[Let's Play] Saints Row 2 - The Closest to 'Duke Nukem Forever' You'll Ever Get - Games and Technology

Adus · 07:07 AM

Welcome to Let's Play

To steal from Wiki:

Saints Row 2 (abbreviated to SR2) is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It is the second title in the Saints Row series. The game follows the unnamed protagonist — referred to as male in this article — who leads a fictional street gang known as the 3rd Street Saints, to whom he followed in Saints Row until he was betrayed and landed in a trauma-induced coma after a staged yacht explosion. After escaping from prison five years later and bringing the Saints to power again, the protagonist takes on the gangs who now control the city Stilwater on a quest to bring it to the Saints' power, who had controlled it in Saints Row. The game is composed of elements from third-person shooters and driving games in open world gameplay. The main game can be played through in single-player or through online co-operative play. The game also contains competitive multiplayer modes.

It's like GTA, that's really all you need to know.

In this LP I will do my best to display as much of the game as possible. Missions, activities, whatever. Given that 100% completion requires picking up a lot of stupid hidden items and other monotonous things, hence "as much as possible." Some activities I may skip if I think they're not interesting to watch and/or if I hate them (like Snatch, Escort and Crowd Control. Exceptions might be made with co-op guests.)

I'll be playing single player, though seeing that co-op is possible at pretty much any time, I may take on a guest every so often if I need help with certain activities or I feel my voice alone is probably getting tiring.

Despite my better judgment, I will allow people to post suggestions on what the character will look and sound like. Later on you'll be able to suggest different outfits as well. The main character is seen in pretty much every cutscene, so that alone could be as cool or silly as you'd like.

This is the PC port of the game, which has some issues. Personally I haven't had much trouble with it, but there are some more obvious problems. Driving with a keyboard kind of sucks for one thing, but I'm pretty used to it by now.

My suggestion is to watch the videos on my channel or youtube itself for higher viewing quality. Oh and, yes, I'm entirely aware of the various audio issues. I always try to fix them as soon as I can. I could apologize for my boring voice, too, but that's something that I can't really fix. So that you're just going to have to deal with.

Channel link for convenient watching! (and inflating my channel view count!): http://www.youtube.com/user/AdusOfPA

Playlist link: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...2D7049F30D988A

Individual links:

Here's the introduction video in which I will briefly show you the character customization.

Introduction
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Set 1: Septic Shock

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Set 2: Carpooling

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Set 3: Carpooling: The Revenge

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Set 4: Ministry of Saints

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Set 5 - Quyzbuk (With guest: Stormwatcher)

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Set 6 - Ghost Ridin': Duke Style (With guest: IdolNinja)

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Set 7 - Doogie Howser, D.J.

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Set 8 - Stoned Samedi Slaughter

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Set 9 - That's A Grenade

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Set 10 - Crashes and Compact Cars (With guest: Blain)

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Set 11 - Ninjaplane Holds Many Ninja

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Set 12 - In Which Ninja Boobs Are Briefly Discussed (With guest: Donhonk)

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Set 12 Bonus: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaw...nus_videogames

Set 13 - Libera Me From Hell

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Let's Play Conclusion:

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Activity Roundup: Zombie Uprising and Hitman

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This video isn't really part of the LP, technically, but Yakety Sax + double speed makes anything amusing:

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Soundtrack:

Order: Artist - Album (Year released) - Song

Set 1, Part 3:
André Matos - Time to Be Free (2007) - Menuett
Ludwig Von Beethoven - 9th Symphony (1824) - Ode To Joy

Set 2, Part 2:
Tool - Ænima (1996) - Ænima

Set 2, Part 3:
Pain of Salvation - BE (2004) - Diffidentia (Breaching the Core)

Set 3, Part 1:
Camille Saint-Saëns - Excerpt from Symphony No. 3 - Presto

Set 3, Part 2:
Queensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime (1988) - The Mission

Set 3, Part 5:
Pain of Salvation - Entropia (1997) - ! (Foreward)

Set 4, Part 1:
Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (2002) - Kinetic

