Late last week I finished up Saints Row 2 in my march towards Saints Row IV on August 20. After seeing the credits roll, I can safely say that I’m glad that Saints Row 2 wasn’t my first Saints Row experience or I may not have ever played Saints Row: The Third at all. It’s not that Saints Row 2 is a bad game by any means – it’s actually pretty damn fun. Gameplay-wise, it’s much closer to Saints Row: The Third than the first one, and it’s also quite a bit easier than Saints Row 1. While I never considered quitting before finishing it out, the game certainly left a bad taste in my mouth by the end.

I played the second installment on the PC rather than a console. I had heard that the port was pretty bad, and while the controls leave something to be desired (especially in the menus), performance was OK. Of course, the game came out in 2009 and I have the benefit of a pretty monstrous machine (2x GTX 580s) to push it. I had to use a community created program to set the correct resolution, but once that was done the game ran reasonably well and only crashed on me once.

I found Saints Row 2 to be much easier than the first installment of the series. I *did* have the luxury of controlling the protagonist with a mouse and keyboard, but I’m pretty sure that I would have handled this game easier even with a controller in hand. I can’t remember a mission like the last Los Carnales car-ride-through-the-airport-sniping-tiny-barrels-with-an-assult-rifle-while-being-bombarded-with-rockets mess from Saints Row 1. I can also count the number of times I died or failed a mission in Saints Row 2 on one hand.

The structure of the game is extremely similar to the other games in the series – you start with some intro missions, then split out into three parallel storylines against three different gangs and then finish up with a few “epilogue” missions. To start the story missions you must earn enough respect by completing activities around town. In Saints Row 1 I had to work pretty hard to get enough respect to finish the game (and the activities were pretty hard) – in SR2 I finished the game with enough respect to do another 30+ story missions, completed several activities and spent less time playing overall. Did I mention that SR2 is easier?

The “villains” from the rival gangs are well written and acted and the storylines are compelling enough. The lieutenants in the Saints this time around are also presented well. Very few characters are carried over from SR1 to SR2 – the biggest being the protagonist and Johnny Gat. A couple of minor characters from the activities in SR1 make cameos, but overall you’ll be dealing with a new cast. I did find it enjoyable to see where Shaundi and Pierce came from (remember that I played Saints Row: The Third as my first SR game). Of course, Shaundi is essentially nothing like her personality in SR3, but the banter between the protagonist and Pierce is generally pretty entertaining and explains one of the lines from the SR3 intro.

One of the bigger changes in SR2 is that the protagonist talks. This gives a more natural feel to the cut-scenes in the game, but leads to my biggest criticisms overall. The thing I noticed most while playing SR2, especially as the game progressed, was just how *dark* the main character and story goes by the end of the game.

Saints Row 1, possibly due to technical limitations, never got truly brutal in the story violence. The most “personal” kill is probably the end of the Vice Kings final mission, and that’s not even done by the protagonist. Further, the violence is usually aimed at the main “bad guys” directly.

Saints Row: The Third certainly has its violent moments, but the overall theme of that game is so cartoony and over-the-top that it never feels “real.” Even up close and personal kills are often so absurd that it feels more like a Tom and Jerry cartoon than a serious exposition of gang violence.

Saints Row 2, however, has just enough technical prowess to effectively convey brutality to the player. I have no problem with violence in games, but SR2 made me uncomfortable with just how ruthless my character was. In many cases in SR2, it wasn’t enough for the protagonist to just “win” – he had to completely demoralize, break and defeat his enemies. Instead of just “killing the bad guys,” the protagonist goes through elaborate setups that often catch somewhat benign side-characters in the crossfire just to get under the enemy gang leaders’ skin.

For whatever reason, the characters I played in SR1 and Saints Row: The Third felt comparatively like the “good guys” of the game world. They did despicable things, but the tone of the story and the writing makes it seem like deep down the characters are just making the best of a bad situation. The protagonist in SR2 felt like a terrible person with no hope for redemption. Suffice it to say that I *liked* my characters in SR1 and SR3, but by the end of SR2 I *hated* the protagonist.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Saints Row 2. The gameplay is enjoyable and it definitely scratches the same Saints Row itch that the other games do. I didn’t try to 100% the game like I did with Saints Row: The Third, but had I played SR2 when it was current I probably would have. It’s unfortunate that it left such a bad taste in my mouth story-wise, but given how much I enjoyed Saints Row: The Third I’m still quite looking forward to Saints Row IV.