Saints Row 2 is pure, unadulterated, gaming fun.
Whereas Grand Theft Auto represents a serious and sober take on the life of a jack-of-all trades criminal, Saints Row 2 turns that premise on its head, providing over the top thrills and nonsensical destruction.
Saints Row's gameplay has it together. Driving feels natural and is a lot of fun, combat is excellent, but adequate gameplay alone can't carry an open world crime game above its massive amount of competition. Saints Row leaves it's unique mark on the genre. In what other game can you lead an army of ninja through a bloody gang war to eventually rest on the top of the city's criminal food chain?
Saints Row's story is silly, but that doesn't stop it from delivering some emotional moments. It's surprising when this wild game slows down and delivers a moment that, while maybe not poignant, will at least give you a fierce drive to crush one of your rival gangs.
Saints Row offers a lot more beyond just the main story, the protagonist of the game can be customized and dressed up in any way imaginable. Also, in the "Rim Jobs" car mechanic, vehicles are offered almost the same level of customization. You can even add hydrologics!
Of course, where would an open world crime game be without optional missions and activities, and Saints Row offers an unprecedented number of ways to pass the time when you aren't crushing your rival gangs. Fight clubs, racing, hold ups, assassinations, even streaking. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
But these open world games can be a lonely place... we've all wished to be able to tackle one of these types of games with a friend. Saints Row has your medicine. Every single story and optional mission is fully playable in a online co-operative mode, and bringing a friend into your version of Stilwater makes a fantastic game just about perfect.
When you're bored of running amok alone (or with a friend) in your city, you can partake in some online gang wars. Plenty of gametypes are available in the game's competitive mode. Death match, capture the flag, ect, ect.
Saints Row 2 takes a formula popularized by the Grand Theft Auto series and in many ways improves upon it. Saints Row 2 is as fully realized and as fun of a game as the recent Grand Theft Auto 4, and is at least as good, if not better, than the game that served to influence it so heavily. It's easy to scoff at the similarities, but nobody can deny that Saints Row 2 does just about everything right. It's non-stopped fun.