Saints Row 2

[AcidCat]

I wasn't going to get this game. I played the original and it was mediocre. And I figured, I just played GTA4, do I really need another game like that so soon? But I broke down because I kept hearing such good things.

And the game's awesome. It is a helluva lot more fun that GTA4. It doesn't look as good, and I prefer GTA's driving physics, but it is just more *fun*. There is SO much more to do, at any given time, and the game rewards you for everything. In GTA I got to a point where there was one mission in the storyline that I had to get past, before the final island was unlocked, and I kept getting almost to the end and dying. I drove around the city and realized there really wasn't much else to do, so I took the disc out and haven't put it back since. SR2 is by comparison an embarrasment of riches.

The customization is also first rate - from your character to your clothes to your hideouts to your cars - everything has an INSANE level of customization. Compared to GTA where all you had was a fairly weak selection of clothing - this is just awesome. I'm one of those who love customizing shit (I probably spent more time making characters in the latest Soul Calibur than actually playing) and after playing SR2, GTA feels like half a game without this kind of stuff.

And one final thing, I'm really tired of the "thug life/gangster" motif, but I find that SR2 is so tongue-in-cheek that it doesn't really bother me. I found GTA4 more .. depressing on that front because it played the main storyline fairly seriously. This is just a joke and over the top nonsense, so it goes down a whole lot smoother.

[Moosehands]

I liked SR1 so buying SR2 was a given, but even still this game is just awesome.  Beats the first in almost every way.  I was able to make a near perfect recreation of myself, dressed in engineer boots with purple laces, a Borat style slingshot onesy swimsuit, and a souvenir stalagmite hat with a yellow pony on the front.  Consequently, all of my friends are very thankful I don't have an easy way to take screenshots.

They made the world significantly bigger, added motorcycles, helicopters, and planes and just crammed every square inch of the game full of activity.  I've only played through the Brotherhood storyline so far, but the plot was suprisingly brutal.  A little too brutal for how cavalier and cartoony the non-mission game is, honestly.

My one complaint is that I'm not liking the maps for online gangster brawl matches.  SR1 maps seemed more open and airy, whereas things are much more cramped in SR2.  This has a side effect of making pipebomb spam way, way too deadly.

[Azazel]

I picked it up on, erm.. last Thursday but haven't taken it for a spin yet. I still have Just Cause to finish grinding through, as well as Crackdown and GTA4 sitting in my "sandboxy play me" pile. I'm bloody well tempted to skip them and just start on this though. I really really liked the first one a lot.

[Zetleft]

Loved the first one and was sorely disappointed with GTA4s lack of customization.... I'll be picking it up when I have the time.

[TripleDES]

Got it today. Didn't play the first game, but the amount of customizations already faced during character creation made me go whoa. Only did the jail break out, so haven't played much yet.

[AcidCat]

There are plastic surgery places around town too, so you can completely redo your character at any time for only $ 500.

I think I'm going to make an old lady next.

[LK]

I haven't read any of this thread. I don't want to read any of it. But as soon as I get Fallout 3 and Fable II and Dead Space out of the way (Maybe not the third), I am going to play the ever-loving shit out of this game. It's the one game I've been looking forward to.

[Tebonas]

Plot of the Original not needed to fully appreciate this one?

[Morfiend]

I haven't read any of this thread. I don't want to read any of it. But as soon as I get Fallout 3 and Fable II and Dead Space out of the way (Maybe not the third), I am going to play the ever-loving shit out of this game. It's the one game I've been looking forward to.

Same for me.

I hope to suck one of my friends in to play Coop also.

[AcidCat]

Plot of the Original not needed to fully appreciate this one?

Not at all.

[TripleDES]

I hope there'll be more clothing via DLC. Playing way too much plastic surgeon and dress up.

[LK]

Started playing while waiting for Fallout to show up. Spent a good half hour just messing with the character creator making one type of person. Not a big fan of the 100 point slider but I was able to update my blur-haired Asian, Gwai-lo, from Saints Row to the new incarnation, Gwai-li.

Can't wait to dig into this title. :)

Edit: Also, I've found the story for Saints Row to be far more compelling than any GTA, for whatever reason. Might be the self-insertion and Keith Mother-Fucking David.

[LK]

Streaking is the most fun I've ever had in a GTA-style game. Ever. The animations you perform, your facial expression, and the world's reaction is priceless.

[TripleDES]

The multiplayer stuff's fucking stupid, tho. How the hell do you even get in a coop game? Does anyone actually do multiplayer with this? Takes ages to get in a regular multiplayer game, which suck, and co-op never finds any.

[MisterNoisy]

I've been playing a ton of co-op with my brother without a hitch, but haven't tried with randoms yet. 

Last night, we decided to take up a couple of biplanes and start dogfighting over the airport for shits and grins.  Some stray shots and the occasional crash had the cops on us with attack helicopters in short order, at which point the game turned into a scene out of one of the Iron Eagle sequels with us buzzing the choppers with guns blazing trying to take them (and the tons of FBI trucks on the ground) out.

This game rules.

[AcidCat]

I think most people have set co-op to friends only, which I did after I kept getting random requests for people to join my game.

