The reboot of Saints Row abandons its over-the-top wacky gameplay for something a little more subdued with disastrous results
Saints Row
Saints Row
Rating: 2/5
Developer: Volition
Publisher: Deep Silver
Platform: PC, XBS, PS5, XBO, PS4
Price: Rs 3,999
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Saints Row had a reputation of being over the top with a focus on having fun rather than being another Grand Theft Auto clone. Unfortunately, the new game seems to have forgotten its outrageous roots and opted instead to be a poor man’s GTA.
The game starts with a new protagonist, a.k.a YOU; it lets you design your look, choose your wardrobe, and set your voice. You are immediately thrown into a battle sequence where you learn the basics of combat. It is also where you encounter your first few bugs.
This game is seriously buggy; in just a few minutes of gameplay, you should encounter at least a dozen bugs more if you are paying attention. Everything from a mismatch in the action and reaction of your surroundings to people randomly floating mid-air. This game has it all. It’s as if the developers forgot or just plain gave up on Saints Row.
The overall story arc involves you building up the saints with your trusty band of friends who all happen to be rejected from their respective gangs. The story scales up nicely, and you can build an empire pretty quickly by doing all the main missions.
The writing is, unfortunately, atrocious; they are trying to be clever and funny, but it just translates into cringe. The silliness, and hence, the motivation to forgive the bugs in the original Saints series is lost here.
Combat is not all that bad; there are plenty of opportunities and good weapons that can be used to blow up stuff, and you can replenish your health by performing takedowns. This is an easy way to gain health during an extended combat mission.
There are lots of missions as well. It’s just that the missions actually have you doing the same thing over and over again. You either have to steal a vehicle, or you have to go kill a bunch of rivals. Whenever Saints row moves out of the mould, you can see it truly shine. The bouncing off exploding vehicles to claim insurance is a fun mini-game. These, unfortunately, are few and far apart.
I call it a poor man’s GTA because it doesn’t have half the finesse the missions have in GTA. You can actually participate and be part of the game. Driving is a big part of this game as it is in GTA, but instead of distinct car handling, you are welcomed with floaty handling with no distinct feel. All the cars feel the same to drive, and they are not enjoyable.
There are a few things that are cool while driving. The first is the ability to sideswipe vehicles of the road resulting in brilliant explosions and making cop chases much more fun. The second is gliding with a wing-suit from one car to the next. It isn’t realistic, but it is a lot of fun. The older Saints Row would have zeroed in on this and added more of such elements.
The graphics are also nothing to write home about. The game is available on next-gen consoles, and I don’t see anything next-gen about it. It looks like GTA and not even one of those polished hi-texture mods you can see on YouTube. The plain vanilla GTA from a PS4.
If you are going to clone GTA, at least do it right, it’s an ancient game at this point, and its mechanics are well documented. How can you have things in the environment that you can’t interact with? For example, cycles are all over the place but try going near one, and it will fall flat on the ground. You can’t ride it at all. The same goes for arcade machines, and other small things that you would think are standard now, thanks to GTA. What I did appreciate is some of the music selection in the game. The music, of course, is on various radio stations, but the songs are actually good. My favourite was the western classical music station that added some grandiose to the otherwise dull truck-stealing missions.
So, was it worth it? I don’t think this game is polished enough to get a solid recommendation. I don’t even know who this game is for. It certainly isn’t for the fans of Saints Row. Neither is it for the fans of GTA, who much rather buy another copy of GTA for another platform and get nothing but a poorly ported copy of the same game. If you still want to buy the Saints Row reboot after this verdict, I would say at least wait for the game to come into the bargain bin. So, your collection of unplayed games on your Steam account can increase without regretting it too much.
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