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.

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.

Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of Saints Row. I loved the first two games, but Saints Row 3 and onwards completely lost me. The identity of this series always felt a bit unclear, with Saints Row 2 ultimately being the peak of what Saints Row could've been. It was wacky and a bit slapstick, but it still felt grounded to a certain extent. And while the Game Awards trailer had me looking forward to this reboot, actually playing the game was a different story.

This plays more like Saints Row 3 and Just Cause 4, but with stiff gameplay, a boring campaign, and an unbearable story. I will admit that I like the art direction and the environmental design. The open world - while nothing special - is fairly nice to roam around in, even if it feels lifeless at times. But once you start playing through the main content, it all just falls apart.

The combat feels outdated and stiff. The mission design lacks excitement. The story is uninteresting and the script is horrendous.

If this is the new age of Saints Row, then this franchise is truly not for me.

It's an origin story, that's great.

It's an open world, that's great.

It's repetitive, bland, humorless, quirk-less, powerless and a chore to work through the same tired side missions which end up being stripped down versions of previous versions of the same style activities.

I was so excited for a new Saints Row, by looking at the box art and watching the trailers it's a fast paced quirky game with the charm and humor of Saints Row 2, 3 and GooH, it's not that.

Combat is slow but twitchy getting stun locked or completely overrunning enemies after upgrading any weapons, the activities are just scavenger hunts with look through the area and click on the buttons or try to figure out what's a target and what's scenery.

Bad, in all things gameplay, story and character development.

First off, I am a long time fan since the second game came out. And it's been one of my favourite open world games since.

I wasn't a huge fan of the fourth game in the series, but at least that game ran smoothly.

The reboot however removes every character I'd grown to like, and replaces them with uninteresting characters that I don't give two s**ts about.

This would have been fine and dandy, if it wasn't for the insane amount of bugs that ruins the game.

The driving is smooth as silk, the shooting starts of a bit clunky, but gets better with some upgrades. The world is interesting and filled with fun gags and awesome statues and locations. But that's where the fun ends.

The story is sub-par, and both the main missions, and side-missions are a mixed bag. But I'd forgive them for all of this, if it wasn't for the bugs.

I ran around most of the game with pistols strapped to my hands, that I couln't remove. My vehicle delivery service rarely worked. After a mission my clothes swould be changed, and also my weapons inventory. And this doesn't even compare to all the times the game would crash during a mission. Which made me have to do it all over again.

If the bugs were fixed, I'd rate it a 7/10. It is fun and all, but the mediocre story and bugs just makes it more frustrating than it needs to be...