I hate all the San Andreas love. Sure, the game was alright, but it wasn't nearly as epic as the world made it out to be. There were a few characters that were awesome, Toreno comes to mind, but all the rest were douches. Vice City was epic, because EVERYONE was epic. I can't think of a main character who wasn't awesome. The only place in San Andreas I could stand being in was San Fierro. Otherwise you're driving around in the desert, not knowing what's going on, or getting dragged to defend the same territory every time because you can't get some Vagos in that last area. I will say that the character customisation in San Andreas was really good, though. But loading up all that shizz got to be really annoying.

 

As for III, it was good, but by the time I got to playing it, a few years after Vice City, it had lost its greatness.

 

LCS and VCS were both alright, but being originally PSP games, you can't expect much.

 

IV. Sure, people got annoying, but I put up with them, as the game, in my opinion, has gotten much better. Taking it more realistic was probably the best thing they ever did. Go on, hate me for it. But I much rather it.

 

TLAD and TBOGT. Expansions of epic-ness. For what they are, they do damn well.

 

CW? Yeah, that was pretty average. But again, a portable console game will never match a real console in greatness.

 

 

[/GTA spam]

I actually think taking GTA to a more Realistic level only worsened the series. It should have gone to a more "nopt taking it too serious" level, like Vice City and to some degree San Andreas. That and the driving is [bleep]ed up in IV <.<

I really played GTA because of the unrealistic fun I could have, and that was why i didn't enjoy IV nearly as much.

Driving is crap until you get a hold of it.

I really played GTA because of the unrealistic fun I could have, and that was why i didn't enjoy IV nearly as much.

 

That's why I enjoyed VIce City. When GTAIV came out and I discovered that basically all the fun was thrown aside I watched an episode of Zero Punctuation and he was really saying how much he enjoyed Saints Row 2. And knowing that he dislikes pretty much everything, I decided I might as well check it out. Next thing I know I figure out it's the complete opposite of GTA IV and is so much fun and allows you to do more than the GTA series ever did.

nice list, good to see games that i have actually heard of :P

There's four reasons why Saints Row 2 is a better game than GTA IV:

 

- Character customization. Sure, GTA IV had different clothes, but your choice was pretty much limited to various shades of brown and grey. In SR2, you could go on a mission in a ballroom dress, then change into a prison jumpsuit and bloody hockey mask to go on a chainsaw murder spree afterwards. You control every aspect of your character, all the way down to their voice and the way they move. This makes it very easy for the player to feel connected with their character.

 

- As an extension of the first point, in SR2, you're working for yourself from the very start of the game. With GTA IV, you're running around doing other people's dirty work for pretty much the first 90% of the game. With SR2, everything you do serves one person and one person only: you.

 

- The moment you finish the second mission in SR2, you're free to go where you want and do whatever you want. You can get any gun, steal any car, fly any plane, play any minigame. In contrast, GTA IV seems to hold your hand throughout the game. You don't even get a gun until about an hour into the game, and even then the number of weapons available to you is really limited. Likewise, two thirds of the game map is locked out.

 

- Something that Saints Row 2 does really well is take random elements that people might do for fun in sandbox crime games, and reward them for it. If you give people the option to clothe themselves, they'll start running around naked sooner or later. Might as well reward them for it. It's the same with the various diversions that are available in the game, a lot of them are basically things you'd do in a sandbox game to kill time anyway. At the same time, the only way Niko can entertain himself in Liberty City seems to be watching TV.

Just though I'd point out the fact that I have nothing against SR2, hell, I've never played it.

 

I like unlocking the map. It's awesome when you hear the radio go off saying the hurricane's gone, or getting a text from someone telling you to go check out the last island. Sense of accomplishment? I don't know. It's good.

 

The craziness reason for people to play GTA pisses me off. It's not fun running from the cops after killing a bunch of people after FIFTY FREAKING TIMES. Doesn't stuff get boring to you? Though I think on it, I still find riding a bike, doing flips and [cabbage] awesome. So I'm revealing my own hypocrisy. But ah well.

Just though I'd point out the fact that I have nothing against SR2, hell, I've never played it.

 

I like unlocking the map. It's awesome when you hear the radio go off saying the hurricane's gone, or getting a text from someone telling you to go check out the last island. Sense of accomplishment? I don't know. It's good.

 

The craziness reason for people to play GTA pisses me off. It's not fun running from the cops after killing a bunch of people after FIFTY FREAKING TIMES. Doesn't stuff get boring to you? Though I think on it, I still find riding a bike, doing flips and [cabbage] awesome. So I'm revealing my own hypocrisy. But ah well.

 

In Saints Row 2, running from the cops is continually a fun thing to do because the physics in the game are wacky, there is a plethora of weapons to use (I enjoyed spamming flashbangs all over) and it just never gets dull. GTA is so realistic that it is always dull, even the first time it's not that exciting. Saints Row 2 is a lot more linear and tries to allow you to have fun. It isn't bogged down by physics or anything. It's just much more random. It was just consistently fun, the whole twenty hours I played I never wanted to stop. Being able to customize your character, as was said, allows you to step into his shoes and that is a feat that only Vice City and Saints Row have done, in which you fall asleep and wake up after having a dream about being in that city or you leave the room without a basic concept of physics. And a game that engrossing deserves a lot more applause than Saints Row 2 got. People complained about graphics. Some even complained about the fact it wasn't realistic when the whole point is to sit down, enjoy a pretty cool story, and enjoy playing the game. Unlike GTA4 where the whole game usually feels like a chore.