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[pr0cs]

Sr 2 was the best the game ever was. Enough tongue in cheek humour but enough seriousness to keep you engaged.

After 2 it devolved into throwing shit at the wall and seeing what was actually fun which really hurt the game.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I never got any joy from the primitive jokes in Saints Row games, but yeah, they've lost their way when they've gone supernatural.

 

[Sephzilla]

In my opinion I think Saints Row managed to surpass San Andreas and GTA4. But it didn't surpass GTA3, Vice City, or GTA5.

In short, Saints Row was an adequate replacement when GTA itself managed to stumble. But honestly I think Saints Row lots its way in the later installments when it got way too crazy and stupid.

 

[platypotamus]

I finished all 4 saints row games, and only finished one of the GTAs, and really didn't enjoy that one even so. The only GTA I really enjoyed is San Andreas, but I rage quit after an RC plane mission.

Even the first crappy saints row game was good in a crappy sorta way

 

[ArgyleReptile]

I gotcha back OP. SR2 is in my top 5 games of all time and I've had more fun with that than any of the recent GTA games. I like the other games in the series, but they've yet to top their sophomore entry.

 

[nachum00]

I don't think it was 'better' than GTA it had more wacky things to do vs GTAIV.

Although SR2 was the last actually good game in the series in terms of what it was supposed to be about low level street gangs. But the main problem with them is the cities are just not fun to explore, which is why GTA will always be superior imo.

Ehh I never found GTA4 fun to explore. GTA5 was a bit better in that regard but neither of them feel as unique as the maps in the ps2 games.

 

[Rembrandt]

SR2 was great, but GTA IV was better. I loved SR1's multiplayer. SR3 was okay but it jumped the shark and embraced the wackiness critics and people said they loved in SR2. SRIV is damn near unrecognizable from SR and SR2. It was okay, but i'm so glad I got that and gat out of hell for $5.


The series needs a reboot and to bring protect the pimp back.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Well this backfired

Opinion is still the same though

 

[UncleSporky]

Saint's Row 3 didn't work at all. It had some fun ideas and moments but it was not a GTA-like game.

The open world didn't matter in the least. I remember I had a VTOL jet from like the start of the game and thus never had to drive anywhere unless the mission forced it. The world was totally wasted.

 

[Dysun]

Saints Row 2 was the pinnacle of the series, even a close competitor to GTA IV

3 is when they started losing me

 

[PSqueak]

I think Saint's Row became better because they decided to embrace stupid and went full on parody, the original GTA games were supposed to be humorous parodies of crime in big cities, but i feel they have become too serious, while SR saw the direction GTA took and they decided to take on the comedy route, they went full stupid and it was glorious!

Saint's Row 1 - A bad GTA knock-off

Saint's Row 2 - A good GTA knock-off

Saint's Row 3 - A good Saint's Row game

Saint's Row 4 - The best superhero game ever made


I'm glad they decided to leave GTA behind and become more their own thing.

Basically this!

 

[Hoya Destroyer]

The character customization makes the SR games more fun than the GTA ones for me. Cant deny that Ive had a lot of fun with both though.

 

[Big_Al]

I just really want Deep Silver/Volition to go back and do another version/port of Saints Row 2 to PC that isn't poor. If they'd do that I'd be fucking ecstatic, hell I'd pay full price for the fucker.

 

[Suzushiiro]

It seems like the general trend with Saint's Row fans is that you either got into the series with the third or fourth game and love them or you got into the series with the first or second game and hated the direction the third and fourth games took. I'm in the former category and never played the first two, but from what I've gathered of them I can certainly understand not liking how the series evolved.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Red Asphalt..... *shiver*

 

[kimbaka]

As a series I'd say no, but I'd easily take Saints Row 2 over any GTA game. It's still my favorite co-op game to this day. So many fun times had with a friend and the city was just great to navigate with lots of secrets to uncover. The 3rd was fun too but the city was just dull with factories and red light districts everywhere.

