Poll: Which was better: Saints Row 2 or Saints Row: The Third

[Kaymish]

ok ok i know i am going to be trolled for this opinion (well maybe not but hyperbole yay) but i liked both about equally they both had good points and bad points and i had fun playing through both of them a couple of times and i found both to be pretty good games

 

[Fireface]

I think Saints row 2 had a much better world to explore and better writing, also better customization with vehicles and Pimp Pads however saints row the third had some more interesting weapons and crazy wackiness, I'd like to combine the two

 

[Sack of Cheese]

I will root for Saints row 4!! Go, go Volition!
I'm not entirely sure of it but I decided to trust their decision!!

 

[WongKy]

I liked SR3 a lot more, but it's probably due to SR2's PC version being a poorly made port. I couldn't even bring myself to finish SR2. I also like SR3's over-the-top style.

i agree with you to me the graphics in saints row 2 are too bright/the colour is too white
and the controls are a bit weird

 

[Snotnarok]

They're both equal in different ways, Saints Row 2 loses some points for having a really crap PC port though.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

SR2 is an extremely fun game. SR3 is so god damn boring. Boring characters, boring city, boring cars, boring weapons, boring story, boring everything. They tried too hard to make it crazy, they missed the point of free roaming games completely.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

I started with the first Saints Row and liked it. The second blew me away, this one got my vote.
The third turned out to be boring crap, while having slightly updated graphics and better controls everything else was less. The city felt boring. Where are the varied areas with different pedestrians? Why isn`t anybody out on the water? Why did they skip races and the most fun activities, even worse they disguise a few boring ones as main missions?. Where is the mission select and the cutscene viewer? Even some of the cutscenes felt rushed and unfinished.

To me it feels like with SR:TT the wrong game got the success. The new direction isn`t my cup of tea. The second had the better balance.

 

[AngryBritishAce]

EDIT: Sorry, wrong quote :3

 

[JLML]

As someone who only plays games on PC (PC GAMING MASTER RACE etc. etc.), primarily 'cause consoles cost money (yet writing this on a high-end pc, contradicting much? Not really, need a TV for the console as well, and those things cost as well), not to mention the fact that mouse and keyboard are preferential over controllers, played Saint's Row: The Third first, only tried a bit of the other 2 over at friends' who have them on console.

Anyhow, of the opinion that it is the third one that is the better game, but that might have something to do with being insane, and the game being insane. 'Cause really, crush people to death with a giant ball of yarn? Yes please.

 

[Hubbl3]

Everybody tells me, that SR2 ist better, but I just can't play it because of the fucked up PC version. -_- So I give my vote to SR3, which was very fun to play.

 

[putowtin]

Saint's Row 2

for every reason ever!

but the main reason:
It was still a gangster game, with fun thrown in, it didn't take it's self too serious, but has serious parts.

 

[Loonyyy]

2. Sure, it was a crappy port, but I loved it before I could even get it to run properly (I lagged out going round corners), and it was ugly as sin, but it was fun, and it let you play how you wanted. I ran through Ellis from L4D2, a sort of Yahtzee-esque brit, Michael Western from Burn Notice and Tim McIlrath at various points, and it was some of the most fun I've had. When I finally got it working with that mod oack (Gentleman of the Row, I think?), and with my new rig, without lag, it was brilliant. The story actually made sense, and while melodramatic crap, it was fun melodramatic crap. I knew who the antagonists and protagonists were, liked most of them, and they were fun. I even felt sad at a couple of points, because I'd been having fun with these characters. The game knew it was still a GTA clone. You were a gangster. The subversion was that Gat was insane, you were a sociopath, and everyone was listening to you. And the other gang leaders were similarly stereotypes, and the story took stereotypical turns which got turned on it's head by your characters.

Along comes 3: Oh look, we've cut down the antagonists. There's like 3 now, or something, and a couple who never do anything. Oh, and these ones are kind of boring. Oh, and

Spoiler

Johnny Gat dies

for no reason, and we've switched the fun equipment for this system with levelling BS which will absorb most of your funds. And Shaundi's just "Angry" as a character trait, and Peirce is no longer the straightman to the lunacy, and not really funny. He's probably the most likeable original character I guess. Here I guess the subversion is: We're crazy now? The world is crazy? I'm not sure. Rather than spinning off an idea, it made something new which didn't really hold together.

