Line #37 Awesome/SaintsRow2


1	!Awesome pages are for post-viewing discussion; they assume you've already played the work in question and as such are spoiler-free.
2	''Saints Row 2'' is where the series began its trip into over-the-top mayhem and ensuring that brand of action pays off with moments like these. Don't believe us? Just take a look:
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4	[[foldercontrol]]
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6	[[folder:General]]
7	* The entire premise of ''Saints Row 2'' is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. Basically, you don't have a penny to your name when you escape from prison and proceed to dismantle three of the most powerful gangs in the world along with their mega-corporation sponsor. It's like the Kingpin's version of ''Born Again.''
8	* Gat has committed 387 murders and 1 attempted murder, meaning he's ''never failed to kill a person before that one''.
9	** Surviving [[OneManArmy Johnny]] [[BloodKnight Gat]] is pretty amazing when you consider it. [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome We may not know how he did it,]] but kudos to Troy for somehow pulling it off.
10	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHAwqHPxIyg It's gettin'! It's gettin'! It's gettin' KRAAAAZY!]] Made better by the fact that this song is oftentimes heard when things are truly getting crazy.
11	* The Power Walk finale qualifies.
12	* The fact that, thanks to the second game's custom radio stations, everything in the game can be done while The Final Countdown plays in the background. Or Misery Business. Or Hands Up. Or Ride of the Valkyries. Or Deadly Sinners. Or Tchoupa Twist. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Or a whole bunch of others.]]
13	* The entire escape from Stilwater Penitentiary is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome as you fight your way out of the prison hospital bay and end up fending off helicopters and police boats with a boat-mounted machine gun.
14	* In reaction to an ambush by the police at a nightclub, your character dives behind a bar using the bartender as a shield. As the police approach the bar, they throw a lighter in the air and ignites the spilled alcohol in a small explosion to disorient the cops and begin to get out.
15	* You have the option of seducing the reporter Jane Valderamma from her day job into becoming your psychotically obsessed homie, who says she loves you during her battles with you. What do you have to do to accomplish this? ''Mug fifty people.''
16	* A potentially amusing one for a male main character is the fact that he can get women to pay him to have sex during the Ho-ing diversion. This isn't a Crowning Moment of Awesome yet. However, one of the locations for this mini-game is the Barely Legal strip club. The implications? ''You're getting the strippers to pay to have sex with you.''
17	* The entire ''Secret Mission'' of ''Saints Row 2'' is one long SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. You and Julius get a chance to go on one final team-up together, taking on what appears to be the entire Ultor Corporation military. The tragedy when you avenge yourself on Julius, only makes the entire mission more awesome.
18	* The ''Ultor Exposed'' mission may just be a vehicle for porn star Tera Patrick, but it has you face down a ''huge'' number of Ultor goons. The final battle has your character versus a fleet of military helicopters that he has to personally down with a rocket launcher.
19	** Jane Valderamma's handling of the story is so obvious that you have to wonder if the Boss was in on it.
20	*** She strongly implies they are, but then again she might just be spoiling for a fight.
21	[[/folder]]
22
23	[[folder:The Brotherhood]]
24	* The entire Brotherhood arc is just brilliant. What makes it so good is how quickly it degenerates. It starts out looking like it's going to be the most "civil" gang war in the game, as in a "may the best gang win" kind of thing, as Maero tries to form an alliance with the Saints. Then you hear the terms of his proposal. He gets 80% of the weapons shipment and the Saints get 20%, and by extension, about 20% of the city. From there it degenerates into the most violent, personal, brutal, and outright vicious gang war in the entire game, if not the series. The Boss responds to the insulting offer by blowing up Brotherhood trucks and putting radioactive waste in his tattoo ink, burning his face. Maero and his girlfriend, Jessica, respond by chaining the Boss' protege, Carlos, to the back of a truck and towing him through Stilwater face-first. When the Boss rescues him, they're then forced to put him out of his misery. The Boss gets revenge by locking Jessica in the trunk of a car and placing it in a monster truck rally Maero is participating in, then taunting him about it. They also cripple his best friend's hand and so and so forth. It's part of what makes the fist fight between them in "The Siege" so brutal and awesome, they both absolutely despise each other and with perfectly legitimate reasons on both sides.
25	* Your character makes the Brotherhood leader, Maero, unintentionally run over his girlfriend, Jessica, with a monster truck.
26	** It's even more impressive when you recognize the context. The main character is avenging the death of Carlos, who's basically an honorary little brother or even son to the Boss. It's [[Main/LaserGuidedKarma Poetic Justice]] when you realize that Maero forced you to MercyKill Carlos so you force him to kill his girlfriend.
