I love this game, I genuinely do. It's the best game in the Saints Row franchise by far but let's go down this point by point.


STORY: storywise this is easily the best in the series. You got three gangs like usual: the Ronin, The Brotherhood and the Sons of Samadei all with incredibly unique and conflicting goals and attributes (unlike in Saints Row 3 where all the gangs just joined forces midway through) and these gangs have taken over where the Saints left off after the attempted assassination on your life at the end of Saints Row 1. You are effectively starting off fresh, you wake up in the Stilwater Correctional Facility located on an offshore island. The younger brother of one of your old gang members intentionally got himself arrested and sent to jail to meet you and break you out. you fight your way through the island and get to shore with only a few bucks in your pocket and a handgun. You reunite with fan favorite character Johnny ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Gat! Ahhh, I love this guy. Anyway, you reunite with him and hire three lieutenants: Pierce, Shaundi and Carlos all but one of will end up becoming recurring characters in future games aaand you're off to take back your city and murder your way back to the top and oh boy, do you murder your way there. I really love this story and the gangs are what make it come to life. you got the rebellious heavy metal Brotherhood and the stoner tribal warriors of the Sons of Samadei and then you got the samurai ninjas Ronin in yellow and black jumpsuits who use katanas and ride motorcycles. I... hm, guess the creative team watchd too much Tarantino flicks while making the Yakuza. Overall an amazing story with nearly no flaws, hilarious and subtle writing and actually interesting characters. A must-buy for anyone seeking a story of revenge and gangster thrills.


GAMEPLAY: I imagine this is why most of you are here. Is the gameplay as good as other Gangster Sims like GTA? Yes, and then some. The gunplay feels uniquely onpoint for the series and of 3rd person adventure games as a whole. The guns have very beefy noises to them and that causes each one of them to feel different. Along with firerate, recoil and animation playing a part in this too. All the guns feel unique. The cars is where the gameplay starts to lag behind. Maybe it's because I'm using keyboard and mouse but driving always felt a little bit awkward and like your car would take a lot of damage when it wasn't your fault because the civilian AI decided to take a left turn on a right and slammed on the gas causing the car to zoom into oncoming traffic. The civilian AI is indeed dumb as rocks and will do the dumbest things for no real reason especially on the road. If you want deep and convincing Civvie AI just play GTA, this is not the place for you. Civvies in this game are little more than living meatshields. The expansiveness of the world is unfathomable for the series with it easily being the biggest open world in the franchise with the most stuff to do in it with liquor stores, restaurants, car dealerships, garages and the fact that if a car gets destroyed or if you leave it out in the street it won't be back in your garage. You HAVE to store cars in your garage in order to keep them and be able to spawn them later. It sounds small but this goes a long way to making the game a far more immersive experience and ends up making you way more protective of that Superiore you spent 70k on only to have it ripped away from you when a civilian decided to use their car as a battering ram (not mad btw). Overall, best in the series and a major draw to the game.

PERFORMANCE: oof, this is gonna be a tough one. This is not a great PC port. Saints Row 2 was originally on Xbox 360 and PS3 until it was ported to steam a few years back. This PC port isn't... great, there's a lot of jankiness in the cutscenes where stuff like phones and weapons hover just out of the person holding them's hand. Crashes happen not often enough to ruin the experience but it is something to keep in the back of your mind. Save often. Not to mention heavy framedrops. Overall, not great and needs improvement.

CUSTOMIZATION: This game, the one true thing it definitively has over any other openworld game is the level of customization. You can customize every section of your character's face, you can customize their eyes, you can customize their body. Wanna have a dude who has tits? GO AHEAD! Wanna be the most muscle-bound woman to ever live? GO FOR IT! The sky's the limit when you don't give a ♥♥♥♥! Overall, amazing. Not best in the series but amazing.

TL;DR overall Saints Row 2 is an amazing experience you need to play and one I will be playing after I publish this and continue playing for god knows how long, until I reach 100% completion I assume. It has amazing levels of player freedom, awesome gameplay and unforgettable Quentin Tarantino-like story. P L A Y T H I S G A M E PLEASE.

