They are strong at Koch Media. Very strong. In order to immerse ourselves in the universe of the next Saints Row, they ordered the weather to be closer to that of Santo Ileso. 40°C in the shade and deserted streets, the foot (well not really huh). If that’s not an effective marketing campaign, I don’t know what you need! They didn’t go so far as to put people in the streets who shoot anything that moves, though. But I must admit that it suits me very well like that. Anyway, I had the opportunity to try the next one Saints Row for a little over 4 hours, on a build whose age I don’t know. The game ran on a PC, directly on the publisher’s premises. I’ll let you discover my impressions in detail, but personally I’m pretty excited!
Anything always, but a little less than before!
First of all, you should know that I’m not a big fan of Saints Row. Or rather, the last episodes, which went too far in anything for my taste. So I’m going to immediately put my feet in the dish: this episode is not in the continuity of “always further”, and returns to bases closer to the first opuses. Oh be careful, we keep a good dose of schoolboy humor and a huge batch of totally improbable situations. But the whole is still a bit more serious. Let’s say we went from Deadpool/Hancock to Expandables and Fast and Furious. Yes, it’s still anything, but without aliens or superpowers. At least on this preview. Personally, I find an atmosphere that I like much more. Even if it will not necessarily be to everyone’s taste.
For the rest, I was talking about humor and incredible situations, and that’s what is offered to us during the main missions that I was able to carry out. You are a small group of losers, and work for the different factions in the city. Los Panteros, the local mafia. The Marshalls, the local private militia. Classics. And finally the Idols, sort of anti-consumerism militants who don’t like the rich. Well, that doesn’t prevent them from having neon helmets or other fluorescent t-shirts. We are not on an eco-friendly group dressed in goatskins but rather on the revolutionaries who want to party without limit. After a few crazy missions, you’re going to have problems with each of these groups…
The crime is me!
It must be said that you have a strong tendency to screw up everything you do. Like this Panteros convoy attack, which was supposed to be a simple spinning but ended with a lot of rockets. Or that screw-up on a Marshalls-sponsored mission with a complete museum ransack. We can’t say that your job is clean and flawless. In any case, I found these missions very pleasant to play, and they lead to a variety of situations: gunfighting (a lot), driving, rail shooting, indoor and outdoor missions… everywhere and the action is frenetic. In short, everything you expect from a Saints Row.
Basically, why bother trying to please everyone? Might as well start his own gang and create his criminal empire. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go very far, and see in detail all the gang management aspect which should be the big novelty of this episode. However, we were able to get a glimpse of it. Once your HQ is established, you will need to expand your influence, and make the money flow. For this, you can set up your businesses or businesses, more or less legal, in each district of the city. Not all of them are accessible at the start, but some fifteen different activities will be offered in the end. Insurance scams, car garages, radio stations, food trucks…
Activities as if it were raining
I was only able to test (and quickly) the insurance scam. The objective: to take cars head-on to injure yourself… Except that at one point, the Adrenaline mode kicks in and you explode everything you touch. We then find ourselves in a sort of Burnout Crash mode, bouncing on vehicles that explode in a chain. Realistic? No. But enjoyable and nag. You will also need to defend your territories, decorate your bastion or even recruit troops. But I couldn’t test these aspects of the game, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out more.
And if that’s not enough, many other annexes, more or less original, are present. For example, taking photos of specific locations unlocks fast travel points when digging through trash cans yields cosmetic items. There are also missions of assassinations a bit scripted, just to vary the pleasures. I won’t quote everything, but the content is dense and varied. Not everything is on the same level though, like those activities where you have to rate a store (think Google maps) and then face the consequences. The lower the rating, the more the gang associated with the place will want your skin. Funny on paper. Except that in fact even with the worst rating, 2 or 3 cars of enemies fell on me, but they presented no challenge. To see, it may depend on the progress in the game.
