Previews
Several large gaming blogs / sites were invited to attend a multiplayer hands-on of Saints Row 2. Since our invitation must have been lost in the post why not check out what the others thought of the event.
Destructiod
“By providing different types of activities throughout the course of a match, in addition to the tag system, it was always easy to find a role to fill within the game. If you find in one match that for whatever reason you simply couldn’t take out members of the other team, for example, you could focus on controlling tags throughout the map. The idea is to always have players feel like they’re contributing, and in the few matches we participated in, we always did feel like an important part of the team.”
VideoGamer.com
“What this structure ultimately creates is a fifteen-minute burst of constantly-shifting action gameplay. One minute you’re all racing to complete circuits of the map; the next you’re fighting to keep possession of a hapless prostitute - like Capture the Flag, but with gonorrhoea.”
Dark Zero
“Adding some extra flavour and strategy to the mix is the presence of four graffiti spots that are dotted around each map. When these spots are sprayed by a player on either team they confer special benefits to the whole team. These range from unlimited sprint and increased damage to police support whereby the cops will attempt to take down your opponents for you.”
Kotaku
“The bottom line is: Saints Row 2 is a bigger, louder, more in-depth Saints Row. The new online modes are icing on the cake for fans of the first game; and the co-op is the gateway for non-believers to discover the joy of running over hookers with cars.”
GameSpy
“…the underlying gameplay of Saints Row 2 is pretty entertaining and the over-the-top brutality makes for some hilariously violent moments, so this multiplayer mash-up of mini-games that already exist in the single-player game is unsurprisingly enjoyable.”
Game Informer
“One of the things I was most impressed with was how there was always a sense of having something to do…just about everyone can contribute to the overall team goal in one way or another.”
MTV Multiplayer
This article mainly shows a few pictures from the event including the Hot Dog costume!
MSXBox World
“I have to admit at first I was conflicted with this announcement – what was I going to do without my beloved “Protect the Pimp” mode?…The neat thing about Strong Arm is that everything is customizable by the host. The amount of game rounds, the amount of activities per round (to a maximum of 8), the weapons load outs, time limits, score limits … pretty much anything you can think of that can be customized IS able to be customized.”
GameSpot
“Creating matches is a more streamlined process compared to the original Saints Row. Your invitation options won’t be buried deep within confusing menus, you can hop into a quick match more easily, and finding friends to join your game has been made less tiresome. Once you’ve got it all set up, you can trash-talk in the pregame lobby, which is a mansion loaded with weaponry to goof around with.”
Game Chronicles
“…the new multiplayer modes are easily the biggest draw for Saints Row 2, and nothing could be bigger and more inventive than the Strong Arm versus mode. Strong Arm is basically an umbrella mode that encompasses a vast array of mini-game events and challenges ranging from demolition derby and street racing to package delivery and VIP assassination.”
Gaming Nexus
“…this mode also allows you to earn various rankings and awards based on your performance. I’m not talking about just earning a better rank from winning, but the ability to earn various badges for simply playing the way you play. For example, if you are the type of person that will shoot at just about anything (good guys, bad guys, animals, etc.), you earn an award for that. The same thing is true if you are good at sniping or any other skill. These badges are actually displayed next to your name when you’re waiting in the lobby, so you can brag about your accomplishments and try to avoid those who are good at sniping.”
MTV Multiplayer
“Every few minutes during a Strong Arm game, the objective changes. One moment, a team might be frantically driving prostitutes to various clients in a cash grab. A few minutes later, however, they could be crashing into one another in a “Pain”-esque game mode where you’re rewarded with money for hurting yourself. The constantly shifting game type means players who are weak in one area can suddenly become useful in another and stops one team from dominating the other if they’re more coordinated.”
IGN Insider
If you have an IGN Insider account, then you have access to this article.
“Control over a given area isn’t based on pure kills but instead on dynamically changing modes like racing, protecting a specified player, or destroying cars. This focus on variety works as a great balance to keep players with different skill sets involved and active in the game. It also helps to breakup the on-set monotony that inevitably sets in with kill-count based games.”
WorthPlaying
This is an interview with James Tsai, one of the lead designers on Saints Row 2.