Saints Row 2

Saints Row 2

Developers
	Volition
Windows	CD Projekt Localisation Centre
Linux	Virtual Programming
Publishers
Former	THQ
Current	Deep Silver
Russia	Buka Entertainment
Engines
	CTG
Release dates
Windows	January 7, 2009
Linux	April 14, 2016
Reception
Metacritic	72
IGDB	81
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter, Open world
Vehicles	Automobile, Flight, Helicopter, Naval/watercraft
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Saints Row

Saints Row
Saints Row 2	2009
Saints Row: The Third	2011
Saints Row IV	2013
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell	2015
Saints Row: The Third Remastered	2020
Saints Row	2022

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Saints Row 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action, shooter and open world game in the Saints Row series developed by Volition and published by THQ. The game was originally released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and later ported to PC by CD Projekt Localisation Centre, informally referred to by Volition as "CD Projekt Black" to contrast itself from CD Projekt Red.

Upon release of the PC version on January 7, 2009, reviewers noted the version suffered a wide array of issues such as unplayable performance, graphical issues, subpar driving controls, and lack of mouse support in menus.

In the first two months of release, THQ released patches focused on improving general performance and crashes, removing the original 32 FPS cap, adding 16:9 resolution support, as well as various other fixes, though the game remained affected by critical issues that there would never be an official fix for, necessitating modders to step in. The DLC for the game were never released for PC and remains exclusive to the console versions.

The development of a free patch, handled by Volition, for the PC version was announced in October 2019. It was noted that this patch would bring performance improvements, bug fixes, improved draw distance, improved audio quality, various enhancements and all DLCs from the console version as well as restore online coop and multiplayer through Steamworks integration. In February 2023, the patch remained unreleased, but still in development according to Volition. It is presumably cancelled due to the closure of Volition in August 2023.

As of 2025, mods remain essential to fix multiple issues affecting the game, add new QoL features, as well as improve compatibility with modern systems. The GOG.com version has a 30 FPS frame rate cap to fix various animation and cutscene issues, though this can be removed. Use Juiced Patch or Monkey Patch for improvements for Steam, Retail or GOG versions.

General information

Saints Row Wiki

Saints Row Mods forums

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Retail		This version was released in the Czech Republic.
GamersGate
GOG.com		This release is somewhat more stable than Steam's.
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)		SecuROM 8.02.0015 and SecuROM PA DRM.

The German version of the game is heavily censored and will not work with mods and tools. German copies are also not available for Linux.

DLC was never released for the PC version, as support was pulled early.

Essential improvements

Juiced Patch

Alters the original Saints Row 2 executable file with patches and fixes that can't be implemented by other means.

A fork of Monkey Patch that provides even more fixes to the game.

Authors highly recommend using Juiced Patch in combination with DXVK.

Authors provide official addons page with ports of the old mods to the new standard and completely new ones made exclusively for Juiced Patch.

This project includes, but is not limited to:

• Intro and menu skip.
• Fix for the the speed-up bug without the need to use Powertools.
• An option to toggle the correct gamma ported from the Xbox 360 version.
• Proper ports of the animations from the Xbox 360 version that were broken in the PC port.
• Various fixes for cutscenes, including but not limited to: synchronization fix, optional black borders removal.
• Addressing performance issues (may heavily increase CPU usage if certain options are used).
• Improvements for the Windowed mode and implementation of Borderless Windowed (mutually exclusive options).
• Improvements to audio playback.
• Adding customizable FOV and a fix for Ultrawide FOV.
• Adding options for enhancing graphical fidelity.
• Adding toggle options for Bloom, Vignette, Fog and Aim Assist.
• Adding an option to fully uncap the game's frame rate.
• Adding an option for disabling controller input entirely, which may fix crashes when loading save files for some people.
• Adding a modloader for loose files, removing the need to use a Mod Manager.
• Integrating OpenSpy as a replacement for GameSpy.
• Various other fixes.

Installation
Go to the GitHub releases and download the newest archive. Extract the contents of SR2_JUICED_VX.X.X from the archive into the <path-to-game>. Edit juiced.ini to configure mod's options as desired. Notes Making a backup the original files before replacing them is highly recommended. Loose .xtbl, .lua and other files that go into .vpp files can now be loaded through the new loose folder.

Overhauled Stilwater

Includes critical bug fixes and tweaks.

A very similar mod to the Gentlemen of the Row Super Mod, but without bonus content and with the additional fixes and sound quality improvements.

Requires Juiced Patch.

