As do I, Danger!
/RANT/ Not only because it was more down to earth, but A.) Saints Row 2's humor, while often ridiculous, was balanced with genuine brutality and emotional scenes that actually impacted the player, as hard as it was the believe such a thing could happen in SAINTS ROW. The disconnect between these scenes paradoxically made them all the more unexpected and gripping. My friend and I went on a rampage and powered through the Brotherhood campaign after what they did to Carlos. Does anyone remember that scene when you catch that car? And B.) because it seems Volition thought of everything, and then included it all PLUS the kitchen sink into the game. An underground mall? A UFO? Skydiving? Swimming, wakes behind boats which bob your jetski in the water... Waves which build up during thunderstorms. Have you ridden a boat during a storm? It's pretty wild. And the jetski realistically kicks up water behind it. There's so much detail. Let's not even get started on the player customization which took a giant hit in 3 and 4, and the ditching of cars in 4. Or should we? The ability to wear underwear, undershirt, overshirt, and coat, all at the same time? Pretty incredible. And then to apply patterns to your clothing? Dude. There is too, too much to list. When I return to Saints Row 2, it feels like I'm home. As many times as I've played it, I still have new things happen, or see or hear new content. It's amazing.
I don't feel like 3 or 4 were legit Saints Row games. They had some cool ideas on their own, but SR3 didn't keep me playing long after the story was over. In fact, its characters didn't even grip me. Does anyone remember the House Party scene in Saints Row 2? Holy SHIT that was awesome, and then a certain character gets mortally wounded after suffering a traumatic loss and you're scared as shit they won't make it as you drive them to the hospital. And then wade through mission after mission wondering if you'll see them again. The MC's line at the funeral: "We were waiting for you." It's hard to express the feels. In a Saints Row game.
Saints Row 3 and 4 are ridiculous. That can be good, but as a Saints Row game, they lost their soul. Saints Row 2 could be action movie ridiculous too, and a lot of its side missions were ridiculous, and if you stop to think about it, it's easy to say hey, that's pretty ridiculous, but the overall impression it leaves is pretty awesome. The sequels tried to hard to be funny or edgy and ended up being forgettable. Saints Row 2 was an over the top GTA type. It was more like Scarface than the Avengers. Saints Row 3... killing a guy with a falling earthquake counterweight? Give me a break. That guy was actually suited to be a good villain, and he dies and we get a luchador? An uninteresting two-dimensional luchador? Argh. And despite having prostitutes and hookers in SR2, SR3 was pretty callous and offensive, especially during Ho Boat, although as story missions go, I did really enjoy the STAG missions and the whole Cyrus fun times. It just wasn't fit for a Saints Row game. They tease you with a Red Faction Loader vehicle in one of the movie sets, and you don't even get to ride it. Is this Saints Row? Is this Red Faction Guerrilla? Both games were immensely awesome, Saints Row 3 has none of that awesomeness. Saints Row 4 is a watered down version of Prototype. Play Prototype and you'll know what I mean. Prototype is awesome, and Saints Row 4 makes you think you could be playing Prototype instead.
In Saints Row 2, driving at high speed down the road, you accidentally hit a curb and a fire hydrant and go flying through the air, roll and flip four times across the sidewalk flattening an entire crowd which makes hilarious comments as they get punted in all directions before skidding to a stop in the parking space you were aiming for, and your character goes, 'Mm, still got it!' That's hilarious and emergent. Fire a gun to shoot down a wooden fence so you can pass and a driver gets spooked, drives like a madman into the distance and you see him accidentally ram a gas station pump and go flying into the atmosphere. You didn't plan that. No one wrote that. Ram a gas pump in your Hammerhead, fly into the air, suddenly collide with a passing police helicopter, crash back down through a nearby billboard in a shower of debris and helicopter explosions to the point you can't see shit and you're _still being shot by all the cops and FBI around you._ You don't even know what happened. What just happened! What did we hit! One in a million. That will probably never happen again, but you'll remember it forever. Volition made a real sandbox with Saints Row 2 and an awesome three arc story with an Ultor finale, and a toooon of side missions.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Volition can make an awesome Saints Row game again. I just hope they do eventually replay SR2 and realize what made it great. Dildo bats and Hulk-like Russian mobsters and Karate Kid references aren't really so much fun in comparison. Saints Row 2 is one hell of a fun-filled weekend of entertainment (with a friend!), and Saints Row 3 / 4 are time spent watching meme-y Youtube videos. The one will have you asking where the time went, the other will have you asking what did I do with my time? I don't mean to be a downer, but in retrospective, SR3 and 4 got me pretty down./RANT/
tl;dr I'm distressed and longing for a proper Saints Row sequel to fill the void the crappy port of the ever-awesome Saints Row 2 has left in my life of coop entertainment. 
Saints Row 2 really is the game that has it all.