Set 4, Part 2:
Helloween - The Dark Ride (2000) - The Departed (Sun Is Going Down)

Set 4, Part 3:

Devin Townsend - Infinity (1998) - Bad Devil
Slayer - Reign In Blood (1986) - Raining Blood

Set 4, Part 4:
Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus (2008) - Ministry of Saints
Devin Townsend - Physicist (2000) - Material

Set 4, Part 5:
The Seatbelts, featuring vocals by Mai Yamane. Composed and arranged by Yoko Kanno. Lyrics by Yuho Iwasato - Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless (1998) - The Real Folk Blues

Set 5, Part 1:
Rage - Speak of the Dead (2006) - Mortituri Te Salutant/Prelude of Souls/Innocent

Set 5, Part 2:
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (2005) - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here

Set 5, Part 3:
Dream Theater - Octavarium (2005) - Never Enough
a-ha - Hunting High and Low (1985) - Take On Me

Set 5, Part 4:
Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) - Embrace of the Endless Ocean

Set 6, Part 1:
Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy (1999) - New Allegiance/The Fourth Legacy
Kamelot - The Black Halo (2005) - When The Lights Are Down

Set 6, Part 2:
After Forever - After Forever (2007) - Dreamflight

Set 6, Part 3:
System of a Down - System of a Down (1998) - War?

Set 7, Part 1:
Taproot - Blue Sky Research (2005) - I Will Not Fall For You

Set 7, Part 2:
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982) - Run to the Hills

Set 7, Part 3:
Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done (2002) - The Enemy
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (2003) - The Outsider

Set 7, Part 4:
Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos (2002) - Natural Born Chaos
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (1999) - Just Like You Imagined

Set 7, Part 5:
Pagan's Mind - God's Equation (2007) - Hallo Spaceboy

Set 8, Part 1:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (1979) - Comfortably Numb

Set 8, Part 2:
Ayreon - Into The Electric Castle (1998) - Across the Rainbow Bridge
Black Majesty - Tomorrowland (2007) - Soldier of Fortune (Deep Purple cover)

Set 8, Part 3:
Spice Girls - Spiceworld (1997) - Move Over
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations (2006) - Knights of Cydonia

Set 8, Part 4:
Godsmack - Godsmack (1998) - Voodoo

Set 9, Part 1:
Rammstein - Mutter (2001) - Mein Herz Brennt
Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998) - 1776

Set 9, Part 2:
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe (2008) - Morphogenesis

Set 9, Part 3:
Blind Guardian - A Twist In The Myth (2006) - This Will Never End

Set 9, Part 4:
Ours - Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy) (2008) - Live Again

Set 10, Part 1:
Amorphis - Silent Waters (2007) - Weaving the Incantation

Set 10, Part 2:
Edguy - Hellfire Club (2004) - King of Fools
Royal Hunt - Collision Course (2008) - The First Rock

Set 10, Part 3:
Gamma Ray - Majestic (2005) - Blood Religion

Set 11, Part 1:
Angra - Temple of Shadows (2005) - Late Redemption

Set 11, Part 2:
Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000) - Pieces of Me

Set 11, Part 3:
Leaves' Eyes - Njord (2009) - Scarborough Fair

Set 12, Part 1:
Symphony X - Paradise Lost (2007) - Oculus ex Inferni/Set the World on Fire

Set 12, Part 2:
Demons & Wizards - Demons & Wizards (2000) - Poor Man's Crusade

Set 12, Part 3:
Sirenia - The Thirteenth Floor (2009) - The Seventh Summer

Set 12 Bonus:
Dream Theater - Octavarium (2005) - Octavarium

Set 13, Part 1:
Ayreon - 01011001 (2008) - River of Time

Set 13, Part 2:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) - Zero
Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon (2003) - Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse

Set 13, Part 3:
Taku Iwasaki - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann soundtrack - "Libera Me" From Hell

Set 13, Part 4:
Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free II (2007) - Opportunity

Conclusion:
Therion - Gothic Kabbalah (2007) - Son of the Staves of Time

Activity Roundup: Zombie Uprising:
Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982) - Thriller

Activity Roundup: Hitman:
Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja (2003) - Tuulen Tytär / Soturin Tie

Omnicron9999 · 10-09-2009, 08:29 PM

I was stoked to see this because I loved your ff7 LP, but the audio issues really made it unwatchable for me.

