Saints Row 2 - Co-Op Hands-On Preview

'Friendly' jabs at competitors, bringing a porn star on board as 'special producer', and giving Gary Busey his biggest role since Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms - THQ are certainly going all out in making sure that Volition's Saints Row 2 gets noticed. The follow up to the first 'next-gen' sand box title, Saints Row 2 is getting prepped to deliver an over-the-top experience across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC at the end of October, with the game being pushed as almost the natural successor to GTA: San Andreas.

That's obviously a very, very tall order, with Rockstar's 2004 icon still revered as the best example of the genre to date - even surpassing GTA IV.

A month to go until Saints Row 2 hits the shelves in the UK and North America, how is the title shaping up, especially with its promise of delivering a compelling two-player co-op campaign?

Making A Monster.

Saints Row 2 is all about customisation, well, that and taking back the city's turf the only way you know how. Every facet of a face, from eye spacing to cheek bone depth, obesity to skin tone, can be tweaked and corrected - this is the sort of game that makes the likes of Oblivion's customisation attempts seem shallow and underwhelming.

There's even a running joke between the characters, with several mentioning that the protagonist looks a little different than before (in Saints Row 1), and asking whether they've done anything to their hair. It's playful, especially when my skinny punk white man from the first game can change radically to become an obese black woman. Our own creation however, was a little more...special, like Ralph Wiggum. Having chosen the general body shape from the countless millions of permutations, we shifted over to a selection of expressions for the character. Settling on the most Quasimodo-like one, described as 'anguish' but more like 'constipated', and choosing a walking style similar to a gorilla, our freak was finally complete.

Past TVG previews on Saints Row 2 have already covered how the game throws players into the action with a daring prison break and escape on a speed boat, but for the first time we could finally see the aftermath of the event. Almost immediately the action breaks out into greater variety, with a mission to spray raw sewerage onto a rival gang's construction site coming early on, injecting the fun that Volition has spent months trying to convey in numerous 'Uncle Gary' trailers. Yes, it has the more serious missions, rescuing Jonny from the courthouse with bullets flying all around (and the customary execution of the shotgun-wielding judge) is one such example with promises of many more, but it's the fun factor that THQ is aiming to reinforce and deliver.

Saints Row 2 marks the first time the franchise appears on the PlayStation 3, and it has to be said that vehicular control is a little bit loose on the SIXAXIS - though we're putting that more down to the age old problem with those controllers. That said, the often derided motion control of the gamepad is actually being intelligently implemented here, with the choppers and boats utilising the function if that's how you want to roll. However, the helicopters don't seem to be as responsive as they were in Rockstar's latest opus, especially when it comes to altering altitude.

You Are Not Alone.

But beyond the in-depth levels of customisation, the biggest feature billed for Saints Row 2 is the co-op campaign, allowing two players to take over the Row and the rest of Stilwater. Its predecessor may have tinkered with the idea in the separate multiplayer modes, but here Volition is going whole hog to ensure that gamers don't have to head the Saints all by themselves.

But how is it shaping up?

Actually, better than we'd anticipated. You see, Saints Row 2's co-op seems to be as well thought through as its new diversions, activities, and gameplay tweaks. Joining a friend seems straightforward enough, and progressing through missions is just as compelling, perhaps even more so. But it's through completing the various activities like Demolition Derby, Rampage, or the new Fight Club activity that co-op is coming to life. The two players can be on either side of the city, but when one tries to start an activity, the other gets automatically invited to take part. They don't have to, but at least players are given the chance to decide for themselves either way.

It's the same for missions; after gaining a truck load of respect from completing activities or just gaining it through everyday events on the streets of Stilwater (like gunning down some Sons of Samedi or Ronin), one player can kick-start a story mission whilst the other gets the invite. But playing nicely may not be on everyone's agenda, and getting double-crossed by your co-op player is surely something that'll happen from time to time.

Thankfully, getting capped by your co-op partner doesn't deliver a game over in Saints Row 2. Instead, the recently deceased gets the chance to revive in one of two competitive modes, Death Tag or Cat 'n' Mouse. Both see the players go head-to-head, with Death Tag mixing up the weapon sets each time a character is killed, with the aim of scoring the most kills within the allotted time. Of course, you can switch friendly fire off, but with a couple of gametypes thrown in for good measure when it's switched off, why would you want to?

GTA's prominence over its various rivals across the years has always been down to the little details, the nuances that surprise players along the way, which has even allowed for some of the various bugs to be overlooked. For the first time, it seems that one of the competitors has caught on. Saints Row 2 is getting filled to the brim with all manner of details such as the two competitive revival modes, the addition of strong activities, and the ability to customise everything from the protagonist and the gang wardrobe, to the cars and the cribs. Yes, there were a few isolated glitches during our co-operative killing sprees, but with our attentions distracted by the sheer content that's on offer, even the occasional rider-less motorbikes tearing down the highways could be laughed off.

Of course, the game would benefit from the final code being as bug-free as possible, but they're not quite the mammoth distractions they could be. Saints Row 2 has a lot going for it, and is certainly looking like a very decent alternative for gamers that have found GTA IV's grittiness a little too much.