Saint's Row 2 was a lot of fun

Blackwalt and Cozzorz visit Stillwater

The biggest problem I had with GTA IV was it's habit of taking itself too seriously. As a war veteran of a brutal war Niko Bellic was very much a violent man. But he just did it. Shoot a cop, blink, drive over an old lady, blink, blow up a crowd, blink. "Rock in roll is serious business" and he never cracked a smile.

Your character in Saint's Row 2? Well he (or she) is not like that at all. They never shut up as you are killing cops, crowds, cars, gang members. "Nut shot!", "How did you like that?", etc. Lively comments and fun. Not PG or PC in any way.

Saint's Row 2 is a seriously visceral game and it's a blast. It doesn't take itself seriously in any way, shape or form.

I found the melee combat much better than GTA IV and the gun targeting far superior. It seemed a lot faster and far easier to target (zoomed in or not). We used shotguns, pistols, dual wield pistols, batons, tazers, baseball bats, samurai swords, assault rifles, sub machine guns and light machine guns (in one of the predetermined game play parts).

Co-op play was seamless. Coxxorz and I played for a few hours without any issues. The biggest complaint is the shopping. Only one person can shop at a time. Normally not a problem except for the fact I couldn't trust Coxxorz alone for any length of time.

Ditching the orange Stillwater Prison jumpsuits took us a while longer than it should have. In the first clothing store while browsing I got this gem from Coxxorz "whoops, I accidentally hit the clerk. She's mad. ... never mind, she's dead now."

"Hey look! Cops."

Gee, I wonder if there is a connection.

Lobo and Megan sitting in a car: We may or may not have driven over the seriously wounded cop on the ground as we drove away. That thump could have been anything.A little later after an admittedly entertaining police chase across several boroughs we sat on a roof for ten minutes (in our bright orange jumpsuits) slowly waiting for our four star wanted rating to slowly disappear. Being chased by helicopters and running blockades of armoured vehicles was memorable. Of course, the first time we saw the armoured (and armed) vehicles we both yelled "I want one of those" and immediately turned toward the SWAT blockade. These vehicles don't come out to play until you reach four stars which we found disturbingly easy to do. Once we got in the trucks (we each had our own) you basically held down the trigger and mowed happily (and disturbingly) through the SWAT team, cops, gang members, and yes, there were probably innocent civilians there as well. My truck lasted three minutes before I drove it off an overpass and landed upside down where it exploded. I survived that but not the next attack on another SWAT barricade. Coxxorz had to ditch his truck to try to save me but he got there two seconds too late (you have 30 seconds to revive a fallen teammate). We did this a lot.

My second shopping excursion went a little better.

While I was shopping Coxxorz only managed to start a gang war on the front steps. Gang members vs cops. It got a little distracting trying to make a selection with all the gun shots screaming by. How Coxxorz kept us out of it I have no idea but it got pretty exciting for while. I vacated the area while he did his shopping...

Seemed prudent. I managed to steal a blinged car with spinning hubcaps, tinted windows and strip lighting along the mud runners and went back to pick him up.

The cop is the stripper: That's my character on the left after ditching the orange jumpsuit.It definitely leans more toward Crackdown than GTA IV but with the mission structure of GTA IV (which was better) and the missions are fully co-op. Our recovery mission from the courthouse started with a brawl in a strip club, had a massive shoot out with cops and SWAT in the middle, and ended with a car chase into the suburbs. We took separate cars and after I parked my SWAT van (don't ask) at the destination with one of the AI characters the game popped up a message that the mission isn't over until both of you are at the destination. At this point Coxxorz screamed in and crashed his car right into the back of my, fortunately vacated, SWAT van ending the mission. Also setting both vehicles on fire. And causing them both to explode. Violently. I went into the end mission screen as Coxxorz's car pinwheeled straight up into the air. On fire and shedding pieces everywhere. Entertaining.

Particularly entertaining when I left the mission screen and found the burning wreckage landing on my character, crushing me to the ground and setting me on fire. Image how lucky I felt that Coxxorz was right there to revive me. I had the last laugh though as he burst into flame while rescuing me. He lived.

What else did we do for fun:

Streaker: A Megan Fox look-a-like and a Lobo look-a-like pose with a random streaker
• stole cop cars
• ran from cops
• got arrested
• found a streaker
• trashed phones for money
• trashed parking meters for money
• trashed newspaper boxes for money (Coxxorz and I particularly enjoyed this)
• tried to mug a hooker
• fought gang members with samurai swords (us and them)
• shopped for trashy clothes
• attempted to rob a jewelry store ($0 dollars recovered even though the safe was open)
• checked out a strip joint
• tagged walls (spray paint gang markers)
• destroyed a shanty town (boy those bums got pissed off)
• rescued a gang member from a courthouse
• fought with a group of pimps

So what did I think of the Saint's Row 2 in general?

Well I enjoyed it. It was an open and lively world. The NPC's all talked as you walked by them. They were entertaining and I didn't see many repeats. The world is definitely over the top in everything you can do. Fighting is all over the place. Car driving and chasing is fun. Watching the cop cars careen all over the place while chasing you is entertaining. Several times we had them fly over us as we made a wild turn or evasion maneuver. Weapons are fun although I felt that ammo was sometimes limited. We ended the game with our first crib and our characters were talking about installing stripper poles. We now have a garage for cars and a roof for helicopters, should be interesting.

