Saints Row 2 has a much darker and more sinister story that leads your character down a path of betrayal, revenge and redemption against the city that has left the player for dead, although they’ve blended that with the same light-hearted humor from the original.
GenreAction Adventure
Platforms xbox360
DEVELOPER Volition Inc. | PUBLISHER Codemasters | RELEASE DATE
Saints Row 2 Reviews xbox360
msxbox-world.com review
The Story missions themselves are some of the most varied you’ll come across in a game of this type. It’s very easy for developers of open world games to follow the same pattern with missions; i.e. drive to A pick up item, drive to B drop off item or drive to A and chase X person across town. Saints Row 2 plays on its own humour, and it’s this aspect that propels the missions into their own realm of obscure and utterly fascinating entertainment. Although you will be doing a lot of driving, flying, shooting and running, you’re going to be grabbed by the collar, thrust in front of the TV screen and compelled to play until you realize that it’s way later than you thought and time for bed.
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gamingtrend.com review
The sound effects in Saints Row 2 seem fairly familiar – they sound exactly like they did in the previous title. Tires screech, shell casings hit the ground, and car engines rev like they should – the only thing that really grates on my ears is the soundtrack.
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gamechronicles.com review
The only place where Saints Row 2 falls short is in the graphics and the occasional glitch or pop-in. But for a game of this magnitude and overall complexity, it would be hard not to have one or two hiccups, and nothing that did sneak through will hurt your overall enjoyment of the game. Saints Row 2 is a game you will quickly become addicted to and one that you won’t be putting back on the shelf anytime soon. It rises to the top of its genre and will easily satiate the violent urges of even the most twisted of gamers.
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worthplaying.com review
Compared to the original, Saints Row 2 is a bit easier, but that is mainly due to the new checkpoint system. Dying during a mission no longer forces you to restart from the beginning. Instead you can now continue from your last checkpoint. It’s a lot less frustrating this way, but it does have the net effect of easing the pressure on the player. Death is no longer the setback it once was.
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ztgd.com review
Saints Row 2 is the type of game soccer Moms will scream about. Why, I’m sure I don’t know because it is clearly not for kids. Silly, Outrageous, Profane, Excessively Violent, Very Naughty, and Unapologetically so. And it is a hell of a lot of fun. I can’t say though my character, dressed in argyle sweater vest riding a PeeWee cycle through traffic while avoiding pedestrians is the epitome of gangster. Just the opposite, in fact, which is what makes Saints Row 2 so entertaining. It is extremely funny to me to see my Mild Mannered well dressed character in such extremely over the top gangster life situations. There is no pretense here, the game knows full well it is silly. And if the purpose of a video game is to entertain, then Saints Row 2 hits it out of the park.
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gamerevolution.com review
Saints Row 2 isn’t going to be the next Godfather, but it’s not trying to be. If you want class and moral dilemmas with your gang warfare, then look elsewhere. But if you want explosions, revenge, sex, money, drugs and rock and roll, then a trip to Stilwater is just what the doctor ordered.
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gaming-age.com review
The sheer amount of freedom in how you do your missions (and the lack of scripted set-ups) is one of my favorite aspects in a sandbox environment, and right now, Saints Row 2 honestly serves up the best experience when it comes to just having some fun in a big city with no rules for a few hours. Definitely check this one out, and don’t pass it by because it’s a GTA clone of sorts, since it definitely provides a different experience from the current sandbox style games available right now.
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gameshark.com review
The mission structure of the main storyline is well done with plenty of variety. There are the standard "go here and kill all of these people" and vehicle chase missions, but there are plenty of other mission types such as sneaking into a nuclear power plant to steal toxic waste to use against another gang, using the gunner seat of helicopter to take out a rival gang’s drug farm and wheeling a wounded gang member out of a besieged hospital before he dies. Along with the main missions you also have strongholds to take out, all of which must be completed before the final mission unlocks. The strongholds have been given the old variety makeover as well, although to a much lesser degree. You won’t see the same variety as in the missions; however you also won’t look at the map and say, "Crap, another stronghold mission."
