Saints Row 2 is the bombastic sequel to one of the first Grand Theft Auto-likes on 7th generation hardware. Developer Volition would try its hand at their own take on the over-the-top violence and humor of Rockstar Games’ infamous Grand Theft Auto series with the first Saints Row on Xbox 360. The title performed incredibly well and also helped to tide over fans who were awaiting the release of Grand Theft Auto IV to where a sequel was quickly greenlit by publisher THQ. A direct sequel to the first game in the series and picking up 5 years after the events of Saints Row, Saints Row 2 arrived in 2008 just 2 years after the release of its predecessor.
While the first Saints Row was somewhat criticized as a copycat of Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row 2 establishes a trend that would be followed in every other game in the series. Beginning with Saints Row 2, the series would become associated with absurd humor and violence, almost becoming a satire of the Grand Theft Auto series. The experiment proved to be a success, with the game selling over 800,000 units just one month after its release. By early 2010, Saints Row 2 had sold almost 3.5 million units, making it one of the most successful Grand Theft Auto competitors.
Reviews for Saints Row 2 were generally positive, with most critics praising the game’s gameplay and mechanics as well as its humor and willingness to not take itself seriously. Additionally, many noted that the game featured plenty of replayability and reasons to keep coming back long after rolling credits. However, the title generated plenty of controversy due to its violence and humor, even drawing the ire of politicians and law enforcement.
Saints Row 2 Premise
Players begin Saints Row 2 by creating their avatar. After assigning various features to the player character, including gender, ethnicity, fitness level, and hairstyle, you begin the game in the Stillwater Maximum Security Prison. The game explains away the player character being the same protagonist from the first Saints Row by assigning their new appearance via plastic surgery. Awakening from a coma 5 years after the events of the first game, players discover that the Third Street Saints have disbanded and rival gangs have taken over their territory.
After completing the first story mission, players link up with the remaining members of their gang and begin to enact a plan to take back the streets of Stillwater. The in-game map is fully visible from the beginning but new locations fully open up after reaching certain progress markers. The map itself is divided into more than 40 neighborhoods split up into 20 districts. Players earn Resepect points that can unlock story missions and mini-games. Successful completion of these missions unlock more missions to complete, further reestablishing the Saints reputation.
Driving and combat in Saints Row 2 are similar to the first game but feature more options. In addition to more types of vehicles on offer, tyhe driving mechanics in Saints Row 2 are vastly improved over the original. Similarly, combat is expanded to include melee combos, more precise aiming, and the ability to pull makeshift weapons from the environment. The game notably features the same technology from Volition’s Red Faction Guerilla that allows for completely destructible environments.
Saints Row 2 Main Characters
The bombastic plot of Saints Row 2 features a varied and eclectic cast of both heroes and villains. In addition to the player character and returning favorites from the first game there are some interesting and noteworthy villains in the leaders of Stillwater’s rival gangs. Main characters in Saints Row 2 include:
- The Boss: Sometimes called “Boss” or “Playa”, The Boss is the player-created protagonist of Saints Row 2. After a betrayal at the hands of the leader of the Saints they become the new leader at the beginning of the game
- Carlos Mendoza: Carlos is a fellow Saint and inmate at Stillwater Maximum Security Prison. He helps The Boss escape at the beginning of the game.
- Troy Bradshaw: Troy is a returning character from the first game who is now Stillwater’s Chief of Police. He uses his influence and connection to the Saints to offer them protection.
- Maero: Maero is the leader of The Brotherhood gang. He is instantly recnoizable for his size and tattoos. Additionally, he uses violence and intimidation to control his territory.
- The General: The General is the leader of The Sons of Samedi gang in Stillwater. Unlike other gang leaders he does not have a hideout but instead a mobile base of operations. He is of Haitian descent and controls Stillwater’s drug trade.
- Shogo Akuji: Shogo is the leader of The Ronin, Stillwater’s stand-in for the real world Yakuza. He is young and inexperienced, which requires his father Kazuo to step in. Kazuo is the current head of The Ronin internationally.