Installing Overhauled Stilwater

Download the mod from the link above. Extract Mods folder into the <path-to-game>. Open loose.txt and paste this above anything already included in this file: # Base files, don't remove this line unless necessary. mods/Overhauled Stilwater/base_mod_files mods/Overhauled Stilwater Notes The archive also includes Addons folder with the additional mods that alter the experience in one way or another. To install those, follow the instructions in the How to Install.txt file.

Cutscene Patch

Aims to fix as much as possible cutscene issues in Saints Row 2.

Fixes both exclusive to the PC version issues as well as the ones that were inherited from the console versions.

Poor Quality Music on Radio

The PC port of Saints Row 2 has very poorly compressed audio with quality of 22050 Hz mono.

This mod replaces the PC sound banks with the Xbox 360 version ones, which are 32000-44100 Hz stereo.

Install High Quality Radio Mod
Download the High Quality Radio Mod Extract the files into <path-to-game>.

Skip intro videos

Use Juiced Patch.

Move, delete or rename video files
Go to <path-to-game>\Videos. Move, delete or rename logo_thq_hd.bik and logo_volition_hd.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\THQ\Saints Row 2\
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/volition/saintsrow2/AppData/Saints Row 2/

This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\THQ\Saints Row 2\
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/volition/saintsrow2/AppData/Saints Row 2/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Display settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			For unlisted resolutions, use Saints Row 2 Resolution Editor
Multi-monitor			See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen			See the WSGF entry. Use Juiced Patch to fix FOV.
4K Ultra HD			See the Saints Row 2 Resolution Editor.
Field of view (FOV)		Use Juiced Patch.
Windowed		Use Juiced Patch for improvements to the Windowed mode.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use Juiced Patch.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		2x and 4x MSAA Juiced Patch adds 8x MSAA
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Frame generation		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		GOG.com version is capped at 30 FPS;. Over 30 FPS, animations and cutscenes can have issues. Use Juiced Patch to fix the issues and uncap framerate on GOG.
120+ FPS		Frame rate is capped at 100 FPS. Use Juiced Patch to remove the cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		In-game option refers to HDR Rendering, not HDR output display.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Input

Control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration		Tagging minigame uses forced acceleration. Raw Input achieved with Juiced Patch.
Mouse input in menus		However, mouse can be used on the map to place waypoints.
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Only the 360 controller is officially supported.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Z-Axis labelled as "Button 11" and "Button 12".
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts		Xbox 360 prompts.
Impulse Trigger support

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Mouse conflicts with right stick.

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound Effects, Music, Voice.
Surround sound		Outputs to 5.1 speakers but is simply stereo spanned across surround speakers.
Subtitles		Very basic implementation. Use Improved Subtitle Visuals for more accessibility options.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Music begins when a new song starts.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Czech				Fan re-translation for Steam version; download
Danish
Dutch
French
German				Heavily censored.
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation by Tribo Gamer; download.
Russian
Spanish
Swedish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		12	Co-op, Versus Co-op mode and two Versus modes "Death Tag" and "Cat & Mouse" are limited to 2 players. Other Versus modes are playable for up to 12 players.
Online play		12	Co-op, Versus Original GameSpy servers are defunct. Use Juiced Patch to replace with OpenSpy.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	4200, 6500, 13139, 27900, 28900, 29900, 29901
UDP	4200, 6500, 13139, 27900, 28900, 29900, 29901

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues unresolved

Multiplayer lobby for Gangsta Brawl and Strong Arm modes boot people out when others join

The network code for Saints Row 2 is extremely sensitive, and when coupled with the speed and timing issues of the game, can forcibly disconnect certain users when others join. The game's PC multiplayer is considered inherently broken with the exception of co-op.

Poor quality sound

The PC port of Saints Row 2 has a very poorly compressed audio with quality of 22050 Hz mono. While there are methods to fix the music quality, there is not presently any method to fix voices or sound effects.

Recent versions of Juiced Patch have an option called "UseFixedXACT" that when replaces the base game's version of XACT with a more updated version. While not in anyway changing the sound banks of the game, it improves audio playback significantly leading to far better sound quality.

Crashing when loading a save or starting a new game

Install DirectX 9.0c end-user runtimes and run the game in windowed mode[citation needed]

Use Juiced Patch with DisableXInput set to 1.
Note that this disables controller support entirely.

Change system language.[citation needed]

Save often to multiple slots[citation needed]
While not a fix, it's a viable mitigation. Crashing on save load is an indication of save corruption or as a result adding or removing mods. A vanilla game and savegames where mods are installed are not compatible. Save manually in a new slot after every mission so the previous save is accessible in the event that the current save corrupts. This is recommended even with the original vanilla game.

Stuttering and poor performance

Use Juiced Patch.

