Is it really a bad port to PC?

[Vexed Forest]

I read some reviews that said this game was ported badly to PC and had bad controls. I tried it on PS3 and the controls felt very awkward so it can't be THAT bad on PC, can it?

I do see a lot of topics about crashes on the discussion, though. Is it extremely common? And how big is the download size? I have limited internet usage so I would like to know the size so I know when I can download it fully.

Thanks for reading.

[sshortguy1]

takes about 5-10 minutes its a pretty long game

[Satyrion]

playing it on PC now, works great if u use gentelamans mod

[Mikoto misaka]

the only bad thing is the audio but volition is looking into this to fix it, the car driving is a little hard to master but you will get used to it. http://www.saintsrowmods.com/forum/threads/any-chance-for-better-audio-quality.2862/

[Corvina]

To clarify on some of the points above:

1. It is a VERY bad port. For some people it's even unplayable without mods. Thankfully a bunch of awesome people have stepped up and made the game playable. Definitely read IdolNinja's FAQ and download Gentlemen of the Row before you start playing it.

2. The controls aren't so much the awkward part as it is very poorly fit to run on a pc. I know people with computers that can run much more demanding games on ultra graphics that can barely run Saints Row 2 on minimal settings. The car mechanics are very floaty and handling is awful on a keyboard even with mods (for certain cars). Some missions are nearly impossible without a controller (I still don't know how people can complete Road Rage on a keyboard without fully upgraded helicoptors and Bulldogs). It's very easy to rebind keys but the radial menus and other menus still use controller-style commands. It took me forever to figure out how to eat food because it still used buttons that would be found on a controller, for instance.

3. Crashes are pretty common. They're more common without GotR but they can still happen randomly and suddenly. Despite what some people on the forum have been saying there is an autosave feature (which has personally saved me a lot of grief when the mission success menus refuse to load) that is only deactivated if you use cheats without a mod. Just save early and save often. ESPECIALLY save if you're going into any clothing store, as going into the outfit tab tends to crash the game more often than other places.


4. The game, with GotR, is about 12gb when I look in my folder. I don't know about your internet plan or speed of download, but it took me about 3 - 4 hours to download.

If you have the ability to play it on a console (especially a 360) I highly recommend that unless you want to tinker with mods and have issues. Gentlemen of the Row certainly adds a lot of stuff that's very cool, but the fact is that the game still crashes and lags no matter what can be done. If you have a good enough computer you may not run into any of those issues - I know people with the vanilla game that never had a problem - but chances are you'll run into glitches and everything at least a little bit.

Despite the hassle it's still a really great game that deserves to be played. The PC version is a mess, unfortunately, and it's really easy to tell that.

[Vexed Forest]

Originally posted by The Real Junko:

snip

Very helpful. Thank you very much :)

Too much of a hassle for the PC, I think. Is the 360 version much better than the PS3?

[Corvina]

Considering that it is working off of the original Saints Row, which is a 360 exclusive, I'd assume so. I don't own either console but they're both probably better than the PC version.

[Maeve]

I've only crashed three times from start to finish of SR2 >.> other then stupid vehicle controls this game is highly playable.

[Corvina]

Originally posted by Fifth:

I've only crashed three times from start to finish of SR2 >.> other then stupid vehicle controls this game is highly playable.

Mhm. The problem is that the experience varies greatly. I don't actually have that many issues (other than sometimes the mission finish menus not fading after I'm done and crashing, obviously), and I can look over most of them...

The vehicle controls are god awful, though. I don't know /how/ much better they are on a console but the few minutes I played with a controller were so much better than the rest of my experience. It's a shame that so many of the missions are chase missions with a timer because if they weren't I'd be more likely to recommend it on PC with GotR.

[DuckthatGames]

It might just be me, but I bought Saint's Row 2 while Volition was having a sale for about 3.00$ I expected to run into some bugs, but the surprising thing was I didn't. Maybe I'm just lucky! If you buy it, which I recommend you do while on sale, install Gentlemen of the Row mod, which not only helps run it, but completely overhauls the game with a lot of great features. Also, I could listen to the soundtrack for hours!

[Glass of water™]

i think the only bad controls is helecopter and aeroplane thats the only controls i have problems with except im better with helecopters now! so u get use to it dude

[zaxaboom234]

I haven't had any crashes or bugs during gameplay. Only during cutscenes some items get out of sync which can make some wonky visual things happening, but it only occurs during cutscenes. I use a controller when I play and controlls very well. Only problem with a controller is that all the instructions in game refer to the keyboard controls (so it will say "press the 'e' key to do this action' even though i am using a controller which is the 'Y' key on the controller.

[[V] IdolNinja]

Originally posted by saxaboom234:

I haven't had any crashes or bugs during gameplay. Only during cutscenes some items get out of sync which can make some wonky visual things happening, but it only occurs during cutscenes. I use a controller when I play and controlls very well. Only problem with a controller is that all the instructions in game refer to the keyboard controls (so it will say "press the 'e' key to do this action' even though i am using a controller which is the 'Y' key on the controller.

The objects not aligning correctly in cutscenes seems to be related to framerate exceeding 60fps. Limiting framerate to 59fps or lower using an app like dxtory wound up correcting the issue for everyone who tried it and reported back.

[GogglezDoNuffin]

Also when game uses system like this on co-op, 1 different world for each player so to say, both players want to turn on v-sync, maybe even lower graphics settings to keep steady fps or use programs to limit fps cap same for both players, to minimize sync issues.

[Tristero]

The driving is just too bad for me to play this...

[ShadowAngel]

It's interesting how different this game behaves on various PCs.
Only problem i have is the sound. I have to disable sound accleration to have sound on all channels on not just one.
Other then that, it works fine. Works even better with the Gentlemen of the Row Mod (it becomes even smoother to play and control and thankfully works with the additional uncut patch i have to use)

A Friend of mine has bigger issues, a lot of crashes (but funnily he hasn't the audio problems i have) and we can't even play Online Coop because we crash in the middle of fhe first mission.

It's a very bad port, sadly.

Originally posted by Math2:

The driving is just too bad for me to play this...

It's not as smooth and easy in SR 3 and 4 which have perfect controls for this type of game. Rockstar could learn a lot from that. SR 2 still has better car controls than GTA 4, even on PC.