Saints Row 2 has gotten a lot of attention for being an incredibly fun game with stunningly powerful character creation system. And it deserves to be recognized for both of these things. However, for all that the game design has an unusual focus on just plain fun, the storytelling and characterization is clumsy at best.
If you're about to point out that one shouldn't go to a game like Saints Row 2 for artful storytelling, don't worry. I'm not here to point out how Saints Row 2 isn't going to win any game writing awards. It's not the inherent lack of quality of Saints Row 2's writing that is worth noting. It's the fact that the game feels completely disjointed, as if the various writers and storytellers were kept in different rooms for the entirety of development.
Saints Row 2 can't figure out what it is. Is it a semi-serious gangster action movie? Is it a tongue-in-cheek, near-parody of games like Grand Theft Auto? Is it a harsh story of tit-for-tat wherein consquences have emotional weight? The answer is yes to all, depending on the moment.
Most of the game coasts as a semi-serious action movie. Violence against cops and civilians isn't anything to bat an eye at, but enemy gangs assaulting your crew's headquarters is never portrayed lightly. The bad guys are supposed to be taken seriously (although the voodoo gang really pushes the limits of even a bad action movie). The dialog is trying to be snappy without breaking character. Sometimes it succeeds. The general feel is kind of stupid, flirting with self-aware, but serious in its own context.
But then the side quests and occasional missions are beyond zany. When a lisping man in pink lipstick starts asking you to spray feces on a neighborhood to lower property values, it feels like SR2 is cramming zany down your throat. The radio commericals and random passersby dialog are trying very hard to be kooky. Too hard. Outside of the main missions, there is so much zaniness that it almost feels like the game takes place in two different worlds.
And then Carlos, a young member of your gang, gets dragged behind a truck as payback for your attacks against the Brotherhood. You find him dying in agony, unrecognizably brutalized. The voice acting for Carlos' cries of pain is chilling. He isn't making stock, this-is-what-movie-screams-sound-like noises. He's making the sort of noises you could go your whole life without ever hearing.
Here's the scene:
Carlos dies in agony, and the moment is extremely intense. And then... the game goes back to just as it was. Next up is some convoluted plan to get revenge involving a monster truck rally. The mission and concept are honestly pretty dumb - but not out of place in an B-rated action movie.
But they're uncomfortably out of place following Carlos' death. It feels like these sections of the game were written by different people and then cobbled together with no communication.
The game is riddled with this sort of fragmentation. For example, Shojo is a great character who is done a complete disservice by simply dying as soon as his conflict reaches a breaking point. Plus, he's cast beside the General, who may as well not even exist for all his characterization is worth. And then there are odd disparities between text and voice.
The Hitman missions were the biggest culprit. You receive the call, and the person on the other end might say something like "My client needs some witnesses taken care of before they can go to the police." And then a box of targets appears, each with its own flavor text. The text will say things like "Steve is a firefighter who charged me money before he'd pull me out of a burning car. Take care of the jerk!" or "I think Gary's running around with my wife. Get rid of him!"
The same goes for the (notably not-fun) Crowd Control game - at least the tiny bit I played. "I'm an entertainment agent who needs you to protect my porn stars from their crazy fans," the opening dialog says. Moments later, you're protecting a star baseball player from angry fans of the opposing team.
When game development teams become large enough, it seems that it becomes a challenge to produce a cohesive, unified product. Some game come across as cracked or awkwardly put together, with disparities in tone, difficulty levels, etc. Other games come across as totally schizophrenic. Saints Row 2 isn't the only one. It's just a great example of it.
It's a shame, too, because Carlos' death was a painfully good moment. A few bits of the writing were actually quite funny. Some of the cut scenes managed to land a cool, action movie feel with finesse. But instead of being able to celebrate any of these things, I just walked away feeling like the whole game was a mess.
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