THere were 2 things that Saints row 1 lacked. Good physics, both driving and on foot, and the lack of being able to use things as cover (walls, cars etc [and I mean crouching down behind, like in gta 4])

With those Saints row 1 would have outshone GTA 4 with ease.


But saints row 2 has neither of those. The car physics are still terrible, I have seen better driving physics on ps1 games, and the physic engine used for falling over, being hit by a car etc is very poor. Morpheme (an exllent physics program used by many gaming companies) is widely available, and features some of the most realistic and accurate AI of our time. So why didn't they use it?
Rockstar used it for GTA 4. Lucas arts used ot for Star wars: the force unleashed. It seems they tried to make up for this by spamming you with customisation. It didn't need to. The customisation in Saints row 1 was fine, now saints row 2 is becoming more like the sims. I honestly have no real interest in decorating my 'crib', or making my male character look like a woman (although I though giving a hardcore gangster a posh English voice would be funny)

The graphics arn't really any different either. The cars are shinyer (sp), and the attention to detail is better, but really, the difference between SR1 and SR2 graphics is hard to recognize.

If Saints row 2 has better physics and the useof cover, it would teabag grand theft auto. But no. Yes, it has much more content, but the lack of any real duifference betwen SR1 and SR2 makes it SR1.5, rather than 2. I was hoping for something that would leave gta 4 forgotten, but it seems gta 4 will remain popular.

Volition inc, you dissapoint me.
7/10