Saints Row 2

Overview

Saints Row 2 is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by THQ. It is the sequel to 2006's Saints Row and the second game in the Saints Row series. It came out in October 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in January 2009 for Windows and in April 2016 for Linux.

The story picks up right after the first game. The player's custom character wakes from a coma after five years to find that their gang, the 3rd Street Saints, has broken up and their old territory has been taken over by three new criminal gangs and a corrupt corporation. With old and new allies, the player rebuilds the Saints and takes Stilwater back.

Story missions unlock by trading in Respect points, which come from minigames and side missions. Between missions you can roam Stilwater freely, on foot or by vehicle, using over forty weapons. You build your own character, buy clothes and tattoos, customise safe houses called cribs, and send your gang members to help. Two players can explore the city together online, and there are more co-operative and competitive modes.

Volition began work in 2005 and went for a more comedic tone to set the game apart from Grand Theft Auto, which the first game had been compared to. The city of Stilwater is about one and a half times the size of the first game's. The game shares technology with Red Faction: Guerrilla, so parts of the environment can be destroyed. It was delayed from August 26 to October 14, 2008 in North America.

Reviews were largely favourable, praising the action and straightforward gameplay while criticising technical issues and a lack of new ideas. The Windows port was criticised heavily for problems the other versions did not have. The game sold around 365,000 copies in its first month, shipped over two million by the end of 2008, and had sold over 3.4 million by September 2010. Two expansion packs, Ultor Exposed and Corporate Warfare, followed in 2009.

Official trailer

Saints Row 2 Xbox 360 Trailer - Launch Trailer, IGN. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

SAINTS ROW 2 | Xbox 360 Gameplay, BenedictPlays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action-adventure, Open world

Developer

Volition

Publisher

THQ

Series

Saints Row

Designers

Scott Philips, James Tsai

Writers

Steve Jaros, Drew Holmes

Producers

Greg Donovan

Directors

Clint Ourso

Modes

Single player

Yes

Online multiplayer

Yes

Local multiplayer

Yes

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Subscription history

Disc IDs

The serial printed on the disc and the case. It tells you which region a copy is from.

Achievements

Achievements60 (1,250G)

1000G possibleYes

Total

60

Gamerscore

1250

100% time

80 to 100 hours

Online trophies

8

Online note

TrueAchievements tags 8 of the 60 achievements as online-mode only and 50 as doable in co-op. Two co-op achievements, Turbulence and Mob Rule, are tied to the hardest difficulty in co-op.

DLC has trophies

Yes

1000G includes DLC

No

DLC note

Two paid mission packs, Ultor Exposed (800 Microsoft Points) and Corporate Warfare (560 Microsoft Points), add 10 achievements for 250G between them on Xbox 360; the PS3 versions of the packs added no trophies.

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Gamerscore with DLC

1250

Grind

• Still Addicted to tha Row (20G, secret): 50 hours played across single player and co-op
• Crime Lord (50G): every level of every activity, plus one achievement per activity type such as Velvet Rope (Crowd Control) and Trickster (Escort)
• A Brighter Future (80G) for the story

• Welcome Back Completed the Saints Revival prologue 5G 92.7% of players
• Seppuku Defeated the Ronin 40G 58.62% of players
• Brother's Keeper Defeated the Brotherhood 40G 55.14% of players
• Remind Me of the Babe Defeated the Sons of Samedi 40G 56.92% of players
• A Brighter Future Defeated the Ultor Corporation epilogue 80G 46.23% of players
• Vengeance Exacted revenge on Julius 15G 33.23% of players
• Crime Lord Completed all levels of all activities 50G 14.39% of players
• Velvet Rope Completed all levels of Crowd Control 15G 25.55% of players
• Demolition Man Completed all levels of Demolition Derby 15G 43.24% of players
• Purple Haze Completed all levels of Drug Trafficking 15G 24.76% of players
• Trickster Completed all levels of Escort 15G 24.14% of players
• Do Not Talk About It Completed all levels of Fight Club 15G 42.97% of players
• Reality Star Completed all levels of FUZZ 15G 33.61% of players
• HeliGood Completed all levels of Heli Assault 15G 20.81% of players
• Stuntman Completed all levels of Trail Blazing 15G 22.82% of players
• Ambulance Chaser Completed all levels of Insurance Fraud 15G 23.43% of players
• Wrecking Crew Completed all levels of Mayhem 15G 23.21% of players
• Splatster Chief Completed all levels of Septic Avenger 15G 29.47% of players
• ...But It Sure Is Fun Completed all levels of Snatch 15G 25.77% of players
• Blue Collar Completed all levels of Tow Truck, Fire Truck, Ambulance, and Taxi diversions 10G 5.09% of players
• Duke of Stilwater Found all stunt jumps in Stilwater 10G 4.1% of players
• Maverick Goose Found all flying stunt locations in Stilwater 10G 4.67% of players
• Hi Fidelity Found all CDs in Stilwater 15G 8.94% of players
• All-City Found and sprayed all 50 tags in Stilwater 10G 9.53% of players
• Where's My Car? Delivered all the cars to the chop shops 10G 20.33% of players
• Hello 47 Killed all Hitman targets 10G 23.79% of players
• 2 Quick 2 Pissed Completed all races in Stilwater 15G 10.04% of players
• Romero's Hero Completed the Zombie Uprising video game 5G 26.49% of players
• Surf's Up Got 3 gold stars in Vehicle Surfing 5G 47.98% of players
• Stilwater Welcoming Commitee Mugged 50 citizens of Stilwater 5G 15.27% of players
• I'm Not Addicted! Gambled $500,000 total lifetime 5G 10.19% of players
• Aww Nuts! Hit 100 lifetime nut shots 5G 28.53% of players
• Trash Talker Taunted 50 gang members 5G 12.36% of players
• Going the Distance Threw someone a long, long way 5G 62.25% of players
• Love Thy Neighbor Grabbed 50 human shields 5G 64.82% of players
• Soprano Sung along to the radio 10G 49.87% of players
• Still Addicted to tha Row Played Saints Row 2 in single player or co-op for a combined 50 hours 20G 21.76% of players
• Duelist Completed all Ronin missions in co-op 25G 14.76% of players
• Pot Luck Completed all Samedi missions in co-op 25G 14% of players
• Separated at Birth Completed all Brotherhood missions in co-op 25G 13.76% of players
• Partners in Crime Completed all campaign missions in co-op 100G 10.25% of players
• Confidence Men Completed all levels of all activities in co-op 25G 5.86% of players
• True Pal Defeated your partner in a co-op diversion 10G 18.95% of players
• Strong Armed Completed the Strong Arm tutorial 10G 20.05% of players
• Saint's Seven Won all seven Ranked Strong Arm Activities, and won on all seven Strong Arm maps 30G 5.23% of players
• Spread the Love Created and won an Xbox LIVE Party Game 30G Needs online 11.08% of players
• Tested Won 10 Xbox LIVE Strong Arm matches 10G Needs online 6.22% of players
• Hoodlum Earned 7 Badges in multiplayer 30G Needs online 6.79% of players
• Made Earned 15 Badges in multiplayer 30G Needs online 4.56% of players
• Kingpin Earned 30 Badges in multiplayer 40G Needs online 2.77% of players
• Fluffer Completed the Ultor Exposed mission arc 35G 12.2% of players
• Meta-Gamer Played the Co-op Mission game once 20G 6% of players
• MVP Won the Co-op competitive mission game 5 times 25G 4.66% of players
• Phone Sex Called Tera as a homie 20G 10.68% of players
• Party Time Hosted or played in a party match on Xbox LIVE 25G Needs online 7.01% of players
• A Better Life Completed the Corporate Warfare mission arc 35G 10.36% of players
• Rookie Stuntman Played the Stuntmen Co-op game once 25G 4.96% of players
• Action Hero Won 20 rounds in the Stuntmen Co-op game 25G 3.37% of players
• Tag Team Your team held all tag spots at one time in a Strong Arm match on Xbox LIVE 20G Needs online 5.16% of players
• Gangster Brawler Win 10 Gangster Brawls or Team Gangster Brawls on Xbox LIVE 20G Needs online 4% of players

