With all this talk surrounding Grand Theft Auto 4, who is really thinking about Saints Row 2? The original was great surely but nothing can beat the behemoth that is GTA4, right? right?
Saints Row two takes its lead from the first game, in that you help rebuild the Saints Row gang 15 years after the original. You’ll have three new gangs trying to stop you but only the information of one is known so far. The ‘Sons of Samedi’ are a Jamaican gang who dress in green as their primary colour.
Old characters will be along for the ride like Troy, who is subsequently now a police chief, along with Julius and Johnny Gat. The latter is actually on death row throughout the game.
Whats special about Saints Row 2 is that the whole single player campaign can be played online and in split screen multi-player. This adds a whole other dimension and extra re-playability for each and every mission within the story.
Small changes are also present like the ability to throw random objects such as stop signs, furniture or even people. Another change featured within Saints Row 2 is more advanced weather effects and the pedestrians that act accordingly (i.e. if it rains they will get umbrellas out). You could then take one of those pedestrians and hold them hostage or go one step further and use them as a human shield.
Saints Row 2 will also expand on the character creation tools we saw in the original albeit primarily with the addition of female characters. Not only can you change the look of a character but now you have more control over their personality from the way they shoot to the way they talk. Then later on in the game you can decorate your ‘Crib’.
You might be wondering if its set in the same place how are they making the game feel new. Well some parts will be familiar but seeing as its fifteen years on, expect changes. Stilwater will also be seeing an expansion on the west side of the map.
Maybe the first game sold well due to it being the only “GTA-Clone” on the next-gen formats but the sequel will provide a nice stop gap between GTA4 and it’s DLC. That’s not to write of Saints Row 2 as simply ‘filling in the gaps’ but it has a nice slot and has some brilliant ideas to the growing franchise.
With GTA4 coming out so soon its hard to get excited for similar games but the fact that the original Saints Row was an enjoyable experience helps its cause greatly. That with the fact that all they are doing is greatly improving on a successful foundation that was laid down in Saints Row 1.
Saints Row 2 is coming to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on August 26th 2008.
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