For anyone who thinks their town is a lousy place to live, know this: the residents of Stilwater have it worse. Much worse. On an average stroll through the city streets, they might be sprayed with sewage; tasered by fake cops; used as a human shield by gangbangers; or mercifully, run over by a speeding car. We can’t imagine why any law-abiding citizen would stay here — or come within a hundred miles of the place — but we’re sure glad they do. After all, they’re an essential part of the gloriously nutso, hilariously over-the-top ecosystem of Saints Row 2 — a place that’s not always real, but is almost always really fun.

Unlike Crackdown, which had fun co-op play but not much to do, Saints 2 has great co-op play with loads of stuff to do. Win.

At the top of this wild food chain is you, a member of the 3rd Street Saints, newly awakened from a five-year coma as the game begins. A lot’s happened since Saints Row’s explosive finale, which nearly killed you: Stilwater’s been cleaned up and rebuilt by the ominous Ultor Corporation, and the Saints are in shambles. After customizing your new, post-plastic surgery body, voice, and gender — a nifty option that lets you play the game as anything from a skinny, shaved-head Brit to an obese Asian transvestite — you bust out of jail, free former associate Johnny Gat, and then recruit some new lieutenants to help you as leader of the Saints.

Your new lieutenants have ties to other gangs in the city, setting up the 40-odd missions where you vie with three rival groups: the rough-and-tatted Brotherhood, the samurai-like Ronin, and Haitian drug dealers, the Sons of Samedi. In a game that revels in shocking you, the missions themselves are probably the least controversial portion — but that’s not a criticism. Whether you’re stealing Samedi drugs or demolishing Brotherhood trucks, the scenarios are consistently fun, and they find sly ways to surprise you. A mission to eliminate a Ronin lieutenant culminates in a massive swordfight, for instance, while a Samedi lieutenant battles you with a voodoo doll. (Sensitivity alert: One mission has you exterminate dozens of vagrants living in the Saints’ new headquarters.) Thankfully, when you die, liberally placed mid-mission checkpoints mean minimal replaying of earlier segments — well done, Volition.

The game also has Diversions — Activity-type events that you trigger yourself (like this Streaking mini-game) or stumble upon randomly (like Hostage-taking, which returns from the first Row).

Punctuating all this action are some really engaging cutscenes, with good voicework by genre actors like Eliza Dushku, Daniel Dae Kim, and Neil Patrick Harris. The cinematics unfold a gripping crime story that’s simpler than the tale of Grand Theft Auto IV, for example, but more violent and twisted, too. Unlike GTA IV’s Niko, Saints Row 2’s unnamed protagonist is almost gleefully amoral, and despite some occasional humanity (displayed when a friend dies), he’s shown snuffing and even torturing rival gang members in some pretty morbid ways. Whereas GTA IV took that series in a more realistic direction — authentic locales, use of cover, next-gen physics — Saints 2 takes a blunter approach, delivering an outlandish story and lightening it up with plenty of madcap humor.

When you chainsaw undead attackers in the Zombie Uprising mini-game, a Gears of War–style chainsaw cam kicks in.

Much of that crazy comedy lies in the game’s Activities — 17 optional mini-games that’ll net you cash and help you unlock missions. Eleven Activities return from the first Saints, including the brilliant Insurance Fraud (where you dive in front of cars to earn lawsuit money), and the new Activities are as insane as the old. In Septic Avenger, you spray people and property with excrement from a sewage truck, while Fuzz has you delivering maniacal “justice” as a fake cop being filmed by a reality show. Shooting litterers? Chainsawing both parties in a domestic dispute? It’s ballistic, bonkers, and I’m almost embarrassed to say, laugh-out-loud fun.

Making these Activities even better is the ability to play them — and the rest of the single-player game (even the Zombie Uprising game in your character’s crib!) — in cooperative mode over Xbox Live. As sweet as it is to tag-team Samedi scum and Ronin bikers in various missions, the Activities are a complete joy in co-op. Maybe it’s the inherent idiocy of two players, not one, guarding a celebrity from aggressive groupies (Crowd Control) — and by “guarding,” we mean flinging those fans off of buildings. Or just the way-cool factor of you and a buddy pummeling guys in Fight Club. But co-op–ing your way through the Activities definitely ups the excitement that much higher, and Saints Row 2 is a terrific cooperative experience overall.

Exaggerated physics allow some wonderful mayhem. Your speeding car will plow through other autos; hit a bump, and you might soar 50 feet in the air.

The game’s other multiplayer modes are enjoyable, too, though not on the level of GTA IV's best offerings. Gangsta Brawl/Team Gangsta Brawl yields lots of deathmatch-y carnage for up to 12 players, but we preferred Strong Arm, where two teams compete in various activities and assassinations to earn the most cash. Decent map selections and frantic action make these good, if not great, time-wasters.

With so much going for it, Saints 2 does disappoint on a few counts. For one, it’s simply not as good-looking as some other open-world games on Xbox 360, and when you stop and look around, you will see the jaggy lines. Some odd clipping issues crop up occasionally, too (e.g., a carjack victim stuck halfway in their car), and a couple of times, we saw a distant pedestrian simply wink out of existence as we got closer to him. On a separate note, the enemy A.I. is certainly decent — and we love when opponents grab human shields, just as you can — but we do wish they didn’t stand and shoot right out in the open so much.

Do we wish these issues had been polished away? Sure. Did they make us like the game any less? Strangely, they didn’t. Ironically, these rough edges seem almost at home in the messy, funny, in-your-face world of Saints Row 2. Stilwater isn’t pretty; it’s a dark, dangerous place. But as it turns out, there’re lots of big thrills here, and it’s well worth the $60 to live here for a while — whether you’re a lawful citizen or a would-be gangster.

On Xbox 360

+ Entertaining story; awesomely over-the-top; loads of missions and activities.

+ Full-game co-op is an absolute blast.

- So-so graphics and enemy A.I.; small glitches.

? Next time, can we get an all-zombie mode, too?

9.0