I played coop with a buddy last night and it is a blast.

[Sky]

Cross-platform co-op?

[AcidCat]

No

[Morfiend]

GAH, stop making me want to buy this.

[TripleDES]

Definitely way more fun than GTA, and I've right now only done the break out and first mission. Mostly just screwing around. After robbing a bunch of stores, I wish regular houses would be enterable to rob/annoy/kill regular people doing random activities (watching TV, doing a party, having sex).

[NiX]

Roomie and I are starting this up tomorrow and I can't wait. This game, from the whole 20 minutes I played, was a lot more fun than GTA4. Of course this could all be ruined if his girlfriend shows up.

[LK]

If they make an MMO GTA-style game, they need to use the customization options from this game. You can make *so many* different variations of characters, its awesome. The car customization is ridiculous as well.  I actually look forward to popping into other people's games with my character to show off.

[Yegolev]

This game is so much more fun than GTAIV that I hope the Housers are crying right now.  The driving is a tad too arcadey for me, but otherwise it's superb.

[LK]

I just looked at the Achievements for this game that are public now that I've beaten the game.

Complete all campaign missions and all activities at all levels in Co-Op? Fuck, why not just put a disclaimer on the front and say "Play in Co-Op or you'll regret it."

[TripleDES]

If they make an MMO GTA-style game, they need to use the customization options from this game. You can make *so many* different variations of characters, its awesome. The car customization is ridiculous as well.  I actually look forward to popping into other people's games with my character to show off.

Uh, I think APB is going to have that covered. Judging the various videos of the character creation, it may even go beyond that.

[NiX]

I just have to point out that this game is so much fun co-op and suggest anyone who has a buddy they like to play co-op with should pick this up. I think my roomie and I are at about 14 hours total played. We've even been caught up in the side missions that typically, from my experience with the GTAs, are usually frustrating or horribly boring.

[AcidCat]

I just have to point out that this game is so much fun co-op and suggest anyone who has a buddy they like to play co-op with should pick this up. I think my roomie and I are at about 14 hours total played. We've even been caught up in the side missions that typically, from my experience with the GTAs, are usually frustrating or horribly boring.

Seriously, this is the best co-op I've played since ... I don't know. And there are a ton of things to do, if you get bored with the main gang missions you can take breaks doing the side stuff (The air assault mission was a lot of fun, one player pilots the chopper and the other guns) Heck there is side stuff that you don't even know is there until you try something. My friend ended up on top of our ride-of-the-moment, and I'm all "see how long you can stay up there while I drive!" and as soon as we start, the game pops up with a Car Surfing minigame. Or if you shoot enough rival gang members on the street from inside your car, it starts a Driveby minigame. The game rewards you for just messing around having fun.

[Moosehands]

Finished up the plot missions last night.  Those two swordfight mini-game Ronin missions were complete bullshit; stood out like sore thumbs.

Even so, my overall take on the game is that it's damn fun from beginning to end.

[LK]

I have yet to do MANY of the activities in the game because I want to do them co-op. Thankfully, it keeps track of what you do accurately.

[CmdrSlack]

The co-op requires two people with separate machines and games, right?

Can you do 2p co-op on the same Xbox? If so, I could likely convince the wife that we need a ninth game at this point in time.

[Azazel]

Can you do co-op missions using your newspaper clippings?

Can't figure out how to do insurance scam missions though. Steal a police car and smash into another car as fast as you can doesn't seem to work like it did in the first one.

Anyone else having it freeze up? I've had 2 freezes so far.

[NiX]

My roomies legit copy freezes up sometimes. Apparently most companies aren't using high quality DVDRs.

The easiest way to do the insurance fraud is to grab a dump truck, put it in the area, hop on top of the truck and drop inside the dump truck through the hatch. If you tumble around the time stops, so you'll be able to do all of the levels no problem. If you have a buddy playing co-op, he can sit in an adrenaline zone and make it easier for you.

[Hindenburg]

Can't figure out how to do insurance scam missions though. Steal a police car and smash into another car as fast as you can doesn't seem to work like it did in the first one.

Anyone else having it freeze up? I've had 2 freezes so far.

Yes, 3 freezes, made me learn  to save as soon as I complete a mission. Also made me hate them for not putting an autosave function, like GTA.

Insurance Scams: Go to the appointed area. Stay on foot in the middle of the street. Wait for a high speed car to pass. Press any trigger button while moving in their general direction to throw yourself in front of them.

You have some degree of control while flying around, so it's possible to chain hits when your adrenaline is high, since that makes you a human coil.

Quite fun.

[NiX]

Yes, 3 freezes, made me learn  to save as soon as I complete a mission. Also made me hate them for not putting an autosave function, like GTA.

Uh, it does have autosave. Actually, the game autosaves after you complete anything in the game. Looks like you either disabled it or somehow you're missing the very obvious "Autosave" at the top of the load list.

[LK]

Can you do co-op missions using your newspaper clippings?

Can't figure out how to do insurance scam missions though. Steal a police car and smash into another car as fast as you can doesn't seem to work like it did in the first one.

Anyone else having it freeze up? I've had 2 freezes so far.

Yes. It will also display if you've completed that mission in Co-Op as a handy reference.