Saints Row 2 is generally seen as a copy of Grand Theft Auto, and as it came out a little later after GTA IV, it is this part that is most often compared to. The creators of SR 2 themselves referred to their famous competition in a promotional campaign, presenting comparisons of both titles in trailers. However, to say that "Saints Row 2" is a clone of GTA IV would be detrimental to the former. A clone is by definition a perfect copy of its predecessor, while what the creators of SR 2 did was rather a mutation - they took the advantage of a proven and recognized title, corrected the shortcomings, and added new elements, creating a product with a completely different gameplay character.
The action of SR 2 takes place in the fictional town of Stilwater, 5 years after the events of the first part. The main character (or the heroine) wakes up after years of a coma in a prison, from which she escapes shortly afterward in order to rebuild her gang and regain control of the city. The plot is absolutely linear, but special attention is paid to the freedom of choice in creating the hero, the level of freedom in implementing the main plots and side quests, and the general impression of the player's freedom.
Evidently, the creators drew conclusions from GTA IV and decided not to limit the choices unjustifiably. Of course, such limitations are sometimes justified by the desire to maintain the character's expressiveness, the dynamics of the action, and justified by the plot structure, as can be seen in The Witcher or Mass Effect. GTA IV canceled most of the choices, offering in return an unconvincing hero and an even less exciting story.
SR 2 fixed the bug, leaving players to decide on most of the elements. In addition, it is one of the few games in the world in which you can guide the actions of an obese elderly woman. This possibility alone places Saints Row 2 on a completely different and maybe even higher level than GTA IV.
The gameplay is very varied, as the program is a combination of a shooter, racer, and various types of arcade games. We can drive land, water, and air vehicles, melee combat, shoot, even play a computer game about zombies, and perform many other activities. None of them is too much of a challenge, because the creators decided to give up realism for uncomplicated entertainment. Thanks to this, the fights are simple, due to the renewing life, and car accidents are less fatal (of course only for the protagonist, because in the case of passers-by it is quite the opposite).
The downside of such a simplification is the abandonment of tactical curtain combat in favor of a quick and mindless shooter and, above all, a horribly bad driving system. It was supposed to be dynamic, but the problems with driving in a straight line cannot be classified as good fun.
The main quests are about completing the gang and fighting enemies, but the strength of SR 2 is its side quests. The city map is littered with shops where you can buy clothes, cars, weapons or food, and tasks that you can take care of when you choose. In addition, we have at our disposal events or mini-games triggered by the player's actions. For example, after hijacking a car with a passenger, there is an option to escape the police and demand a ransom.
In order to gain access to the next main storyline events, an avatar must earn style and respect points by purchasing clothes, real estate, cars, and completing additional tasks. So you can perform graffiti on our gang's wall or take on other, less ambitious missions, such as attacking buildings and people with a cesspool tanker or driving around the city on a quad bike in a burning (but heat-resistant) suit.
Considering the tasks and general subject matter, SR 2 is even more inaccurate than GTA. Most of the tasks are controversial, to say the least, and some are just stupid. However, it must be admitted to the creators that, firstly, they were not afraid to provide primitive but effective entertainment based on general destruction, and secondly, they approached this type of fun very creatively.
Overall, Saints Row 2 is a game that drew heavily on the GTA series, but learned from its imperfections, proposing a whole new and friendlier playstyle. The creators focused on brutal humor, which places the title high in the ranking of the most incorrect and offensive titles. Perhaps the only reason the SR 2 did not arouse any more controversy than GTA IV was because the public was tired of the storm caused by the release of the latter.
Saints Row 2 makes you reflect on the importance of freedom of choice in gaming. It is enough to let the players create their own characters and modify some of the most important aspects of the environment to give a very strong motivation to continue the game.
The Saints Row series has always been characterized by a unique dose of absurdity, which could be felt almost at every step. However, "Three" is an unrestrained load of absolute insanity - if you were surprised by the level of ubiquitous madness so far, The Third will attack you with what can be called one, great and endless comedy in which literally all tricks are allowed. The parody sandbox by Volition studio definitely distances itself from comparisons with its more famous competition, which is the Grand Theft Auto series, presenting totally crazy gameplay, such a climate, and - above all - a ton of really great fun. Steelport is a city to die for, and paradoxically the Saints know it best. The bustling metropolis creates a huge field for display - illegal arms trade and pimping are thriving, the local police are afraid to lift a finger, and people have probably got used to the constant hooliganism. Unfortunately, the big city idyll must end one day - Dawn is entering the path of gangster settlements, who wants to stop the domination of her greatest opponent and take control of the corrupt city once and for all. Unfortunately for our hero, who is also the boss of the gang, these are not the only ones who have lined up for big money and influence in subsequent districts - representatives of the Luchadores and the Deckers, two groups dreaming of great fame and past. In addition, the unique gangster situation is sensed by STAG - a government unit established to fight organized crime, equipped with extremely technologically advanced vehicles and modern weapons characterized by enormous firepower. How will a lonely army of Saints cope in such a jumble? This is what our hero will try to do with Shaundi, Kinzie, Oleg, and several other extraordinary characters.
