I saw it coming a mile away sadly, The only thing that caught me off guard was how bad and out of touch it was and the crazy amounts of bugs. Its like Agents of mayhem but somehow worse.
Yeah I really really really don't know why they went with the art direction they did for the gangs. You have one group acting like an even cringier Watch Dogs 2 Dedsec, and another gang that looks like Cesar's Legion from New Vegas. WTF?
@@nousername2942 this entire game is like a “Hello Fellow Kids” meme that is just resurrecting the IP like Frankenstein and squeezing people for their money
I'm so tired of seeing my childhoo favorites desecrated. If you would have told me years ago a new Saints game was coming I would have been estatic but today I am just like "Hmm wonder how bad they defile this one". That's all I think about now when it comes to franchises I used to love.
Saints Row hasn't been the same since SR2 when THQ was publishing the game, Deep Silver is owned by a couple far left Koch suckers who are all in with the woke agenda. I was one of the first SR players in the world (got the game early from Gamestop) and was a top tier online player in SR1 and 2.
Everyone really likes SR2, though I don't think its really playable on any semi modern hardware. I tried playing it via PSNow, and I'd call it barely playable by modern standards. :/ Loved SR3, SR3R, and SR4. Would buy a SR4 remaster in a heartbeat.
I'm pretty decent with character creation tools and getting the faces how I want them, but that tool was absolutely awful. The way the presets interact with the sliders. You can make decent characters with it, but it's almost impossible to have a vision of a character and then go make it in that tool - at least not to a degree that let's you fell great about your creation.
@@renereiche main problem is that no matter how different you try to make a face. It will always resemble the preset you choose which makes most of the characters you and other people make look the same
Saints row 3 has a special place in my heart. First game my wife bought for me. First saints row I played. I loved all of the parody in the game. The unique missions. It definitely dared to be different. I will give this one a shot at some point. I love games having more accessibility for the visually impaired and I appreciate you going in to detail about the settings. As always- Your reviews are a great help.
Yeah, I was afraid of this. Truth be told, when they took the Epic Games Store money and made themselves PC exclusive there for a year, red flags went off for me. "Oh, the only major digital store that DOESN'T have user reviews and you took the deal that effectively guarantees you a minimum number of sales? Hm. Shows your confidence, eh?" Then the woke trailers started dropping, the gameplay snippets began rolling out, and nothing looked good. I've been a big fan of this franchise since its first release on the Xbox 360 back in 2006, and I did not pre-order this. I will never be buying this. Judging from their vitriolic attacks towards the fans and their boasting that they will NEVER listen to us and don't need us, they're fine with that. They're banking on a new crop of Gen Zs scooping this garbage up. We'll see. They have almost no competition for the next couple weeks. Maybe it'll work out, quality be darned. Thanks for the review, ACG.
After the failure of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands on EGS, I would have thought more companies would realize it's not worth the bribe. Tiny Tina's only sold like 100k copies in it's first month on EGS. I can't imagine this will sell better than that. It''ll flop on Epic and they'll bring it to Steam ASAP in the hopes it can make up those massive losses.
@@erso_returned2530 We'll see. Almost all the old Rockstar heads are gone and their PR reps been going on media tours bragging about "punching down less" and "being better." GTA was, at its best, a satire poking fun at society and even itself. It was never preachy and nothing was off-limits. Not getting that vibe from the current PR and it's making me nervous.
I imagine something like this going down; "We had a highly diverse, both racially and sexual oriented, test group which we showed our game to. The colorful, cheesy style really resonated with them and they really liked how the sanded down writing and humore doesn't offend anyone. The unique and diverse cast of starring characters was a particular hit. We made a nerdy black guy, a buff hispanic/latino looking guy, and a geeky Western -Asian looking female. The lead character is up to you to customize but we'll advertise with a tomboyish mixed race girl. Almost everyone in the test group was able to identify with one of the characters on a deep level. All in all this game will be a smash hit with the Gen X Fortnite crowd."
@@damienlee1165 You might as well just cut the end of your comment short and call the default character a half breed. You sound like a total racist all the way through.
Haha yes I know. What's funny is I've never played Saints Row, but I've seen some gameplay. I knew immediately this was going to piss off a lot of people.
Facts. The woke propaganda in the trailers said it all. These developers needs to stop pandering to the woke left, they're ruining their games. Sadly, it seems like God of war is heading in the same direction
@@rektz2457 unfortunately most devs now are either female or beta soyboy cucks and this is what they think an edgy and funny game is supposed to look like
To be honest no one was surprised this game would suck. When the devs said they are ditching the "outdated humor" I knew this game was going to suck ass.
But that humour from 3 and 4 would’ve been shit too. Replay those two over the age of 15 and it’s just not remotely funny. They needed to go back to Saints Row 2 style of JUST bordering over the top with slightly edgy but clever humour. 3&4 had too much Family Guy humour and would’ve just added to the cringe in this game
Exactly, all the old fans knew that the direction they were taking will make lame game, as someone who liked even Saints Row 4 I would have been okay with a saint's game which at least has its identity, but the direction they took ditched that identity.
This is awful. I mean, we criticize companies like Rockstar and EA for having monopolized the industry on sandboxes and then realize that if this is their "competition", that's normal
Yeah I see where you’re coming from but you don’t have fun in gta like you do this I mean if you do good job but gta is more racing and shooting compared to this where is just mayhem
I disagree that Rockstar has a monopoly on open-world games. It's more so how do you compete with a franchise that has been on the video game market for over 20 years - a franchise that has it's own identity and doesn't need to copy what other franchises are doing. GTA doesn't follow trends, GTA is THE TREND that other games try to follow.
@@bulgarianreaper6587 That's the definition of monopoly. Anything that launches is compared to GTA. Just like any football game is compared to FIFA and probably won't succeed. Mafia, Watch Dogs, Sleeping Dogs and older games like True Crime, even if they had similar mechanics and were less interesting that GTA, were also at least original and a nice breath of fresh air from GTA. This Saints Row is what happens when a Game company is more concerned with making a trendy and appealing to everybody dumpster fire. Then, criticizing the fanbase after the bad reception was, for me, the nail the coffin needed. Summarizing, they won't risk a lawsuit for a good game.
Unfortunately (no doubt like many others) I could see this coming a mile away, only thing I was waiting on was for you to confirm it. Damn shame, since this is likely the final nail in the coffin for Saints Row as a franchise.
same, i saw skillups review as well, he basicly has the same output of issues. Its a buggy soulless mess (sadly), i gues i will just wait for COH3 + COD modern warefare 2 open beta in sept, and hope that holds me up until Halo CO-OP comes out and D4 releases next year. but so far this year has been a real drout of good new games sadly.
If their inspiration was John Wick, Baby Driver etc. How can this even share the same title in the franchise? Is it me or have all the decision makers lost their spines, are games designed by suits now days?
Agreed it's ironic that the Devs didn't even see why a failure this was going to be. I think it's the end of Voilition and I think game development is no longer for them
I don't understand why devs think that rebooting a franchise while stripping away what helped make it special will result in the same success of the original.
Woke bullshit that’s it…..big AAA companies are being bullied to be that way so they don’t get back lash from investors not CONSUMERS… we did not ask for this but hey Rockstars is on its way to be like every company out now AA are the one putting our quality title for less money…think about it
I really want the Devs to respond to this feedback and not disappear into the darkness like what usually happens. When games flop, companies need to take ownership and show acknowledgment.
the devs already attacked the fans when the first trailer was released and there was the huge backlash....so I do assume the devs will continue attacking the fans after this instead owning up to their mistakes
As a developer of Saints Row 2, this hasn't been a good morning. I've been waiting for reviews of this game, hoping my initial impressions were incorrect. I really love how packed ACG gets this review, but the content hurts a lot, because I worked on this franchise, I personally loved Saints Row 4, and now. I question if I really want to play it and risk tarnishing my memory of a franchise I helped formed. The amount of shooting I've seen in all these reviews really makes me wonder how much more there is in the game. It's just so average, and maybe it's the lack of sound, but there should have been something visually appealing to show off rather than the same enemy 30 times over. Yes, the original games were a little juvenile, and Karak saying the world might have passed it by when it initially released rings true, especially going back and looking at it now, but they still were interesting and funny. But this seems to lack that humor, and yet hasn't vastly improved the gameplay. At the same time, The level of graphical issues and gameplay bugs reminds me a lot of how rough the Saints Row 2 was, and I am shocked that I'm seeing many of the same issues here. Hopefully they can fix it up a bit more before it comes up on Steam, but I don't see myself rushing out to Epic to pick this up on PC, sadly. I'm just struggling to understand why they took the game in this direction because it's not one I really recognize, and after 4-5 years of development, I wonder what that time was spent on?
Once again the "toxic" fans were proven right. The developers mocked and blew off all the rightful criticism thrown at them when this game was revealed at e3. It looks like a Netflix adaptation of Saints Row
We've gone from a cast of characters that were already pretty diverse and fun to a cast of completely unrelatable stereotypes of minority characters that feel like they are just there to tick boxes by some kind of corporate team. We've gone from the franchise having a consistent satirical identity to a game that seems to be suffocating in its own shoebox and having a crisis in determining what it even wants to be anymore. One the one hand it's still trying really hard to retain elements of satire, but it's so constrained it feels like it's trying so ridiculously hard not be offensive to anyone, that the humour just comes across as lightweight. Games need to stop trying to politically micromanage their audiences like they come from a superior moral position, it's not the right way to get people to be more open minded to change. It comes across as condescending, narcissistic and painfully out of touch. The fanbase wants Saints Row but instead they got Starbucks Row and the devs have this stinking attitude towards any fans that didn't really ask for this direction. It's just really pretentious and I hope the game does flop a bit so the dev team learn to humble themselves in the future and not bite the hand that feeds them.
@bigdaddysmackdown bro whats sad too is the rumors about gta 6 are the same.. its gonna remove all offence jokes and parodies and make the characters "inclusive" they even announced the main character is gonna be a "latin x bi sexual female" smdh
@@GigaChadDuPlessis You've just ticklisted to be removed a lot of what made the gta franchise what it is and what makes it charming and amusing. I sense another disaster on the horizon....
@@TheT0nedude 100% bro. And i doubt itll even stop there.. i fear this is only the start of them destroying game francises for the sake of being woke and politically correct smdh
Nah the cast is actually good. Bet you haven't played it enough to see how the cast is good except for the topless fool. Now still better than the garbage that was sr4.
@@ACGreviews its like agents of mayhem all over again, starts off good but gets stale very fast. That game out deep discounts fast in few months. I remember buying it under $10 on xbox store.
The theme change with the reboot already made this a low interest game, and going Epic exclusive just totally killed any interest. Would not even have known it was out if not for your review. Thank you for the detailed and honest review, definitely glad this is a skip for me!
You'd think after the financial flop that was Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, companies would have realized by now that taking the Epic Games bribe isn't worth it in the long run because nobody buys and/or plays your game there. doesn't matter if Epic gave a ton of funding because it's not going to be enough to also finance whatever their next game would be. they need sales for that-and you can't get sales on EGS.
@TaddiestMason Boss I think you’re missing the point of Epic. The devs/pubs do not take the exclusivity because their confident. They take it because their not. Saints had pretty much zero hype (that I could see). The VAST majority dogged it. So that paycheck from Epic is trying to recoup cost. They think Epic check will pay out more then releasing it to everyone. When it comes to Epic. It’s either one of two outcomes. 1. No confidence (Saints Row) or 2. Pure confidence (Final Fantasy 7 Remake). Imo, it’s pretty easy to see which way the game falls when you look at it. Think of the hype of FF7, now think of the hype for Saints. See?
This is why I haven't preordered games for years... I've waited for an actual good review and this has helped me save money and wait until a sale comes around (shouldn't be too long) Great review!
The last three pre-orders I did was for the Witcher III and GTA V, both of which I'm satisfied with. I thought I'd be batting a thousand when I pre-ordered Arkham Knight. We all know how that went lol After that I never pre-ordered and I even don't get a new game after a few months or after several patches in.
@@JamesThomas-wf6qm It was still a good Batman game! as Sky Nutz said "too much driving and reliance on the batmobile" at times, and sometimes having TOO many enemy mooks and variants on screen during fights are the stuff of nightmares unless your a battle maniac with the system. And the Riddler trophies can be the stuff of nightmares if your 100% since this time it's a major requirement. But when those aren't issues! Everything else is superb. Seriously can't believe their are people who believe Knight is a 0 to 2 out of 10's simply because of one annoying mechanic? some folk be petty as fuck!