- Dane Vogel: Vogel is the head of the nefarious Ultor corporation. As the antagonist of the game, he wishes to control Stillwater by turning gangs against one another. With the gangs gone, the Ultor corporation can create a crime-free utopia.
Games in the Saints Row Series
Since the first game’s release in 2006, Saints Row has been considered one of the better Grand Theft Auto clones. Thanks to its reliance on humor and absurdity instead of realism, the series has successfully set itself apart from its inspirations. In addition to being a commercially successful series, the Saints Row games have a mostly positive reception up through the 4th entry. The games in the Saints Row series include:
- Saints Row (2006)
- Saints Row 2 (2008)
- Saints Row: The Third (2011)
- Saints Row IV (2013)
- Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (2015)
- Saints Row (2022)
Saints Row 2 Cheats
Just like in the first game, cheats in Saints Row 2 are both plentiful and easy to implement. Players can activate cheats that impact the game world as well as ones that spawn any weapon or car in the game. Using cheats is the same regardless of platform thanks to how they’re implemented. To activate cheats players will need to do the following:
- Pull up the in-game cell phone and enter the cheat exactly as it appears below (including the hashtag (#) symbol).
- Once the cheat has been entered, navigate to the “Cheats” option in your cell phone and select the cheat you wish to activate.
Note that using cheats disables autosave as well as earning achievements/trophies. Players can manually save on a file using cheats. These games will be marked with an orange star to indicate cheats being active.
Player Cheats
- #1 – Full Health
Replenishes player health to full. - #2 – Car Mass Hole
Your vehicle has infinite mass and smashes other vehicles out of the way. - #3 – Milk Bones
Melee attacks are extremely deadly. - #4 – Add Police Notoriety
Bumps Police Notoriety one star with each use. - #5 – Player Pratfalls
Use Primary and Secondary Attack to pratfall, like in Insurance Fraud. - #6 – Infinite Sprint
Can sprint endlessly. - #9 – Unlimited Clip
Eliminates the need to reload. - #11 – Infinite Ammo
Gives you infinite ammo for all weapons. - #12 – Heaven Bound
The dead all go to Heaven. - #35 – Add Gang Notoriety
Bumps Gang Notoriety one star with each use. - #36 – Never Die
Grants invulnerability. - #50 – No Cop Notoriety
Removes all existing Police Notoriety. - #51 – No Gang Notoriety
Removes all existing Gang Notoriety. - #200 – I Am Giant
Causes the player to grow big - #201 – Itty Bitty
Shrinks the player - #2274666399 (#cashmoneyz) – Give Cash
Instantly gives the player $1000.
Vehicle Cheats
- #1056 – Repair Car
Repairs all damage to your current vehicle. - #4976 (#gyro) – Gyro Daddy Gyrocopter
- #7266837 (#scooter) – Peewee Pocket Bike
- #728237 (#saucer) – Destroy UFO
NOTE: Promotional vehicles above don’t count as cheats - #711 – Give Horizon
- #712 – Give Snipes 57
- #713 – Give Tornado
- #714 – Give Wolverine
- #801 – Give Kaneda
- #802 – Give Kenshin
- #803 – Give Melbourne
- #804 – Give Sabretooth
- #805 – Give Sandstorm
- #806 – Give Widowmaker
- #825 – Give Hurricane
- #826 – Give Miami
- #827 – Give Python
- #828 – Give Shark
- #829 – Give Skipper
- #1040 – Give Ambulance
- #1041 – Give Anchor
- #1042 – Give Atlasbreaker