I love this game, I genuinely do. It's the best game in the Saints Row franchise by far but let's go down this point by point. STORY: storywise this is easily the best in the series. You got three gangs like usual: the Ronin, The Brotherhood and the Sons of Samadei all with incredibly unique and conflicting goals and attributes (unlike in Saints Row 3 where all the gangs just joined forces midway through) and these gangs have taken over where the Saints left off after the attempted assassination on your life at the end of Saints Row 1. You are effectively starting off fresh, you wake up in the Stilwater Correctional Facility located on an offshore island. The younger brother of one of your old gang members intentionally got himself arrested and sent to jail to meet you and break you out. you fight your way through the island and get to shore with only a few bucks in your pocket and a handgun. You reunite with fan favorite character Johnny fucking Gat! Ahhh, I love this guy. Anyway, you reunite with him and hire three lieutenants: Pierce, Shaundi and Carlos all but one of will end up becoming recurring characters in future games aaand you're off to take back your city and murder your way back to the top and oh boy, do you murder your way there. I really love this story and the gangs are what make it come to life. you got the rebellious heavy metal Brotherhood and the stoner tribal warriors of the Sons of Samadei and then you got the samurai ninjas Ronin in yellow and black jumpsuits who use katanas and ride motorcycles. I... hm, guess the creative team watchd too much Tarantino flicks while making the Yakuza. Overall an amazing story with nearly no flaws, hilarious and subtle writing and actually interesting characters. A must-buy for anyone seeking a story of revenge and gangster thrills. GAMEPLAY: I imagine this is why most of you are here. Is the gameplay as good as other Gangster Sims like GTA? Yes, and then some. The gunplay feels uniquely onpoint for the series and of 3rd person adventure games as a whole. The guns have very beefy noises to them and that causes each one of them to feel different. Along with firerate, recoil and animation playing a part in this too. All the guns feel unique. The cars is where the gameplay starts to lag behind. Maybe it's because I'm using keyboard and mouse but driving always felt a little bit awkward and like your car would take a lot of damage when it wasn't your fault because the civilian AI decided to take a left turn on a right and slammed on the gas causing the car to zoom into oncoming traffic. The civilian AI is indeed dumb as rocks and will do the dumbest things for no real reason especially on the road. If you want deep and convincing Civvie AI just play GTA, this is not the place for you. Civvies in this game are little more than living meatshields. The expansiveness of the world is unfathomable for the series with it easily being the biggest open world in the franchise with the most stuff to do in it with liquor stores, restaurants, car dealerships, garages and the fact that if a car gets destroyed or if you leave it out in the street it won't be back in your garage. You HAVE to store cars in your garage in order to keep them and be able to spawn them later. It sounds small but this goes a long way to making the game a far more immersive experience and ends up making you way more protective of that Superiore you spent 70k on only to have it ripped away from you when a civilian decided to use their car as a battering ram (not mad btw). Overall, best in the series and a major draw to the game. PERFORMANCE: oof, this is gonna be a tough one. This is not a great PC port. Saints Row 2 was originally on Xbox 360 and PS3 until it was ported to steam a few years back. This PC port isn't... great, there's a lot of jankiness in the cutscenes where stuff like phones and weapons hover just out of the person holding them's hand. Crashes happen not often enough to ruin the experience but it is something to keep in the back of your mind. Save often. Not to mention heavy framedrops. Overall, not great and needs improvement. CUSTOMIZATION: This game, the one true thing it definitively has over any other openworld game is the level of customization. You can customize every section of your character's face, you can customize their eyes, you can customize their body. Wanna have a dude who has tits? GO AHEAD! Wanna be the most muscle-bound woman to ever live? GO FOR IT! The sky's the limit when you don't give a shit! Overall, amazing. Not best in the series but amazing. TL;DR overall Saints Row 2 is an amazing experience you need to play and one I will be playing after I publish this and continue playing for god knows how long, until I reach 100% completion I assume. It has amazing levels of player freedom, awesome gameplay and unforgettable Quentin Tarantino-like story. P L A Y T H I S G A M E PLEASE.