@@JamesThomas-wf6qm I'm guessing the OP preordered the PC port which was a technical mess at launch, it was so bad that it was delisted from Steam for months.
This is what happens when a game about comedic anarchists is made by a committee professional activists afraid of offending anyone. Completely lacks the soul of the original 2, and follows the standardized vanilla open world formula. The characters being an unbearable pack of unfuckables doesn't help my initial thought of it being a bunch of self-insert characters.
@@1bwash Would you not be offended if, upon ordering a steak at a restaurant, the waiter climbed onto the table and took a huge dump on your plate - and then every employee insisted you had been served medium-rare filet mignon?
Some of the most fun I've had in the Saints Row franchise was Insurance Fraud. If you remember that mission type, I hope you loved it, too. This game doesn't seem like that kind of Saints Row fun.
Apparently this one does have the Insurance Fraud minigame, but it also appears to be exactly the same as in SR2 from 14 years ago. Just doing the same thing at different intersections with no expansion or building on what came before, just tossed in there.
@@beerosaurusrex Yes, it does, but in all footage that I've seen, the streets were eerily empty with barely any vehicles to ragdoll into. I don't remember this being a problem in the previous games.
@@TheDeadfast Yes that happens a lot actually me and my friend was just playing that a couple weeks ago and we literally had to run across town because cars wasn't driving in that area
@@TheDeadfast That's not true. And in it was a problem in previous, it was the biggest issue with the mini game. The mini game doesn't have that problem at all in the new one
Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax was my favorite activity in all the Saints Row games. The absurdity of Takeshi's Murder Castle was so much fun. Septic Avenger was ridiculously fun also.
That’s a shame, I was hoping saints row could enter the mainstream in a positive way once more, but this is super discouraging, thank you ACG for the transparency towards and protection of your audience!
I remember loving saints row 2, the music, the graphical style, the freedom and compared to GTA it felt like you were actually part of and actively involved in a living gang tasked with gaining notoriety. To have a fellow gang member randomly help you was unique and in a corny way, I loved the fact it was the first "true" open world game where I felt you could actually drive anything you saw. Was fun to tear it up in a construction vehicle or an 18 wheeler that had a trailer, yes! A trailer not just the tractor front! I dont remember really playing any missions, insurance fraud game ragdoll was hilarious! I didnt like the space age direction the games went although many did, this new game looked good graphically but sadly, what does it actually offer more than saints row 2 did and especially for the price. Thanks Karak you are spot on yet again, ill wait a year or so and grab it maybe under a tenner as a casual pick up and play time waster . . . . Although its maybe destined to be completely forgotten by then when something else comes along
Completely agree. For me Saints Row was a gang story. I tolerated when they went international famous gang in 3 and aliens in 4. It still was different from the rest of the market. Not this hipster thing, this ended the franchise on a bad note and proved why GTA is still better than anything else in the sandbox market
Yeah, SR2 was my favorite. Memorable enemies. Powerful story. Fun customization. I was really annoyed with Gat's (faked) death in the 3rd and it really spoiled the game for me. 4 was neat, I like the glitching idea but the aliens were too generic for this level of wacky. Gat Outta Hell was "eh" (but I'm not a Kinsey fan.) They didn't have to stop there, the Saints could have gone to explore alternate worlds (if they wanted to revive the franchise.) But no, that's wishful thinking. Saints Row is just another progressive skinsuit now.
Saints Row 2 was the peak of the series. It was the perfect mixture of tense serious drama and offensive over-the-top chaos and had a bevy of features that were removed in the sequels; PVP, clothing layers and patterns, improvised melee weapons, duel wield toggle, consumable food & drugs, mission/cutscene replay and more. SR3 may have had better controls and boob sliders, but the story was weak, the world was dull, and the tone was all over the place. SR4 at least committed to its wacky tone and was a pretty fun Prototype/Infamous clone that utilized the SR3 map much better (Steelport is WAAAY more enjoyable when leaping and bounding over buildings) The reboot is Saints Row in name only. Oddly, despite it being a REBOOT, it blatantly reuses animations, models, and UI from SR3 (10yo game), so what was the point of ANY of this?! Why bother bringing back a game series about hard core street gangs if you're going to make it look and feel like a Fortnite season?
It looked obvious from the get go it would be ok at best. That demo had some pretty noticeable graphical issues to, when a demo has them sends big red flags.
@@dibils Except the hardware demo came out a month ago, and the exact same issues from it are present. If that was the case then its even more inexcusable.
@@ChillCollins616 They only expected the SR1 and 2 vibes BEFORE the initial reveal because of the graffiti wall teaser. Ever since then they've been pretty vocal about their disdain for the game's direction and how bad it looks. Can't say they were entirely wrong tho. Dead open world and insufferable characters just as expected.
@@ChillCollins616 Well, I hoped they were wrong and the game would be good, with a nice mix of SR2 and 3. Guess not. A lot of SR2 fans probably feeling really validated right about now.
This is the most favorable review for this game I've seen today and even still it isnt getting a nod. Its so sad what they have done to this beloved franchise.
Saints row 2 still is more fun than all GTA and rdr2, rdr2 story is unmatched but the gameplay most of the times is a slog, gta the gameplay and story is boring as hell Saints row 2 story is also amazing
From what I've seen so far, this game is an attempt by upper middle-class, highly educated game developers to create a story about gang violence and crime. They set out to make the VG equivalent of Breaking Bad but instead made a typical made-for-TV Hallmark miniseries. It's so sad to see how low Volition has gotten. I loved the Saints Row franchise; sadly it looks like the series has lost its teeth.
Absolutely correct. This isn't anything more than that. It's white collar guesswork at what they think the poors might do. The series lost its edge because the people working on this game have obviously never actually been around that life. I bet none of these people ever even lived in a neighborhood where there was gang activity. It really sucks.
I completely agree. In 2006 I imagine the creative team was a completely different group/demographic with a different thought process/vision with Saints Row 1.
You had to restart 21 missions due to bugs - yo - what is wrong with these game companies… this should be handled before launch. If you buy it - they will continue to handle games like this..
Been watching streams of this all weekend. It definitely looks like a step backwards in a lot of features such as enterable buildings, crowd density, and police response. Maybe it's OK for a throwback game, but it has fewer features than Saint's Row 2 had. Not sure if Volition ran out of money or talent, but this seems to be a $20 game at best. At least the driving physics look improved.
I buy the games I cover even if the devs give me a code. No bs reviews, no pr crap. If you want to hang out in an amazing discord, play some dnd, listen to some music together, check out the patreon. Or if you want some merch check out teespring acg. Also this looks like it got labeled adult as well but its gone now thankfully. But man a ton of videos have www.patreon.com/AngryCentaurGaming
@@Ike_of_pyke That and time. Very easy to happen. And seeing people who got it early a ton of people are hating it. Though I see some like it. But even in our discord the folks who got it early are shocked how bad it is
Such a shame that developers can't make good games. Not even ok games, but just garbage games...Why is it so hard for them to produce something fun and entertaining? They have the experience and the money from previous games but they ALL seem to screw it up. So much efforts and time are put into these garbage games, it's kinda sad really and we, the gamers, are left with nothing good to play. The golden years of gaming are truly behind us.
@Bikegasserjoggeravoider That could be applied to a game’s story, at best. “Politics” influencing gameplay in what way? *Unless you’re referring to workplace politics and the managerial decisions imposed on the developers that may influence the actual development process. If that’s what you mean, I’ll agree. Just assumed it was another person complaining about “woke” games.
Sounds like this game could have truly benefited from launching on Gamepass. On Gamepass, a lot of fans would have tried it out regardless of review scores. I've pumped a ton of hours on Gamepass games that got massacred by reviewers. I'm more hesitant to purchase badly reviewed games though.
NO you shouldn't listen to stupid reviewers clearly there hating cuz of past games and there trying to compare go buy the game play it and make your own opinion stop being a sheep i have played the game and i really enjoyed it cuz i didnt read or watch reviews that are just bull cuz they say Saints Row 2 is the best game when its really not
I feel like practically everyone is tired of America's "inclusivity, yaaaaas queen" phase... Except for the americans who work in the entertainment industry. Don't know who is out of touch with reality in America these days, the politicians or the "artists"
Saw some clips going around with a few characters blaming capitalism for their problems, combine that with what appears to be sanitized boardroom approved characters & writing, the hello fellow kids marketing for this game, and attacking potential customers on social media. This game is a definite DOA.
I mean, capitalism is to blame for a lot of problems, but the problem with the game is that it literally is just the product of assembly line capitalism and the writers didn't commit to actually commenting on the issue in a meaningful way.
@@danielaponte4054 Look up the GmanLives review, it pops up around the 9:40 point in the video. Oh and a bonus "smells like privilege in here" at around the 11min point in the same video that I just remembered as I went back through the video.
@@FelisImpurrator _capitalism is to blame for a lot of problems_ Please provide examples of how capitalism is the blame for a "lot of problems". I only know of a certain other system that has failed many times that has led to lots of problems. I swear the only people that complain about capitalism are typically well-off brats or broke college students who want free stuff.
Been looking at gameplay from folks who got in early. Was wondering if it was just the way they played or the recording. Figured it was that the game is bad but wanted to be sure with reviews. This is why you should never pre-order
Man I think if they just rebooted Stilwater, and gave our familiar characters we know and love some new redesigns, would have given this game an easy W
I relay hope we get some more info on what happened, was it always a Saints Row game or anther game that got re branded? Was it all the writing department, was the game rushed? Was it just new staff? They must have had some turnover over the last few years with all the takeovers etc
@@fafnyr2537I don't really know enough about the situation or to what extent she was involved, but that can't be the only reason lol. Structurally, this game looks like a complete tedious mess.
Seems like they hired people who never played a game before if you ask me. They put stuff they imagined in their head would be cool and not the actual good stuff. And political garbage on top of that
So glad I didn't preorder!!pre-order!!! Marvel's Avengers taught me to never judge a turd by it's glitter! Earned my sub. Hope to see your review of Gotham Knights like this when it's available!! Thank you for your service!!! PS you are everything that IGN is too commercialized to even dream of being. Time to unsub them!!
@@YoItsAct As someone with 200 hours cause i'm a die-hard. It's really not worth it for more than the campaign. If you don't have a bandwidth cap, i'd download it and play the campaign. Thor's gameplay is really fun, but damn is the game shallow.
@@YoItsAct to answer your question the game definitely has problems but it's not really as bad as people make it out to be sure you got repetitive emissions and not to mention the grind system is a little wonky but overall I enjoyed it
@@YoItsAct its just "okay" for a free game. i, sadly, purchased it pre-order and the same bugs and problems have continued to plague the game since prelaunch beta. i was once a dedicated player with over 2000 hours into the game but mostly because i am just a hopeless Marvel fan and its the only current marvel team up game. the developers have lied, stealth nerfed players progression, verbally attacked and harassed content creators (myself included) and put more effort into microtransactions than they do into performance and content. in 2 years they have released 4 heroes in addition to the 8 they began with and very very little content. if its free i say download it and try it for yourself. the campaign is really good but not enough content. online is toxic and matchmaking is unbalanced and very time consuming. there are videos on my channel if you want to see gameplay. i recently started playing again but to be honest; soon as another comic team up game comes out i'm deleting the game. if you do download it i honestly hope you enjoy it! end game level content is the worst when it comes to bugs and some times you can end up with hours of time wasted in some of the longer missions... if you do download it come back and let me know though please and sorry so long... but trust me i could go on for hours.
Karak is one of the best reviewers in the biz man! He’s also hilarious so his content is usually great. Not a dig at you but I can’t believe people are still subbed to IGN in 2022 lol. Those guys have been hacks for decades.
I almost need to see the politics of companies now in order to understand what kind of games they will bring out. Deep Silver Volition was changed and I wish it didn’t , creating compelling characters and situations while making fun about the games today. Also, giving movie references here and there, not too much but, just enough to have some nostalgia to get the references. It’s sad to see this franchise get destroyed like this. I almost wish this was the simulation you were trapped in during saints row 4. Would make much more sense than what this games story seems to try and recreate. Thanks for the review, agreed with the end result, wait for a holiday sale and possibly buy it out of sheer boredom.
I have a bet on, that Volition will go bankrupt after this reboot mess and Microsoft will buy them up in less than a year Thanks to your review, it now feels like I am one step closer to that sweet $50 from my friend.
Can't wait for THE Saints Row to come out in 5 years, take all the characters from this game, make a similar but mildly better story, and release it exclusively on XBOX Series X2.5 and the Epic Store launcher.
