This game is controversial for a numerous number of reasons...and yet, to call it a franchise killer feels unfair when compared to the trainwreck that is Saints Row IV, with the 3rd game being the beginning of the end.
The Good:
Unlike past games, the customization here rocks; There’s a variety of voices akin to Saints Row 2, and many other options that allow you to make your character feel the way you want it to. Very unlike Saints Row: The Third which kept shoehorning Troy and Laura's voices like every other game did. The weapon customization from Saints Row IV carries over, which I also applaud.
The game just feels more grounded compared to the out-the-ass direction the 3rd and 4th game took, and it honestly does feel like a regular Saints Row game, gameplay wise. The characters, despite being completely new, were pretty relatable from my end (a very unpopular opinion, I know) and despite how sanitized the game was, it was actually kind of fun in that the gratuitous dirty jokes left-and-right were done away with, and the Saints were something other than just a bunch of gangbangers.
The Bad:
Too much to list...buggy gameplay, too short a game, lack of replayability and too linear a story (3 and 4’s biggest flaw), lack of boss fights and depth...I could go on forever. The game didn't last long enough to warrant hiding all the cool shit until the very end and continued to make the biggest mistakes the 3rd and 4th game did.
I gotta admit that the fact that grenades are now "skills" instead of something you can buy comes arbitrary...and the game makes you jump through hoops for them too. For a game as short as this, and with little to no replayability value, it really doesn't warrant that at all.
But really, my biggest issue is this; the fact that this was ever marketed as a Saints Row reboot, let alone a Saints Row game. Volition had to have known that doing away with everything that made Saints Row, Saints Row, was a bad idea. Look, I like the Cattle Punk feel and the premise of the story, but that did not belong in a Saints Row game. It should have been its own franchise. But sadly Volition played their cards wrong, and now it will never catch on. An honest pity, truly...
Conclusion:
Overall, on a scale of 1-10, I'd give this game a 6...it had so much potential to be a good game but bad choices by the developers, both with the design and their actions, and an overly nostalgic fanbase just killed any chance of it getting better. Yet despite this, I’d still recommend it if only for the sake of fun and amusement. If this had been its own franchise instead of a Saints Row game, this could have been something.
A TPS Sandbox unfairly hated, yet poorly thought out.
This game is controversial for a numerous number of reasons...and yet, to call it a franchise killer feels unfair when compared to the trainwreck that is Saints Row IV, with the 3rd game being the beginning of the end.
The Good:
Unlike past games, the customization here rocks; There’s a variety of voices akin to Saints Row 2, and many other options that allow you to make your character feel the way you want it to. Very unlike Saints Row: The Third which kept shoehorning Troy and Laura's voices like every other game did. The weapon customization from Saints Row IV carries over, which I also applaud.
The game just feels more grounded compared to the out-the-ass direction the 3rd and 4th game took, and it honestly does feel like a regular Saints Row game, gameplay wise. The characters, despite being completely new, were pretty relatable from my end (a very unpopular opinion, I know) and despite how sanitized the game was, it was actually kind of fun in that the gratuitous dirty jokes left-and-right were done away with, and the Saints were something other than just a bunch of gangbangers.
The Bad:
Too much to list...buggy gameplay, too short a game, lack of replayability and too linear a story (3 and 4’s biggest flaw), lack of boss fights and depth...I could go on forever. The game didn't last long enough to warrant hiding all the cool shit until the very end and continued to make the biggest mistakes the 3rd and 4th game did.
I gotta admit that the fact that grenades are now "skills" instead of something you can buy comes arbitrary...and the game makes you jump through hoops for them too. For a game as short as this, and with little to no replayability value, it really doesn't warrant that at all.
But really, my biggest issue is this; the fact that this was ever marketed as a Saints Row reboot, let alone a Saints Row game. Volition had to have known that doing away with everything that made Saints Row, Saints Row, was a bad idea. Look, I like the Cattle Punk feel and the premise of the story, but that did not belong in a Saints Row game. It should have been its own franchise. But sadly Volition played their cards wrong, and now it will never catch on. An honest pity, truly...
Conclusion:
Overall, on a scale of 1-10, I'd give this game a 6...it had so much potential to be a good game but bad choices by the developers, both with the design and their actions, and an overly nostalgic fanbase just killed any chance of it getting better. Yet despite this, I’d still recommend it if only for the sake of fun and amusement. If this had been its own franchise instead of a Saints Row game, this could have been something.