Over the past week and a half, I have spent more than my fair share of time playing THQ’s Saints Row II. Let me tell you, at first I was resistant to this blatant GTA ripoff, however, I gve it its day in court and I am glad that I did. It was a fun game. The story is a little bit cartoonish, in that it is perhaps overly simplistic, but the missions are enjoyable and the makers have managed to create a decently difficult game without getting carried away and making it too tough.

You play the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, a gang that has disbanded since you have been locked up. To cut a long story short, you escape from jail, bust out your buddy Jonny Gat from death row and go to war with anyone that doesn’t wear the color purple. It is violent, bloody, and a quite a lot of fun.

I probably completed about 85% of the missions on a first run. The activities are actually a bit harder, but tend to take less time, which compensates for the time that you lose with each restart. There is a nice assortment of weapons, which includes rocket launchers, various hand-thrown explosives, various pistols (which you can dual-wield), sub machine guns (which you can also dual wield), assault rifles and shotguns. Ammo is rather precious and will test you in the early stages when money is rather tight.

The graphics of Saints Row II are rather mediocre, but as the game gets under way, this ceases to be an issue and in a way sort of suits the B-grade action movie plot. The cut-scenes are rather entertaining, if a little two dimensional. The enemy characters do develop a little as the game gets underway, but you never grow any attachment to them. Had the designers given them some emotion, it would have made the final scenes for reach gang leader a little more conflicting. In my view this would have been more satisfying overall.

After completing all of the missions, strongholds and a large part of the activities, this is a game that I am glad that I played. It was fun, and though while not in the same league as a game like GTA IV, it manages to entertain. It is a worthy addition to the library and one that I may pick up again some time in the future. If, however, you don’t buy a lot of games, there are probably a number of other titles that I would consider getting first. The fun factor saves this game from a lower rating.

Score: 7 / 10

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