From the start the reveal made me worried but after the gameplay reveal the design and world looked off and bland and now we hear of technical issues. Well here is the thing the first one was something new and fresh and devs did what they wanted for fun of it and didn't give a f what anybody would think and it succeeded cuz it was fresh but after the 3rd one they realized it's running out of its course so they did something new with 4th one and well it was OK. Now after almost a decade they just try to reboot it with no direction and just try out the old tricks filled whatever is popular in social media so ofcourse it's not going to succeed However you look at it.
From the very first gameplay trailer, I said to my mate that I guarantee you this game will end up with metacritic rating in the 60's or worse.... currently at 59. Such an incredible shame.They better bring back the original cast and get the series back on track for the next one.
@@117Ender This is what made me sad about the "reboot". They got rid of Rim Jobs and Freckle Bitch's diner. For what? Video games used to be disconnected from real world politics and that's what made them so much fun! Nowadays, everything has to be "inclusive" and whatever seems "offensive" must be censored or omitted entirely. Whatever happened to Volition after SR4 obviously led to... this :l Even Agents of Mayhem was splayed with LGBTQSTI nonsense in a world that could have easily done without it and it would have been more fun.
@@117Ender Yes, the party that whines and cries about everything is "offensive and edgy". Just because they think rules don't apply to them and whine like 4 year olds when they do, does not make them "edgy" They are banning books for crying out loud.
I admire their transparency right from their first trailer. Within seconds of watching I knew this would be horrible But who the hell is their audience? What sort of person would this appeal to?? This is just utter tripe
They're aiming for the same audience that probably plays Fortnite. People born mid 2000s. It's a more ''diverse'' generation. So games, naturally/unfortunately are adjusting towards this new generation. It's a game made for the TikTok generation. That's why it doesn't appeal to the older fans, I think.
The worst of this game is when you remember that the developers made LITERALLY 4 FUCKING GAMES LIKE THIS THEN A DLC AND A SPIN-OFF GAME! And they still can't get it right. That shows that they are only trying to get on the train and doing a "cover" of their own work, but the only thing they managed to do is to crash horribly. I kinda expected it since the deal with Epic was announced, every developer who is not certain if something is going to work always go with that exclusivity deal, because it ensures revenue regardless of how the game performs. If you ask me, I think Volition should hang the coat and disband. It's been like 10 years since they released anything resembling a good game. It's clear that they no longer know what they are doing.
GTA made it difficult to invest into the saints row series without looking like a copycat. The previous sr games is a result of trying to differentiate from gta
@@Ryan-tb7pp they should’ve kept to their games the dummies tried to change and that’s why gta is still on top and saints isn’t even second to it anymore sleeping dogs is better and a 2nd to gta
SR 2 is my favorite in the entire series and I was hoping if they were gonna go the route of rebooting the series, it would followed closer to how that was was with it having it’s comical moments but also having some serious and emotional beats to it, sadly looks like we won’t see it after this
SR 2's "emotional beats" were just weird really. Like Gat goes off on that guy to get his revenge and buries him alive, and then it's just right back to business as usual. Felt weird. I was glad to see SR3 and 4 fully embrace the parody and satirical approach. It set them apart and just made them more fun.
@@arthurdent9281 that’s what made it realistic that’s how the streets are those games you mentioned is when the series turned worse it became unrealistic with steroid monsters and aliens every mission was just shooty shooty that’s not what u call fun
@@dsmith5098 lol, realistic? Nothing about SR2 was realistic. Everything was just as shooty shooty as the other games as well. People really have a weird memory of SR2. Maybe it seemed realistic when you were 12.
The big Saints Row tradition that I am most worried about... did they have a radio sing along scene during one of the drive portions of a mission. It's always been a series highlight for me.
Thank you very much for the review, but you confirmed my fears for the new “reboot”, ever since the first trailer dropped the tone appeared nothing like Saints Row which I think it would of been better to call it something else entirely. The fact that some of these bugs plagued 3/4 are still in here is baffling.
I agree, it was the first game for me that had that taking over the territory piece by piece feel and I really liked it. The mini games within the game were very enjoyable. After that it sort of all just devolved into a series of one-upsmanship d*ck jokes.
Honestly, I can still remember some of those shitty bugs with previous SR titles (NPCs bugging out/despawn/spawning badly) and just how frustrating it was. To hear this is still going on in this one is not a surprise, but I wished for better. I dont have confidence it will be fixed, so it looks like this is one to grab later on a sale or something...
You know how literally everyone HATES politically correct, socially conscious millenials? Let's make a worse GTA and make those millenials the main protagonists! Also, feel bad for ACG, he still has to buy this game hahaha
I mean the multiple delays kinda gave it away really. A lot of stuff is getting delayed because of the pandemic but this was definitely in dev hell territory. They clearly knew they had a dud on their hands and were trying to do what they could to clean it up.
@@mathc856 they misunderstood what people liked about saints row BECAUSE they were diversity hires, i.e not people actually passionate about creating a good saints row game
Thank you for your hard work and your honesty. Ethical journalism is gaming is water in a desert, you did your best to give credit where credit is due on this half a turd (of course it was released during the end of the summer game drought, it is the only way they could hope for some sales).
I've now listened to 3 reviews of this game, and every single one had the bug where enemies would spawn on a freeway which was inaccessible in the mission.
@@dalewarren81 Literally never seen him before. Why would you think people form an opinion from him? I'd rather trust GCN. In fact we're currently in the comments for the video. Wouldn't it be more logical to think the person formed it from this review?
I think we all knew the characters, writing and story were going to be utterly beyond redemption, but many of us were hopeful for the gameplay and the new more lived in location. It absolutely sucks that even those aspects are a let down, but I don't think any of us could say that it was a surprise. Writing and creativity in general has gone off a cliff in many aspects since writing is no longer a learned profession as it once was, you just have to 'identify' as a writer. Humor is too safe to be funny, characters are made to try too hard to be 'relatable' to the wrong crowd to be considered anything other than cringe-inducing, and there is no more emphasis to make all mechanics and thematics meld to create one great package, instead they tey to make a few individually serviceable mechanics and just expect them to work cohesively. It's like it's just about keeping people moderately entertained until something else releases for most of these Triple A studios.
its all being done in the name of progressiveness, i just finished Far Cry 6, and by the end i hated the characters so much i asked myself why did i help these ppl take down the bad guy, they are not much better than him.
Naw, I think there was potential there; people jumped on the new characters way too quickly but that was all built on the idea that the series was going somewhere with them and from what I'm hearing they don't. The characters are absolutely a problem if they're not completely changed by the end.
It's almost like the nerds, dorks, weebs, and hipsters who could never "identify and relate" with the classic saints games, are now in charge of development and as you said above, every game needs to be "inclusive and a driving force for social change".
@@ashfox7498 I mean, when you see the finished product you realize that people didn't jump on the characters "too quickly" because, well, they knew exactly how it would turn out. There was no potential for good story telling with this group and all the circumstances surrounding them and how they came to be.
I am not funding divisive woke marxist ideology, get enough of that via the MSM, I loved the SR series, I was hoping they would go gritty and tell a great story about gang culture but no, they went for an (actual facists not 'anti' nothing but facts) ANTIFA wet dream with this Hipster sim, not for me, there are plenty of games deserving my money, Plaque Tale Requiem, Dark Anthology entry, New TftBL, Scorn, God of War Ragnarok and my favourite one i cannot wait for The Callisto Protocol, so much so I've pre-ordered it on disk for both the XBSX and PS5, I trust Glen Scofield and I support good AA devs, thanks a million for the review, thanks for taking the hit and playing it so we don't have to, sales are very poor but that's what happens when you don't cater to gamers, the people who buy them, you cater to TwitlerYouths, yeah they don't buy much.
Having played the SR3 Remaster recently, this feels extremely similar. Graphically it's passable, but mechanically it looks like it's still stuck 10 years in the past. Basically Saints Row 3 with better graphics and a bigger map. I wish they'd just scrap Saints Row completely and made something new instead, because this game seems like it doesn't bring anything to the series at all.
Was so close to pre ordering this but thought nope, wait for the ACG and Skill up review. Really glad I did. Still really disappointed the game isn't great tho.
Could people honestly not see this coming?? It looked like a generic open world game from the start. It looks like a generic game they would play in the background in a movie lol
As someone who enjoyed the first two games somewhat, I was hoping this would be the game to bring back some of what I liked about them.. but it just seems like another SR game that isn't for me. Thanks for the review!
wish people would stop getting so dramatic the games didnt stay being straight GTA clones and became their own thing. though this game is trash, Ill just play The Third for the 100th time.
@@Shiirow Funny thing is, I liked SR2 better than any GTA game. 3 was alright but not terribly memorable to me, and while 4 was fun the story didn't have the same impact. They stopped balancing silly with serious like they did so masterfully in 2. "Get up."
@@WhiteManOnCampus I loved both 2 and 3 - 2 was dark funny, and 3 was out-and-out gonzo, basically a Zucker Brothers comedy about criminals. 4 was... well, I kinda sorta maybe enjoyed it, until I noticed that the Boss being pretty much Superman removed a lot of the standard fun. I mean, why steal an Emu (you know, the teensy weensy compact car) when the Boss can Barry Allen all over the map in no time flat? Stuff like that. 1 was... well, I never finished it because a few of the missions by the end were a royal mess. When I had to redo the "jump a car through the donut" bit for the twentieth time I simply cut my losses and put the disc away.
Good review. Very informative. Eli (Urkel) has quicky become the least offensive character of these new "Saints". His nerdy design, pacifist personality, and role as the brains of the group all fit, making him at least a cohesive character. His Mad-Max larping side-mission is also the most unique story content I've seen so far. The other Saints suck. I was willing to give them a chance but Christ. The quirky musings on brunch, star-charts, and karaoke are just so groan inducingly cringe. I don't want to be around these people. Describing Nina as "completely normal woman" is so funny because it's true. She's so damn bland. What happened to her aviators? Her sunglasses? That looked somewhat cool. Right now, she looks like you could swap Eli's character with her design, keep everything else about him the same, and it wouldn't make a difference. In fact, why not? Make Nina the nerdy brains of the Saints along the lines of Kenzie Kensington, make Kevin the mechanic/getaway driver, and keep the 'relatable' quirky MCU-esque quips to a minimum. As it stands even the Boss seems less interesting, with that horrendous "Kill-cation" line I saw elsewhere. If my own character wants to take a break from the game that's not a good sign. Saints Row 2's Boss is still my favorite. An unapologetic psychopath and ruthless criminal who still managed to be likable, laid back, and occasionally silly.
SR2's boss with the male British voice is the funniest voiced dialogue I've ever had the honour of experiencing 😆 Literally legendary and a staple in the third-person shooter genre. From what I've personally played of this "reboot", it's not all that bad. It's certainly not the train wreck a lot of viewers assume it is, but it isn't what I'd call a Saints Row game. If it was an alternate universe spin-off, where the Saints started out as civilians but became criminals because of necessity and crushing student-loan debt, it would be far more acceptable than it currently is. The current writing team at Volition obviously aren't that intelligent though, so they're reaping what they sowed.
@@WllKiedSnake this was so obvious.. in real life u would of had to put down a million dollars just to win back a penny lol. Like how in the world did the devs think this would go
@@gmorgcyborg You'd think they'd of learned what people want from them as developers after Agents of Mayhem. But nope! They decided to remove everything that was the soul of Saints Row and replaced it with millennial/zoomer stuff. Which is just not Saints Row. We want something more like Saints Row 1&2. I hope after this they remaster those two games.
It's sad to see Saints Row fall so far, when the first came out it was a fun open world title that acted as an alternate GTA. The game took a lot of it's identity from San Andreas and had a heavy focus on 2000's Hip Hop culture and Street Gangs. The sequel really improved on everything that the first was while significantly improving the story and characters, for a lot of the fanbase this was where Saints Row got the Humor to Serious balance perfect. It was wacky but not to the point of self parody. Saints Row 3 is where it started losing some of it's identity and began to become "Meme the Game" it was still fun but the story took a big hit and the characters became flanderised. Saints 4 was even worse with this introducing superpowers and then later demons and aliens, it became anything but grounded and serious and became increasingly vapid. So far with everything they have shown of the latest title they say they were going back to the tone of Saints 2 but it looks like more of what we had with 3 and 4 just with more student loan and hipster jokes. Seeing as how this is being savagely reviewed by a number of outlets they may finally decide to pull the plug on the series which is a shame as this could have done what God of War or Zelda BOTW did before it and actually try something different and unique to change an aged franchise.
