possibly count, I’ve been extremely excited since the announcement of Saints Row 2 coming in 2008.  After one delay, which has pushed the game back to October 14 2008, I about lost my mind.  But I would not have to wait that long to at least get a test run, and this is where PAX 2008 comes into play. 

 

After a short five minute play through during the media time on Friday, I knew I had to get back and play the full first mission of Saints Row. Sunday, I got to finally get a full session in and take in the experience of Saints Row 2.  I got to the booth and picked up the first open controller and happened to be next to one of the games developers.  I restarted the mission from the beginning and immediately turned off the tutorial and inverted my Y Axis controls.  At this point, the developer made a joke about how I must have played the first one, to which I confirmed. 

 

You start off in a prison after going through plastic surgery to reconstruct how you look five years following the ending of the first Saints Row.   At this point, another prisoner helps you break out and you have to take down prison guards.  The very first thing you notice has improved is the fighting system.  Pressing the punch and kick buttons in various sequences deals out different combos and powerful hits.  After taking down the first room of guards, the dev. let me know that they wanted people to get access to a variety of weapons off the get go, so it doesn’t feel like you’re stuck starting a whole new game, but to really let you feel as you are continuing the first one.  He mentioned a room to get a bunch of weapons, including the new satchel charges.

 

You can imagine my joy to try out the new satchel charges.  As soon as I made my way outside the prison, I started tossing the charges and detonating them on as many guards as possible.  There is also a way to take people as a human shield/hostage, and when you are finished with the person, you can either let them go free or execute them with a nasty shot to the face.  The controls are extremely similar to the original game, but are improved upon for a tighter feel.  I did find myself finishing off the guards rather easily as I made my way to the target location, but I chalked that up to having some experience with the game, as many others were still in their learning phase.

 

Overall, I found myself wanting the game even more than before and anticipating where the story is going from here. The graphics were improved and the look was darker and grittier, the voice acting I got to hear was very well done, and fit the characters without feeling cheesy and over the top.  I skipped the character customization as I know I will enjoy working with the sliders and options from my own couch where my time is virtually unlimited.  I do wish they could have shown the co-op mode, as it would have been nice to see how smooth the gameplay is with two people at the same time.

 

After just playing the first mission, I definitely wanted to keep coming back to the booth to replay it over and over. I will go out on a limb here and brace for flaming, as I believe this game will be better than Grand Theft Auto IV overall.  Will the game be better graphically? Probably not, but what made the GTA games good to me pre-GTAIV, was the fact it was fun to just pick up, play and have fun without doing the mission parts.  The controls were more arcade than simulation, and the game never took itself too serious.  Saints Row 2 is building upon what made the 2^nd gen Grand Theft Auto games and Saints Row 1 so much fun. This is definitely shaping up to be a great game, and I look forward to getting the full experience come October 14^th.