We tried Saints Row, a reboot of the crazy Volition series

We believe that having some basic knowledge of the Saints Row franchise is essential to understanding its evolution over the years, so it’s appropriate to start our discussion at its dawn. epic will It was born in 2006 as an open world action focused on gang fighting; it immediately aims to be an extreme and almost unrealistic experience, but it conquers a decent fan base with its unforgettable characters and world. Just one minor issue: king in this space is a small game called Grand Theft Auto, such an “invincible beast” forcing Volition to make a clear change of course (it could possibly remove its brand from Rockstar’s works). The chosen path? Absolute madness: Saints Row becomes a series with aliens, action sequences that lack the slightest bit of realism, very dangerous purple rubber dildos, and every comfort the human mind can imagine.

The plan is working, the last few episodes have turned into moderate commercial successes, and the public’s share is beyond expectations. Unfortunately, the game, which has almost completely abandoned its roots, is losing its appeal in the eyes of many of its original fans, and over time even a good portion of the “fresh” fan base is starting to want to see the developers take a few steps back. maybe in a more refined and realistic title.

This is probably why when Agents of Mayhem comes out, the game is selling below expectations: it’s always been a spinoff of Saints, but the change in “class” structure with the new name is causing many players to ignore it. . The trend is almost the same as seen in episode four, which then causes that part of the community that wants to see an evolution in the saga give up hope and becomes a heavy nail in the coffin of the series.

But now Volition has decided to try again and will try again with a reboot. we have Tried Saints Row For a few hours and today we can finally talk about how Volition tried to revive his little boy. One hint: they didn’t follow the path of refinement and drama… even from afar.

cake boss

The new Saints Row welcomes you once again “Manager“, albeit with one important difference: the gang of Saints hasn’t formed yet, and you’re just trying to make a living in the wild city of Santo Ileso, working as a mercenary for a private army named Marshall, and petty robberies with your roommates. The first few bars are interesting, especially Santo Ileso It seems like a place where legality isn’t even considered, and all your raider friends are an integral part of the various gangs that control the metropolis. A cocktail. It’s actually the explosive of events that don’t take long to topple, but set everything on fire.

When told this way, the game’s story might seem like a throwback to the series’ more “serious” roots, but it takes very little time to understand how things really are. In fact, from the start, your alter ego has been proving that he can survive events that can raze an entire neighborhood, while also displaying a natural flair for carnage. At the very least, the realism in this game isn’t really at home, even if it has to be said that aliens, superpowers, and virtual worlds have disappeared from the equation. Consider the series to give you a crystal clear example of the overall effect fast and furious: here, let’s say the comparison between this Saints Row and the first episode is similar to the comparison between the first movie of that saga and the last ones. We’ve gone from old-fashioned shooting to battles on jets and moving trains, with cars that defy any laws of physics and characters who can survive a rain of bullets unscathed. ‘Murica.

The team did not want to leave because of this exaggerations but he dropped some of the bullshit from the main story to try to get back to historical fans. We doubt this will really make the game open with open arms, but we’re not against Will’s choice because if nothing else, they gave us more than a solid grin if you find them crazy for certain missions. After all, there is no shortage of successful jokes, and the cartoonish game world is a great scene to have fun with without too much thought. Problems, unfortunately, arise when you go to analyze the rest.

worms of mass destruction

Now, we’d like to put our hands on the task and make it clear that despite the title’s release, the demos we tested during preview events were often pretty backward versions and were therefore generally more unstable than the finished product. However, the new Saints Row turned out to be tougher than expected, both systemically and technically. this Gameplay for its part, it looks like a good evolution compared to Saints Row 4: superpowers have been replaced by a basic character progression that allows you to use very useful special skills – placing explosive mines in battle, throwing enemies with a grenade in their underwear, etc … – and It can be easily used in the war between the riddle and the other. this enemies, are, for their part, more reactive and varied, and some have armor that prevents instant elimination, forcing you to wisely calculate which targets to focus on during shots (it’s a pity that the “sponge” effect is boring when they have too much). Even vehicular battles are more interesting thanks to the ability to shoot from sudden doors and vehicle roofs. The problem is, these system improvements are a good part of an overall worsening system in its core mechanics.

indeed we found pull More inaccurate than we expected (but with a tendency to miss the target very annoyingly at close range due to the awkward management of firearms’ range of effects), the move is a bit too crude, and yet the AI ​​is too prone to silly behavior. improvements in overall reactivity.

For the record, all these shortcomings are offset by the game’s excesses: this is a good Saints Row various missions and in addition to the main ones – probably the most ridiculous and interesting – there are no deliveries from the police, no flight races armed with a planer team, and even no ridiculous insurance scams, which the player’s plan should be exactly. Get run over by as many cars as possible creating a road disaster. This is a nice range of options, mostly plagued by general technical instability.

In summary (for an open world) we actually had countless bugand not even negligible: permanently stuck weapons or “stuck characters” that guarantee our elimination during heated combat; died of insane physics that launched our vehicle into space after lightly touching a rock; and a whole host of other annoyances that we often observe in this overly ambitious breed, but never so often. We sincerely hope that these issues will be fixed soon, because while the gameplay isn’t exactly a masterpiece, the overall caciaronaggine still amused us during testing and we believe it’s on its own. reason for existence if appreciated without stumbling.

Be your own disaster

The shortcomings highlighted above may suggest a game that doesn’t really stand out from the crowd, but the new Saints Row has other meats that can at least guarantee an enjoyable experience for those who don’t have big gaming needs. The last work of Will is actually absolute customization as well as its excesses and presenting a very complete editor of its hero, it has the possibility to modify in detail every usable weapon and every vehicle in a comfortable garage (unlocked in one of the first missions in history). . It is a precious gem that joins some. management items It depends on your gang, because it seems possible to unlock certain missions connected with each one to buy activities for the whole city and create a real criminal empire. Consider even some collectibles to customize your headquarters (an abandoned church, rightfully so) and we wouldn’t be surprised if even your friends are seemingly interchangeable during the adventure.

This emphasis on customization is not a remarkable quality in such an open world. It adds personality to the whole and can improve the quality of the campaign when combined with sufficiently engaging events. Too bad our test didn’t last long enough to fully test our role as boss.

If nothing else, it’s confirmed once again cooperativeHowever, it is an element always appreciated by many in Saints Row, and by completing various missions during the game it should be possible to acquire extra passive skills for an added personal touch to the experience. So overall, Volition’s latest work gives the impression of having a sea of ​​content, and that critical mass may also be the reason for the overall poor finish.