Do you feel more reptilian? No problem
Still on the content side, it is impossible not to mention the extent of the customization system. Mainly cosmetic. You have already been able to test character creation via the demo available on the store. Small clarification all the same: this tool is available at any time in the game. It is therefore quite possible to go from a green man in an ice suit to a woman in a suit. Moreover, on the clothing side (or disguise?) many stores are present everywhere, in addition to all the elements that you will unlock over the missions or annexes.
But the customization doesn’t stop there. The vehicles in particular can be modified from every angle with very advanced visual tuning possibilities. The game even has the good idea to offer some pre-designed models for those who would like to enjoy this aspect of the game without spending too much time on it. We find substantially the same level of customization in terms of weapons, with many skins and paintings available for each.
One can however to improve a little weapons and vehicles, via 3 levels that you will have to buy. No choice here, everything is automatic upon purchase.
In short, character, vehicles or weapons, everyone should be able to find THE style that suits them. And at worst you can always walk around naked and on foot, in order to show off your tattoos or other pasties.
I hope you enjoy shooting people…
Finally, let’s talk about the gameplay itself. No surprise, we are in line with previous episodes. The game is very arcade and pushes aggressiveness. No cover system here: we’re here to shoot almost anything that moves, all the time. The feeling of the weapons is good, especially on the more powerful ones. If there is no dismemberment, that does not prevent the bodies from stealing. Special mention to the rifle headshot, which sends your enemies into a backflip with the most beautiful effect.
We therefore rush into the heap by shooting at everything that moves. When our life starts to go down, we’re going to execute a melee rogue to bring it all back up. And if that’s not enough, we use one of ours special abilities to wreak havoc. Like for example the one to catch an enemy and stick a grenade in his pants before throwing it at his friends. Guaranteed efficiency. These different skills unlock automatically as you level up. No talent tree here, like in so many other games that want to put RPG at all costs even when it’s useless: no choice to make, everything is unlocked in a predefined order. The only purpose is to make you unlock the prog abilitiesressively in order to better feel the rise in power. Phew.
Driving side, here again we are on the very arcade, with very handy vehicles where everything is done with the handbrake. They still keep a little weight so that it is not without interest either. And then the main thing is not necessarily there but in the sidelines: bump to the right or to the left in order to send the intruders into the background, possibility of lying on the roof to use a heavy weapon, physical in the very permissive airs allowing all sorts of madness. The objective is clear: not to bother the player too much and allow him to do what he wants when he wants. Besides, I’m putting that here, but there is a wingsuit accessible at any time (in the air of course) and particularly handy too.
One more month to correct all that!
After all is not perfect. This version was particularly full of bugs of all kinds. Like this helicopter parked in a car space and clearly out of place. Or those execution animations where the clinch was more of a high vacuum clinch to clinch. Nothing blocking on my side, and mostly concerns that should be resolved for the release. Especially since we did not know when the build that we were able to test dates from. In the other indents, I noted that “ordinary” NPCs are really dumb. Let’s say it’s a bit of a pain when a citizen stares at you motionless for 2 minutes while you shoot anything that moves, only to freak out and start running around like a headless chicken.
More damaging already, even with a maximum level of research towards a faction, these remain too wise. From what I tested with the police, at most the SWAT will arrive with a truck and a few officers equipped with shields. But when you have a rocket launcher, you might as well say that they don’t last long. Let’s hope that as the game progresses, they will be equipped accordingly, and that helicopters, tanks or other fun things will brighten up our carnage. Nothing too bad in the end, but points that make me doubt the interest of the game on its pure sandbox aspect, out of the missions and activities planned.
I like
There would probably still be a lot to say. Like these 10 radio stations just waiting to be discovered. The presence of a coop mode (not tested at all). The quality of the level design. The extent of the playground that represents Santo Ileso. The interest over time… But 4 hours, even if it’s already a long playing time, are not enough to have a definitive opinion on these aspects of the game. One thing is certain: I came away really reassured from this first approach, and I did not see the time pass. Pretty good sign, no? We will in any case be quickly fixed, since the title will be released in a month, on August 23, 2022!
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