The game also sports a multiplayer mode which is a fantastic, mayhem fueled mishmash of all that the game offers. Yeah, you have your standard deathmatch and team deathmatch but the real draw is Strong Arm. Strong Arm is a seven on seven battle for the most cash, comprised of a shifting set of activities set against a backdrop of ever-present violence. While in Strong Arm, killing members of the other team nets you cash, but so does doing better at the activities than they do. Add to this the ability for both teams to spray paint tags that give unlimited NOX for cars, twice as much health, twice as much cash for killing opposing team members, and my favorite, police support for your team and the rounds become a crazy mix of killing enemies, doing activities and guarding tags. Along with the ability to jump into ranked games, you can customize your non-ranked Strong Arm match to your heart's content.

Visually, it uses a much brighter palette than GTA IV and the character models are well done. There are the occasional graphical glitches where you see a person randomly floating in mid air, and sometimes the physics system allows for bodies to get stuck in car doors as you're racing down the freeway, but all in all the game looks great. I did experience a random game lock-up a couple of times, and while it never happened in a mission or happened at a time where progress was lost, it was still annoying. The audio side is incredibly strong with a fantastic soundtrack across the game's many radio stations, absolutely spectacular voice acting and some of the best use of positional audio I've heard in some time.

If it's not obvious by now, I absolutely love this game. The best compliment I can give is that when I'm not playing it, I’m thinking about it, and that is certainly the case with Saints Row 2. The game's engaging story line, great voice acting and mix of humor and mayhem kept me coming back whether it was to spend some more time stealing ho's, or participating in Fight Club or simply chipping away at the gangs that took over my fair city while I was away. Add on an engaging multiplayer mode and seamless co-op and you have sandbox game that can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with the GTA's of the world. I loved GTA IV too, but I roll with a different crew now and it's Third Street Saints til I die. Stilwater represent!

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