Gangsta Paradise? Unfortunately, not in this one.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I try to think what went wrong with Saints Row is the story. It's very, very poor, especially when compared to GTA: San Andreas and the previous GTAs. You'd expect a next-gen game to have a really good story, something that will surprise you and make you sweat in tension as you find out what' s next. Unfortunately, the story in Saints Row is not at all exciting. You just drive round the hood and bust caps in fools asses, so to speak. Nothing spectacular.
But the weak story is nothing compared to another issue, that made this game not worth finishing for me. There is this little thing in Saints Row, its called the Respect Bar. You have to fill it up in order to be able to go on new missions. You fill the bar by completing side missions, like Snatch (pimpin' ain't easy) or Mayhem (you just blow things up). And it's all good fun at the beginning of the game. But once you reach the point of about 45% it's the most frustrating thing on earth! The side missions get too difficult and they're boring to a level that makes you not want to play any more. Filling that purple bar up is the most frustrating thing in this game, makes playing real hell. It made me give up on the game, I don't really care what happens in the story after 51%.
The thing that saves Saints Row from being a failure is the soundtrack, and the audio player, which allows you to create your own playlists with your favorite songs. There is a very decent selection of rap songs in the game and it's always good to have some beat thumpin while poppin fools.