27	* Dane Vogel gets his when Maero comes around a second time, trying to threaten him and demand more favors from Ultor. What does Vogel do? He calmly insults Maero (a man who had nearly dropped him out of the window and into his death in his prior visit) to his face, and then reveals that squad of heavily armed security have Maero in their sights. And just to put cherry to the top, he reveals that Ultor has hijacked shipment of Brotherhood goods Maero was expecting before practically shooing him away. The man can be [[SmugSnake annoying]], but that moment was full of awesome.
28	-->'''Maero:''' They hit my boys while they were on the prison bus!\
29	'''Vogel:''' Between your girlfriend and your gang, I'd say you're a magnet for tragedy, Maero.\
30	'''Maero:''' You think this is fucking funny!?\
31	'''Vogel:''' No, but I do think it's your problem.\
32	'''Maero:''' ''(Slams his hands down on the desk)'' ''My'' problems are ''your'' problems. Or do you need some fresh air to remind you?\
33	'''Vogel:''' No, see, ''my'' problem is that a sideshow freak is messing up my paperwork. ''Your'' problem is that there's a group of security guards with assault rifles pointed at your back.\
34	'''Maero:''' ''(Turns and sees the guards)'' Your security guards look more like a private army.\
35	'''Vogel:''' Call them whatever you want. The point is they have big guns. I'm sorry you couldn't protect your friends, I really am, but Ultor is done doing you favors. Come back here again, and I'll have you shot on sight.\
36	'''Maero:''' Go fuck yourself, Vogel.
37	* The mission "The Enemy of my Enemy", in which Boss sneaks on board of the ship containing Maero's shipment. After killing the Ultor security personnel, the ship is attacked by waves of Brotherhood enemies from boats and boats. Boss has to fight them off. Fortunately for them, the shipment in question is a fuckload of weapons.
38	* Building off the above moment, the whole mission pays off with "The Siege". You finally decide to cut the bullshit and go take down Maero and the Brotherhood in an attack on their compound at the docks and confront a minigun-wielding Maero on the roof. The cutscene that follows is a brutal, relentless brawl between the Boss and Maero, which even if it isn't playable, is one of the most epic moments of the game, especially considering that both characters have extremely valid reason to hate each other's guts.
39	** Extra bonus points: Maero has a minigun while the Boss doesn't. The Boss is still able to win!
40	* The final fight with Maero opens with a brilliant bit of banter showing how both characters have nothing to lose in one last no-holds-barred showdown:
41	-->'''Maero:''' I didn't think you'd show.\
42	'''Boss:''' I'm surprised you had the balls to come alone.\
43	'''Maero:''' Who said I was alone?\
44	(The stadium lights turn on showing the Boss surrounded by a dozen trucks with Maero in a ''Monster Truck''.)\
45	'''Boss:''' [[OhCrap That's... not good]].
46	** And despite being both outnumbered and on-foot, the Boss is once again still able to win.
47	** The cutscene played after defeating Maero. Simple, but poignant in the coup de grace delivered:
48	-->'''Boss:''' (pointing a pistol at Maero) Any last words?\
49	'''Maero:''' [[DefiantToTheEnd Go to hell]].\
50	('''[[BoomHeadshot BANG!]]''')\
51	'''Boss:''' [[BondOneLiner Sorry, didn't catch that.]]
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:The Ronin]]
55	* Pierce gets one for telling Johnny "387 Murders" Gat to fuck off for criticizing Pierce's plan to rob a casino (which, as it's the same plan from GTA:SA's casino robbery, we know would have worked). That's not the COA. The COA is that when Johnny tries to threaten him into shutting up, Pierce holds his gaze and starts to stand up. Unfortunately, they're interrupted by the news before we can see exactly what Pierce was planning to do.
56	* The ambush at Aisha's house is a truly vicious shootout. It's just the Boss and Johnny Gat against perhaps a dozen Ronin killers, many armed with machine guns. The Boss' teamwork with Johnny is pure [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatism]], as each kills enemies in their respective blindspots, ''while'' Johnny duels Jyunichi. It ends with Johnny impaled by a katana, only to slam the enforcer on both sides of the head with his fists, stunning him while the Boss reloads their pistol. Jyunichi barely escapes with his life.
57	** And when the Boss came back to settle the score, Jyunichi loses the sword fight against him even though he had a bunch of Ronin as back up and probably way more experience with a katana than the Boss.
58	* How about Johnny fighting off an army of Ronin to protect Wong? The man is a literal walking, talking, crowning moment, enough so to make glasses badass.
59	* The climax of the Ronin mission where you go with Johnny to storm a Ronin hotel and blow it sky high. After clearing all the floors and setting all the charges, how do you get out quickly enough without being caught in the explosion? Simple: You do something straight out of a James Bond movie and base-jump off the top floor's balcony and parachute down as the place explodes all around you. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Alternatively, if you've unlocked the 'No damage from falls' ability, you could ignore the parachute and just faceplant the ground.]]
