If you found yourself double-crossed, blown up and awakening from a coma after 15 years of incarceration, what would be the first thing you'd do upon breaking out of jail? How about dying your mohawk blue, stealing a sewage truck and spraying human waste on corporate symbols? No? Hm. I got it! You'd become a woman, put on 150 pounds and take part in helicopter races. No? Apply clown makeup, get a green bouffant and steal streetwalkers from rival pimps? These things may not seem like the most logical of choices for a man (or woman) looking to rebuild their gang from the bottom up, but it's just a small taste of what you can do in Saints Row 2.

GameShark.com recently had the opportunity to spend an entire day running around Stillwater and if there's one word taken away from the extensive play session, it's this: options. This game is all about giving the player the freedom to do what they want to do, when they want to do it. The game has you reprising your role from the original after spending 15 years in a coma from the explosion that capped off Saints Row. Upon waking up in jail you'll be treated to an extensive character customization tool that allows for some fairly whacked out creations. Skin color, build, gender (yes, now women can rule the Third Street Saints), hair style and color, how you walk, how you talk (courtesy of three voice samples per gender), how you taunt and how you celebrate are all customizable, allowing for you to create the gang leader you've always wanted to be.

After you create your gang leader you're tasked with busting out of jail and making your way back to Stillwater. The controls and combat are pretty much identical to that in Saints Row however new to the game is the ability to select from three difficulty levels upon starting a game, and the ability to change your difficulty level in game. Whether you choose to do the tutorial part of the breakout or not, soon you'll be back in Stillwater, wondering what went wrong and working towards getting the gang back together.

A few characters make their return including Johnny Gat, Aisha and Troy Bradshaw to name a few. It's good that you have friends with you as the other gangs in the city, namely the sword wielding Ronin, the drug slinging Sons of Samedi and the weapon dealing Brotherhood of Stillwater are none too happy to have one more gang with which to share Stillwater. Once you've done a few mandatory missions such as buying new clothes and helping bust Johnny Gat out of his trial, you'll start working towards getting the Third Street Saints back up and running.