Agreed. SR2 had such a fun progression system and actually a pretty decent story. Customization was also better than even GTAV. Of course THAT'S the version that didn't get a remake and was a horrible PC port and is still basically unplayable. :\
Thanks for saying this. Hip hop culture/gang culture was the reason the series was conceptualized from the start. “Bling Bling” was the codename I believe. There was an emphasis on baggy clothes, loud jewelry, big dub rims, gang respect, etc. imo, it never was over the top until SR3.
Saints Row 1 was not inspired by gta SA. It was in development for ps2 as "Bling Bling" and was a street gang focused open world game before gta SA was released, the Saints were even supposed to wear green. This is important because it highlights the fact that Saints Row was always inherently different from GTA. Also gta SA uses gangs more as a backdrop than a core element as once again the main character is an outstanding criminal who ventures through the world and works alongside multiple if not damn every criminal organization in the region in order to complete a personal objective. Saints Row's story is all about furthering the gang and its agenda, even the side missions u do, benefit the gang and detriment the opposing gangs. Saints Row was truly an open world crime alternative and competitor but volition lost their balls to compete or even defend the series after the first 2 games and have down spiraled into the death of the series. People don't understand just how important Saints Row was to the gaming landscape. Take 2 owns Rockstar and 2k meaning they have GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Bully, and the Mafia series which can be argued that Take 2 is sabotaging Mafia and RDR to keep GTA the most viable due to its online. At a point in time Saints Row was thee legitimate competitor to GTA that wasn't immediately swept to the side like the true crime series because it debuted on the ps3/360 Era as the first open world crime game of the generation and knocked it out the park. Then when it was time to go head to head with gta4 they didn't flinch with SR2 and doubled down on what made the first game great. Rockstar/Take 2 had legit competiton and were forced to put out quality.
@@9FiveGaming Yep. Developers seem straight up scared of making any sort of accurate street life in their games anymore. It's like everyone forgot how to make sandbox crime games after GTA V came out.
The unfortunate truth is that everybody will buy this because of the drought that gaming is currently in and on that topic I believe studios plan their releases around each other. Hoping to get as much profit as possible knowing that nothing else will be coming out for quite some time. The state of gaming is abysmal. Greed and the fear of making anything that may upset someone is destroying it.
100%, which is really weird if you think about it. Like, the only people who "get upset" or "offended" are a literal minority within the population as a whole. What's strange is that their voices and their reactions are feared, when there is no logical, nor rational, reason to fear them whatsoever. Because they're a minority. As in, their voice falls on deaf ears. I suppose it becomes an issue when you give those minorities power: the power to rewrite a pre-established franchise that was loved by millions, the power to change the sexual orientation of previously established characters for no real reason, or the power to become a *shiver* community or marketing manager 😱 So, easy fix right? Stop hiring incompetent idiots who cannot create an original and fun character/story. Doesn't matter who they are or where they come from. If they are incapable of providing AAA writing materials, don't hire them. Being a minority doesn't grant them a free pass into your company lmao this is why we have a meritocratic system in the first place jfc the world has gone mad
if you like it, you like it, don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t enjoy. This comment also says that “the state of gaming is abysmal” and while I agree that it’s not as as good as it used to be, I still enjoy many games and also many that are just now releasing. Don’t let everyone act like they can make your opinion for you just because they’re mad about something@@ChillCollins616
Gaming was a niche hobby, created by nerds and played by nerds. Ever since gaming became democratised and “accessible” for everyone, that’s when the mass exodus occurred.
17:18 That is exactly what the devs thought of themselves when they created this. Why create a game for the fans of a series when you can create whatever we wanted. Welp its your bed now. May Saint Row sleep in peace. Once was a good game to rival GTA that was shot down too soon into identity issues. I blame the journalists at the time.
@@darkpassenger09 They almost did but then they gave up. The company mostly listen to the haters. The whole GTA clone argument is stupid as Hell because every game always get inspired by others games. Is like me calling GTA games and Driver 2 Clone.
I really wanted this game to be better than all the expectations since I am a huge saints row fan. But unfortunately I think this might be the death of the franchise as a whole!
This is BY FAR the "kindest" review of the game that I have watched/read about so far.. and it's rated "wait for a deep, deep sale". Yikes!
well Dreamcastguy gave it an 8/10
Regardless of review scores, they will probably be a top seller of the year because the good games were delayed to 2023. Ugh
because ACG doesnt just trash games to trash them..Thats why hes the best reviewer lol
@@troylandzerep8045 Dreamcast guy = 🤡
@@troylandzerep8045 The same guy that gave Cyberpunk 2077 a 9/10 at launch? LMAO. He is the last reviewer I would trust.
I saw it coming a mile away sadly, The only thing that caught me off guard was how bad and out of touch it was and the crazy amounts of bugs. Its like Agents of mayhem but somehow worse.
Yeah I really really really don't know why they went with the art direction they did for the gangs. You have one group acting like an even cringier Watch Dogs 2 Dedsec, and another gang that looks like Cesar's Legion from New Vegas. WTF?
@@nousername2942 this entire game is like a “Hello Fellow Kids” meme that is just resurrecting the IP like Frankenstein and squeezing people for their money
@@nousername2942 great explanation and reaction 🤣
The fact they somehow made AoM look like high art is almost impressive honestly.
Agents of Mayhem oooff. That's bad if it's worse.
I'm so tired of seeing my childhoo favorites desecrated. If you would have told me years ago a new Saints game was coming I would have been estatic but today I am just like "Hmm wonder how bad they defile this one". That's all I think about now when it comes to franchises I used to love.
Yeah this is an accurate representation of what woke culture is doing to long standing franchises.
you should be glad that the phase of being a child is behind you.
@@JelloFluoride Stay woke.
Saints Row hasn't been the same since SR2 when THQ was publishing the game, Deep Silver is owned by a couple far left Koch suckers who are all in with the woke agenda.
I was one of the first SR players in the world (got the game early from Gamestop) and was a top tier online player in SR1 and 2.
@@RoCkShaDoWWaLkEr yup THQ and Volition had a completely different vision
I still go back to saints row 2. Such a blast even now. Everything after that has been disappointing sadly
Most underrated comment 💯
while sr2 with the gentlemen of the row mod is the best in the series, sr4 is still great
I'd rather play a copycat gta knockoff in sr2 than this new woke trash
Srthird and 4 were great games
Everyone really likes SR2, though I don't think its really playable on any semi modern hardware. I tried playing it via PSNow, and I'd call it barely playable by modern standards. :/
Loved SR3, SR3R, and SR4. Would buy a SR4 remaster in a heartbeat.
The game looks like a jump back in world design. The character creator looked decent 👍.
I was disappointed with the lack of clothes but I think they didn't put everything in the boss factory
I'm pretty decent with character creation tools and getting the faces how I want them, but that tool was absolutely awful. The way the presets interact with the sliders. You can make decent characters with it, but it's almost impossible to have a vision of a character and then go make it in that tool - at least not to a degree that let's you fell great about your creation.
@@renereiche main problem is that no matter how different you try to make a face. It will always resemble the preset you choose which makes most of the characters you and other people make look the same
@@nikolasferreira3247 no you can really make them look extremely different you just chose not to actually do it🤣
My wife couldnt even make her bosses boobs as big as her own in the boss factory demo.
Her Knockers arent even stupidly big.
Saints row 3 has a special place in my heart. First game my wife bought for me. First saints row I played.
I loved all of the parody in the game. The unique missions. It definitely dared to be different. I will give this one a shot at some point.
I love games having more accessibility for the visually impaired and I appreciate you going in to detail about the settings.
As always- Your reviews are a great help.
Thanks man!
You just saved me cash that can be used for a better game!
No worries
@@ChillCollins616
True.
If you like SR, you would've figured it out this game would be a disaster when you saw your gang members are IGN employees.
What game though? There is not much out here, I'm waiting for GOW Ragnarok, that's about it, o and GTA 6 in another 5 years or so lol
@@lordsemen489 lmao
@@cheeseNrice69
Well there’s also:
- FF VII Remake Part 2
- Suicide Squad
- Spider-Man 2
- Wolverine (I think it’s 2023)
- Jedi Survivor
- MAYBE Forspoken (Again: MAYBE)
Yeah, I was afraid of this. Truth be told, when they took the Epic Games Store money and made themselves PC exclusive there for a year, red flags went off for me.
"Oh, the only major digital store that DOESN'T have user reviews and you took the deal that effectively guarantees you a minimum number of sales? Hm. Shows your confidence, eh?"
Then the woke trailers started dropping, the gameplay snippets began rolling out, and nothing looked good. I've been a big fan of this franchise since its first release on the Xbox 360 back in 2006, and I did not pre-order this. I will never be buying this.
Judging from their vitriolic attacks towards the fans and their boasting that they will NEVER listen to us and don't need us, they're fine with that. They're banking on a new crop of Gen Zs scooping this garbage up. We'll see. They have almost no competition for the next couple weeks. Maybe it'll work out, quality be darned.
Thanks for the review, ACG.
Hopefully gta 6 is going to crush this garbage
After the failure of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands on EGS, I would have thought more companies would realize it's not worth the bribe. Tiny Tina's only sold like 100k copies in it's first month on EGS. I can't imagine this will sell better than that. It''ll flop on Epic and they'll bring it to Steam ASAP in the hopes it can make up those massive losses.
@@erso_returned2530 We'll see. Almost all the old Rockstar heads are gone and their PR reps been going on media tours bragging about "punching down less" and "being better." GTA was, at its best, a satire poking fun at society and even itself.
It was never preachy and nothing was off-limits. Not getting that vibe from the current PR and it's making me nervous.
ah saying "woke" found yet another fascist
I still have no idea how a company can spend this much time and money to make something no one wants.
"market research" lol
Not only that but then attack the fan base for this franchise
I imagine something like this going down; "We had a highly diverse, both racially and sexual oriented, test group which we showed our game to. The colorful, cheesy style really resonated with them and they really liked how the sanded down writing and humore doesn't offend anyone. The unique and diverse cast of starring characters was a particular hit. We made a nerdy black guy, a buff hispanic/latino looking guy, and a geeky Western -Asian looking female. The lead character is up to you to customize but we'll advertise with a tomboyish mixed race girl. Almost everyone in the test group was able to identify with one of the characters on a deep level. All in all this game will be a smash hit with the Gen X Fortnite crowd."
@@damienlee1165 You might as well just cut the end of your comment short and call the default character a half breed. You sound like a total racist all the way through.
@@nousername2942 lmao the fuckers got scammed
“A buffet where everything wasn’t seasoned” is a great explanation of open world games today.
Elden Ring did open world right in recent memory but other than that that state is true.
That explains so many open world games
I think horizon forbidden west Open world is also amazing
@@BlahBohogun They're nerds that actually care. The moment their creative genius stops I fear for the company but we will see.
"Today"?
ACG:" I buy one of every version of the game and give it away for you folks"
Everyone: "It's cool... you can keep em"
Word, we're not that desperate.
😂😂😂🤣
Yea lol who would want that trash 🗑 😂
Rather be caught watching porn than being caught playing this game!
@@justinnelson4530 Seriously, playing this would be a waste of my time I could spend playing a better game lol
I'd like to thank them for putting out that first trailer and showing their hand. It saved many people money.
Haha yes I know. What's funny is I've never played Saints Row, but I've seen some gameplay. I knew immediately this was going to piss off a lot of people.
Exactly mate
Facts. The woke propaganda in the trailers said it all. These developers needs to stop pandering to the woke left, they're ruining their games.
Sadly, it seems like God of war is heading in the same direction
@@rektz2457 unfortunately most devs now are either female or beta soyboy cucks and this is what they think an edgy and funny game is supposed to look like
@@rektz2457 lmao what
To be honest no one was surprised this game would suck. When the devs said they are ditching the "outdated humor" I knew this game was going to suck ass.
But that humour from 3 and 4 would’ve been shit too. Replay those two over the age of 15 and it’s just not remotely funny. They needed to go back to Saints Row 2 style of JUST bordering over the top with slightly edgy but clever humour. 3&4 had too much Family Guy humour and would’ve just added to the cringe in this game
You’re aware GTA developers essentially say’s they’re doing the same right? I bet you’re not saying that game is going to suck though.
Exactly, all the old fans knew that the direction they were taking will make lame game, as someone who liked even Saints Row 4 I would have been okay with a saint's game which at least has its identity, but the direction they took ditched that identity.
