Saints Row 2 Vs Saints Row the Third
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Page 1 of 6 Saints Row 2 vs Saints Row the Third. Why Saints Row 2 is the Better Game. When I first brought a PS3 the game I played the most was Saints Row 2 (SR2). It was not long before Saints Row The Third (SRTT) was added to my collection. The following are some comparisons and impressions which I hope will help in the creation of a better sequel(s) and possible improvement of SRTT. Controls Advantage SRTT Having now got used to them, the control layout for SRTT is a winner. The layout for SR2 was very good but SRTT makes some very real improvements. Moving the melee attack to R3/Right thumbclick and Zoom/First person to a left trigger (L1) is a great idea. It removes the problem of accidentally losing zoom due to controller “recoil”, a common occurrence in many games, not just SR2. It also prevents accidentally slipping into first person view when you want to move fast, which sometimes occurs in SR2 during fast paced engagements such as “Mayhem”. Having a dedicated trigger for grenade throwing/launch is also good. Sometimes when I had the rifle with grenade launcher I would try to melee and blow myself up, which is embarrassing! Having the Triangle button as human shield/grab/throw can cause problems if you are near both a person and a vehicle since you sometimes grab someone when you wanted to board a vehicle or board a vehicle when you wanted to grab. The only way around that I can see is to add an additional prompt for when you are in close proximity to both a human and a vehicle. For example, when you press Triangle you are asked to press Square to board or Circle to grab. Page 2 of 6 Customisation Advantage SR2 With the exception of character appearance the level of customisation available in SR2 is much better than in SRTT. The variety of clothing and how the individual items can be combined is way better in SR2. This is important, since you will probably only create a character once during a game but will probably change clothing many times. You also have a greater variety of stores in SR2, which makes shopping more interesting. I am, however, pleased to see that in SRTT passers-by no longer nag you about wearing an outfit for any length of time. If you want to do the entire game in a dressing gown and gimp mask, you can. Future SR games need to use the clothing system used in SR2, and needs a good variety of stores. Perhaps even reintroduce the hairdressers, since it seems silly to go to a plastic surgeon to change basic makeup, nails or hairstyle. Probably appropriate to make the hairstyles of female characters cost more than for males. Lack of customisation is also noticeable in other ways too. In SR2 I could change the radio station playing in my crib. In SRTT I can’t and it always seems to be playing narcissistic gangsta- rap. Just because I’m playing a gang character in the game doesn’t mean I should be forced to listen to a certain type of music. I’m given the option of customizing gang members in SRTT but still an overweight poseur in a parka keeps turning up as a homie. Upgrades Advantage SRTT I like the Respect/Money/Upgrade system used in SRTT. If you want a certain capability you can buy it and more or better capabilities get unlocked as you level up. How you earn the Respect and Money to do this is up to you. This is a much better system than used in SR2 and many other games, where if you want a certain reward you have to master a certain mini-game, diversion or Page 3 of 6 activity. Inevitably there will be some games that certain people will not enjoy or find difficult. The system used in SRTT is much better and more fun overall. I hope to see this system used in future and more widely. Vehicles Advantage Mixed. Vehicles are an important part of games such as Saints Row and GTA. I really do appreciate that in Saints Row vehicles do not burst into fire if you hit a few lamposts. SR2 did suffer a bit from vehicle rag-dolling and enemy vehicles playing bumper cars with you. A Bear APC hit by a police car should not be thrown around like a toddler in a mosh-pit! I once got rammed by a vehicle I was chasing and thrown two stories up in the air! Vehicles in SRTT do seem to drive much better than in SR2. Not sure if that is an improvement in the game engine or due to the new control layout but as far as driving goes SRTT is much better. On the other hand, I find the fixed wing aircraft less responsive, so they probably need to bring back the separate rudder controls. My main criticism of vehicles in SRTT is the sound. The Kaneda should growl, the Justice should purr and the Raycaster should throb. Instead these vehicles have a whining sound like a boy racer’s 50cc bike. I was also very disappointed to find out that I couldn’t change the colour of the Bear in SRTT. Odd, since Page 4 of 6 other vehicles could be customized. In SR2 I had a purple cammo Bear with wheel- spinners, kneecappers and nitrous. That was a true Saint’s ride and the only thing it lacked was Fleur de Lyse and Saints’ decals. I really hope future games rectify this and that a patch or DLC becomes available for SRTT. Replay Potential Advantage SR2. Both games let you replay Activities. A nice feature to see would be if the game remembered your highest score and previous score. For some Activities this would be the damage caused, money earned or the time taken. This would mean that Activities such as Mayhem or Insurance Fraud would play out till their time limit and not terminate when the target value of damage had been caused. SR2 easily wins this category since in SR2 you can replay story missions using the newspaper clippings at your crib. You can also replay most cutscenes on the crib TV. I have certainly spent much more time replaying SR2 than SRTT. Activities and Diversions SR2 by a shade. I actually quite like the way SRTT handles Activities. Rather than six progressive levels you have multiple markers with the designations “Easy”, “Medium” Page 5 of 6 or “Hard”. You can play the different difficulty levels in any order which is nice since some Medium levels have been harder to beat than the Hard. Many of the Activities themselves seem much more playable than their SR2 equivalents. My only reservation is that completing the Activities is linked to your percentage total for taking over a region. If you have trouble with a particular Activity you may not be able to take over an area unless you wish to use the “City Takeover” upgrade. For Diversions and Challenges I like the accumulative system that SRTT uses, which is much nicer than the “Stars” system used in SR2. The reason I have given the advantage to SR2 is that there just seemed more to do in SR2. While I never played a lot of Taxi or Tow Truck it was nice to know the option was there. That said, one of the reasons I played so little Taxi, Tow Truck or Zombie Uprising was the lack of game memory. If you played an activity in SR2 the game remembered what level you had reached. If you had beaten the Activity it would ask you what level you wanted to replay. For Diversions you always had to start back at level 1, the only exception being “Ho-ing”. There was little point in squeezing ten minutes of play in while dinner was cooking because any progress you made might be lost. Hitman/ Assassination and Chop Shop/ Vehicle Theft. Advantage SR2. This one was close to call. SR2 got the edge here since there was a nice element of spontaneity into how this was structured. I once stumbled upon two other Hitlist targets while hunting for a third and there is an excitement to seeing a target has wandered onto your radar while you were doing something totally different. Likewise, Page 6 of 6 it is fun to accidentally come across a vehicle that is needed for your chop shop list. SRTT lost ground here since the development of the game conflicted with some of the missions. To find the pimp “Andre” you need to attack whores in Espina to provoke a reaction from Morning Star. However, if you have reached the level where Saints are walking the streets of Espina Morning Star gang members are absent and will not respond to attacks. To solve this problem you have to play an activity such as Snatch or Trafficking, provoke Morning Star as much as possible and deliberately fail the mission in or near Espina. On the other hand, I take great pleasure that the majority of my Assassination targets in SRTT ended their days beaten to death with a four-foot purple dildo. The ideal game would probably have a mixture of missions, some that could be performed while free roaming and others that must be actively hunted. Theme Music. Advantage SRTT A note to all game developers out there. Use an instrumental track for loading screens etc.