THQ has moved to distance its flagship open world release Saints Row 2 from Rockstar’s GTA IV – saying its title has more “silly, over the top gameplay”.

Speaking to investors at the William Blair & Company meeting in Chicago yesterday, THQ CEO Brian Farrell talked of his admiration for Rockstar’s sandbox classic – and how his own game differed.

He said: "We have a very differentiated product in this open-world genre," Farrell said during the William Blair & Company's investor meeting Wednesday in Chicago.

"We're always concerned about GTA as a competitor. It's a great product, the leader in the genre. But we were actually very pleased when we saw GTA IV. It's a great game, but they went in this great creative direction [that makes the game] more character- and story-driven."

He said that Saints Row 2 will instead be about "tongue-in-cheek ... silly, over-the-top gameplay."

He added that Saints Row 2 will feature lots of character customisation, "a lot" of downloadable content, a "larger, richer environment," a unique combat system and a "seamless" two-player co-op mode.

Thanks to Next-Gen.biz.