As long as they're fixed for the next installment, I'm totally in! Can't wait for the rest!

Darth_Mogs · 10-09-2009, 08:35 PM

I can trust that the audio things get ironed out really quick, since the OP even says they're good from now on.

I...hrm. I don't know what to suggest, character-wise. Creation things like these, as in-depth as they are make me freeze up because the possibilities are endless.

Adus · 09:38 PM

Yes, they're fixed. The intro really isn't worth re-recording, in my opinion, but if by tomorrow no one else has posted in here, I guess I'll assume everyone else didn't watch it for the same reasons and do it anyway. You don't even really need sound. Just glance at the character options and tell me if you want them to be male or female, fat or skinny, Asian or Caucasian. If male, tell me you want him to look like the Sniper from TF2 or Barack Obama. There are a lot of possibilities. No hairstyle looks like Cloud or else I might have just done that in honor of the last LP.

If no one wants to do that, you can just leave it up to me. Of course, if you do, I'll probably just go with the character I made for single player because I like her.

Darth_Mogs · 10-09-2009, 09:42 PM

Adus wrote:

No hairstyle looks like Cloud or else I might have just done that in honor of the last LP.

I was honestly going to suggest that, but didn't because I didn't figure it could be pulled off.

Any way to make Squall, though?

Nappuccino · 10-09-2009, 09:43 PM

I have to admit, as much as I'd like watching the intro, the weird vocal echo makes it impossible for me to do so. If you could re-record it (maybe edit it so its much more streamlined since its a second go-around of mostly the same thing?) I and most others would greatly appreciate it.

As for the guy... I don't know what the game is capeable of, but make him/her the most awesome bad-ass crack addicted con you can.

EvilBadman · 10-09-2009, 09:46 PM

Was gonna buy this for $5, but heard the pc/win7 problems were annoying. Godspeed, sir.

NATIK · 10:22 PM

Definitely following this. I didn't find the audio issues that annoying though it was distracting, but yeah fixed next time and all that.

As for character design, I don't know anything about the game so I am going to let others come with suggestions on what would fit and/or be funny to make the character as.

EDIT: Wait 1 suggestion based on the FFVII playthrough references above.

Cloud from the wallmarket dressup and play as an androgynous crossdresser.

Adus · 11:35 PM

Ahh god

How did I know someone would say that.

Anyway, here, I re-recorded the intro. The audio should be more balanced and tolerable, but it's not perfect. My mic just isn't that great, but it's a lot easier to listen to this time. The biggest issue is that I'm basically wearing two headsets. One with the mic on it around my neck and another pair on my ears since the pair with the mic doesn't work. This causes the wire of the other headset to rub against the mic sometimes and it seems to make a bit of noise. Mic seems a bit sensitive since it's not padded. I'll do my best to minimize that sort of interference, but I can't promise anything. It shouldn't be that bad. I've already found a way to not get the cord rubbing against the mic like in this video.

Hopefully after the first few sets of this LP, most audio issues that can be fixed will be worked out. I'm already noticing how this one sounds a bit bass-y. If anyone else hears any problems that I didn't mention, feel free to let me know.

This video is still processing, so you might want to give it a bit until it's ready for HQ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt2dSKPsXzc

Darth_Mogs · 11:40 PM

Much much better on that one.

That thing has the potential to create nightmares. I was still ready to say Squall until you said it couldn't do Scars. Now I really don't know what to think.

Edit: You could try Cid? He's probably pretty easy to make, and he was pretty much a Swearing All The Time Badass.

I think imagining this is what happened to him after FFVII is better than anything the compilation has to offer.

Adus · 10-10-2009, 12:44 AM

Cid is something I tried. It came out pretty good, but unfortunately you can't buy goggles and wear them on your forehead, so that kinda hurts it.

