Featured Video Game /‘Saints Row 2’
‘Saints’ all about victims and violence
‘Saints Row 2’ THQ; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content, strong language, use of drugs) ★★★z out of 5
Another entry into the go-anywhere, do-anything, “sandbox” criminal-behavior simulator, THQ’s “Saints Row 2” is so flagrant in its courtship with controversy that it all comes off as quaint.
You play a personally customized thug waking in a penitentiary infirmary to find your old gang, the 3rd Street Saints, has disbanded. Well, that’s no good, so you bust out of prison, make your way back to the streets and set about reestablishing yourself as the big fish in a burned-out pond (city), engaging in various, preset quests of thuggery.
Alternately, you just roam around and bash panhandlers with discarded TV sets, jack cars, mow over pedestrians, engage in shoot-outs with cops who always seem surprised by your belligerence, and so on. All this to rebuild your gang by ousting rival ones, to boost your street cred, your bank balance and your skill set so you can do more of the same with more sensible shoes. Still, contrived that it is, “Saints Row 2” does have a lot going for it. First off, it’s got a sense of humor, great quips and nebulous, lowbrow dialogue that pokes darkly at the stereotyping on which the game is so reliant.
Secondly, there’s lots to do, places to explore, tasks to complete, so at $60, you certainly get your money’s worth in the sheer-volume sense of things.
Be warned, however, “Saints Row 2” demands that you play an active role in things civilization generally accepts as vile. You murder people, including innocent bystanders, cops and gangsters. You steal things, often off the corpses you just freshly minted, sometimes for keeps, sometimes for temporary convenience (those samurai swords pilfered from the innumerable, wandering “Kill Bill”-like girls in yellow leathers sure come in handy). You jack any old vehicle you come across, big or small, two-to 18- wheeled, and drive it around town with wonton disregard, discarding it just before it explodes from abuse.
It is fun as a visceral visitation to the end of one’s moral compass, and technically “Saints Row 2” is quite an accomplishment — though far from perfect — in its unremitting delivery of grand-scale action/adventure/role-playing with decent graphics, not to mention the Gordian Knot of an algorithm that adjusts gameplay based on your every action or inaction, accomplishment or failure.
Too, the ability to go online with real buddies playing as your in-game posse is a huge step up for the sandbox genre; great but decidedly ghoulish fun for sure.
Still, in the end, if you don’t come away feeling a little dirty, scummy, or guilt-ridden, then perhaps you shouldn’t be playing “Saints Row 2” in the first place, sicko.
Gamers, not geeks
A recent study conducted by IGN Entertainment and Ipsos Media CT revealed that the stereotypical gamer as geek doesn’t actually exist. In fact, the extensive “Are You Game?“ study of gaming households (focus groups with in-home follow-ups) revealed distinctly un-geekish facts. Of gamers polled, 55 percent are married, for example, and 48 percent have children. The majority of so-called “new” gamers aren’t grade-schoolers or “tweens,” but are, on average, 32 years old.
Also interesting, gamers are not necessarily lone nerds doing virtual battle in the basement, as the research revealed that 75 percent of gamers play games with other people in person, if not online.
Furthermore, in general terms, gamers are actually more social and more active than non-gamers. According to the data, gamers were twice as likely to go out on dates as non-gamers in a given month, 13 percent more likely to go out to a movie; 11 percent more likely to play sports and 9 percent more likely to go out with friends than non-gamers.
“Based on the research, it’s obvious that the gaming market has outgrown many commonly held stereotypes about the relative homogeneity of video gamers,” said Adam Wright, director of research for Ipsos MediaCT. “Today’s gamers represent a wide variety of demographic groups: men and women, kids, parents and grandparents, younger and older consumers. All this underscores the fact that gaming has become a mainstream medium in this country that appeals to people from all walks of life.”
Tip of the week
When playing “Saints Row 2,” you can pause the game and access your cell phone, and dialing specific “pound/numbers” will unlock certain cheat codes in the Cheats menu (where they must then be turned on).
Dial “#1” for full health, “#11” for infinite ammo, or “#15” to make all pedestrians act in a drunken manner — like they’re not hapless enough already.
