Saints Row 2 for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

Yes, SR2 is a GTA clone in many aspects, but it does enough things differently to make it a different experience from GTA4. The game has a much more arcade feel than GTA4, with regenerating health, character running speed that turns you into the 6 Million Dollar Man, and 90% of the cars with tight handling that would make Danica Patrick jealous. The game also doesn't have some of the hang-ups that GTA4 did, such as the whole "friend" system and repetitive side quests. Instead it replaces them with repetitive minigames, which while quite fun at first, quickly lose their appeal as their novelty wears off. These are very outlandish and include things like going on a "Cops" show where you get rewarded for beating up criminals, going around spraying feces on people and buildings from a septic truck, and vandalizing property.
The main issue with SR2 is that it feels out of place in this current gaming market. While the user customization is a very nice touch, where you can design your character with staggering amount of detail (even including how they talk), if you haven't played SR1 you'll likely not feel a real connection with your character since the game CONSTANTLY makes references to the past events under the assumption that you played the previous game, as opposed to GTA, where the character's back story is presented to you and unveiled. Also, the regenerating health, bionic abilities, and checkpoint mapping system where the game will guide to specific points during a mission make the game almost insultingly easy. Also, with it's very close ties to GTA's game engine, sometimes it feels like you're playing a sophisticated GTA mod as opposed to a whole different game.

All that said, SR2 is a game that requires a look. The more arcade feel and general juvenile tone may appeal to many who were turned off by GTA4's excess "realism" that was lost from GTA3,VC,SA. But do not expect the same level of depth and replayability that the GTA series is known for.