I know Coxxorz and I plan on going back to Stillwater for more. As I had hoped, I found enough similarities to Crackdown to make me happy with my purchase. Coxxoz used a coupon to rent his copy free for 30 days. You'll have to ask him whether the cost was too steep. We haven't tried any other multiplayer modes but co-op is excellent so far.

Oh, and one thing that is totally awesome? The character creation is unbelievable. You can make almost any character you want. And there is plastic surgery available if you change you mind later. There are several forums already set up with a ton of pre-done celebrity formulas. I have stolen links and added them at the end of the story.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are playing a female character, DO NOT do the Ho-ing activity. It's not what you would expect. Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!!!!!

Celebrities / Other Game Characters
- 50 Cent from KrAyZeD
- Agent 47 from The deej
- Agent 47 #2 from prettyboyflav2
- Albert Wesker from snipa9111
- Angelina Jolie from iampoopface
- Angelina Jolie 2 from Ayngel
- Ajax from "The Warriors" by morbidmafia
- Arnold Schwarzenegger from korscha
- Barack Obama from g-thang
- Bruce Willis from RetardedAnimal
- Burt Reynolds (Smokey & The Bandit) from Cheesimus
- Busta Rhymes from KrAyZeD
- Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Cpt Reynolds SC
- Carl Brutananadilewski (ATHF) from MisterUgly
- Carl Johnson (CJ) from SarDeliac
- Charlize Theron from hinder109
- Claude Speed from BlueSpurt
- Colin Farrell from Zet13
- Danny Trejo from 4kickinit (No Picture)
- David Belle from Oddball_E8
- Devon Aoki from SarDeliac
- "Doc Holiday" from MandatorySuicide
- Eazy E from SarDeliac
- Eliza Dushku (Shaundi's Voice Actor) by Deviija
- Fred Durst from White_Pony
- Futurama Characters from Futurama_Freak1
- Hank Hill from g-thang
- Havana Ginger from markgal
- Heath Ledger / Joker by neonsurfboard
- Ice Cube from markgal
- Ice Cube #2 from SarDeliac
- Jack Bauer from blacksite12 (No Picture)
- Jason Statham from iampoopface
- Jessica Alba from Disturbia
- Jesus from korscha
- John Dorian (Scrubs) from Crymsonnite
- Johnny Depp by iampoopface
- Johnny Quid by White_Pony
- The Joker from RobHimself13
- The Joker (cartoon series) from snipa0111 (Video)
- The Joker (comic series) from Wes_0311
- Keanu Reeves by MandatorySuicide
- Kurt Cobain from korscha
- L.L. Coo J from kinraze
- Layzie Bone by The Hamburgler
- Leonidas from 300 by g-thang
- Lil Wayne by 50 ₧
- Michelle Keegan from White_Pony
- Morgan Freeman from korscha
- Morpheus from White_Pony
- Natalie Portman from iampoopface
- Nika Boronina Aka Olga Kurylenko from romanov I
- Niko Belic from Fryaga
- Paladin Alexander Anderson from "Hellsing" by White_Pony
- Paris Hilton from Te311
- Robert De Niro from Zet13
- Robert Z'dar by korscha
- Ronald McDonald from pretyboyflav2 (No Picture)
- Samuel L. Jackson by korscha
- Sarah Palin by MandatorySuicide
- Snoop Dogg by Teabagonmikeface
- Solid Snake by RetardedAnimal
- T-Pain from DonJarvis
- Tony Montana from markgal
- Travis Barker from RyanC08
- Triple H (Wrestler) from Zet13
- Tyler Durden by RedTyga87
- Tyron Biggums Tha Crack Head (Dave Chappelle) by XX DEFCON 1 XX
- Vin Diesel from bobtunafish34 (No picture)
- Wesley Snipes from markgal

Random Characters
- 1920's Gangster from Mitur Binesdurty
- Alien from snipa9111
- Diane Volger from Diane Volger (no picture)
- Eva Grant from Zet13
- Feeder Zombie from snipa9111
- Fristyle from DJ Fristyle
- Jiang Hun from tangotapper007 (No Picture)
- Jessica from cool_brotha
- Jose from R-Star (No picture)
- Karen Fei from Disturbia
- Khalid from SarDeliac
- LSW45's character from LSW45
- Madam LaCroix from Madam
- Midori Kuranagi from interim
- Mokoru by Mokoru
- Random Thug from Chrome
- "Saint" from Saint of War
- SarDeliac's Madam LaCroix inspired character
- SarDeliac's random character
- Scarecrow by morbidmafia
- Sora from hinder109 (No Picture)
- techN9ne from SpecialTears (No picture)
- "The Crack Ho" from SarDeliac
- Toast's Brit from FredOnToast

SR Characters
- Dex by SarDeliac
- Johnny Gat from Firespite
- Johnny Gat #2 from flyboy513 on YouTube (no picture)
- Lin by SarDeliac
- Lin #2 by Ayngel
- Maero by BeNgEy BoY JR (no picture)
- Mr. Sunshine by Anonymous (RyanT18 posted the sliders)
- Shaundi from hinder109 (no picture)
- Warren (SR1) from SarDeliac