Saints in Hell

When the first Saints Row was released, people thought it could very well be a GTA killer. The debut had better graphics and physics than San Andreas and was a blast to play. However, I still felt like the developers didn't do enough to seperate Saints Row from the Grand Theft Auto franchise it wished to compete against. After the release of GTA IV, which pushed the envelope of what was thought possible in a sandbox game, I wondered how Saints Row 2 would stack up. Well in short, it doesn't. It's a fun game don't get me wrong, but to me GTA IV was a huge leap forward and Saints Row 2 is a couple of steps backward. It took me a while to warm to the game, since GTA spoiled me with its kickass gameplay. Once I appreciated ST 2 for what it was, I became addicted to its over the top antics. The highlight of this title would have to be the activities. My personal favs are Septic Avenger, Insurance Fraud, and the Cops spoof, Fuzz. The missions themselves are nothing special, and neither is the story and the former lacks variety. I know it's not fair to compare GTA to Saints Row, as Saints has some nice features that the former lacks. The ability to create your own character is always nice, plus it has zombies and zombies are always awesome. Long story short: if you're looking for a GTA killer, you won't find it here, but it's a nice tie over until GTA V eventually comes out.