The first thing I asked for when I bought my 360 was a GTA-style game. I got two excellent games – Crackdown and the original Saints Row. Saints Row was great; the story was amusing, the characters were interesting, the game was a lot of fun and the online mode was great compared to other games. I really loved it. A few months ago Saints Row 2 was released, I had a lot of expectations, and a lot of worries…

I was worried that comparing GTA IV to Saints Row 2 would be disappointing. GTA IV was a great game in many ways – the graphics, the physics, the length and the online, but I have to admit that there were times that GTA IV was not a fun game. I enjoyed San Andreas in many more ways than GTA IV and I’m not talking about Hot Coffee (amusing as it was). My only hope was that SR2 would be more fun than GTA IV and much to my delight – it was.

I can’t even count the number of times I found myself looking at the screen, amazed, while playing SR2. Many referred to the story as silly but I beg to differ. The story is great and the characters… Well, what can I say – it was nice to meet some old friends and it was even better to make new ones.

The character design system is one of the best I have seen, I could actually create a character that was very similar to myself  (Really, I took it so personally, that when the game cloned my character to one of the pedestrians, the Gang and I just had to kill him – there can be only one me). SR2 lets the player create a man or a woman, each has 3 possible voices. Adding that to all the possibilities in designing your crib, gang cars, way of fighting and behaving and you can actually play the game a few times and have a different experience each time.

One of the things I loved about the first SR was the recruiting of gang members when going on missions. SR2 does that even better. Now you can call your homies on your cell, pickup gang members from the street and do anything on missions, side missions and just fooling around. The recruits won’t leave unless it’s necessary, you told them so, or death do you part. 4 doors car are not necessary here – give them a chance and they will get their own (or someone else’s) car if needed.

The missions are crazy. Anything can be done in the name of fun and the side missions are not bad either. My long time favorite from the first game – insurance fraud – came back with adrenalin pumping and mayhem. The other side missions are all there with some new ones that are also a lot of fun. Respect is not the only thing the player gets from doing these missions, bonuses like regaining health faster, or running for longer period are also granted with each completed mission.

The main missions are the main deal in SR2. The main character, once a mute, now an upfront psychopath, would do some things you wouldn’t have thought off, but that would be proven to be a lot of fun. You will have a hard time selecting your favorite mission, because it seems that each one of them has its own unique twist. Let me just say this – Radioactive Waste.

The characters from the other gangs are also bringing a lot of character to the game, the cast is phenomenal, and it is almost a shame that you have to kill them. My favorite casting is Jaime Pressly as Jessica (also known as Joy from “My name is Earl”).

The audio in general is quite good. The soundtrack is nice, though not very varied, but the voice acting is great. From the humors homies remarks on my driving to the chit-chat of my associates on the side missions, everyone has something to say and it’s usually quite funny.

Saints Row 2 is great and I love it, but there are still weaknesses.  The graphics and physics engine are not that good, though reasonable. If both were a bit better, this game would be close to perfect for me – but it is still a great game. Online multiplayer can be amusing, but it doesn’t come close to GTA IV’s online.

Saints Row 2 brings a lot of good improvements since the first game – checkpoints in missions, recruiting, and characters design to name a few. Saints Row was and stayed a game that is all about fun. If Volition (the developer) will keep on learning and improving then Saints Row 3 will be a game to look forward to.

Score: 88