- #1043 – Give Attrazione
- #1044 – Give Blaze
- #1045 – Give Backhoe
- #1046 – Give Bagboy
- #1047 – Give Baron
- #1048 – Give Bear
- #1049 – Give Bootlegger
- #1050 – Give Bulldog
- #1051 – Give Bulldozer
- #1052 – Give Compton
- #1053 – Give Eiswolf
- #1054 – Give FBI
- #1055 – Give Five-O
- #1057 – Give Hollywood
- #1058 – Give Justice
- #1059 – Give Kent
- #1060 – Give Mag
- #1061 – Give Longhauler
- #1062 – Give Mongoose
- #1063 – Give Oring
- #1064 – Give Phoenix
- #1065 – Give Quasar
- #1066 – Give Quota
- #1067 – Give Rampage
- #1068 – Give Raycaster
- #1069 – Give Reaper
- #1070 – Give Septic Avenger
- #1071 – Give Shaft
- #1072 – Give Stilwater Municipal
- #1073 – Give Superiore
- #1074 – Give Taxi
- #1075 – Give The Job
- #1076 – Give Titan
- #1077 – Give Toad
- #1078 – Give Varsity
- #1079 – Give Venom Classic
- #1080 – Give Vortex
- #1081 – Give Zenith
Weapon Cheats
- #920 – Give 12 Gauge
- #921 – Give 44
- #922 – Give AR200
- #923 – Give AR-50
- #924 – Give AR-50/Grenade Launcher
- #925 – Give AS14 Hammer
- #926 – Give Baseball Bat
- #927 – Give Chainsaw
- #928 – Give Fire Extinguisher
- #929 – Give Flamethrower
- #930 – Give Flashbang
- #931 – Give GAL43
- #932 – Give GDHC
- #933 – Give Grenade
- #934 – Give Kobra
- #935 – Give K6
- #936 – Give Knife
- #937 – Give Machete
- #938 – Give McManus 2010
- #939 – Give Mini-gun
- #940 – Give Molotov
- #941 – Give Nightstick
- #942 – Give NR4
- #943 – Give Pepperspray
- #944 – Give Pimp Cane
- #945 – Give Pipebomb
- #946 – Give RPG
- #947 – Give Annihilator RPG
- #948 – Give Samurai Sword
- #949 – Give Satchel Charge
- #950 – Give Shock Paddles
- #951 – Give SKR-9
- #952 – Give Sledgehammer
- #953 – Give Stungun
- #954 – Give T3K
- #955 – Give Crowbar
- #956 – Give Tombstone
- #957 – Give VICE9
- #958 – Give XS-2 Ultimax
- #969 – Give Pimp Slap
Weather Cheats
- #1200 – Time Set Noon
Sets the current time to Noon. - #2400 – Time Set Midnight
Sets the current time to Midnight. - #666 – Wrath Of God
Changes the current weather. - #78665 – Overcast
Changes the current weather. - #78666 – Heavy Rain
Changes the current weather. - #78668 – Light Rain
Changes the current weather. - #78669 – Clear Skies
Changes the current weather. - #78670 – Restore Weather to Normal
Changes the current weather.
World Cheats
- #7 – Super Explosions
Explosions are 4x bigger. - #8 – Super Saints
The Saints become unstoppable. - #15 – Drunk Pedestrians
Makes all pedestrians drunk. - #16 – Evil Cars
All cars try to run you over. - #18 – Low Gravity
Stilwaters’ gravity generators are at quarter power. - #19 – Pedestrian War
Causes all pedestrians to attack one another. - #20 – Raining Pedestrians
Pedestrians rain from the sky. - #202 – Everybody Must Get Shrunk
Shrinks all characters other than the player.
Saints Row 2 Cheat FAQs
What are the cheats for Saints Row 2?
Saints Row 2 features a plethora of cheats that can affect gameplay or instantly spawn any weapon or vehicle. Players only need to use the in-game cell phone to enter and activate cheats. Once cheats are active the player can no longer autosave or earn achievements/trophies.
What’s the cheat for The Tornado?
To instantly spawn the Tornado vehicle, enter #713 into the cell phone
What does the Super Saints cheat do?
The Super Saints cheat makes all of your fellow Saints invincible and gives them each an AR50-XMAC.