Saints Row 2

While the console versions of Saints Row 2 launched on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in October 2008, PC players had to wait until January 2009. The delay was related to the PC port being handled by an external studio, and porting the open-world gangster anarchy to computers turned out to be more technically demanding than planned, especially due to the engine's different architecture and the need to support a wide range of period PC hardware.

Unfortunately, the result was one of the less successful ports of its era - the game suffered from poor optimization, low frame rates even on powerful hardware, missing anti-aliasing, and a number of minor technical issues that the publisher addressed only through additional patches released gradually after launch. Content-wise, the PC version offered the same as the consoles - the same main storyline, open world, and two-player co-op - just in a much less polished package, which is why it earned a reputation among series fans as the weakest of all the period releases.

Because of these problems, the PC version became a cautionary example of a rushed port, and many players at the time recommended reaching for the console release instead. Publisher THQ learned a lesson from this, and subsequent entries in the series paid more careful attention to the PC community, with better optimization and support for classic mouse-and-keyboard controls.

Nevertheless, a modding community eventually established itself around the PC version, and thanks to mods and unofficial fixes, many players gradually made the game enjoyable enough that, despite its inglorious start, it became one of the more popular titles of the series on computers.

In retrospect, the PC version of Saints Row 2 is often cited in discussions about how much the quality of a port can differ from the quality of the original game - although the console version of Saints Row 2 itself was among the solidly received titles of its generation, the computer release did it a long-lasting disservice due to its technical problems.

Why play it: Watch out for technical problems - the PC port of Saints Row 2 is still cited today as an example of how much the quality of a port can fall short of a solidly received console original.