Oh and I did all that while my character was buck naked. It's better playing as a chick.

You guys are making me want to pick this up.

Can you change your character once you start the story, or would you have to start over again?

yea u can change your character going to image design for $500.

This is definitely more fun than GTA4 so far. I enjoyed GTA4, but it was the first GTA game that, after beating the final mission, I had little interest in screwing around in the game world any longer. There was just a depressing edge to the whole game.

I prefer the SR aiming and weapon selection setups much more than the GTA ones, and I love the variety in the side missions. I think it's awesome the amount of items I can grab and use as makeshift weapons here. It's not quite Dead Rising, but it's a step in the right direction.

The tone of the game falls somewhere between Vice City and San Andreas, which is a good thing. The fun, lively atmosphere of Vice City with the crazy variety of San Andreas, minus the sprawl.

I'm really digging the soundtrack so far... there aren't as many stations as GTA4 yet it feels like there is a stronger general variety in genres. GTA4's stations were a bit too specialized for my tastes... did dancehall and reggaeton really need two separate stations? (Although I loved the Russian station.)

I'll admit, there are some elements of GTA4 I miss here. The taxi rides are a biggie. I also miss being able to shove people, and I miss them reacting to simple bumps. I can't punch cars, either. The helicopters are much easier to control in GTA4 (at least based on the one heli I've flown in SR2 so far).

I noticed there was an achievement for car surfing. Has anyone done this?

I got my first freeze today. I had just finished an early mission for the Saints, and I was completing a level of the insurance fraud activity when it happened.

Of course I forgot to save, so I'll be doing it again. I am pissed. I'm gonna go play Dead Space now.

First Rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club!

Ok the good news is my progress was saved after all. I guess they have an auto save built in. Nice.

The bad news is I got my second freeze today, and it happened while doing insurance fraud again, although it was in a different part of the city.

I have a newer 360, only a month old, and between freezes I let it sit for a couple hours or so.

Are game freezes game-related or 360-related? I always figured it was the game . Like the Lego games always freeze but Gears of War never did.

It's definitely game related.

I keep playing more activities. I finished Fight Club, Insurance Fraud, and Zombie Uprising. I got to level 4 on both Trail Blazing games, which are really hard. I got stuck on a light pole once, and then wedged in between a fence and a table and had to wait for the timer to run out.

The glitches like this are killing the fun factor.

Oh and I still have only done about 5 missions total (story missions) and that, coupled with the activites I have done puts me at 19% complete so far.

You guys' discussion of this made me go ahead and pick it up tonight during the TRU deal. Played around with it tonight some and it seemed pretty funny though I just went off the beaten path and ran over lots of people.

The customization of you character is crazy. I love the various body types. I end up with a fat white woman with a beard and a Hispanic accent. Don't ask me why.

I also snagged it online. Hopefully i will have it next week.

Perhaps i can jump into some multiplayer with you Spider.

Uh...I returned it...umm...today...or something.

I got it for free so nothing lost. However, I think it is as every bit as fun as GTAIV was so I'll be keeping it in my game library.

Kept it for a whole 7 hours, huh?

= J

If you played it, how did you return it?

nickdawgy, I also got my first freeze. Luckily, I was winding down and was about to stop playing anyway. I was in a store trying to buy clothes.

Hopefully they're few and far between.

= J

xmiyux PLEASE DO NOT READ SPOILER!!!

i bet the dirty hippie will anyway.

I just got a freeze playing insurance fraud

I actually can't read.

Was it on the 360 or PS3?

I haven't had once since the second one, and I have yet to (knock on wood) get a freeze during a mission.

That's where mine happened. Both times I was trying to jack a car to drive to another area.

360. I really don't have any games for my PS3.

= J