PaperLuigi44 · 10-10-2009, 02:01 AM

Audio is much better, that echo was driving me insane.

I reckon you should make your character Bret from FoTC if possible. You know it makes sense.

RonaldoTheGypsy · 10-10-2009, 02:16 AM

You should co-op through missions with some of the crew here and there.

WotanAnubis · 10-10-2009, 02:28 AM

Pfft, if one must try to make an FF7 character for this game, it'd have to be Aerith/s. The designated healer getting up to the shit the Boss gets up to? It'd be a nice juxtaposition.

Adus · 05:52 AM

Honestly, the biggest limitation in trying to make characters like other people/characters is probably the hairstyle choices. None of them really look like Aeris' or Squall's or Bret's and so on. Cid came out decently, but it just doesn't look right without goggles. Tifa was close but there's no real long, straight hair strangely enough.

I suppose after a day or so if I can't make any of the suggestions I'll just see what I can come up with on my own. I managed a pretty decent likeness of the TF2 sniper, which was fairly fitting since the cockney accent sounds kinda like him (the voices being another limiting factor.)

RonaldoTheGypsy · 10-10-2009, 07:12 AM

Adus wrote:

Honestly, the biggest limitation in trying to make characters like other people/characters is probably the hairstyle choices. None of them really look like Aeris' or Squall's or Bret's and so on. Cid came out decently, but it just doesn't look right without goggles. Tifa was close but there's no real long, straight hair strangely enough.

I suppose after a day or so if I can't make any of the suggestions I'll just see what I can come up with on my own. I managed a pretty decent likeness of the TF2 sniper, which was fairly fitting since the cockney accent sounds kinda like him (the voices being another limiting factor.)

HAVE YOU SOH'VOIVED AH BOAT EXPLOWSHYUN?

DIDN'T THINK SO.

WotanAnubis · 10-10-2009, 07:35 AM

OK, the default MC is a muscular black guy.

Therefore, the only logical MC to play as is a fragile white girl.

travathian · 10-10-2009, 09:17 AM

So Michael Jackson?

Gets my vote! And think as much gameplay as possible should use various other players in coop. Even if they have everything unlocked, you can just tell them to hit their crib first and switch to wimpier weapons first.

Khavall · 09:23 AM

I think my favorite thing about this game is that originally I was a reasonably blank slate dude.

Then halfway through I was like "Man, it'd be cool to be some puny little fashion model gang leader who then shoots everyone everywhere."

But then I was all "But damn, I have worked my ass off to get infinite ammo for like every weapon and become a crazy god of gangs... I don't want to switch games"

And then I realized that in the same game I could totally change everything, including my gender and voice, of my character. So awesome.

Basil · 10-10-2009, 09:22 AM

What, customization?

There is no customization here.

There is only Duke Nukem.

Omnicron9999 · 10-10-2009, 11:27 AM

Seems like most FF characters are out...how about a character who would just looks out of place in GTA type escapades?

Michael Scott or Dwight from The Office? Seems like they would be easy to make.

SF_Dhalsim · 10-10-2009, 11:47 AM

I vote John Kennedy or Theodore Roosevelt hell Nikita Khrushchev would be hilarious.

It might take awhile but I have a feeling that it would be well worth it. I mean what could be any funnier than Theodore Roosevelt running down the street with an AK-47 yelling, "The only thing you have to fear is me eating your corpses hookers!"

Spoiler:

Adus · 12:24 PM

Now we're getting some good suggestions. I'm personally kind of torn between inverted main character (aka thin white girl) and Duke Nukem. The only issue I have with Duke is he wouldn't have his signature voice.

And yes, I do plan on doing some co-op with other people, especially since some activities are difficult on their own. If you have the game and are interested in that, you can post here and maybe tell me when is good for you. The first set or two is just going to be me though. It would also be good if you had Skype.

Basil · 10-10-2009, 01:00 PM

Australian Duke Nukem is almost as awesome as the real thing.

randombattle · 10-10-2009, 01:23 PM

Wow and I just started playing this with some friends like 2 days ago.

I made Billy Mays as my character though. I really should take a screen of him cause he looks great.