And the missions end pretty much right after you've finished all of the tutorialising, and the entire thing comes across as anti-climactic and dull. And the customisation has been slashed, and most of the missions end up taking part of a tutorial for the activities (Which I never really cared about anyway).

I did really like the aircraft and the art-style in number 3, the clean reflections and blurred neon of high speed chases is one of my favourite looks, and the Genki show was kind of funny, and the gear was fun to use, once you'd levelled it. And it handled and ran much better than the previous entry. And one of the endings (I think people know the one) was kinda awesome. But it wasn't nearly as good in my eyes.

Not all that keen for 4. Although, even though it's the craziness I didn't like so much, I would have loved to see Stephen Colbert as the POTUS.

 

[Trull]

Saints Row 3 made the series turn from a GTA clone into something. SR4 is heading in the correct direction.

 

[dfphetteplace]

I liked 2, but the Third was my favorite. Tons of fun.

 

[norashepard]

I played both of the sequels on PC and I really can't make a firm statement as to which is better. SR3 fixed all of SR2s problems and gameplay was a lot more fun, so it wins as a better game. But SR2 had a story that, of all things, reminded me of Mass Effect, far more hilarious humor (though more spread), and a pimp cane shotgun. Also you can take Jane Valderama with you on your sprees which I just loved.

Saints Row 2's story had a really interesting combo of tone. Some of the missons were goofy (like the one where you're high and have to defend your crib), but they never crossed the lone into ridiculous, so it felt more like the goofy things were something a real person was doing to defend their friends, which I really admired for whatever reason.

So I guess because I love story a lot more than I love gameplay, I'd have to say Saints Row 2 takes the cake for it's neat mix of humorous tactics and actual serious moments.

PLUS THE 80s POP STATION IS SO MUCH BETTER IN 2.

 

[camscottbryce]

Everybody tells me, that SR2 ist better, but I just can't play it because of the fucked up PC version. -_- So I give my vote to SR3, which was very fun to play.

It's a shame that this has been named as the reason for best game so many times. I hated the PC port too, fortunately I had it for the 360. My bias judgement would tell me that there would be more votes the other way around if it had not been for the shitty port.

 

[tippy2k2]

Wow...a very divisive thread with a lot of people on Saint Row III's side then I expected. I played through all three games on my 360.

I started with Saints Row 2 but I am finding myself preferring SRIII at this point. I'm still playing through it right now but I am absolutely loving this game. The combat works very well and the game-play is smooth.

Now...maybe it's because I'm a 27 year old with the humor of a 10 year old but I find this game hilarious. I was worried at first because it felt like they were trying to add seriousness to the just plain crazy that is this game but except for the first mission with Johnny, this has just been over the top hilarity. The characters are not really characters...they're caricatures as drawn by an over-sugared kid. I freaking love it...

The current mission I'm on is what finally pushed me over the top. "Gangsta's in Space" has made me laugh out loud so many times...it really shouldn't but it does

I can understand why some people are put off by it but I for one will wield my giant dildo bat with pride!

 

[Dreadman75]

OT: Saints Row 2 hands down. Better characters, better missions, better side missions, better...everything except maybe graphics.

Off topic: I am REALLY starting to hate the term GTA clone, and people using it as a strike against the first 2 Saints Row games!

But then again maybe I shouldn't be surprised as Saints Rows 1 & 2 did take a lot of influence from the earlier GTA titles. But what people seem to forget is that it borrows heavily from the GOOD ones, at least in my opinion! (GTA 3 and Vice City were some of my favorite, and first, sandbox games.) When you borrow ideas and such from good games and do them WELL, the term 'clone' kind of loses it's meaning a little.

But I don't even think that Saints Row 2 deserves to be classified as a GTA 'clone'. Why? Because while it took ideas from GTA, it added a lot of it's own stuff. Great characters, incredibly fun side missions, an incredible story...etc. Even in GTA: Vice City, it mostly brought over ideas from GTA 3 and colored them up a bit.

I guess my point is this: Saints Row 2 isn't a GTA clone. It takes inspiration from the GTA franchise, but it adds it's own flavor and ideas, and that makes it one of the most enjoyable rides through the career of a sociopath I have ever been on.