Grand Theft Auto IV was a
remarkable achievement in
the game world.
It was praised for its realism
and its intriguing and
gritty storyline.
The sandbox genre of
games has long been owned
by the GTA franchise.
Well, Saints Row 2 does a
drive-by on the genre and
completely obliterates the
realism that GTA worked so
hard on creating.
Saints Row 2 is a sandbox
game that takes place in the
fictional city of Stillwater.
You start as the nameless protagonist
who appeared in the
first Saints Row.
Following the climatic
explosion at the end of the
first game, you awake in
prison after a several-year
coma.
As you attempt to rebuild
your now broken gang and
reclaim the glory that was
yours in the first game, you
have to fight your way
through several new gangs
and a virtually redesigned
city.
The game itself is a little
glitchy; there are some framerate
problems and occasionally
characters will disappear
into walls or get stuck in
floors, but other than that the
game is great visually.
The story is based on your
character trying to rebuild
your gang’s empire.
A few of the characters
from the first game are reintroduced
in this new installment,
but as it’s stated in the
game, most of them are either
dead or in jail.
The gameplay is pretty hectic
from beginning to end;
explosions and gun fights are
around every corner in this
city.
Gangs roam the streets with
weapons drawn and get in to
random gun fights with the
police, whom they often overpower.
It’s a pretty crazy
place, unlike the calm
metropolis of Liberty City
from GTA.
Another comparison to
GTA IV is the fact that there is
still so much to do even if you
play all the way through the
main story, from getting cars
for chop shops to running
your own prostitution ring.
The amount of things you
can do after the main story is
nearly endless; it’s almost as
though there’s no need for
downloadable content.
The sounds of the gunfire
and the soundtrack of almost
150 licensed songs helps add
to the realism of the game.
Hearing the screeching of
the tires and the revving of
the engines helps immerse
you further into the fun experience.
The game is serious but it
has a slight dark-humor edge
to it, which almost makes you
laugh during the bloody cut
scenes that more often than
not feature one or more dead
bodies.
The story in GTA was supposed
to make you feel a connection
to this dark and
brooding character.
In SR2, you just run around
doing what you please,
killing rival gang members
and buying properties to
increase your wealth.
Despite the game’s humorous
undertones and over-thetop
violence, the game is a
very well put together piece
of work.
Anyone who enjoys sandbox
games and mindless
mayhem should definitely go
pick this up, especially since
you can probably find a few
used copies for cheap.