Yahtzee agrees with me about Saint's Row 2

And as usual, this is very NSFW, but spot on.

Been Busy Gaming

   OK, I've been a little busy playing some games the past week or two.  The first of the three games I was eagerly anticipating was Saints Row 2.  The Saints Row series has a lot in common with the GTA series, except with their latest offering they didn't decide to go the more realistic route and just up the fun factor from a very underrated game. 
   Now, I won't lie to you, the plot is nowhere near the quality and depth of Grand Theft Auto 4.  But as with the first one, the plot is just a means to get right to the meat of the game, the action.  And the action is fast and abundant.  As opposed to the start of Grand Theft Auto 4, where your first mission is to drive from the ship you disembark to your cousins apartment (not exactly a ramp up of action), you start off waking up from a coma in prison and have to fight your way out of jail (as opposed to the way Prison Break decided to make it an everlasting way of breaking out of jail.)
   And the game does not slow down from there.  The next few missions have you assaulting strongholds, killing rival gang members and just causing general mayhem until the final missions.  The main story line is not extremely long (42 story missions and 14 strongholds necessary to finish game), but they extend the game with the fact that to do a certain level of the game you need to achieve a certain level of respect.  Even though it seems this is just a cheap way to lengthen the game, earning respect actually makes the game easier.
   You earn respect by playing through missions and strongholds, completing activities and diversions and killing rival gang members.  In addition, you earn higher respect multipliers by buying new clothes and and items for your cribs.  Once your respect bar fills up, you can access higher missions.

   Now the part of the game that I like better than GTA4, the variety of activities and diversions, and the territory aspect.  The territories of rival gangs are eventually taken over when you complete a mission or stronghold, when that is accomplished, you earn a certain amount of money per day.  You can also purchase businesses in territories you own, and they give you a certain amount of money per day.  Trust me, the price of ammo really makes this necessary.  Plus the activities (Hitman and Chop Shop) and diversions (stunt jumps, barnstorming, driving activities, mini-games) all earn you money, respect and certain levels give you perks like certain weapons or unlimited ammo.  Also, in addition to your star rating with police, you have the same with the other gangs, if you go in their turf and smoke a couple of their guys, they will come after you, the more you kill the more they send after you at once.  This can cause additional problems during missions and everything. 
   Overall, I give the game a 8.5 out of 10.  A solid B effort.  There are a lot of graphical glitches and slowdowns that preclude it from getting a better rating, but its worth buying.  So far, I've completed 81% total (the finished game and a lot of the activities). 
   Next I'll let you know about Fable 2 which was the next game I was playing, but my download of Fallout 3 from Steam is complete so I have to start the 3rd game of my trifecta.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me, I can let you know more stuff in detail than I can on this little review.

Gaming Nirvana

Well, this looks to be a busy next few weeks for me gaming wise.  I guess everyone should be prepared for me to hibernate with my games.  Coming out on the next three Tuesdays are Saint's Row 2, Fable 2 and Fallout 3.  Time to use those Best Buy bucks!!!!

Saint's Row 2 Trailer

This game is looking good. In case any of you missed the first game, it was every bit as good as the GTA series, as far as depth and way better in mission variation. It was very reminiscent of the GTA 3 games where you would have rival gangs just start spraying bullets every time they saw you. Plus you can recruit posse members from your side at any time. If you have a 360, find this game in the bargain bin and enjoy.

Saints Row 2 Teasers

Can you really think of a better spokesperson for Saints Row 2? I don't think so. I enjoyed the first Saints Row, but I never finished it. I think I'll go back and try to rectify that. And yes, it is a GTA clone, but it did a lot of stuff right.


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