Run the game on a faster drive.

Issues fixed

The Unofficial FAQ hosted on the game's Steam Users' Forum may be helpful in finding fixes for any issues you may be having.

Crashing on startup

Modify settings.dat[citation needed]

The settings.dat file is often the cause and can be found in the save folder. Add the following parameter on startup to force the game to start with default settings: defaults. Delete the existing settings.dat, and the game will recreate a fresh one the next time it is run. This file only contains video and audio settings like resolution, draw distance, volume, etc. Use a windowed 800x600 settings.dat from here.

Change how the game launches[citation needed]
Go to the installation folder. Set SR2_pc.exe to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 and disable visual themes / desktop composition options. Uncheck the Disable all enhancements option in the speaker properties (Control Panel > Sound > Speakers > Properties > Enhancements > Disable all).

Other solutions[citation needed]
Verify integrity of the game files on Steam and GOG Galaxy. Temporarily disable secondary monitors. Remove or disable all non-essential USB devices. Sometimes the game mistakenly identifies a usb device as a controller which can cause a crash. Juiced Patch can fix the issue when setting DisableXInput to 1.

Scroll issues when navigating menus

Potential solutions[citation needed]
Saints Row 2 has this issue with certain USB devices which are falsely identified as controllers. If using a controller, disable unnecessary USB devices which may be falsely detected as a controller. For Saitek keyboards, temporarily disable the HID-Compliant Game Controller entry in Device Manager. If not using a controller, use Juiced Patch and set DisableXInput to 1.

The Ronin Mission at the airport (Orange Threat Level) crashes after a cutscene

Use the Overhauled Stilwater mod[citation needed]

The Samedi mission loading the van with drugs (Riot Control) is bugged in co-op

This mission cannot be finished in co-op, except for rare cases.

Use the Overhauled Stilwater mod[citation needed]

Timeout when trying connect to a co-op game

Open Ports.[citation needed]
If that still doesn't work, host a non-password protected game.

In-game sound is in mono or only coming from one speaker

Use Juiced Patch.

Objects held by characters in cutscenes are misaligned

Use Juiced Patch.

Limit frame rate to 30 FPS.

The game chooses the wrong controller if multiple are plugged in or a controller with both dinput and xinput is used

Use devreorder. If using an dinput8.dll based ASI loader, rename devreorder's dinput8.dll to dinput8Hooked.dll.[citation needed]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
OpenGL		Linux version

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.9e
Multiplayer	GameSpy

Launch Options

By using command line parameters you can force the game to use the specified language or access other features. (List was mostly taken from Gentlemen of the Row Super Mod's Readme files)

Parameter	Description
forcelang_en	Set language to English
forcelang_de	Set language to German
forcelang_fr	Set language to French
forcelang_es	Set language to Spanish
forcelang_it	Set language to Italian
forcelang_nl	Set language to Dutch
forcelang_se	Set language to Swedish
forcelang_dk	Set language to Danish
forcelang_pl	Set language to Polish
forcelang_cz	Set language to Czech
forcelang_ru	Set language to Russian
forcelang_ch	Set language to Simplified Chinese
forcelang_jp	Set language to Japanese
showfps	Show FPS and various debug information during gameplay
2ndmon	Force the game to be displayed on the second monitor
defaults	Reset settings (graphics, controls, etc)

Modifications

• Fixed Characters - Fixes issues with some character models that seem unfinished.
• Missions Fix Pack - Fixes missing details and inconsistencies in few missions.
• Fixed Sales Ads - Changed the unlock percentage for various Store Sales to restore intended effect of sales being indicated more often and throughout the game's story.
• Real World Billboards - Recreates real life ads that were displayed on the in-game billboards around 2008 though the built-in advertisement service.
• SuperUI - Tweaks many aspects of the user interface to be more intuitive and adds an ability to purchase clothes and ammo from any crib.
• More Cutscene Shadows - Makes more light sources in cutscenes cast shadows.

System requirements

Windows

Linux

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 Dual-Core 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon XP Dual Core		Intel Pentium 4 Dual-Core 3.2 GHz AMD Athlon XP Dual-Core
System memory (RAM)	1 GB		2 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 7600 ATI Radeon X1300 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support		Nvidia GeForce 8800 ATI Radeon HD 3850 256 MB of VRAM Shader model 3.0 support
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible

Linux
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 14.04.3, 15.04, Linux Mint 17.1, SteamOS Brewmaster
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-4570T 2.9 GHz AMD FX-4300 3.8 GHz		Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8370 4.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB		8 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	7 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 AMD Radeon HD 6850 1 GB of VRAM		Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon R9 285 2 GB of VRAM