And this game is "mature" lol lmao and rofl.
its sad that people still defend this shitty ass game
This is awful. I mean, we criticize companies like Rockstar and EA for having monopolized the industry on sandboxes and then realize that if this is their "competition", that's normal
Yeah I see where you’re coming from but you don’t have fun in gta like you do this I mean if you do good job but gta is more racing and shooting compared to this where is just mayhem
@@combattheclowngaming honestly I’ll just boot up Saints Row 2 or The Third if I want to have the mayhem aspect.
I disagree that Rockstar has a monopoly on open-world games. It's more so how do you compete with a franchise that has been on the video game market for over 20 years - a franchise that has it's own identity and doesn't need to copy what other franchises are doing. GTA doesn't follow trends, GTA is THE TREND that other games try to follow.
@@bulgarianreaper6587 That's the definition of monopoly. Anything that launches is compared to GTA. Just like any football game is compared to FIFA and probably won't succeed.
Mafia, Watch Dogs, Sleeping Dogs and older games like True Crime, even if they had similar mechanics and were less interesting that GTA, were also at least original and a nice breath of fresh air from GTA. This Saints Row is what happens when a Game company is more concerned with making a trendy and appealing to everybody dumpster fire. Then, criticizing the fanbase after the bad reception was, for me, the nail the coffin needed. Summarizing, they won't risk a lawsuit for a good game.
To be fair the SR franchise has been struggling since 4. With 4 being so lost they literally destroyed the earth like five minutes in.
Unfortunately (no doubt like many others) I could see this coming a mile away, only thing I was waiting on was for you to confirm it. Damn shame, since this is likely the final nail in the coffin for Saints Row as a franchise.
It's probably best for the franchise to die. Volition obviously has no idea what they're doing with the IP.
same, i saw skillups review as well, he basicly has the same output of issues. Its a buggy soulless mess (sadly), i gues i will just wait for COH3 + COD modern warefare 2 open beta in sept, and hope that holds me up until Halo CO-OP comes out and D4 releases next year. but so far this year has been a real drout of good new games sadly.
If their inspiration was John Wick, Baby Driver etc. How can this even share the same title in the franchise? Is it me or have all the decision makers lost their spines, are games designed by suits now days?
This series been dead since like sr3 dropped
Agreed it's ironic that the Devs didn't even see why a failure this was going to be. I think it's the end of Voilition and I think game development is no longer for them
I don't understand why devs think that rebooting a franchise while stripping away what helped make it special will result in the same success of the original.
Woke bullshit that’s it…..big AAA companies are being bullied to be that way so they don’t get back lash from investors not CONSUMERS… we did not ask for this but hey Rockstars is on its way to be like every company out now
AA are the one putting our quality title for less money…think about it
@@ChillCollins616 I've played this. It's exactly what they did.
@@ChillCollins616 are you one of the developers of this game? You sure love defending it
@@ChillCollins616 Exactly what they did not including the bugs.
@@ChillCollins616 so I'm right? How does it feel wasting years of your life on a shitty game no one will remember in 2 weeks?
“Team up with your friends”
I don’t see Johnny, Pierce, Shaundi or Kinze anywhere
I really want the Devs to respond to this feedback and not disappear into the darkness like what usually happens. When games flop, companies need to take ownership and show acknowledgment.
See Tweet
they already got your money now its time to disappear
They'll just blame the customer for not liking the game.
the devs already attacked the fans when the first trailer was released and there was the huge backlash....so I do assume the devs will continue attacking the fans after this instead owning up to their mistakes
Bro what
As a developer of Saints Row 2, this hasn't been a good morning. I've been waiting for reviews of this game, hoping my initial impressions were incorrect. I really love how packed ACG gets this review, but the content hurts a lot, because I worked on this franchise, I personally loved Saints Row 4, and now. I question if I really want to play it and risk tarnishing my memory of a franchise I helped formed.
The amount of shooting I've seen in all these reviews really makes me wonder how much more there is in the game. It's just so average, and maybe it's the lack of sound, but there should have been something visually appealing to show off rather than the same enemy 30 times over.
Yes, the original games were a little juvenile, and Karak saying the world might have passed it by when it initially released rings true, especially going back and looking at it now, but they still were interesting and funny. But this seems to lack that humor, and yet hasn't vastly improved the gameplay.
At the same time, The level of graphical issues and gameplay bugs reminds me a lot of how rough the Saints Row 2 was, and I am shocked that I'm seeing many of the same issues here. Hopefully they can fix it up a bit more before it comes up on Steam, but I don't see myself rushing out to Epic to pick this up on PC, sadly. I'm just struggling to understand why they took the game in this direction because it's not one I really recognize, and after 4-5 years of development, I wonder what that time was spent on?
Out of curiosity - if you had to do a reboot of Saints Row, what *would* it look like?
@@elliotflores723 W question
@@elliotflores723 I bet it definitely wouldn’t be woke
Man its sad to see one of my favorite series go downhill , thank you for giving us the best Saints row game btw.
You’re a legend man! 2 was the best imo!
Once again the "toxic" fans were proven right. The developers mocked and blew off all the rightful criticism thrown at them when this game was revealed at e3. It looks like a Netflix adaptation of Saints Row
“We’re not backing down” wonder how that’s working for them
Go woke go broke
Guess they tryna see who can get a going out of business award up against rockstar and ea 😂
Lol, you comparison A netflix adaptation of saints row is so on point. Such a saints woke
This looks like if Disney bought a loved franchise and attempted to reboot it
We've gone from a cast of characters that were already pretty diverse and fun to a cast of completely unrelatable stereotypes of minority characters that feel like they are just there to tick boxes by some kind of corporate team.
We've gone from the franchise having a consistent satirical identity to a game that seems to be suffocating in its own shoebox and having a crisis in determining what it even wants to be anymore. One the one hand it's still trying really hard to retain elements of satire, but it's so constrained it feels like it's trying so ridiculously hard not be offensive to anyone, that the humour just comes across as lightweight.
Games need to stop trying to politically micromanage their audiences like they come from a superior moral position, it's not the right way to get people to be more open minded to change. It comes across as condescending, narcissistic and painfully out of touch. The fanbase wants Saints Row but instead they got Starbucks Row and the devs have this stinking attitude towards any fans that didn't really ask for this direction. It's just really pretentious and I hope the game does flop a bit so the dev team learn to humble themselves in the future and not bite the hand that feeds them.
Saints row 5: ticking boxes XD
@bigdaddysmackdown bro whats sad too is the rumors about gta 6 are the same.. its gonna remove all offence jokes and parodies and make the characters "inclusive" they even announced the main character is gonna be a "latin x bi sexual female" smdh
@@GigaChadDuPlessis You've just ticklisted to be removed a lot of what made the gta franchise what it is and what makes it charming and amusing. I sense another disaster on the horizon....
@@TheT0nedude 100% bro. And i doubt itll even stop there.. i fear this is only the start of them destroying game francises for the sake of being woke and politically correct smdh
Nah the cast is actually good. Bet you haven't played it enough to see how the cast is good except for the topless fool.
Now still better than the garbage that was sr4.
Yeah.. I was skeptical about this “reboot” since it was announced. Thank you for the honesty!!!
I gave it a shot but man it drops fast
@@ACGreviews its like agents of mayhem all over again, starts off good but gets stale very fast. That game out deep discounts fast in few months. I remember buying it under $10 on xbox store.
Yeah as soon as I saw epic games was attached to it I kinda thought it might be a fusion of Saints Row and Fortnite 😂
@@zacgriffith5200 It's not. The only thing Epic paid for was to have PC exclusivity.
@@InugamiTheHound Yeah, I see it for 80% off all the time. Sometimes it hits 90%
The theme change with the reboot already made this a low interest game, and going Epic exclusive just totally killed any interest. Would not even have known it was out if not for your review. Thank you for the detailed and honest review, definitely glad this is a skip for me!
You'd think after the financial flop that was Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, companies would have realized by now that taking the Epic Games bribe isn't worth it in the long run because nobody buys and/or plays your game there. doesn't matter if Epic gave a ton of funding because it's not going to be enough to also finance whatever their next game would be. they need sales for that-and you can't get sales on EGS.
@@TaddiestMason If the game was PC only you could be right, but the cost of low sales on PC will end up diluted across all platforms
@TaddiestMason
Boss I think you’re missing the point of Epic. The devs/pubs do not take the exclusivity because their confident. They take it because their not.
Saints had pretty much zero hype (that I could see). The VAST majority dogged it. So that paycheck from Epic is trying to recoup cost. They think Epic check will pay out more then releasing it to everyone.
When it comes to Epic. It’s either one of two outcomes. 1. No confidence (Saints Row) or 2. Pure confidence (Final Fantasy 7 Remake). Imo, it’s pretty easy to see which way the game falls when you look at it. Think of the hype of FF7, now think of the hype for Saints. See?
I'll play the game in a year when it's free on Epic
@@jakestocker4854 I was thinking the same exact damn thing lol
This is why I haven't preordered games for years... I've waited for an actual good review and this has helped me save money and wait until a sale comes around (shouldn't be too long) Great review!
The last three pre-orders I did was for the Witcher III and GTA V, both of which I'm satisfied with. I thought I'd be batting a thousand when I pre-ordered Arkham Knight. We all know how that went lol After that I never pre-ordered and I even don't get a new game after a few months or after several patches in.
Arkham Knight was superb? Wtf
@@JamesThomas-wf6qm Yes awesome game just too much driving
@@JamesThomas-wf6qm It was still a good Batman game! as Sky Nutz said "too much driving and reliance on the batmobile" at times, and sometimes having TOO many enemy mooks and variants on screen during fights are the stuff of nightmares unless your a battle maniac with the system. And the Riddler trophies can be the stuff of nightmares if your 100% since this time it's a major requirement. But when those aren't issues! Everything else is superb. Seriously can't believe their are people who believe Knight is a 0 to 2 out of 10's simply because of one annoying mechanic? some folk be petty as fuck!
@@JamesThomas-wf6qm I'm guessing the OP preordered the PC port which was a technical mess at launch, it was so bad that it was delisted from Steam for months.
This is what happens when a game about comedic anarchists is made by a committee professional activists afraid of offending anyone. Completely lacks the soul of the original 2, and follows the standardized vanilla open world formula.
The characters being an unbearable pack of unfuckables doesn't help my initial thought of it being a bunch of self-insert characters.
Game development by woke committee and accountants. Pure garbage.
From what I've heard, the arch-charlatan Sarkeesian was involved with this game, which does explain why it's bad.
@@JockenN snarkeesian is a cancer to whatever she touches thus saints row was doomed to be a rancid dumpster fire
y'all actually sound wildly offended lmaooooo
@@1bwash Would you not be offended if, upon ordering a steak at a restaurant, the waiter climbed onto the table and took a huge dump on your plate - and then every employee insisted you had been served medium-rare filet mignon?
Some of the most fun I've had in the Saints Row franchise was Insurance Fraud. If you remember that mission type, I hope you loved it, too.
This game doesn't seem like that kind of Saints Row fun.
Apparently this one does have the Insurance Fraud minigame, but it also appears to be exactly the same as in SR2 from 14 years ago. Just doing the same thing at different intersections with no expansion or building on what came before, just tossed in there.
@@beerosaurusrex Yes, it does, but in all footage that I've seen, the streets were eerily empty with barely any vehicles to ragdoll into. I don't remember this being a problem in the previous games.
@@TheDeadfast Yes that happens a lot actually me and my friend was just playing that a couple weeks ago and we literally had to run across town because cars wasn't driving in that area
@@TheDeadfast That's not true. And in it was a problem in previous, it was the biggest issue with the mini game. The mini game doesn't have that problem at all in the new one
believe it or not, it does. insurance fraud is still there
Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax was my favorite activity in all the Saints Row games. The absurdity of Takeshi's Murder Castle was so much fun. Septic Avenger was ridiculously fun also.
I loved that TK activity in SR4. How the hosts were forced into the simulation.. Some great voice acting from them
Oh thoese hands!
Insurance fraud was always my personal favourite.
That’s a shame, I was hoping saints row could enter the mainstream in a positive way once more, but this is super discouraging, thank you ACG for the transparency towards and protection of your audience!
played for an hour today. issued a refund. god damn i was disappointed. life long saints row fan too
@@raniasaad8772 may I ask what are your complaints I haven’t bought it or seen this review
@@azurraa Any game is only good if you can put the boys in thigh high socks
They couldve just copied 2011 game Saints row the third, my favorite.
Bro when was the last time Volition made a good game lol
I remember loving saints row 2, the music, the graphical style, the freedom and compared to GTA it felt like you were actually part of and actively involved in a living gang tasked with gaining notoriety.
