Saints Row 2

[MinisterofDOOM]

This game is a BLAST.Multiplayer is what GTAIV's should have been. The biggest thing this game has going for it is that it allows cheating in coop...which is what I EXPECTED GTAIV to do. Crazy cheats-enhanced multiplayer mahem is exactly what I want out of a GTA-style game.

It does pale next to GTAIV in some areas, though.The in-car control schemes ALL suck.Graphically, the game is embarrassing. It looks like crap. Really, really unpleasant crap.The camera needs a lot of work.

Also, the original Saints Row stood out in it's "world is all the way open from the first second" freedom. The new game has some features locked until you complete the missions. Eff the missions, I never bothered with them in the first game. I bought this game for mayhem, not missions.

But the cheats menu is fantastic, and clearly Volition has a better understanding of what their fans want in the game than Rockstar does anymore. There are some wacky cheats, you can have raining people, corpses float upward, an infinite-mass car that bowls through everything, 1/4 gravity...

The game has a good sense of humor, too, although it's somewhat overshadowed by the POINTLESS and stupid cutscenes it sometimes occupies. For a good 1-liner you have to sit through several minutes of "I couldn't care less about any of this" drivel.

Character design is amazingly deep, blowing away the designers in games like The Sims 2 and Oblivion. My insane english mobster rocks.

[Loki]

It's definitely a better game than most people give it credit. I could never really get into the multiplayer, though. Single player was thoroughly enjoyable, but the car controls feel completely retarded the first time you start driving.