Space and patches

Space needed7.91 GB

Update patchTitle update 3

The title updates on record for this game.

DLC

Two mission packs came out in 2009, each with 5 achievements worth 125G, new multiplayer maps and a co-op mode, plus the free Unkut Pack. All three are still on the Xbox store for the backward compatible version on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Items

Name	Adds	Obtainable today	Price
Ultor Exposed	Released 23 April 2009. A mission arc with Tera, character and vehicle options (including Red Faction: Guerrilla items), four multiplayer maps and a co-op mission metagame, plus 5 achievements.	yes	US$9.99
Corporate Warfare	Released 28 May 2009. A mission arc about the Saints against Ultor, costume, facial hair and vehicle options, three multiplayer maps and a co-op stunt metagame, plus 5 achievements.	yes	US$6.99
The Unkut Pack	A free add-on.	yes	Free

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

The story plays offline from the disc, online co-op and multiplayer still run over Xbox Live, and both mission packs are still sold.

Online

Online servers runningYes

Plays offlineYes

Online co-op and competitive multiplayer run over Xbox Live. The 2014 GameSpy shutdown that ended online play on PC and PlayStation 3 did not affect the Xbox 360 version, and no shutdown has been announced for it.

Services

Service	Status	Shutdown date
Online co-op and multiplayer over Xbox Live	running	None announced

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Xbox 360	81	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Edge	5	10
Eurogamer	9	10
Game Informer	8.75	10
GameSpot	8	10
GameSpy	4.5	5
IGN	8.2	10
Official Xbox Magazine	9	10

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Clint Ourso
Producer	Greg Donovan
Designer	Scott Philips
Designer	James Tsai
Writer	Steve Jaros
Writer	Drew Holmes
Artist	Frank Marquart
Programmer	Nicholas Lee
Programmer	Jeff Thompson

Cast

Character	Actor
Johnny Gat	Daniel Dae Kim
Shaundi	Eliza Dushku
Troy Bradshaw	Michael Rapaport
Pierce Washington	Arif S. Kinchen
Carlos Mendoza	Joe Camareno

Notes for collectors

• The Xbox 360 list has 60 achievements worth 1,250 gamerscore: 50 in the base game worth 1,000, and 5 each (125 gamerscore) in Ultor Exposed and Corporate Warfare.
• Entering a cheat on the in-game phone turns off Xbox 360 achievements.
• The release was pushed back from August 26 to October 14, 2008 in North America.
• Partners in Crime, for finishing every campaign mission in co-op, is worth 100 gamerscore, the most of any achievement in the list.
• Still Addicted to tha Row needs 50 hours played in single player or co-op combined.
• The game shares technology with Red Faction: Guerrilla, so some of the environment can be destroyed.
• The Initiation Pack, with a pizza box and bullet-shaped USB stick, was only sold in Australia and New Zealand.

Credits

Publisher

THQ

Developer

Volition

Director

Clint Ourso

Released

2008-10-14

Age rating

M (Mature)

Disc ID

545107FC

Region

US

Time to beat

about 20 hours

Copies in the shop

• Saints Row 2 (XBOX 360) CA$15.99