 

[F0rneus]

I fucking love Saints Row 3. The sheer over the top of it all, just makes it a joy to play. I did prefer SR2 to it, but no lies, SR3 was a such a joy for me. Really loved it and IMO, it had a stronger personality to it, than 2. It felt like it's own thing.

Can't wait to dig into 4. Thanks PSN Flash Sale.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I'll agree that I think Saints Row 2 did a lot of things better than Saints Row 3.

SR3 was a very good game, but you get to the top of that game's power fantasy way too quickly and it plateaus very early. Almost immediately I felt like I was at a point where I was only buying upgrades because I didn't have anything better to spend my money on. You get all the best cars, and gear, and guns and then you coast on those for hours and hours and hours.

I've heard people didn't like being forced to do side activities in SR2 but I thought it was great. It gave it almost an RPG feeling -- you'd complete a side quest and equip a new skill, like having infinite stamina or better guns or more followers. Everything had a purpose and there was a strong incentive go for 100% completion.

Saints Row 4 always looked fun (never played it), but it's one of those things where I never really thought of it as a Saints Row game, and they ended up painting themselves in to a corner with it as a result.

I'm not even sure we'll ever see another Saints Row game. Agents of Mayhem definitely seems like it's going for the same audience without all of the Saints Row baggage.

As for being better than Grand Theft Auto... I feel like that was definitely true for GTA4, but for GTA5... ehhh... but that's also kind of a different strokes for different folks situation, too. GTA5 versus even Saints Row 2 are two very different beasts with two very different goals. SR1 and SR2 are natural extensions of GTA:SA and GTA5 breaks new ground in a different direction than that.

 

[flaxknuckles]

Saints Row 2 was amazing but I ultimately think Volition did the right thing by making Saints Row The Third over the top and further distinguishing the series from GTA. It was fun as hell having stuff like the VTOL, a fucking Airstrike gun, and wrestling takedowns in a sandbox game. My problems with it were that it had a crap story and city and got rid of all the gameplay depth SR2 had. Then Volition completely lost me with SRIV which I don't even like as a superhero game, it's just a shitty Frankenstein Crackdown to me (with a setting somehow worse than SR3's).

And now they are making that amazingly bland-looking game Agents Of Mayhem. I don't know why I still keep up with Volition after they keep disappointing me.

 

[Big_Al]

It seems like the general trend with Saint's Row fans is that you either got into the series with the third or fourth game and love them or you got into the series with the first or second game and hated the direction the third and fourth games took. I'm in the former category and never played the first two, but from what I've gathered of them I can certainly understand not liking how the series evolved.

I'd still consider 3 and 4 good games and I had a good time with them. They are most certainly not poor games. I just personally prefer 2.

However I'm still pissed at Volition for changing the male cockney voice actor from 2 for 3 and 4. Was never the same and that was my favourite voice.

 

[InsaneTiger]

God no, SR2 was awful. I am glad SR embraced the wackiness and made it it's own crazy open world game. GTA does GTA better.

 

[Anth0ny]

it wasn't

saints row 3 was good in a time where rockstar completely dropped the ball with gta iv

then the king returned with gta v

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Saints row the third was the best. No GTA comes close. IV. Just went batshit.

Yep. SR lost its way almost immediately when they released the 2nd one and threw so much pointless garbage in it that it stopped being Saints Row. Thank God they knew their mistake by 3, but then went silly with 4.

 

[LordRaptor]

SR3 was a very good game, but you get to the top of that game's power fantasy way too quickly and it plateaus very early. Almost immediately I felt like I was at a point where I was only buying upgrades because I didn't have anything better to spend my money on. You get all the best cars, and gear, and guns and then you coast on those for hours and hours and hours.

Yeah, I think I can mostly agree with this, but it honestly feels more like a progression from SR2 through to SR4, rather than each game hitting the reset button and sending you back to 0 for each.

Like, at the start of SR3, you're basically starting out without pretending all of the progression of the previous game occurred, so you get shit like airstikes in, what the first non-tutorial mission?
Likewise by the start of SR4 top tier weapons and vehicles from the end of SR3 are basically pointless because you can run faster than cars and fly and shit.

