How will Saints' Row 2 be affected?

So we all know that Grand Theft Auto IV scored a perfect score.... something Gamespot hasn't seen in about 7 years. We can guess that this is a favorite for GOTY. What I want to know is how Saints Row 2 will be impacted by this game being so good. When the first one came out, two roads diverged, kind of like when Skate came out. Rockstar has been making these themed games forever and then these new guys come in and make a successful game. Rockstar struck back with an incredible game. Saints Row 2 will have a lot to live up to, and now people will generally be judging it a lot tougher due to the standards being set. Will this game be good or will it flop

They sure have to step up to make us a great game, now more than ever.

I think it depends how good SR2 will be.I think SR2 will pick up many little elements that are missing in GTA,just like the first did.No matter how good the game will be,it will get not too good ratings,because of GTA,just like GTA could be only half as good as it is and still get high ratings.I think that will be a big problem for SR2.But never say never.Depends on how long-lasting GTA is,too.Of course everyone is saying that you can that and it has a lot of variety and stuff like that,but thats something everybody says in the beginning.We will see how it is in 3 Months...Halo 3 was a Bomb the first 2-3 Months but then the mistakes made in the design here and there came out,for example....like always.With SR2 coming out is the question,do the people want more,or is GTA4 still that strong.So you can say the sales of SR2 show how good GTA4 really is.Of course there are a lot people skipping GTA4 for SR2 but that aren´t the mass.But after all SR sold awesome and the open ended Story still keeps some people coming back...we will see.

So we all know that Grand Theft Auto IV scored a perfect score.... something Gamespot hasn't seen in about 7 years. We can guess that this is a favorite for GOTY. What I want to know is how Saints Row 2 will be impacted by this game being so good. When the first one came out, two roads diverged, kind of like when Skate came out. Rockstar has been making these themed games forever and then these new guys come in and make a successful game. Rockstar struck back with an incredible game. Saints Row 2 will have a lot to live up to, and now people will generally be judging it a lot tougher due to the standards being set. Will this game be good or will it flop

Moroes

Scores (quite a few gamers had GTA4 on their 'must buy' lists well before the reviews hit and word of mouth will drive subsequent sales) and GOTY awards (I've never heard of a game benefitting from a sudden boost in sales caused by an end of year of award) don't affect the purchasing decisions of most gamers, so I doubt reviewers' enjoyment of GTA4 will cause Saint's Row any problems.

An interesting pattern is GTA clones such as Driver 3, The Getaway and True Crime putting up massive numbers the first time around, only to have their sequels die quiet deaths at retail since disappointed consumers didn't come back. Saint's Row 2 like most sequels, will live or die based on how well people liked its predecessor.

I'm not a GTA player, but a friend of mine who is big on it said that he and others are a tad disappointed this time that they don't have the incredible freedome to just screw around like they did in previous games. Based on what's been stated by SR2 devs, this is what they are doing in spades with it.

That being said, could SR2 possibly fill in the gaps that GTA IV was missing?

An interesting pattern is GTA clones such as Driver 3, The Getaway and True Crime putting up massive numbers the first time around, only to have their sequels die quiet deaths at retail since disappointed consumers didn't come back. Saint's Row 2 like most sequels, will live or die based on how well people liked its predecessor.CarnageHeart

Actually, with those games, there was nothing to come back to. The sequels of those games you listed were horrible and didn't even live up to the mediocreness of the originals.

Saints Row was better than GTA San Andreas in my book. Hell, I still say Saints Row had a better combat system than GTA 4 even. I hope all of the free customizability of players, clothes and cars will be as good as the producers of Saints Row 2 say, because the customization in GTA 4 is nonexistant.

But to compete with GTA 4 overall, Saints Row 2 needs a more fleshed out storyline (not that the last one was bad, but it sure can't compare to the trials and tribulations of Niko), and needs to have more unique and randomized properties of the city, something that GTA 4 did pretty well this time around.

I personally thing Saints Row was judged way harshly because of it being in the "Sandbox" genre, the genre GTA 3 invented.

it'll be fine, SR2 comes out in november, by then most people would of realised GTA IV is overrated.-Phaz-

Says the guy with Final Fantasy in his sig.

You should hit the dictionary and look up the word irony, sport.