Saints Row II

[caption id="attachment_1072" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="Saints Row 2: dude evading cops on a motorcycle"]Game of the Day series.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and they aren't talking about plagiarism or straight-up copying. I read in Escapist Magazine recently about D&D enthusiasts writing imitations of their favorite pen and paper role-playing booklets. They then publish these PDF's for free digitally and for a small price via print-on-demand. Similarly, Saints Row 2 feels very much a fan of GTA and an homage to the genre it spearheaded.

Of course, the developers didn't spend chump change to create this massive sandbox title. It shows by the quality of every detail from idle passer-by conversations to the voice acting and lip syncing. Every decided detail is spit-shined until it glows, colorful and bountiful. The game makes no bones about flaunting its strengths incessantly. Plot points and side diversions engage different types of foes, vehicles or foot-based combat, and my favorite: survival / escape!

I bought the game specifically because it looked and sounded fun from a Zero Punctuation review on it; one of the few where Yahtzee doted on it, lapping at its sweet teet. However, while it does the GTA -er- sandbox genre proud, there are things I wish were improved upon. I can sum them up pretty quick: chaining explosions (car goes boom, car next to it does nothing), smarter cops (they can be really dumb), jibs (body parts fly off when chopped, shot, or 'sploded), and continuing turf wars (post neighborhood take-over, otherwise you end up too rich to ever spend enough).

There is plenty to do and thus multitudes of activities to waste time on. I only recently beat the game after dilly dallying for months and making little progress in the main plot. Seminal characters are voiced by famous actors and actresses which adds a little "ah ha" to the experience. For example, Neil Patrick Harris as a Rastafarian drug dealer.

Everything is colorful and over the top, including the sex and violence. It truly seems to be an wannabe gangsta's interactive daydream. Shooting and killing is common place and relatively tame. You fight for control of a city full of people who appear to have given up trying to fight back. The gangs are corrupt, the cops are corrupt, and the corporations (Ultor) are corrupt. Essentially the justification of the horrifying actions you take is: they deserved it.

Driving is simple and fun, with the exception of boats. Helicopters are somewhat complicated and planes are a breeze, no pun intended. The cars feel "heavier" than I'd like them to somewhat, but are much more toy-like than San Andreas or GTA4. After getting addicted on the original GTA3 and Vice City, this throwback is appreciated. Think of the automobiles here as Hotwheels to GTA3's Matchbox; still unrealistic, but on a different level.

Weapons and fighting ape the typical gun and punch mechanics, but with the added flourish of melee styles. For example, once you beat the Yakuza-esq gang, you get to do something like Kung Fu. There really isn't much to the base combat, not even auto-aim, but it is still very satisfying. In particular, throwing garbage cans and newspaper stands at people never got old. There's the lovely extra touch of coins bursting out of the latter that you can actually pick up.

Getting busted (police) or wasted (hospital) doesn't erase your inventory which is a blessing and a curse. Earlier on it is extremely helpful, but once you amass enough wealth it all becomes unnecessary. I'm not sure how this could be improved, maybe an effect of the difficulty levels? I played through on Casual (Easy) and it doesn't appear that you can get busted, only wasted.

Anyway, I'm rambling. My stepdad now owns this upon my recommendation and plays it all the time. It's his San Andreas replacement. He admits to missing CJ, but the massive customizations on your character in SR2 almost makes up for that. If you're a GTA fan and don't mind a faithful imitation, then give this one a try!