The most important part of Saints Row: The Third is of course the main story campaign, which, unlike those from other modern hits, breaking new records as the shortest gameplay, provides fun for about 12-13 hours. It is impossible not to appreciate the incredibly complex wizard, thanks to which we will create a unique character of the main character, using hundreds of options regarding his personality, appearance, or special characters - this editor presents the possibilities known from the greatest RPGs! Missions are divided into closely related to the main story and ordinary challenges that unlock events that we can participate in during free gameplay. The actions influencing the development of the plot show how much creativity is at the disposal of the Volition studio staff. What is not here: space duels, parachute jumps from several kilometers with shootings and tank explosions, entrances to cyberspace - absolutely no one should complain about monotony.
The role of the filler between consecutive episodes is well fulfilled by single challenges, which are mainly focused on crazy beheading and allow you to significantly extend the time spent with the third Saints Row, opening new places on the map. The great atmosphere of gangster war is also significantly influenced by expressive characters who, together with our hero, will lead the Saints to the final victory. Among the tightly twisted characters, Zimos is the leader, a luscious pimp who does not part with his golden microphone and scantily clad muses, and Shaundi, a reality show star who does not avoid tasteful chats and quick-firing guns. And yet we also have a former KGB agent, an overgrown thug Oleg or an avid programmer Kinzie, whose life is closed in a small room with dozens of computers - it is really a pleasure to eliminate intrusive competition with such a team.
Saints Row: The Third is a production almost overloaded with intense action. Each mission has something completely different to offer - once we land on a huge ship, other times we carry out the extermination of enemies on the roof of a skyscraper, and even fly between containers falling from a downed plane - the concentration of shootings, escapes, street wars and powerful battles here is greater than radioactive substances. in the Chernobyl Zone. The authors, instead of tactically tasteful gameplay, definitely focused on the mass effect - although the artificial intelligence of the enemies, to put it mildly, does not knock you on your knees, the number of opponents attacking us at one moment exceeds all accepted standards. Opponents crawl out literally everywhere - they fall from above, crawl out from under the ground, breakthrough walls, enter through windows, and, at the same time, do a total demolition. Regardless of whether we are in the building or on the streets of Steelport, we can count on joyful destruction without any rules. It is also impossible not to pay attention to the crazy arsenal of weapons that our hero uses - in addition to standard guns, he has a cybernetic cannon, a contraption that allows you to take control of any vehicle or, for example, a purple did connect with a baseball bat. In the wardrobe, the level of stupidity reaches a dangerous maximum - our hero can wear a toilet seat, a rabbit outfit, and even a policewoman-prostitute outfit. Seriously, the brain's crashing down. The main arena of our activities - Steelport - is a large metropolis divided into five districts that are not very different from each other. What is happening on the streets of the city changes, of course, with our progress in the game - if initially there is peace and quiet, and passersby lazily wave their hands at the next antics of the Saints, so with the development of the action, heavy artillery and armed STAG troops enter the roads -u, and Steelport is divided into consecutive closed zones, in which the appearance of a man in a purple suit is a death sentence. When the main campaign ends, the situation suddenly stabilizes, but this does not mean that other gangs are withdrawing from their public activities. Virtually on every street we can find hot spots that allow you to take part in various challenges - from street wars, through pimping and theft, and ending in sky battles.
