Saints Row 2 does a pretty good job as a sandbox game...
The answer is... no. Although Saints Row 2 has some really good ideas and has lots of activities to keep you entertained, it's rather childish, repetitive and somehow annoying at times. One thing is for sure though, Saints Row 2 does a good job of reminding GTA fans of San Andreas as it has you taking over enemy gang territories, pimping out your ride to your hearts consent, styling your character, having huge gang wars and finally, feeling like you own the whole of the city. Saints Row 2 isn't a bad game; it just doesn't beat GTA 4 when it comes to a free-roaming game. The vehicle control is one example, it's hard to control a car and shoot at the same time when you most need it, because you'll have to put your vehicle into 'Cruise Mode' which means it sticks to the same speed you set it to so you can look around and shoot whomever you wish, however, when it comes to turning corners, shooting and hand braking, that's when it gets tricky.
When it comes to combat on foot, it becomes ridiculously easy at times, just grab an enemy to use him/her as a human shield, his team won't dare shoot in case they hit him, so then you can just go ahead and blow them away. They do however try to sneak round the back of you so they can shoot you, but your human shield will make no attempt to make a run for it so you can just go ahead and blow his brains out. Apart from the human shield, there is no cover system apart from the basic crouch behind a box trick or the strafe to the left and to the right manoeuvre. There are still a couple of things to enjoy about the combat while on foot... well for one there are lots of weapons to choose from, AK-47s, M4s, Rocket Launchers, Satchel Charges, Uzis... Samurai Swords, even the odd chainsaw is hanging around here and there. Saints Row 2 also allows you to use almost anything in the streets as a weapon such as bin bags or stop signs, phone boxes or pedestrians (honest, you can throw people into other people), and if that isn't good enough for you, you can recruit some 3rd Street Saints gang members to your side and use them as your own bodyguards!
The story of Saints Row 2 isn't anything too special; it just basically finishes off the last part of the story from Saints Row 1. The missions have some good variety although most just require you to just kill a huge group of gang members or blowing up things. The game can get annoying as some missions require you to chase someone down in a car, but then some idiotic driver in car will get in your way causing you to crash and lose the target, or you'll be on foot with just a bit of health, trying to heal and some dick comes round a corner and blows you in the face with a shotgun. However, this can be played FULLY through co-op via Xbox Live/System Link and once you've had enough of the story, you can play some of the activities that the game has in store for you. Some of them are interesting, while others are just plain boring. The activities that may keep you playing for quite some time are those such as 'Hit man' where you get given a list of people to take out, and you must wonder through the city with the details you've been given to find your target. There's also a mode named 'Mayhem' which is one of my personal favourites because... well basically you've got a rocket launcher, unlimited ammo and a whole lotta stuff that needs destroying for money... think about it.
Speaking of money, Saints Row 2 gives you a hell of a lot of stuff to spend it on. Unlike GTA 4 where you could only really buy food, a few clothes and weapons, in Saints 2 you can buy cribs, cars, weapons, boats, shops, hookers... you get the picture. The customisation in this game really is limitless, if you're the type who enjoys creating and designing your own character, you'll spend hours doing so in this game. You can buy loads of different clothing, piercings, jewerly, tattoos, hair styles, or you can mod your car to the top by designing the colors or adding new designs. You can even buy a crib and customise that too, or even your gang, or even your characters fighting style! Yeah, the list goes on and on when it comes to customising in Saints Row 2.
So while Saints Row 2 tries to be as anti-GTA as possible (you only need to watch the commercial to know what I'm on about), it has its ups and downs. It's a lot of fun, especially if you have a friend to play it in co-op, but the game is a bit too easy and some parts can get annoying. If you're a huge free-roaming fan, this may be worth the purchase, but if you're happy with your GTA 4, this might not be worth the rush, a rent perhaps?