I’ve been playing Saint’s Row 3 and having a blast, so I wondered if the first two were worth picking up. Any good?
Haven’t played 1 or 3, but 2 is excellent.
Joe
You didn’t mention what platform you’re playing on.
If it’s the PC, don’t bother with the first one. It was an awful port with all kinds of performance and control issues.
The second one is much better. It’s not as “open” as SR3 - by that I mean you must to the traditional “open world” slog of leveling up and completing missions to access a lot of the content. You start the game by escaping from jail and must work your way up the crime ladder, whereas in SR3 you start at the top.
The graphics in SR2 are serviceable but noticeably worse than SR3. As far as missions, in SR3 Volition fully embraced the ridiculous over-the-top direction of the game. In SR2 there are flashes of that (the Septic Avenger missions) but it still felt more serious.
If you go to SR2 after starting with SR3 you’ll most likely have fun but also spend a lot of time saying “I wish I could do…”
One issue that threw me off is that the controls are slightly different, so I kept screwing up.
Oh, I’m on PC. And “over-the-top” is right. I’ve already beaten five people to death with a giant purple dildo!
The PC controls for Saint’s Row 2 are inexcusably awful. The mouse is controlling a virtual joystick, even for on-foot shooter stuff. I found it outright unplayable.
From what I’ve heard, the first was an uninspired GTA-clone that isn’t worth going back to. The 2nd, however, was absolutely amazing. I liked it more than 3 (not that 3 was bad, mind you).
All major problems with the PC port had been eliminated by the time I got to it. At least, I don’t remember having any problems with the controls.
In any case, there’s a mod for it called Gentlemen of the Row which is supposed to have done incredible things to the game. I haven’t used it myself, but everyone I know who has sings its praises.
Ah yeah, I had forgotten about the Gentlemen of the Road mod. I had installed it and was just beginning another playthrough of SR2 when SR3 came out so I switched to the new game. The mod does fix almost all of the problems with the game.
Tsk. Video games are all about doing things you can’t do in real life.
SR 2 is on sale for $3.75 right now from the publisher. So it won’t set you back much to take a chance on it.
Wow, what a deal! I thought I was ripping them off at $7.50…
Joe
I don’t think 1 was exactly bad, but the series was still developing its trademark humor and violence - so it’s not nearly as wild as Saints 2. While proably not worth picking up, it’s not terrible. Rather, Saints 2 was just so good that why would you want to go back? Although it had some wickedly awesome lines.
Yes, but I didn’t wear a bunny costume in real life!