Grand Theft Auto IV vs. Saints Row 2

Hello, just to get this straight: this topic was not made for fanboys to comment something along the lines of "OMG GTA 4/SAINTS ROW 2 IS DA BEAST! GETZ IT NOW!". I just need people's advice on which one is best for my situation. Thank you.

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Now onto the topic. Rescently me and my friend have been contemplating on whether to get "Grand Theft Auto IV" or "Saints Row 2". The reason we were not entirely sure on what is the best to get is of our preferences. We are not looking for a great story line and detailed characters, however if we get bored of messing around we do want something to do. We want a game to have the most fun in and mess around. On the other hand we want to recieve descent performance from the game, in a sense that we do not want FPS dips or crashes. While we believe neither of this games provide these, we want to be sure. I hope you can provide us with useful advice. Thank you in advance. :D

Saints Row 2/3 "over the top fun" will last about 1h...everything...and i mean everything...is repetitive.There is no fun in SR 2/3...If you want over the top fun get Just Cause 2!
GTA IV is one of the best games ever to be created...every second of the game offers you new content...
As a side note...both SR2 and 3 have recived poor review scores from review sites and gamers alike...they did also poor on sales

Saints Row 2 is a great game and I completed it and had tons of fun with it on the xbox. I initially bought it for me and a mate for PC, but the port was just terrible - To the point where we gave up and just played through it together on 360. If you can get it to work, it's great fun.

Now on to GTA4. I bought it and played through it on teh xbox. It wasn't what I expected, no. It was better. It was my first GTA that I properly played, as it was the first that actually interested me. Anywho, I played through the story and thought it was pretty darn good - but the highlight for me was the multiplayer. Some of my fondest memories of gaming was having 16 player private lobbies, free roam and just messing around.

It's also a pretty decent port, I can run it on max with average (imo) specs - episodes from liberty city is a better port though.
If you have the choice, buy episodes from liberty city, there are some fun things there but the port is a lot more stable.
Saints Row 2 on PC made me give up.

GTA4 on PC made me have tons o' fun, even after playing through it on 360. Yeah, I bought it again ^^

there is no choice, GTA IV and nothing else, SR 2 is by far the worst port ever created. DanielDust

*with splinter cell double agent a close second

I didn't like saint row 2 at all but bought saint row 3 and was a wise choice, very fun game. If you want wacky fun saint row 3 if you want more story gta 4. Whatever you pick the Steam summer sale should be starting soon.

Just Cause 2 owns both imo. Plus, the PC version is fantastic and is getting an awesome multiplayer mod.

Just Cause 2 owns both imo. Plus, the PC version is fantastic and is getting an awesome multiplayer mod.

WhySoLimp

GTA4 was way too serious for me. It went against what a GTA game was supposed to be which was just plain crazy mayhem where realism goes out of the window.

I haven't played SR2 but from what I've heard to was the game GTA4 was supposed to be if it had kept to it's roots.

So, in a way the two games are quite different from each other.

You sure you mean SR2, not SR3? Stay far away from SR2, port is stable and looks ok but it has god awful inconsistant performance for the visuals however.

SR3 is crazy, wacky, arcadey fun. GTA4 is more serious, sim'ish and gloomy.

I like them both equally.

Not cool how SR3 nickeled and dimed everything in DLC however.

[QUOTE="WhySoLimp"]

Just Cause 2 owns both imo. Plus, the PC version is fantastic and is getting an awesome multiplayer mod.

Toxic-Seahorse

You sure you mean SR2, not SR3? Stay far away from SR2, port is stable and looks ok but it has god awful inconsistant performance for the visuals however.

SR3 is crazy, wacky, arcadey fun. GTA4 is more serious, sim'ish and gloomy.

I like them both equally.

Not cool how SR3 nickeled and dimed everything in DLC however.

VeryBumpy

Yeah, sadly ^. SR3 is severely lacking in content, and I'm really hoping Saints Row 4 is the definitive sequel to the fantastic 2, otherwise I'll pass.

When it comes to multiplayer (especially with your friend) GTA IV isn't the next best choice. Free roam is extremely lacking, and overall the city just feels ridiculously dull and empty compared to when you play single player. With Saints Row 2 (Gentlemen of the Row mod), there's always something entertaining to do and something interesting see on every street corner. Extra customization with tons of costumes/weapons/props... and I hope someone's mentioned CHEATS? There are some friggin' awesome cheats you two can turn on for co-op and it just extends the replay value to no end.

Performance is really a let down, though. I've heard that it's flawless on quad-core computers + powerful GPUs, but if you're really picky about performance, SR2 is a tough sell.

I'm a hardcore GTA fan so I will say GTA IV

I thought I was teleported back to 2008.

Anyways, I go with GTA IV. Saints Row 2 is the best SR game in my opinion, but while it has a lot of side missions and is fun to mess around in, it misses the little touches and details and gameplay mechanics. The graphics aren't as good, the story isn't half as good (though this is more like a crime comedy then a crime drama like GTA was trying to do), the city itself isn't nearly on the level of Liberty City in terms of scale and realism, the cars handle like toys and the gun combat is pretty basic, with online features lacking and being entirely removed from the sequel.

Its an amazing game, one that focuses on fun and activities and goes for a different type of game then GTA, so if you like SR2 more then GTA its not hard to believe when its great fun. Of course at an objective glance I think GTA IV is a better title, and the incredibly awesome modding community on PC has produced some stellar things, even if it was a rather "meh" port.