# Are the first two Saints Row games any good?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [March 14, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717 "2012-03-14T04:15:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/1 "2012-03-14T04:15:06Z")
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?
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/2 "2012-03-14T04:26:51Z")
Haven’t played 1 or 3, but 2 is excellent.
Joe
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### Author:  [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/3 "2012-03-14T04:36:03Z")
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…”
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### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/4 "2012-03-14T05:27:49Z")
One issue that threw me off is that the controls are slightly different, so I kept screwing up.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/5 "2012-03-14T05:47:15Z")
Oh, I’m on PC. And “over-the-top” is right. I’ve already beaten five people to death with a giant purple dildo!
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### Author:  [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/6 "2012-03-14T06:17:16Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/7 "2012-03-14T12:25:03Z")
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](http://idolninja.com/sr2.php) 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.
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### Author:  [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/8 "2012-03-14T15:41:34Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/9 "2012-03-14T17:37:31Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> Oh, I’m on PC. And “over-the-top” is right. I’ve already beaten five people to death with a giant purple dildo!
Tsk. Video games are all about doing things you _can’t_ do in real life.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/10 "2012-03-16T04:47:08Z")
SR 2 is [on sale for $3.75](http://store.thq.com/store/thq/en_US/pd/Saints-Row-2/productID.107069900) right now from the publisher. So it won’t set you back much to take a chance on it.
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/11 "2012-03-16T06:05:23Z")
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> SR 2 is [on sale for $3.75](http://store.thq.com/store/thq/en_US/pd/Saints-Row-2/productID.107069900) 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
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### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/12 "2012-03-17T18:21:53Z")
> [@cckerberos](#):
>
> 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).
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.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-first-two-saints-row-games-any-good/615717/13 "2012-03-17T19:07:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Tsk. Video games are all about doing things you _can’t_ do in real life.
Yes, but I didn’t wear a bunny costume in real life!