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Saints Row 2 launched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 14, 2008. It's been often referred to as a "GTA clone", but it has evolved into much more than that. Saints Row fixed so many things that were wrong with the GTA series, but unfortunately falls flat in other areas. Saints Row 2 picked up where the first game left off. For those who haven't played the original, stop reading now as there will be spoilers.
Saints Row ended with the player seemingly dead in the water (literally). However, we learn in Saints Row 2 that your character has not died - he's been in a coma for several years. You begin the game in the hospital and can customize your character however you want. The game explains this by injecting humor about plastic surgery, etc, so it works well. You cannot import your character from the original game, I'm afraid.Those familiar with the first game will already be accustomed to the GTA-styled controls and missions. Where Saints Row really shines is the various "activities" that the player can choose to do. Things such as snatching hos, police brutality, going on a poo-spraying rampage with a septic truck, the list goes on. If you judge the game itself on its content alone, it's a solid 10. However, you have to look at the whole picture. Unfortunately, the game is buggy as hell. Frequent freezes (we played the Xbox 360 version), disappearing cars, texture drop-outs, weird collisions, the list goes on. Sometimes you can't even get into a car because you can't see it. This is troublesome for missions which require the use of a certain vehicle. Your only choice is to stop, reload, and try again. Most of the time that fixes it. A patch has been promised for several months, but may never come to light given the recent lay-offs at Volition, the game's developer. The game's publisher, THQ, has also recently lost about 25% of its work force, all but guaranteeing that the problems of a 5-month old game are low on the priority list. The game does feature multiplayer, but it has so many problems that it's near unplayable. This, above all else, has prompted our score of what could have been a perfect 10 game. Let's hope that Saints Row 3, if it ever sees the light of day, will have better quality control. 
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