Its a pretty interesting power curve. Its like starting an RPG sequel at level cap from the previous version

 

[Baroquemantic]

Saints Row 4 is amazing, but the others are trash, in my opinion. I just couldn't get into them no matter how many times I tried.

 

[Snuggles]

I don't think it's ever been a better series than Grand Theft Auto, but I did love Saints Row 2. The wackiness that came after that was just too much for me. I want to appreciate the fact that they distanced themselves from being another GTA clone, but I just don't find anything in 3 and beyond to be funny or appealing at all. It's just off putting to me, sadly.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

I love Saints Row 2 as much as the next guy, but a good story and gripping characters? Characters you care about? Really? Like, REALLY?

 

[2+2=5]

I have never played SR2, only 3 and 4, and maybe SR2 is better than gta5 but the problem is that there's already gta for those who want a gta game, while there's nothing else like SR3&4.

Now i'm not saying that there should be nothing else like GTA, there can be all the gta clones of the world, but between a clone and an original game i think it's better for SR(but also for everything else) to be an original game.

 

[Horns]

It was never better than GTA.

Saints Row games were fun for what they were, but they somehow became worse with each sequel. If only they stuck with the direction they were going for in SR2, it could have turned out for the better for them.

 

[chrominance]

I've heard people didn't like being forced to do side activities in SR2 but I thought it was great. It gave it almost an RPG feeling -- you'd complete a side quest and equip a new skill, like having infinite stamina or better guns or more followers. Everything had a purpose and there was a strong incentive go for 100% completion.

I totally agree, I think I finished all the side missions well before the end of the story and kind of missed them once they were gone. Some of them were kind of a pain in the ass (but really every Saints Row game I've played has had at least one bum activity) but some of them, like Insurance Fraud, are still so fun. And yeah, the upgrading was a big part of that too. Reminds me of the early 3D GTA period when I would finish all the police, ambulance and taxi missions early just because.

 

[FrontalMonk]

2 and 3 were the pinnacle of the series. 2 only ever felt serious at the end of the Ronin storyline, but otherwise was a solid GTA style game that at the time felt like it out GTA'd GTA, coming off the heels of the generally disliked GTAIV.

3 was obviously the point where they jumped the shark and embraced the nonsense, but I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable romp. The problem with it was that it simply wrote itself into a corner. Once you've gotten as crazy as SR3 got, SR4 could only go so much further, and by the end of 4, there really wasn't much room to roam for a SR5.

A great series, but 2 and 3 will always be the ones worth playing.

 

[TheAdmiester]

See, this is real Saints Row.

Also, I don't get the "better than being a GTA clone" comments about the 3rd and 4th games. Clones can be good. Is it not better to have a very good clone than a shitty but distinguished game?

 

[Big_Al]

I love Saints Row 2 as much as the next guy, but a good story and gripping characters? Characters you care about? Really? Like, REALLY?

Yes I genuinely cared about Gat, Shaundi and Pierce in Saints Row 2. I'm not saying it's a masterpiece of writing but I did like the characters a lot. A lot more so than say Niko in GTA 4 or his tosser cousin.

 

[Catdaddy]

I liked Saints Row 2 better than GTA 4. GTA 4 tried to get all serious (compared to its predecessors) and SR2 filled that void of a goofy fun time.. GTA 4 is by far my least favorite of the open world GTA games.

I liked SR3 - but someone mentioned above they tried too hard to make it over the top. SR4 - I've tried at least 3 times to play it and get bored/disgusted after a couple of hours....

 

[bluecapsule]

I loved SR2. It wasn't as polished as GTA4, but for me it was simply more fun.

Iirc, SR4 was originally an expansion for SR3 that got stretched out to a standalone game due to THQ going bankrupt and desperately needing money.

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Saint Row 1 was fun but the others...

I hate the ultra arcade gameplay , this is not fun for me to play with that style of gameplay and GTA are of course always better than Saint Row , Saint Row is a light GTA game just for fun.

