Surprisingly, this is the most fun i've had in a sandbox game so far.
Saints row on the other hand has gone in the opposite direction. The gangster creation tools allow you to be be as creative as you want. From muscle bound hoodlums to cross dressing, obesse ninja clowns with ladies voices. This allows you too make the game comical and fun before you even begin your criminal career.
Im not going to spoil the plot for people, but lets just say it complements the crazy character designs. During your first few hours in Stillwater you can escape from prison, become the ultimate fighter in fight club or become an actor in the fantastic Fuzz mini game. From radio-active Tatoo's to zombie survival video games that can be played at your hideout, the game never shoe-horns you into a serious role.
As in the first Saints row, you have to earn respect to qualify for the games story missions. As you complete various activities such as the fight club you fill your respect meter. The big differnce between this and other sandbox game is that this never becomes a chore. The violence is too over the top and cartoony to be taken seriously and i am yet to tire of being able to through hostages twenty feet in the air! Im actually surprised this has found its way int gta at some point.
Another special mention has to go to the soundtrack, which is much improved from saints 1. whatever your musical taste, you'll find some thing here for you. In fact, i believe this is the first sand box game that has done the metal scene justice. From lamb of god to Opeth. Great tunes!
Now we come to the negatives, a few faults have found thier way back from the first game. The systems memory only seems to keep the objects that are in you line of sight in storage. For instance, if a car is driving towards you turn around then turn back and, chances are it will have vanished. The game is also quite buggy. I have'nt found any thing game breaking, but they are there. Also, the games humour seems to suffer from comparisons with gta, coming off as just rude instead of reasonbly clever like gta. On the other hand, it does fit in with the overal stlye of the game.
Anyt way, thats my 2 cents on the game. If you want Gta 5 this will disapoint you. Its like the anti-gta, stupid, over the top and, most of all-Fun!.On a side note, Being a British gamer, i also liked the option to pick a cockney accent for my avatar and have it spoken in the cutscenes. It gave my dude an attitude that is sadly missing in the largely americanised world of video games and id love to see this option in future releases!
Enjoy the game folks!