You're in the middle of a busy downtown intersection. You wait for it, wait for it, and then BAM you get hit by a speeding car that sends you flying 30 feet in the air and 50 feet away. You immediatly get up and try to do the exact same thing again, it never dawns on you that instead of defrauding an insurance company by feigning injury, you would most very likely need insurance money as you would actually be injured and require major medical attention. It's just another day in Stilwater though, and wackiness aside, shit's about to get serious.

The question everybody keeps asking me is this: Is it as good as GTA IV? While it isn't as good of an overall game as GTA IV is, it's not trying to be. While it's inevitable that one will eventually compare the two, it's made very clear from the start: Saints Row 2 isn't trying to copy IV at all.

The Background:
The game starts 5 years after the conclusion of Saints Row 1. You're character awakes from a coma and finds himself/herself in a prison infirmary ward on life support at the request of Tony Bradshaw, who rose to the rank of Police Chief. Carlos, a brother of one of the Saints from the first game intentionally shanks himself just to talk to you. He's got an escape plan in the works and after a little reluctance, you find yourself killing a doctor and then getting the fuck out.

Stilwater's changed in the 5 years you've been gone and three new gangs rule the city. The Brotherhood, The Sons of Samedi, and The Ronin. Ultor, a clothing company from the first game, has taken over what was Saints Row and has turned it into an urban, crime-free utopia and serves as the last "gang" to conquer (much like the epilogue missions in the original Saints Row). Once you free Johnny Gat, you recruit 3 new lieutenants and decide thatit's time to take over what was yours.

The Basics:
Stilwater hasn't totally changed for the worse in the game. The pops of color and lighting give the city a much needed feeling of life that was missing from Saints Row 1. Stilwater is alive and it's a city that lives and breathes as you take it over. Like GTA IV's rendition of Liberty City (1) the city's inhabitants feel alive and you can tell that they have a life as well. I came across a woman sitting on her boyfriend's lap and kiss as they watch the sunset over Stilwater's Marina. I walked by a group of people doing yoga in a downtown park. I saw a guy get rear ended and exit his car, check the damage, then call the police. People walking will pull out their umbrellas at the first site of rain. You could spend a whole day in Stilwater just people watching and not fire a single shot, but then again, what fun would that be.

The combat and shooting mechanisms are about the same as they were in Saints Row 1. While I would've liked to see a seperate, GTA IV style (2) cover system, I had no major issues with the shooting aspect of the game. The fighting mechanisms on the other hand were a bit more lacking. Without a proper "targeting" system, I often found myself punching and kicking somebody or something other than who or what I was intending on delivering street justice to. This would most notably hurt me in situations where I was out in public and instead of hitting the gang member or police officer I wanted to, I would hit an innocent bystander just trying to run out of the way. Back again is the followers system, which allows you to have gang members follow you as you wreak havok across the city. You gain your first follower after completing the fourth prolouge mission and unlock more during the game with the ability to have up to 3 total followers. While the AI of your followers is much better, (For example: Instead of just standing around looking like idiots, they'll actually get in another car and follow you if your car is full and you take off) nothing quite compares to playing with another person.

Co-op in Saints Row 2 is totally seamless and is akin to the Mercenaries 2 co-op system. Players can drop in and out of your game without having to be at the same exact spot in their game as you are with theirs which is useful in situations in which you want to play with your friend who's already played a significant portion of the game. The play is kept fairly well balanced during co-op, enemies will have better guns, more firepower, and more health to keep things from getting too unfair.

Driving in the game is about the same as it was in Saints Row 1, it's pretty loose and arcadey as compared to Gran Turismo. Car custimization is back and it's better than ever, nothings better than outfitting a tiny 50hp scooter with an upgraded frame and nitrous oxide. A new feature which I liked and used a lot (as I do in real life) is Cruise Control. It essentially gives you a free thumb, as you can accelerate to your desired speed and then use it to mantain that speed without hitting the accelerator which is especially nice during drive-bys as you can then use your thumb to control the right stick (which controls the camera).

Another great addition to the game are the Burnout-style bonuses that give you respect for driving crazy. Driving in oncoming lanes, near misses, and powerslides give you respect depending on how long and how well you drive which is akin to getting boost in Burnout games. I found this very useful if I was only down a few respect points from unlocking new missions, however you would be hard pressed to totally fill your respect bar by using only the driving bonuses. Bonuses aren't limited to just driving and you will get them for various-style kills and my favorite, the distance of a person thrown.

The Nity Gritty:

Graphics 7 out of 10
While the neon lights and beautiful buildings certainly make Stilwater look pretty, the low-resolution car textures take away from what otherwise is a great looking game.

Audio 9 out of 10
It was as important to me that the city sounded as alive as it looked and felt. I was not dissapointed. Birds chirped, sirens were heard in the distance, traffic sounded like a city and downtown sounded like downtown. On more than one occasion a dog barked in the game and i had to make sure it wasn't my dogs barking in real life.

Music 7 out of 10
Just like it's predecessor, Saints Row 2 has a great soundtrack with music ranging from Mozart to Lamb of God. I did, however, find a few things frustrating. The lack of KBOOM 108 is the most disheartening, as I thought it was the best talk-station in a game like this since VCPR in the GTA III. Mike and David's conservative talk show is sorely missed. Another feature that is totally taken out of the game is the MP3 player and while it didn't do anything totally different from using the xbox dashboard in the original Saint's Row, it was a feature that I often used in the original. One thing that puzzled me is that there are two 105 stations and they get changed about 3/4's into the game. They play totally different music and it's odd that instead of having a totally different station, they just replaced it. One last thing that I was dissapointed in was that Underground 99.0 was a non-full power station, which meant that in some areas of Stilwater it was just static and you couldn't tune into it.

Storyline 6 out of 10
There were numerous plot holes large enough to drive a truck through however for the sake of not spoiling the game I will say no more of them. The games background is simple enough: gangs have taken Stilwater when the Saints fell apart and it's up to you to take it back. It can be argued that it doesn't need anymore background store than that however I still think it was lacking.

Replayability 9 out of 10
Once you beat the main story (it took me about 16 hours to complete all 56 missions of the prologue, main story, epilogue, and bonus hidden mission keeping in mind it took me about 1 hour just to find the hidden mission) it would be wise to do it all over again with a friend in co-op. The addition of multiplayer really adds to the longevity of the game and will make sure you never get bored in Stilwater.

The Bottom Line
While the game certainly isn't as good as GTA IV, it's not trying to be. It's a solid open world shooter that is definitely worth the money to buy it. It's multiplayer aspects really work in its favor and it's a fun game and when it comes down to it, the reason people play games is to have fun.

Overall: 8 out of 10
I only had 2 GTA IV comparisons!

Review By OutstandingCoffee:
Gamertag: y2k1996
PSN: OutstandingCoffe (I couldn't do two e's as it was too long)
http://www.demoncoffeereviews.com
http://www.pwned.com/OutstandingCoffee