To have a fellow gang member randomly help you was unique and in a corny way, I loved the fact it was the first "true" open world game where I felt you could actually drive anything you saw. Was fun to tear it up in a construction vehicle or an 18 wheeler that had a trailer, yes! A trailer not just the tractor front! I dont remember really playing any missions, insurance fraud game ragdoll was hilarious!
I didnt like the space age direction the games went although many did, this new game looked good graphically but sadly, what does it actually offer more than saints row 2 did and especially for the price. Thanks Karak you are spot on yet again, ill wait a year or so and grab it maybe under a tenner as a casual pick up and play time waster . . . . Although its maybe destined to be completely forgotten by then when something else comes along
Saints row 2 is the free game on games with gold on Xbox if you didn't know
Completely agree. For me Saints Row was a gang story. I tolerated when they went international famous gang in 3 and aliens in 4. It still was different from the rest of the market. Not this hipster thing, this ended the franchise on a bad note and proved why GTA is still better than anything else in the sandbox market
Yeah, SR2 was my favorite. Memorable enemies. Powerful story. Fun customization.
I was really annoyed with Gat's (faked) death in the 3rd and it really spoiled the game for me. 4 was neat, I like the glitching idea but the aliens were too generic for this level of wacky. Gat Outta Hell was "eh" (but I'm not a Kinsey fan.)
They didn't have to stop there, the Saints could have gone to explore alternate worlds (if they wanted to revive the franchise.)
But no, that's wishful thinking. Saints Row is just another progressive skinsuit now.
Saints Row 2 was the peak of the series. It was the perfect mixture of tense serious drama and offensive over-the-top chaos and had a bevy of features that were removed in the sequels; PVP, clothing layers and patterns, improvised melee weapons, duel wield toggle, consumable food & drugs, mission/cutscene replay and more.
SR3 may have had better controls and boob sliders, but the story was weak, the world was dull, and the tone was all over the place. SR4 at least committed to its wacky tone and was a pretty fun Prototype/Infamous clone that utilized the SR3 map much better (Steelport is WAAAY more enjoyable when leaping and bounding over buildings)
The reboot is Saints Row in name only. Oddly, despite it being a REBOOT, it blatantly reuses animations, models, and UI from SR3 (10yo game), so what was the point of ANY of this?! Why bother bringing back a game series about hard core street gangs if you're going to make it look and feel like a Fortnite season?
The music was indeed amazing I still listen to loyd banks and young jeezy and saints row is what introduced me to them
It looked obvious from the get go it would be ok at best. That demo had some pretty noticeable graphical issues to, when a demo has them sends big red flags.
i wouldnt say that, Demo is a early build of the game... if anything thats when there would be most bugs
@@dibils Except the hardware demo came out a month ago, and the exact same issues from it are present.
If that was the case then its even more inexcusable.
@@ChillCollins616 Depends on which Saints Rows you liked. SR3-4 fans are most likely to enjoy this game. SR1-2 fans probably won't.
@@ChillCollins616 They only expected the SR1 and 2 vibes BEFORE the initial reveal because of the graffiti wall teaser. Ever since then they've been pretty vocal about their disdain for the game's direction and how bad it looks. Can't say they were entirely wrong tho. Dead open world and insufferable characters just as expected.
@@ChillCollins616 Well, I hoped they were wrong and the game would be good, with a nice mix of SR2 and 3. Guess not. A lot of SR2 fans probably feeling really validated right about now.
This is the most favorable review for this game I've seen today and even still it isnt getting a nod. Its so sad what they have done to this beloved franchise.
"Look how they massacred my boy"
@@mazraelventacus914 😆
Looks pretty good to me.
Facts, I agree
As a big fan of the series, this is disappointing and exactly why the game business keeps declining!
I never hated Saints Row, but after playing GTA or RDR2, you see what quality open world games should be, and this is always one bar below in quality.
Only one bar? It looks more like four. 😂
The world design looks inspired by video games not reality.
Saints Row doesnt need to be GTA or RDR, it needs to be Saints Row, like the good ones 1 and 2, which this reboot certainly isnt.
Saints row 2 still is more fun than all GTA and rdr2, rdr2 story is unmatched but the gameplay most of the times is a slog, gta the gameplay and story is boring as hell
Saints row 2 story is also amazing
@Bzake honestly although I did enjoy RDR2, it’s realism at times gets frustrating to deal with constantly.
From what I've seen so far, this game is an attempt by upper middle-class, highly educated game developers to create a story about gang violence and crime. They set out to make the VG equivalent of Breaking Bad but instead made a typical made-for-TV Hallmark miniseries. It's so sad to see how low Volition has gotten. I loved the Saints Row franchise; sadly it looks like the series has lost its teeth.
Absolutely correct. This isn't anything more than that. It's white collar guesswork at what they think the poors might do. The series lost its edge because the people working on this game have obviously never actually been around that life. I bet none of these people ever even lived in a neighborhood where there was gang activity. It really sucks.
They went for breaking bad and got metastasis
well do you think the original saints row was made by actual gang bangers who were throwing up gang signs and selling crack on the street?
I completely agree. In 2006 I imagine the creative team was a completely different group/demographic with a different thought process/vision with Saints Row 1.
It's Saints Row. I was never looking for something deep...lol.
I love how they justify this game being terrible by saying "it's always been this bad!"
bruh
You had to restart 21 missions due to bugs - yo - what is wrong with these game companies… this should be handled before launch. If you buy it - they will continue to handle games like this..
They should have had more people playing the beta versions and sending feedback long before launch
This can be a result of bad play testing too
That moment when the accessibility menu has more features than the core game itself……
lmfao no seriously the accessibitiy features were pretty impressive. best I've seen in all nvadia
They should have just made a transgender gang and go full woke.
@@wsrtwetr Please don’t give these imbeciles anymore ideas for the next game….
Been watching streams of this all weekend. It definitely looks like a step backwards in a lot of features such as enterable buildings, crowd density, and police response. Maybe it's OK for a throwback game, but it has fewer features than Saint's Row 2 had. Not sure if Volition ran out of money or talent, but this seems to be a $20 game at best.
At least the driving physics look improved.
Ya its soulless
Wokeness took up the time
@@crazychase98 what exactly is woke about the game to you? Simply having a few nonwhite characters bother you that much?
@@SM-nc1nb The flag
@@SM-nc1nb after seeing all of the story, I wouldn't call it woke but I would call it cringe with characters having no personality
After finishing the story and having my experience with my share of bugs and glitches I can say others should hold off on this title.
I buy the games I cover even if the devs give me a code. No bs reviews, no pr crap. If you want to hang out in an amazing discord, play some dnd, listen to some music together, check out the patreon. Or if you want some merch check out teespring acg.
Also this looks like it got labeled adult as well but its gone now thankfully. But man a ton of videos have
www.patreon.com/AngryCentaurGaming
Everyone knew this was going to be a dumpster fire this series has been dead for years and should have stayed that way!!
Lol
I have stopped receiving notifications from your channel long ago =\. However this vid popped up in my recommended hell yes.
One is a preview one is a review. 40 hours with a game is not the same
@@Ike_of_pyke That and time. Very easy to happen. And seeing people who got it early a ton of people are hating it. Though I see some like it. But even in our discord the folks who got it early are shocked how bad it is
Such a shame that developers can't make good games. Not even ok games, but just garbage games...Why is it so hard for them to produce something fun and entertaining? They have the experience and the money from previous games but they ALL seem to screw it up. So much efforts and time are put into these garbage games, it's kinda sad really and we, the gamers, are left with nothing good to play. The golden years of gaming are truly behind us.
POLITICS str8 up!!
@@PastaRoshie lmfao Jesus this take 😂 the real answer is shitty devs not knowing their audience
They wana go outta business is all I can think of
@Bikegasserjoggeravoider That could be applied to a game’s story, at best. “Politics” influencing gameplay in what way?
*Unless you’re referring to workplace politics and the managerial decisions imposed on the developers that may influence the actual development process. If that’s what you mean, I’ll agree. Just assumed it was another person complaining about “woke” games.
@@justintyler5041 Its 100% just another bum complaining about “wokeness” getting sweaty over a game he won’t ever play
Sounds like this game could have truly benefited from launching on Gamepass. On Gamepass, a lot of fans would have tried it out regardless of review scores. I've pumped a ton of hours on Gamepass games that got massacred by reviewers. I'm more hesitant to purchase badly reviewed games though.
I think it will be added to gamepass relatively quick now that sales have flopped.
Same. I like gamepass. @@igrvks hell better for us lmao.
NO you shouldn't listen to stupid reviewers clearly there hating cuz of past games and there trying to compare go buy the game play it and make your own opinion stop being a sheep i have played the game and i really enjoyed it cuz i didnt read or watch reviews that are just bull cuz they say Saints Row 2 is the best game when its really not
Thought the same
Yea def play it on games pass just to rip on it the whole time and make fun of it
I feel like practically everyone is tired of America's "inclusivity, yaaaaas queen" phase... Except for the americans who work in the entertainment industry.
Don't know who is out of touch with reality in America these days, the politicians or the "artists"
Saw some clips going around with a few characters blaming capitalism for their problems, combine that with what appears to be sanitized boardroom approved characters & writing, the hello fellow kids marketing for this game, and attacking potential customers on social media. This game is a definite DOA.
@Buzás András You're not buying it either, yet you're _telling me to cope?_ Absolutely brilliant! LMAO
Share the links for the complaints voicelines from the characters
I mean, capitalism is to blame for a lot of problems, but the problem with the game is that it literally is just the product of assembly line capitalism and the writers didn't commit to actually commenting on the issue in a meaningful way.
@@danielaponte4054 Look up the GmanLives review, it pops up around the 9:40 point in the video. Oh and a bonus "smells like privilege in here" at around the 11min point in the same video that I just remembered as I went back through the video.
@@FelisImpurrator _capitalism is to blame for a lot of problems_
Please provide examples of how capitalism is the blame for a "lot of problems". I only know of a certain other system that has failed many times that has led to lots of problems. I swear the only people that complain about capitalism are typically well-off brats or broke college students who want free stuff.
Been looking at gameplay from folks who got in early. Was wondering if it was just the way they played or the recording. Figured it was that the game is bad but wanted to be sure with reviews. This is why you should never pre-order
@@ChillCollins616 its just the empty open worlds that kills for me
@@ChillCollins616 da game is bullet spongy
@@ChillCollins616 also da graphics is crappy
@@ChillCollins616 It's poo.
@@ChillCollins616 on pc its lookin terrible so i think youre full of yoself smh
Man I think if they just rebooted Stilwater, and gave our familiar characters we know and love some new redesigns, would have given this game an easy W
I relay hope we get some more info on what happened, was it always a Saints Row game or anther game that got re branded?
Was it all the writing department, was the game rushed?
Was it just new staff? They must have had some turnover over the last few years with all the takeovers etc
If i had to guess, probably #2 & #3
All this because the studio was "inspired" by certain anita sakrisian (or whatever her surname is)
@@fafnyr2537I don't really know enough about the situation or to what extent she was involved, but that can't be the only reason lol. Structurally, this game looks like a complete tedious mess.
@@jellyfishjig of course, check the video from yellowflash he covers this topic pretty well 👍
Seems like they hired people who never played a game before if you ask me. They put stuff they imagined in their head would be cool and not the actual good stuff. And political garbage on top of that
I always wait for your review to come out. Your one of the ones that give unbiased reviews on games. One of the few reviewers I trust.
He has yet to fail me.
I’m still not sure wether to buy I have seen reviews I need a new game to play pls advise hahah
to be fair I don't think *anyone* went to bat for this one.
We told them, did they listen, no they didnt. Thats what they get
Who’s they? Half the people don’t even own the game yet
So glad I didn't preorder!!pre-order!!! Marvel's Avengers taught me to never judge a turd by it's glitter! Earned my sub. Hope to see your review of Gotham Knights like this when it's available!! Thank you for your service!!!
PS you are everything that IGN is too commercialized to even dream of being. Time to unsub them!!
Is marvel avengers a good game? I’m confused how u meant it lol. Wondering on downloading it, it’s free on game pass just 100gb+
@@YoItsAct As someone with 200 hours cause i'm a die-hard. It's really not worth it for more than the campaign. If you don't have a bandwidth cap, i'd download it and play the campaign. Thor's gameplay is really fun, but damn is the game shallow.
