Saints Row

Plot

Reboot of the Saints Row game series, starring a new cast of characters.

Cast

Made by Volition who brought us the Saints Row series dating back to 2006 and Agents of Mayhem. Curiously not familiar with any of the voice cast.

Verdict

Let's get it out the way, Saints Row (2022) killed developer Volition dead. I think Agents of Mayhem had put them on the ropes and Saints Row truly finished them off. But was it deserved? Not exactly no in this guys opinion (Not that anyone deserves to lose their job over such a thing).

Now I never played the original Saints Row, the second I didn't mind but was too invested in GTA but the 3rd? Now that's when I truly fell in love with the series. Saints Row 3 to me was a manic masterpiece of take your brain out entertainment. 4 was enjoyable but felt like a Saints Row 3 expansion pack and Gat Out of Hell was a passable companion piece to the series.

Naturally I was excited for this 2022 game but I was concerned about it being a reboot rather than a new game. I mean, why?! I became further concerned when the first trailer dropped, this looked hokey, lacking the charm and humor that the games had become known for and where was all the craziness!?

Well the reviews came in and it became universally panned. Watching videos I could kind of see why but regardless I ventured in to see for myself and what I found was heartbreaking but not to the extent that everyone was making out.

So let's break it down.

The story? Mediocre and wafer thin. Sure Saints Row isn't exactly known for deep story telling but there was at least something going on and motivation behind the things you were doing. There barely is here at all.

Visuals? Ugly, why does it look so ugly? It looks worse than Saints Row which was released in 2011 and two gaming generations ago. Absolutely unforgivable, ugly and full of screen tears.

Soundtrack? I keep forgetting there is one. Saints Row games have never had the same budget as the likes of GTA but they've still had something. Here? Not so much.

Playability? Cars handle okay, gunplay is adequate but the options are minimal and upgrades really don't feel like they make a difference. Combine that with dreadful skills and weak melee combat and it doesn't feel like it does very well the thing that arguably is most important!

Open world? Now this is the sad one, yes there is an open world as you'd expect but it's pretty darn awful. First of all it's basically just one big desert with a couple of towns and a few small outposts dotted around so it has little character. But what is unforgivable is that it feels lifeless, it doesn't feel like a living breathing environment. The civilians are sparse and feel hollow and empty, the enemies are bland and repetitive, there's no life in this open world and feels more like an oil painting than a 3D city.

Saints Row is a disappointing mess, drowning in flaws and is an insult to everything that came before it. But worst game ever and Volition deserved to go under because of it? Absolutely not and those who believe so need to a) Play more games and b) Not wish ill on others such as people losing their livelihoods!

Rants

Saints Row was a victim of the pessimistic, negative, hate train culture sadly that's damaging the video game, television and movie industry. This one is especially bad due to it killing its developer. Upcoming ones will include the new Assassins Creed and Dragon Age titles which even before release have extensive hate campaigns and for the most absurd reasons. And don't even get me started on Concord. The lunatic accusations of "Wokeness", the moronic misogyny and the hilarious belief that it should be free because there are other comparable games that are! Yeah sure, let's make this £300 million game free! That's logical, tell me how will they make their money back? Micro-transactions? Well a) That wouldn't come close and b) Gamers are supposed to hate them, right? Stop with all the hate, calm your lil selves down and stop being so negative and ridiculously entitled.

The Good

Has its moments Character creation is still excellent

The Bad

Lifeless open world Graphically oddly poor Some logistics are terrible Never really gets going Doesn't feel like a Saints Row Game.

I never liked the saints row character or story. I dont do so this time. And i dont care. The cringe fun dialogue, arcade gameplay, blowing stuff up... It works as a letting steam off game. Graphics are okayish, nothing state of the art, not too bad eighter. World is not extremly big but enough room for making insane stuff happening. The synchro is nice, the voice i chose sounds great.

I reall enjoy playing it. I dont see too much wokeness. You cant choose a gender, still was able to create a male and female, so what. I did not encounter major bugs till now. Its proper funny crazyness. Probably wont think about it anymore in a year but for now, its great.

You can tell that the game came out unfinished. Everything is flooded with bugs. Story is okay but the bugs ruin it. I actually love the Saints Row series but this has ruined the whole good reputation. You can also see that Volition is closed. I also think that it only becomes fun after a certain part. But the $7 is worth it. Now that I've finished playing, I don't feel like continuing to play the game. Hope there's a new one coming soon Saints Row out which has fewer bugs and is also fun. One thing that has to be said though is that the character creation is very good. You can edit a lot. Like I said, they don't need to make a music app and use their time and money in better things.

This game is terrible. It has the worst characters. I didn't like them. The game has many problems. I was bored throughout the experience. This may be the end of the franchise. I don't want to see these Saints again. The old saints from the other games would destroy these weak new saints. The people who made this game didn't care. They made something awful. There were moments during my playthrough when I was thinking "what is this garbage?" We want things to be entertaining and fun. We don't want this trash. It's time to wake up and learn. It's frustrating that there are games full of bugs these days. Finish the games when making them. We don't want something half finished.

It's just not that good, either. My score would actually be closer to a 6, but I experienced severe bugs that made completing the campaign almost impossible. This hot mess is lucky she's not getting a 4, but I can't rate it that low because I DID have some fun. Turns out being able to aim down sights and access your weapon-wheel are pretty essential for bombastic comedy violence. When it works, I enjoyed the shallow gameplay because it's exactly the same as SR3&4's, warts and all. I'll revist to clean up the side missions after a couple stability patches. In it's current state, it's a mild chore to power through.