Funny, crazy, absurd chaotic mayhem, but not a whole lot to it, but just plain fun
This game is a crazy, funny playground of destruction and insane activities. It has many epic, memorable missions, better than generic GTA IV missions. You don't need to have played any previous Saints Row games to understand the storyline and have a blast, but you'll miss some small references here and there.
Simply put, this game is absurd, and if you like a ridiculous, funny and non-realistic game of mayhem then this is the game for you, but if you want a realistic crime game and more seriousness or some deep writing then you might find this game childish with cheap, stupid humor. If you laugh easily, you'll have a lot more fun with this game than if you don't.
The graphics are pretty good, but some might be disappointed if you're looking for top-notch graphics, there are many low res textures. The motion blur is really annoying, so I turned it off. However, the vehicles look awesome.
The sountrack of this game is great, there are some big names like Deadmau5, and catchy tunes, and epic, fitting background songs for missions, I wish there could've been more background music though. There's techno, rap, rock, and classic, whatever you're into there's a station for you, but the but the rock stations are pretty mediocre, they kinda suck. The rap station isn't very impressive either but it's OK. The techno/electro station is awesome and makes up for everything though.
The voices on the radio are terrible, like the annoying news hag on the radio reporting on whatever last main mission you did, however I got used to it and actually wanted to listen to what she had to say. In comparison, the voices and dialogue on the radio done in GTA San Andreas and Vice City are much better. The story dialogue is funny and vibrant, but pedestrians don't really have much dialogue, or interact with your character that much, but there is great voice acting for storyline characters.
I don't like the vehicle handling, it just feels stiff and hard to control, but you'll get used to it, but it's not very precise. Especially the tanks are a pain in the ass to steer, I just can't get used to its unique, odd system. It tries to make it simpler driving a tank than in other games, but it just doesn't work. Another thing I don't like is that after completing the game there's no way to bring a specific force back and they had the best tech and vehicles and were the funnest and hardest to fight, but they're gone forever after that so that sucks.
Customization is great in this game, so if you love that, you'll love this game. Pimp out your ride and carefully pick the colors and mix and match your clothing pieces and create a character exactly the way you want him/her to look, and you're not stuck with that look too as you can change them again and again. Much better than the limited options in GTA IV. Also, the vehicles and weapons are way better in this game than in GTA IV with a variety of hi-tech jets, helicopters, and weapons.'Gameplay is simply much funner, more destructive, and more epic than GTA IV.
You get to call in zombies to help you, punch people with special gloves to explode them, lock on to targets and rain infinite missiles down the city with a cool looking hovering jet, take control of other people's vehicles with a remote control, rain death with miniguns and rapid firing lasers, smg's that set people on fire, all kinds of gadgets and weapons, way more fun and impressive than GTA IV's arsenal.
The city is disappointing and pretty much all the same everywhere, dirty, urban decay, it's not impressive, and it's a very small world too. There are some amazing scenes like a cyberworld, a hi-tech aircraft carrier ship and a hi-tech gunship, and skydiving with tanks and debris but they're only available in missions. I wish you could replay single player missions, there should be a list where once you beat a mission you can replay it, but you can't. GTA IV's open world is much better, with more activities to do. I even like GTA San Andreas' map better than this games, more varied and larger.
The gameplay is what makes the game and this is why many people love Saints Row, and prefer it over GTA IV. It's just chaotic and over-the-top as you smack people with a sex toy sword or have a huge fat naked man slam down helpless civilians and blowing up cops or having a normal conversation and no one is even surprised he's naked, it's all hilarious. If you aren't looking for humor however, this game isn't for you, as that takes a lot of fun out of it. You'll have a blast from making an absurd character and just running around and wreaking havoc and all the crazy stuff that happens in this game and the funny, well-written dialogue and cutscenes.
Outside the campaign, there's a survive waves of enemies mode can be funny with a friend or on co-op but gets old real fast, it's pretty lame.
If you're looking for crazy, free (free like freedom) fun and funniness then definitely get this game. If you're looking for an arcade, casual game where there are some crazy physics, and well crazy everything, go for Saints Row. If you're looking for the most burst of fun you can have in a short time then get this game. The missions are much funner and unique than GTA IV, and for a playground of destruction game this game is much better at that than Mercenaries or GTA.
The campaign is epic and really well done. The game is is pretty easy but there are some challenges, but once you unlock stuff it becomes a cakewalk, not much challenge, even on the hard mode, but you don't have to unlock stuff so you can make it as challenging as you want or as god mode and sandbox destruction as you want.
Final note this game is absolutely worth getting.