Outside the Locked Case - Saints Row 2

By Creasy37

Would you like to blow sh*t up with me? That’s the question the ads for Crackdown 2 ask. Ruffian (the makers of Crackdown 2) is advertising their open world Super Agent game as a massively chaotic good time with friends, and I personally can’t wait. Well, to fill time between now and July 6^th, I recommend taking Volition Games's Saints Row 2 for a whirl, because here’s a game that will let you blow sh*t up with me, only minus the Super Agents. If you have twenty dollars and a penchant for causing mayhem, run to your nearest game selling establishment and pick this game up. The story and cut scenes are strong, and most of the time, intentionally amusing. The level of customization in general is literally addictive, and practically unmatched in any other game, and the amount of fun you can have inside the game world (2-player online, drop in/drop out co-op play) is off the charts.

The story of the game is simple. Your character was blown up (apparently) at the end of Saints Row, and has been in a coma for the last five years. You wake up in the jail infirmary, and with the assistance of another inmate, you bust out. Violently. Once you’re out, you discover that your gang (The 3^rd Street Saints) have lost control of the city, and there’s just no having that. So you set out to get it back.

You can go anywhere you want from the beginning of the game, as there is nothing to unlock (I’m looking at you Just Cause 2). The only thing limiting what you can do is money and respect. There are multiple ways that you can earn both, and I haven’t found a single one yet that isn’t fun.

How do you earn respect? I suggest the following:
Take off all your clothes and go streaking! Kill a rival gang member and teabag them! Hop in a septic truck and spray human waste all over targets in a mini-game called “The Septic Avenger.” Be a bodyguard for a movie star. Throw yourself into traffic in the “Insurance Fraud” mini-game. Turn yourself into a man-ho or a prostitute (seriously).

How do you make money? Have you tried killing pimps and ho’s and taking the cash they drop; only to find you’re not getting enough from them? Try killing professionally in the “Hit-List” diversion where you get money for assassinating people. Not your thing? You can always try helping out your local chop shop by jacking cars on their list. Or maybe help stop the local Asian massage parlor from shutting down by recruiting some working girls from the street. Yep, these are some of the things you can do to earn respect, and money. It’s a thug life, and you get paid to live it.

Now that you’ve earned all this money and respect, you can pimp out your character's clothes, cars, or motorcycles. You can buy a new crib or upgrade your old one. With the respect you have earned, you can progress through the story missions, which will lead you to take out five rival gangs over time. Completing a story mission brings that section of the neighborhood under your control and protection, allowing you to earn money for every day that you maintain control of it. There are forty-five neighborhoods to control in the city. The end goal, of course, is to defeat all the rival gangs and take back Stillwater for the 3^rd Street Saints.

Did I mention that you can do all of this with a friend? If I haven’t, I should have, and will do so now: You can do all of this with a friend. Hop into their game or bring them into yours, and you can complete the story missions together, or perhaps you would rather just cruise over to the airport and hijack a private jet until you feel like parachuting out of it. Go ahead, the game doesn’t mind. It's your sandbox to do with what you will.

The game is a blatant Grand Theft Auto rip-off, only it’s main focus is freedom to do what you want and to have fun doing it. In my opinion, it succeeds at every turn. Saints Row 2 will never win a game of the year award, but it doesn’t need to. For $20.00, you can blow sh*t up alone, or with your friends, until Crackdown 2 gets here.