but this of course is what we expect from the game, and you really must be ready for ridiculous tongue in cheek monkey business as this game is not Shakespeare. Graphically, the game is great and uses the power of the Xbox 360 well; it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but it’s a serviceable look and well polished. Sadly, the engine still needs work, with more glitches than a ReBoot convention (I’ve still got it- Mav).

Saints Row 2 kicks off with you being able to fiddle around with your little fella (quite). Almost everything about your character can be modified to the point that you end up trying to make him look like a celebrity for kicks. We suggest you have a stab at recreating Chris Rock. Of course fans of the genre and RPGs will know the inevitable trade off- the more you can change your character, the more the central story suffers. This is true in Saints Row and so we lose the fixed character driven story of the GTA games, but we get a new direction with a customisable gangster you can be yourself with. Whether this is preferable is really down to personal choice and the central story still exists thanks to your long suffering Saints Gang members.

The story follows on straight from Saints 1 (even if your new character doesn’t look anything like they did before) and you wake up in prison, itching to head off the road to citywide domination. The main obstacle is that while you were away, the Saint’s neighbourhood is now an upscale estate owned by a big corporation and policed by private security. The Man! The rest of the city is mostly the same with some funky additions. At least it will feel familiar to players of the first title. The game mechanic revolves around improving your reputation with various areas of the city- the way you dress, the mini-missions you do, and the way you drive and shoot folk. This unlocks the main missions and it can get a bit tiresome, forcing you to be all you can be and making it hard to push through the storyline if that’s your main interest.

The activities are varied and certainly divulge from GTA- protecting celebrities from their crazed fans, flying a killy helicopter (a tad ridiculous but fun), Hitman, Trail Blazing which involved setting fire to as much as possible, Fight Club and a ‘cops’ style show, Fuzz. Fight Club is what it sounds like and it lets you perfect the close combat and various fighting styles. Fuzz is pure genious, where you follow around a ‘cops’ style camera crew and film them going postal on some criminals. You can then set everyone on fire (sensing the slapstick feel yet?). The old missions have been tinkered with too, for example, having to use disguise and a bit of detective work to get your targets in Hitman mode. You know, like that other hitman game. Hitman. Insurance is still awesome, getting yourself pounded by cars for the cash payout.

It should be clear by now that there is a real host of things to do in Saints 2 and this will always be the triumph of the sandbox game- run around a city, always doing something new, for seemingly endless hours. It wont get old quickly and it will always surprise you, a definite improvement on the first game. It has that same feel as GTA in this respect- the first few minutes of wandering around this massive city make you thing ‘oh my god, this is gonna take a while’.

Once you do get to the main story you are treated to some great voice acting and dialogue, in fact much better than the slapstick nature of the game suggests. We have a set of gangs to interact with (shoot) and lots of funky characters whose over the top nature actually gives them more credibility than attempting a serious crime drama.

For those with friends, the multiplayer is basically exactly what we’ve been screaming for in GTA clones for ages. First we have co-op mode so you can lay waste in style, and a mode where one of you gets a sports car and the other get s a chopper – cannonball run-esque hilarity ensues. With more players you can do a variety of missions based on the activities in the single player game and they really do provide unique entertainment.

Saints 2 is a success because the makers went in a new direction and they embraced the fact that while the game is a GTA clone, it is not GTA and shouldn’t try to be. It’s an alternative gangster sandbox solution, and a real pleasure to play, if you can put shut off your sensible gland for a while.

Saints Row 2 – 4 Zs

- ‘Cops’ rip off fun- bad boys, bad boys, what ya gonna do?
- Hours upon hours of play
- Make your gangster look like Gordon Brown
- Fight the Man

ZZZZ