 

[CrackPebbles]

I'm glad the direction changed with 3 the gameplay got way more interesting imo. Especially in 4, the superpowers made exploration and combat not feel like a complete slog.

 

[dead souls]

Saints Row 3 and 4 are great and vastly better games than anything Rockstar has ever made. I can never get past the terrible controls and gameplay in the GTA games. Complete style over substance.

 

[Chojin]

2 is my favorite SR. I think 4 was loads better than 3 if you don't view it as a saint's row game. Both 3 and 4 started you off pretty overpowered where 2 had a progression that felt like you were building something rather than just "Ubisoft" style checking off boxes.


Also socks. You could change the socks in sr2. Customization was so much better. Also I can make my toon in 2 look like my wife. In 4 she looks like a gross characature of her. I liked the indoor levels of 2 that you could explore like the mall and find shops not found anywhere else.

Flying felt more unique in 2. In 3 you could easily grab a jet or a chopper and 4 well... you just jump and run where you want.

I liked the little hidden extras in 2. Like when you could hear your avatar sing along with the radio depending on which voice you had plus what song was playing.


3 went way overboard and 4 pushed the silliness enough to make it enjoyable. But I always go back to 2 for my favorite.

 

[valkillmore]

Fucking LOL @ Saint's Row being better than GTA, on any metric. Nooope.

Edit: Having said that, I really loved Saint's Row 1 and 3.

 

[Dinda]

Why oh why do we get Agents of Mayhem instead of SR 5 or better a Saints Row reboot.

Saints Row (2 and 3) are so much better than all theses other Open World Games. I also think they are the only Open World Games that i ever finished. (i may have finished GTA 3 but i'm not sure.)
After a few times i typically only return to these games to play for a few minutes and cause mayhem etc, and then quit and don't return. In other words i do stuff that most of these games punish me for.
With Saints Row i come back and play more of the story, and it let's me do just exactly those fun things as part of the story.

The Character creation alone is such a big thing, say what you will about Pre made characters etc, but no other Character in any GTA etc i like even half as much as i like my Boss. She's the coolest.

I dind't really like SR4. It was too over the top. The Superhero stuff was cool in itself, but after a while you also realized that it just took away from a lot of core things. Like driving for example.

Come on Deep Silver what are you doing, gimme a new Saints Row!

 

[Falchion]

Saints Row 2 is one of my favorite games of all time but I still really enjoyed 3 and 4, even though they went in a different direction like you said.

 

[Piggus]

Naw.

SR2 was good. SR3 was alright. Neither one even comes close to GTA.

 

[Amory]

SR2 is a good game, but saints row has never touched the GTA series, in my opinion

GTA evolved and became something different than what it was on PS2, which was needed to keep things fresh

As far as the best game in the old style, SR2 might be it. But by then, GTA had moved on

 

[Big_Al]

Fucking LOL @ Saint's Row being better than GTA, on any metric. Nooope.

Edit: Having said that, I really loved Saint's Row 1 and 3.

I think you could easily make an argument for any Saints Row game playing at least better than GTA 4, a game which onfoot is clunky at best. The move to their RAGE engine has always been beset with control issues IMO, even Red Dead and GTA 5 haven't completely escaped them. Best they got was with Max Payne 3. The world etc itself is a different matter though.

 

[GamerMax73]

I suffered through Saints Row 2 and I don't know why. Saints Row 3 was mildly better but I was more than happy to quit halfway through. GTA V, Sleeping Dogs, Any Assassins Creed, all the Mafia games, both Watch Dogs...all far, far better games. and for Mafia and Watch Dogs 2 that's saying a lot indeed (not the finest of open worlds there either).

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Only thing I liked Saints Row more than GTA for, was the multiplayer mode "Blinged Out Ride" in the first game. In my experience it was one of the most amusing modes I have ever played online.

 

[Chabbles]

Crazy talk, from the beginning it was much worse.

 

[poodaddy]

I'd agree that Saints Row 2 was better than GTA4, but I think GTAV is better than Saints Row 2. I kinda dig how silly it all got honestly lol.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Saints Row 3 was a revelation. Never had quite as much fun with a game.