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game-over.com review
No Synopsis Available
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nzgamer.com review
There is so much crammed into Saint’s Row 2 (if you have a juvenile, slightly insane creative side to you) that you will seldom be at a loss for something to do. On top of the single-player shenanigans, there is a two-player co-op mode and a wealth of online options that we’ll discuss here soon on NZGamer.com. But for those who felt that GTAIV took itself too seriously at times, Saint’s Row 2 is a welcome change of pace and gives us the opportunity to do those things we wish we could with Niko Bellic. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back to Stilwater with a road-cone on my head, a pirate patch on one eye and nothing but a women’s one-piece swim suit on to wreck some more havoc.
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gamingxp.com review
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atomicgamer.com review
In the end, the biggest draw for Saints Row 2 is the smooth online cooperative play that lets people experience the full story, cutscenes, free-roaming the whole city and all, while playing together. Those who are playing alone will still find the amount of things to do impressive, even if the graphics aren’t quite up to the level set by Rockstar this last April. So get out there and rebuild the Saints, and don’t forget to use the minigun when you’re quelling Pirate vs. Ninja uprisings for a bonus!
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gamingexcellence.com review
Saints Row 2 plays much the same as its predecessor. Free aim shooting, arcade style driving, jumping over fences, as well as its very quick and effective weapon and health selection menu. There are a handful of new weapons as well as being able to dual wield pistols and SMG’s. You’re able to fly planes this time around, including helicopters, business class jets, and even old fighters. You’ll be able to store all your hard earned vehicles in SR2 as well, earning garages for cars and motorcycles, a dock for boats, a pad for helicopters, and a hangar for jets and planes. The vehicle you’re driving doesn’t duplicate around you magically at all anymore. Rag doll pedestrians are still just as any other game, and hitting cars so hard the occupants are thrown is still entertaining too. The amount of destructive objects strewn throughout Stilwater never ceases to amaze either.
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meristation.com review
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cheatcc.com review
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1up.com review
Saints 2 relishes the hedonistic aspects of the open-world genre and does very little to punish the player for their repugnant behavior. It has plenty of innovation, and the excellence in the presentation makes the world of Saints 2 a great introduction for newcomers to open world games. It’s not GTA, but it doesn’t need to be.
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actiontrip.com review
There’s so much to enjoy in Saints Row 2, even though the game doesn’t take itself seriously. For instance, you’re bound to have fun with the "zombie uprising" game, which you may access on the TV at your home. It’s actually a 3D horror survival game, where you get to fight for your life and attempt to avoid the horrific zombies. Weapons and ammo are limited, so running is usually the best option you have. The chaos and carnage that ensues within this sub-game is, in fact, very entertaining and frequently a welcomed sidetrack from the free-roam urban gun fest.
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gamecritics.com review
Saints Row 2 certainly fulfills all the requirements that a good open-world game needs to succeed, but I wouldn’t say that it thrives. With so much time passing since the first game was released, I expected a much higher level of technical polish and more significant forward movement. As it stands, there’s not much to recommend it when a nearly-identical (and in some ways, better) experience can be had by picking up a copy of the first game instead. With the intense competition this holiday season from so many blistering top-shelf efforts, a minor iteration on a formula that needed a little work in the first place doesn’t quite cut it.
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gamingnexus.com review
I’ve grown desensitized with every pull of the trigger. Every bullet, every shotgun shell, and every rocket-propelled grenade is the currency traded freely among the violence-is-a-way-of-life citizens. And in case you were wondering about the exchange rate in Stilwater: Life is cheap. Every enemy is nothing more than a red blip on a minimap, every innocent bystander is likewise nothing more than a hood ornament in a race, or a body shield in a firefight. Every person strolling on the sidewalk is fodder for my fender. Every vehicle in the road is my free ticket to ride. And if they shoot at me, I shoot at them. That’s as complicated as the politics ever run in Saints Row. I’m not saying this to strong arm a layer of existential thought into things. In fact, it works to the detriment of Saints Row that the killing grows dull early on.
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consolemonster.com review
The story in Corporate Warfare sees the player trying to track down and get to ex Saints lieutenant, Dex, who is now a high-flying Ultor exec. Departing from realism, the disjointed and apparently irrelevant missions see you murdering mimes, slicing ninjas, exploding helicopters and ruining Ultor’s family fun day, but that’s all in a day’s work for a ruthless mobster, I guess.
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