If you are a fan of the Grand Theft Auto Franchise and would enjoy something similar, keep moving. This game is best described as a lower quality GTA III clone. Shockingly GTA IV came out the same year as this and they are in entirely different leagues. The game suffers from many graphical bugs. The AI difficulty curve is broken. At 1 and 2 stars the AI poses no threat at all, but as soon as you hit 3 stars, you can almost guarantee death. There is no ramp up time. The controller detection is good, but all of the in-game prompts still show keyboard controls while using a controller. The cut scenes and general storytelling are only memorable in the fact that they are such low quality. While I would love to have a GTA game on GOG, this does not scratch that itch in any way except that the idea is similar. Save yourself the headache and play a GTA game.
*Note: This copy was a free gift from a GOG promotion.
It's hard to play Saint's Row without comparing it to GTA - both are "gangster-open-world" style games, where you complete missions for various contacts and accumulate guns, cars, properties, etc.
But where Saint's Row 2 caught me by surprise was how useful many of the "homies" and your cellphone were. At any point, you could call a taxi (find the phone number on a billboard in-game, or elsewhere), and it would take you anywhere you wanted. Call the vehicle delivery homie, and you get your choice of vehicle delivered -- including the all-but-invincible APC-style vehicles that have unlimited ammo and rockets.
I enjoyed the game, but I honestly grew bored with the repetitious nature of missions, and had no desire to "100% complete" the game like I did with the GTA games of the past. By the time you've conquered one of the three main gangs, there's very little left to do that's different. And by the time you conquer all 3 gangs and do the 'end game' missions, it's so underwhelming and boring by then, that you'll breeze through them in no time.
By the way, I played with the "Gentlemen of the Row" mod, as the basic game was quite lackluster and frustrating without it.
So, a list of pros and cons:
PROS:
+Taxis and Vehicle Homies mean instant travel and your choice vehicle anywhere
+ Unlimited Ammo for completing certain challenge missions
+ Escort quests aren't painful, like other games
+ Lots of Mayhem with destructive vehicles and weapons
+ GTA-style world with plenty to do
+ Keep guns if arrested or you die (without doing girlfriend missions ha)
+ Ability to change your character's appearance and gender any time in game
+ Plenty of clothing options to change your look
CONS:
- Horrible car handling (seriously, get the mod I mentioned above; it fixes it)
- Many guns and vehicles make the game "too easy"
- Redundant missions become repetitiously redundantly redundant
- Homie could be more useful and powerful
- Some missions and challenges will make you /rage /quit
i now have 3 copies of this game, 1 on ps3, 1 on steam, and finally one here. played the fuck out of it on ps3 and loved every second of it; witty, nonsensical, but still pretty gritty, its the best saints row game to date. a lot of fun buy it if you haven't already.