60	* Like with Maero, Vogel gets another very subtle moment when meeting Kazuo Akuji. Initially Kazuo asks Shogo, in Japanese, why he should care who Vogel is. Before Shogo can answer, Vogel rides in with his own reply, in English. He's not at all intimidated by Kazuo's reputation, and won't allow the Yakuza boss to insult him to his face simply by speaking another language. It's a nice "fuck you" to the pompous Kazuo, and only the second thing Vogel says to the man.
61	* Gat's "get up" sequence with Shogo Akuji at the cemetery. Specifically, Gat beats the hell out of the Ronin leader's son, not just for giving the order to kill Aisha, but '''especially''' for deciding to attack him and the Boss at his girlfriend's funeral. He finishes the kid off by emptying a nearby casket and stuffing him inside, proceeding to [[BuriedAlive bury him alive]].
62	** Boss gets one by... not saying a damn word, and only drags Shogo to Gat. The Boss is normally a TalkativeLoon, but both he/she and Gat are in a state of TranquilFury because of the seriousness of Shogo's actions, and just leaves the bereaved to do his thing.
63	** Also, this is the one time where we see The Boss give deference to Gat, who normally lets the Boss do all the killing of their enemy leaders. It must be noted that the normally kill-happy Johnny Gat had [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness earnestly offered Shogo the chance to walk away with his life]], if only he'd leave them alone to grieve. That Shogo [[TooDumbToLive keeps pushing for a fight anyway]] is what earns him this horrible fate.
64	* The final battle between the Boss and Kazuo Akuji. They engage in a brutal katana duel on a burning junk in the harbour, and just when it appears as though Kazuo is winning...
65	-->'''Kazuo:''' [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Did you really think you could match my skill]]?\
66	'''Boss:''' No... (''pulls out a gun and [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shoots Kazuo]]'') [[CombatPragmatist I'm gonna cheat]].
67	** The Boss then follows this up by grabbing Kazuo's own katana and pinning him to the floor with it, putting him on the phone to Mr. Wong and aggravating his wound to force him to scream down the phone, and then they round it off with one bold exchange.
68	-->'''Kazuo:''' When I escape, THE WORLD WILL NOT BE BIG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO HIDE IN!\
69	'''Boss:''' [[ShutUpHannibal Luckily for me]], you're gonna burn to death in two minutes. [[AndThisIsFor Your son never should've fucked with my friends]]. (''dives off the exploding junk into the water and escapes'')
70	[[/folder]]
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72	[[folder:The Sons of Samedi]]
73	* The Sons of Samedi mission "Bad Trip" sees you fight off a massive Samedi attack on your hideout ''while so stoned you can barely see what you're doing''.
74	** The best part is that when you're stoned out of your mind, you actually ''pretend'' to be useless to get the villains to drop their guard long enough to escape. Yes, even when you're baked out of your mind, you're capable of being a ManipulativeBastard.
75	* Mister Sunshine's moment has to be when The General cuts his ear off. Hardly sounds awesome, but his reaction to The General drawing a machete? He stands there and takes it, making only a single grunt as his best friend ''saws'' off his ear with the blade. It just cements the fact that this guy is nobody to mess with. It also leads to this strangely heartwarming, but still badass exchange between the two.
76	-->'''The General:''' I took no pleasure in this, my friend. But a price needed to be paid for failure.\
77	'''Mr. Sunshine:''' Don't worry. I need only one ear to hear the whispers of the Loa.
78	* "Eternal Sunshine," where you face off with Mister Sunshine at his slaughterhouse lair.
79	** The boss fight itself is the closest to a PuzzleBoss the game gets and an apt demonstration of Sunshine's powers. Armed with a voodoo doll that he uses over his assault rifle, he sends the Boss tumbling across the room with it, something that can easily happen in game if you're focused on pumping him with lead over the doll.
80	** He turns out to be a tough bastard to kill, too. All the gunfire from the fight itself doesn't do the trick? Try a finishing round straight through the heart. ''That'' doesn't work? How about [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill emptying an entire magazine into his chest at point blank]] '''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill and decapitating him]]'''.
81	-->'''Mister Sunshine:''' You think that will stop me?\
82	'''Boss:''' [[WhyWontYouDie For fuck's sake, die already!]]
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Activities]]
86	* A lot of the minigames are built around RuleOfCool. Vehicle surfing, Insurance Money, spraying sewage on everything, and more.
87	** The final level of the Fight Club sections has you fight off six guys at once. You have to finish each and every last one of them off by ''[[NeckSnap breaking their necks.]]''
88	** The final level of the Drug Trafficking and Snatch sections is very, '''''very''''' chaotic and [[ThatOneLevel often]] [[ThatOneSidequest difficult]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou to survive]]. That then means success requires being a badass.
89	--> '''Richie''': A for effort... But you're still [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] dead.

Context Awesome / SaintsRow2