Saint's Row 2 Hands On
2008-09-22 16:05:05 (348 views)
At the Games Convention Asia held in Singapore recently I spent some time with Volition's upcoming Saint's Row 2. While the demo I played was enjoyable, it was in no way a threat to Grand Theft Auto IV from any angle (and trust me this isn't the GTA fan within talking).
Saint's Row 2 takes place after the events that transpired in the first game.
(MINOR SPOILER AHEAD...)
Towards the end of the first game you find yourself betrayed by the 3rd Street Saints who detonated a bomb on the yacht you were on, severely wounding you and destroying your family jewels in the process. (This unfortunate incident will now allow you to create a female protagonist if you want to.) Half-dead and only half the man you once were, you find yourself on a derelict prison with only one goal in mind: retribution against the people who robbed you off your life and – ahem! – your jewels.
I never got to tool around with the game's character customization, so I had to make do with an already existing avatar – a beefy Jamaican dude. The demo kicked off in a prison hospital with me emerging from a deep slumber, only to join up with someone called Carlos who's itching to bust out from the joint as well. Pretty soon we embark on this most noble quest for freedom during which we shoot, stab, kick and punch tons of prison guards.
Hand-to-hand combat in this game is, well, just about nice, and players have quite a few options at their disposal besides the regular punch and kick. You can grab enemies and throw them all around the place (just like Uncle Gary told you) or you can pick up objects form the environment (chairs in the demo) and smack people on the head. While hand-to-hand combat is a definite improvement from the first game, it still feels very mediocre and lacks the brutality you'd come to expect from this sort of game.
Shooting pretty much feels the same as before, only this time round you can zoom in for an over-the-shoulder view a la Resident Evil 4, and dual wield pistols. The AI I encountered in this game was dense and in no way posed a threat to me, except when they charged at me in large numbers. Visually the game was nothing to shout about and one thing that worried me the most was the frame rate – just like SR, it kept dipping from time to time.
While I may not sound all that crazy about Saint's Row 2, I did enjoy playing it since it's one of those mindless, over-the-top action games that are entertaining in short bursts (like Mercenaries 2 in recent times). In other words, Saint's Row 2 is to GTA what Dead to Rights was to Max Payne.
Oh, and in case you didn't get that analogy, Saint's Row 2 is like Grand Theft Auto IV's cruder, poorer yet enjoyable cousin.
Avinash Bali
http://www.tech2.com
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