@@YoItsAct to answer your question the game definitely has problems but it's not really as bad as people make it out to be sure you got repetitive emissions and not to mention the grind system is a little wonky but overall I enjoyed it
@@YoItsAct its just "okay" for a free game. i, sadly, purchased it pre-order and the same bugs and problems have continued to plague the game since prelaunch beta. i was once a dedicated player with over 2000 hours into the game but mostly because i am just a hopeless Marvel fan and its the only current marvel team up game. the developers have lied, stealth nerfed players progression, verbally attacked and harassed content creators (myself included) and put more effort into microtransactions than they do into performance and content. in 2 years they have released 4 heroes in addition to the 8 they began with and very very little content. if its free i say download it and try it for yourself. the campaign is really good but not enough content. online is toxic and matchmaking is unbalanced and very time consuming. there are videos on my channel if you want to see gameplay. i recently started playing again but to be honest; soon as another comic team up game comes out i'm deleting the game. if you do download it i honestly hope you enjoy it! end game level content is the worst when it comes to bugs and some times you can end up with hours of time wasted in some of the longer missions... if you do download it come back and let me know though please and sorry so long... but trust me i could go on for hours.
Karak is one of the best reviewers in the biz man! He’s also hilarious so his content is usually great. Not a dig at you but I can’t believe people are still subbed to IGN in 2022 lol. Those guys have been hacks for decades.
I almost need to see the politics of companies now in order to understand what kind of games they will bring out. Deep Silver Volition was changed and I wish it didn’t , creating compelling characters and situations while making fun about the games today. Also, giving movie references here and there, not too much but, just enough to have some nostalgia to get the references. It’s sad to see this franchise get destroyed like this. I almost wish this was the simulation you were trapped in during saints row 4. Would make much more sense than what this games story seems to try and recreate. Thanks for the review, agreed with the end result, wait for a holiday sale and possibly buy it out of sheer boredom.
I have a bet on, that Volition will go bankrupt after this reboot mess and Microsoft will buy them up in less than a year
Thanks to your review, it now feels like I am one step closer to that sweet $50 from my friend.
Can't wait for THE Saints Row to come out in 5 years, take all the characters from this game, make a similar but mildly better story, and release it exclusively on XBOX Series X2.5 and the Epic Store launcher.
not possible...it's already a subsidiary. ever heard of embracer group? hello
I can’t wait for it to be on game pass
@@JewTube001 So was Bethesda. goodbye.
From the start the reveal made me worried but after the gameplay reveal the design and world looked off and bland and now we hear of technical issues. Well here is the thing the first one was something new and fresh and devs did what they wanted for fun of it and didn't give a f what anybody would think and it succeeded cuz it was fresh but after the 3rd one they realized it's running out of its course so they did something new with 4th one and well it was OK. Now after almost a decade they just try to reboot it with no direction and just try out the old tricks filled whatever is popular in social media so ofcourse it's not going to succeed However you look at it.
From the very first gameplay trailer, I said to my mate that I guarantee you this game will end up with metacritic rating in the 60's or worse.... currently at 59. Such an incredible shame.They better bring back the original cast and get the series back on track for the next one.
cant, the original was politically incorrect, made fun of everything thus is offensive and edgy. those things are now labeled as far right positions
@@117Ender This is what made me sad about the "reboot". They got rid of Rim Jobs and Freckle Bitch's diner. For what?
Video games used to be disconnected from real world politics and that's what made them so much fun! Nowadays, everything has to be "inclusive" and whatever seems "offensive" must be censored or omitted entirely.
Whatever happened to Volition after SR4 obviously led to... this :l Even Agents of Mayhem was splayed with LGBTQSTI nonsense in a world that could have easily done without it and it would have been more fun.
@@117Ender Yes, the party that whines and cries about everything is "offensive and edgy". Just because they think rules don't apply to them and whine like 4 year olds when they do, does not make them "edgy" They are banning books for crying out loud.
I wouldn't put much faith into Metacritic scores but yeah Saint Row just doesn't have a place in todays culture sadly, atleast not the old SR.
Yes please. Drop the goofy shit and get back to the gangsta shit. Until then they'll keep flopping or just breaking even.
Animator - "How wacky should we go with physics?"
Dev boss - "Yes".
Nah, wacky physics can be fun.
This was just plain dumb and unfun.
It’s more like Devs: “Physics?”
Remember the Insurance Fraud activities from 2, 3, 4 and Gat?
@@frankmerker630 😂😂😂
I admire their transparency right from their first trailer. Within seconds of watching I knew this would be horrible
But who the hell is their audience? What sort of person would this appeal to?? This is just utter tripe
Liberals
guess i'm not a person then
@@crazychase98 i bet you dont know the difference between a liberal and a leftist.
They're aiming for the same audience that probably plays Fortnite. People born mid 2000s. It's a more ''diverse'' generation. So games, naturally/unfortunately are adjusting towards this new generation. It's a game made for the TikTok generation. That's why it doesn't appeal to the older fans, I think.
@@ChillCollins616 how do you know? It doesn't even come out until tomorrow.
So nostalgic about Saints Row. I remember buying the first game. Such a great time. Saints Row 2 was also incredible. Not 100% sure about a reboot.
It could have been fine. Hell, it could have been great.
But the people in charge has been making bad call after bad call.
@@andreasottohansen7338 Facts
@@andreasottohansen7338 that's incredibly unfortunate. I really wanted to be excited for this one.
@@outbreakhq9583 I tried so hard to be.
@@andreasottohansen7338 it's really a let down, keep positive though. Maybe we'll get a better one in the future.
The worst of this game is when you remember that the developers made LITERALLY 4 FUCKING GAMES LIKE THIS THEN A DLC AND A SPIN-OFF GAME! And they still can't get it right. That shows that they are only trying to get on the train and doing a "cover" of their own work, but the only thing they managed to do is to crash horribly.
I kinda expected it since the deal with Epic was announced, every developer who is not certain if something is going to work always go with that exclusivity deal, because it ensures revenue regardless of how the game performs.
If you ask me, I think Volition should hang the coat and disband. It's been like 10 years since they released anything resembling a good game. It's clear that they no longer know what they are doing.
GTA made it difficult to invest into the saints row series without looking like a copycat. The previous sr games is a result of trying to differentiate from gta
You should have expected it when the got bought by The Embracer Group.
@@steve43ful Word!
@@Ryan-tb7pp they should’ve kept to their games the dummies tried to change and that’s why gta is still on top and saints isn’t even second to it anymore sleeping dogs is better and a 2nd to gta
@Mcheetah Is it even diversity anymore when everyone they hire is the same?
SR 2 is my favorite in the entire series and I was hoping if they were gonna go the route of rebooting the series, it would followed closer to how that was was with it having it’s comical moments but also having some serious and emotional beats to it, sadly looks like we won’t see it after this
SR 2's "emotional beats" were just weird really. Like Gat goes off on that guy to get his revenge and buries him alive, and then it's just right back to business as usual. Felt weird. I was glad to see SR3 and 4 fully embrace the parody and satirical approach. It set them apart and just made them more fun.
@@arthurdent9281 that’s what made it realistic that’s how the streets are those games you mentioned is when the series turned worse it became unrealistic with steroid monsters and aliens every mission was just shooty shooty that’s not what u call fun
@@dsmith5098 lol, realistic? Nothing about SR2 was realistic. Everything was just as shooty shooty as the other games as well. People really have a weird memory of SR2. Maybe it seemed realistic when you were 12.
The big Saints Row tradition that I am most worried about... did they have a radio sing along scene during one of the drive portions of a mission. It's always been a series highlight for me.
i had a cheesy ass grin when i heard them sing sublime the first time
*insert What is Love while driving a spaceship*
That was only in 3 and 4
@@SM-nc1nb it was also in saints row 2
“LOOOVING, ITS WHAT I GOT, I SAID REMEMBER THAT”.
Always good times when Pierce hops in for a ride along.
This game is going to bomb so fucking hard it will go straight to bargin bin within a few months like Agents Of Mayhem.
Embracer said the preorders were more than what they expected, so let's wait and see
I had a bad feeling about this one. Thank you for this review, I think I am gonna wait for sale to play this one.
Wokeism ruins everything it touches.... I want my escapism back...I want my sexy back...I want my fun back!!!!
Thank you very much for the review, but you confirmed my fears for the new “reboot”, ever since the first trailer dropped the tone appeared nothing like Saints Row which I think it would of been better to call it something else entirely. The fact that some of these bugs plagued 3/4 are still in here is baffling.
At least they were clever enough to make the bugs part of the game in SR4.
Saint's Row peaked at 2 for me, dunno why I loved it so much but I did. I had a little hope for this game but not much, thanks for the heads up.
Same. 2 was the last (and only) saints row game that was better than the one before it
I agree, it was the first game for me that had that taking over the territory piece by piece feel and I really liked it. The mini games within the game were very enjoyable. After that it sort of all just devolved into a series of one-upsmanship d*ck jokes.
@Drabs lol it also taught me how to say Samedi. For years I thought it was saw-MID-ee.
Honestly, I can still remember some of those shitty bugs with previous SR titles (NPCs bugging out/despawn/spawning badly) and just how frustrating it was. To hear this is still going on in this one is not a surprise, but I wished for better.
I dont have confidence it will be fixed, so it looks like this is one to grab later on a sale or something...
reminds me of Bethesda, except with a small, tight knit, near non-existent modding community to clean up the trash the developers forgot to
All games lol so get ready for it this is just the beginning
@@lucasw.4282 Not even bethesda games we're ever this bad this is gta trilogy defenitive edition level bad.
@@RainyBankai nah bro Bethesda has been worse fallout 76 is one of the worst games I’ve ever seen
I feel like this game deserves a new category beyond “never touch”, *Launch it into the sun*
You know how literally everyone HATES politically correct, socially conscious millenials? Let's make a worse GTA and make those millenials the main protagonists!
Also, feel bad for ACG, he still has to buy this game hahaha
I mean the multiple delays kinda gave it away really. A lot of stuff is getting delayed because of the pandemic but this was definitely in dev hell territory. They clearly knew they had a dud on their hands and were trying to do what they could to clean it up.
We knew this would flop. How these people who developed this game are still employed is beyond me.
@@arsenelupin9697 THANK YOU…you understand ur a real one ☝🏽
@@PastaRoshie jesus fucking christ its a stupid video game.
The trailers had woke propaganda 🗑
This game was designed to flop
@@arsenelupin9697 Jesus, it’s likely because they completely misunderstood what people liked about Saints Row. Not “diversity hiring” LMAO
@@mathc856 they misunderstood what people liked about saints row BECAUSE they were diversity hires, i.e not people actually passionate about creating a good saints row game
Always important to hear that they "have a lot to fix". That's the perfect argument to wait for a sale and see if stuff IS actually fixed by then.
The sooner gamers learn that Day One buying is stupid, the sooner game studios fix themselves.
Eh, it's not like they can "fix" those hipster douche nozzles... Sorry, "main characters". No patch will ever fix the writing in general either.
@@yellowcard8100 agreed. Sadly, gamers are a bunch of goobers, so it's a uphill battle.
Thank you for your hard work and your honesty.
Ethical journalism is gaming is water in a desert, you did your best to give credit where credit is due on this half a turd (of course it was released during the end of the summer game drought, it is the only way they could hope for some sales).
I've now listened to 3 reviews of this game, and every single one had the bug where enemies would spawn on a freeway which was inaccessible in the mission.
This is so God awful watched a playthrough yesterday. And it's really bad.
The writing was on the wall for this one a long, long time ago. Great review and further proof of why I don't preorder any more.
U must be subbed to that one silly dude who trolls sometimes.
@@dalewarren81
Do you have any idea how little thst narrows it down?
@@lastmanstanding7155 he always says the cracks are starting to show and put his shirt over his head acting crazy.
@@lastmanstanding7155 his video just popped up. His name Michael does life
@@dalewarren81
Literally never seen him before. Why would you think people form an opinion from him? I'd rather trust GCN. In fact we're currently in the comments for the video. Wouldn't it be more logical to think the person formed it from this review?
I think we all knew the characters, writing and story were going to be utterly beyond redemption, but many of us were hopeful for the gameplay and the new more lived in location.
It absolutely sucks that even those aspects are a let down, but I don't think any of us could say that it was a surprise.
Writing and creativity in general has gone off a cliff in many aspects since writing is no longer a learned profession as it once was, you just have to 'identify' as a writer.
Humor is too safe to be funny,
characters are made to try too hard to be 'relatable' to the wrong crowd to be considered anything other than cringe-inducing, and there is no more emphasis to make all mechanics and thematics meld to create one great package, instead they tey to make a few individually serviceable mechanics and just expect them to work cohesively.
It's like it's just about keeping people moderately entertained until something else releases for most of these Triple A studios.
its all being done in the name of progressiveness, i just finished Far Cry 6, and by the end i hated the characters so much i asked myself why did i help these ppl take down the bad guy, they are not much better than him.
Naw, I think there was potential there; people jumped on the new characters way too quickly but that was all built on the idea that the series was going somewhere with them and from what I'm hearing they don't. The characters are absolutely a problem if they're not completely changed by the end.
It's almost like the nerds, dorks, weebs, and hipsters who could never "identify and relate" with the classic saints games, are now in charge of development and as you said above, every game needs to be "inclusive and a driving force for social change".
@@ashfox7498 I mean, when you see the finished product you realize that people didn't jump on the characters "too quickly" because, well, they knew exactly how it would turn out. There was no potential for good story telling with this group and all the circumstances surrounding them and how they came to be.
@Buzás András cope
I am not funding divisive woke marxist ideology, get enough of that via the MSM, I loved the SR series, I was hoping they would go gritty and tell a great story about gang culture but no, they went for an (actual facists not 'anti' nothing but facts) ANTIFA wet dream with this Hipster sim, not for me, there are plenty of games deserving my money, Plaque Tale Requiem, Dark Anthology entry, New TftBL, Scorn, God of War Ragnarok and my favourite one i cannot wait for The Callisto Protocol, so much so I've pre-ordered it on disk for both the XBSX and PS5, I trust Glen Scofield and I support good AA devs, thanks a million for the review, thanks for taking the hit and playing it so we don't have to, sales are very poor but that's what happens when you don't cater to gamers, the people who buy them, you cater to TwitlerYouths, yeah they don't buy much.
Having played the SR3 Remaster recently, this feels extremely similar.
Graphically it's passable, but mechanically it looks like it's still stuck 10 years in the past. Basically Saints Row 3 with better graphics and a bigger map.
I wish they'd just scrap Saints Row completely and made something new instead, because this game seems like it doesn't bring anything to the series at all.
Great review acg, I really wanted a full remake/remaster of SR2. For me it was the pinnacle of the series.
Was so close to pre ordering this but thought nope, wait for the ACG and Skill up review. Really glad I did. Still really disappointed the game isn't great tho.
You giving away the game? Man... the pirated version are already come out and i don't even bother to touch it lol
Dead on arrival, as obviously expected.
I would have ended up spending $60 on this game because I just want good old saints row back. Thanks for the review
@@ChillCollins616 No way kiddo. This is woke garbage that has nothing to do with saints row.
Could people honestly not see this coming?? It looked like a generic open world game from the start. It looks like a generic game they would play in the background in a movie lol
I'm honestly shocked too that people couldn't see this coming. It was as plain as day.
I'm leaving this comment to let you know, for the love of god, don't pick me for the game giveaway.
As someone who enjoyed the first two games somewhat, I was hoping this would be the game to bring back some of what I liked about them.. but it just seems like another SR game that isn't for me. Thanks for the review!
If it ain’t broke break it that’s what Devs tend to do these days the early SR games were much better than trash like this
wish people would stop getting so dramatic the games didnt stay being straight GTA clones and became their own thing. though this game is trash, Ill just play The Third for the 100th time.
When they think that follow anita sarkeesian advice was great lol
@@Shiirow Funny thing is, I liked SR2 better than any GTA game. 3 was alright but not terribly memorable to me, and while 4 was fun the story didn't have the same impact. They stopped balancing silly with serious like they did so masterfully in 2.
"Get up."
@@WhiteManOnCampus I loved both 2 and 3 - 2 was dark funny, and 3 was out-and-out gonzo, basically a Zucker Brothers comedy about criminals. 4 was... well, I kinda sorta maybe enjoyed it, until I noticed that the Boss being pretty much Superman removed a lot of the standard fun. I mean, why steal an Emu (you know, the teensy weensy compact car) when the Boss can Barry Allen all over the map in no time flat? Stuff like that.
1 was... well, I never finished it because a few of the missions by the end were a royal mess. When I had to redo the "jump a car through the donut" bit for the twentieth time I simply cut my losses and put the disc away.
Good review. Very informative. Eli (Urkel) has quicky become the least offensive character of these new "Saints". His nerdy design, pacifist personality, and role as the brains of the group all fit, making him at least a cohesive character. His Mad-Max larping side-mission is also the most unique story content I've seen so far. The other Saints suck. I was willing to give them a chance but Christ. The quirky musings on brunch, star-charts, and karaoke are just so groan inducingly cringe. I don't want to be around these people.
Describing Nina as "completely normal woman" is so funny because it's true. She's so damn bland. What happened to her aviators? Her sunglasses? That looked somewhat cool. Right now, she looks like you could swap Eli's character with her design, keep everything else about him the same, and it wouldn't make a difference. In fact, why not? Make Nina the nerdy brains of the Saints along the lines of Kenzie Kensington, make Kevin the mechanic/getaway driver, and keep the 'relatable' quirky MCU-esque quips to a minimum.
As it stands even the Boss seems less interesting, with that horrendous "Kill-cation" line I saw elsewhere. If my own character wants to take a break from the game that's not a good sign. Saints Row 2's Boss is still my favorite. An unapologetic psychopath and ruthless criminal who still managed to be likable, laid back, and occasionally silly.
SR2's boss with the male British voice is the funniest voiced dialogue I've ever had the honour of experiencing 😆 Literally legendary and a staple in the third-person shooter genre.
From what I've personally played of this "reboot", it's not all that bad. It's certainly not the train wreck a lot of viewers assume it is, but it isn't what I'd call a Saints Row game. If it was an alternate universe spin-off, where the Saints started out as civilians but became criminals because of necessity and crushing student-loan debt, it would be far more acceptable than it currently is.
The current writing team at Volition obviously aren't that intelligent though, so they're reaping what they sowed.
Wow, this is soooo unexpected
Yep, Saw this a mile away too
I should of bet on this. I'd be a prophet!
@@WllKiedSnake this was so obvious.. in real life u would of had to put down a million dollars just to win back a penny lol. Like how in the world did the devs think this would go
@@gmorgcyborg You'd think they'd of learned what people want from them as developers after Agents of Mayhem. But nope! They decided to remove everything that was the soul of Saints Row and replaced it with millennial/zoomer stuff. Which is just not Saints Row. We want something more like Saints Row 1&2. I hope after this they remaster those two games.
Dont send me a copy of this game, I feel like it would bring a curse upon my household
It's sad to see Saints Row fall so far, when the first came out it was a fun open world title that acted as an alternate GTA. The game took a lot of it's identity from San Andreas and had a heavy focus on 2000's Hip Hop culture and Street Gangs. The sequel really improved on everything that the first was while significantly improving the story and characters, for a lot of the fanbase this was where Saints Row got the Humor to Serious balance perfect. It was wacky but not to the point of self parody. Saints Row 3 is where it started losing some of it's identity and began to become "Meme the Game" it was still fun but the story took a big hit and the characters became flanderised. Saints 4 was even worse with this introducing superpowers and then later demons and aliens, it became anything but grounded and serious and became increasingly vapid.
So far with everything they have shown of the latest title they say they were going back to the tone of Saints 2 but it looks like more of what we had with 3 and 4 just with more student loan and hipster jokes. Seeing as how this is being savagely reviewed by a number of outlets they may finally decide to pull the plug on the series which is a shame as this could have done what God of War or Zelda BOTW did before it and actually try something different and unique to change an aged franchise.
Agreed. SR2 had such a fun progression system and actually a pretty decent story. Customization was also better than even GTAV. Of course THAT'S the version that didn't get a remake and was a horrible PC port and is still basically unplayable. :\
Thanks for saying this. Hip hop culture/gang culture was the reason the series was conceptualized from the start. “Bling Bling” was the codename I believe. There was an emphasis on baggy clothes, loud jewelry, big dub rims, gang respect, etc. imo, it never was over the top until SR3.
Saints Row 1 was not inspired by gta SA. It was in development for ps2 as "Bling Bling" and was a street gang focused open world game before gta SA was released, the Saints were even supposed to wear green. This is important because it highlights the fact that Saints Row was always inherently different from GTA. Also gta SA uses gangs more as a backdrop than a core element as once again the main character is an outstanding criminal who ventures through the world and works alongside multiple if not damn every criminal organization in the region in order to complete a personal objective. Saints Row's story is all about furthering the gang and its agenda, even the side missions u do, benefit the gang and detriment the opposing gangs. Saints Row was truly an open world crime alternative and competitor but volition lost their balls to compete or even defend the series after the first 2 games and have down spiraled into the death of the series. People don't understand just how important Saints Row was to the gaming landscape. Take 2 owns Rockstar and 2k meaning they have GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Bully, and the Mafia series which can be argued that Take 2 is sabotaging Mafia and RDR to keep GTA the most viable due to its online. At a point in time Saints Row was thee legitimate competitor to GTA that wasn't immediately swept to the side like the true crime series because it debuted on the ps3/360 Era as the first open world crime game of the generation and knocked it out the park. Then when it was time to go head to head with gta4 they didn't flinch with SR2 and doubled down on what made the first game great. Rockstar/Take 2 had legit competiton and were forced to put out quality.
@@Kronos0999 What is it with you and Twitter users? This game is gonna flop pretty hard in general dude.
@@9FiveGaming Yep. Developers seem straight up scared of making any sort of accurate street life in their games anymore. It's like everyone forgot how to make sandbox crime games after GTA V came out.
The unfortunate truth is that everybody will buy this because of the drought that gaming is currently in and on that topic I believe studios plan their releases around each other. Hoping to get as much profit as possible knowing that nothing else will be coming out for quite some time. The state of gaming is abysmal. Greed and the fear of making anything that may upset someone is destroying it.
100%, which is really weird if you think about it. Like, the only people who "get upset" or "offended" are a literal minority within the population as a whole. What's strange is that their voices and their reactions are feared, when there is no logical, nor rational, reason to fear them whatsoever. Because they're a minority. As in, their voice falls on deaf ears.
I suppose it becomes an issue when you give those minorities power: the power to rewrite a pre-established franchise that was loved by millions, the power to change the sexual orientation of previously established characters for no real reason, or the power to become a *shiver* community or marketing manager 😱
So, easy fix right? Stop hiring incompetent idiots who cannot create an original and fun character/story. Doesn't matter who they are or where they come from. If they are incapable of providing AAA writing materials, don't hire them. Being a minority doesn't grant them a free pass into your company lmao this is why we have a meritocratic system in the first place jfc the world has gone mad
if you like it, you like it, don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t enjoy. This comment also says that “the state of gaming is abysmal” and while I agree that it’s not as as good as it used to be, I still enjoy many games and also many that are just now releasing. Don’t let everyone act like they can make your opinion for you just because they’re mad about something@@ChillCollins616
I have both consoles and double digit backlog so MAYBE when it hits $20
@@ChillCollins616 it called c9mmonsence , you will understand once you grow up
@@Anonymous-Wolf its called logic actually
I know this game isn’t in a good place rn, but in a few months, and several patches, and probably a 50% price drop, I’ll definitely get this game.
Yikes, but I’m not surprised. Maybe I’ll grab it on deep deep clearance a couple a years from now
Black Friday it’ll ve $40
Yeah, most of the true talent in the gaming industry has long since been pushed out, ran off, METOO'd, or just bought out. It's a shame.
Gaming was a niche hobby, created by nerds and played by nerds. Ever since gaming became democratised and “accessible” for everyone, that’s when the mass exodus occurred.
Ikr right
clown
17:18
That is exactly what the devs thought of themselves when they created this.
Why create a game for the fans of a series when you can create whatever we wanted.
Welp its your bed now. May Saint Row sleep in peace.
Once was a good game to rival GTA that was shot down too soon into identity issues.
I blame the journalists at the time.
Oh shut up
Saints row could never rival GTA.
@@darkpassenger09 They almost did but then they gave up. The company mostly listen to the haters. The whole GTA clone argument is stupid as Hell because every game always get inspired by others games. Is like me calling GTA games and Driver 2 Clone.
This game is total garbage, 0 out of 10
It's amazing the more badass you make your main character look, the less they seem to fit in with the other three.
I really wanted this game to be better than all the expectations since I am a huge saints row fan. But unfortunately I think this might be the death of the franchise as a whole!
I had high hopes for it…but I refuse to preorder anything anymore…and thank god I did. Thank you for doing this review.
the protagonists have a cryptofascist flag on the wall, instant no buy