Each task (as well as story missions) is rewarded with an appropriate amount of cash and the so-called A respect that acts as experience points in the game. The higher the level of initiation, the better and more useful the upgrades are available - interestingly, they affect not only the statistics of the main character but also the whole gang, which allows you to significantly expand the sphere of influence and facilitate the effective capture of new parts of the city. The scale of our evil practice is expanded by successively acquired real estate and the murders of members of competing criminal groups. Taking control over further districts improves our finances - each new acquisition or successful action increases the pool of money flowing into our budget, which in turn allows investments in new skills or weapons. In addition to metropolitan activities, the authors also propose a game of cooperation - unfortunately only over the Internet - and the not very successful Horde mode, which offers nothing interesting, unless someone is fascinated by repelling the attacks of successive waves of enemies. Although the huge technical problems plaguing the second part of the series have gone into oblivion along with the patches and modifications, the third installment, contrary to appearances, is not crystal clear in this respect. The creators, of course, undoubtedly deserve recognition for creating a truly original and vibrant metropolis - monumental skyscrapers make an amazing impression from a distance, and an efficient GPS allows you to find yourself in the complex network of streets. Unfortunately, the graphics engine pays a fee for this effort in the form of weaker gameplay smoothness - although we will not experience annoying loading of textures too often, you need an extremely efficient computer to play comfortably with high details. While we do not experience any problems during the fights, the animation slows down significantly while driving, and driving on streets full of pedestrians may even be a problem. There are plenty of annoying bugs everywhere - people get stuck on the sidewalks, cars drown in buildings, and the surrounding elements are unlucky enough to block our way. Unfortunately, three times technical errors prevented me from completing the mission, which forced me to start the task from the last checkpoint.
Saint's Row: The Third is packed with absurd humor and many, really sick, for the standard audience, missions. The last thing that can be accused of the Saints is boredom. The plot of the remaster remains unchanged - we start with a huge bank robbery, killing a lot of people, demolishing several dozen helicopters, and we end the great robbery ... choosing the gender and adjusting the appearance of your character. In the first mission, the differences in graphics can be seen at first glance. The light falls much better and my attention was caught by the reflection of sunlight from the bank floor, the characters are less angular, sharp textures and the colors, which are extremely important in this series, have been turned up, thanks to which purple jackets, cars or neon lights look even better ...
Better, but not for 2020. Saint's Row: The Third Remastered looks nicer than the original, but it does not reach the heels of today's productions, even games from a few years ago. The Last of Us or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks much better, not to mention such titles as God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2. Remaster of the third part of Saint's Row stands out in terms of quality from today's productions and it is devastatingly noticeable. I would be able to forgive the creators if their declarations were true - the production was to run consistently at forty frames per second, but on my console, I encountered a lot of lag, the game often froze for a few seconds, and with the more chaotic action, the FPS was half of what the creators promised us.
I was also disappointed with the information before the premiere, from which I found out that the remaster will run on exactly the same engine as the original. Shooting at Saint's Row has never been solidly done or enjoyable, and comes with the famous crosshair flaw, which allows us to freely shoot our opponents from behind a wall when they can't touch us. I also missed a new animation for running or swimming - the game released in 2020 looks really comical, in which the hero standing up to his neck in the water runs as freely as he does on the shore. Saint's Row: The Third didn't age badly, but it didn't age great either - and that, unfortunately, is very much felt in the remaster.
Well, enough whining. Let's move on to the positive aspects of production, which are also not missing - after all, it's Saint's Row 3! The character creator is truly gorgeous and timeless. We can choose our character's gender, figure, and adjust the entire face as we wish. There is a full range of hairstyles available in production, not to mention clothes - I was quietly hoping that Volition would add some new clothes, after all, due to the quantity and variety, it could make us go crazy. One day we can wear a hot dog, the second we can wear Blade, the third we can wear a hip-hop player, and on Sunday we can wear a beautiful purple suit with five gold chains, a diamond signet ring and sparkling earrings. It is also worth adding that we can even choose a voice for our character, which is still rare in games. The good news is that if we get bored with our current look, we can change everything in plastic surgery salons available on the entire map.
As mentioned before, Saint's Row: The Third is never boring. In production, we have a lot of main missions, in which we will take our place by jumping from a helicopter with the crew accompanied by "Power" by Kanye West, we will find ourselves on the film set of a sci-fi production focusing on saving the world from the invasion of aliens, we will help a great naked Russian from his mass cloning, we will provide services for feline doctor Genki, consisting in killing people with a flamethrower mounted in a car, and we will sometimes fight a gang war on carrots pulled by men working in a strip club for lovers of sadomasochism. Sounds chaotic, right? And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The fun alone in the main missions will be enough for 40-50 hours. If we want to take over the entire map, deal with the Genki Show, gang wars, and racketeering insurers by throwing ourselves in front of cars, the hours spent in Saint's Row: The Third will be even more. It is also worth appreciating the possibility of turning the campaign into co-op - playing in pairs in such an absurd world is even more interesting and dynamic.
Not only our hero can edit, but production also allows us to modify vehicles and apartments. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it makes us happy that we are able to make a speed demon with nitro and spikes in the alloy wheels as from an ordinary shit, which we stole on the street for lack of choice.
Saint's Row: The Third Remastered is a great game, but a medium remaster. You can see the improvement, the production looks much better than the original from nine years ago, but it differs in quality from today's production. The fluidity also leaves something to be desired. After all, it is impossible not to enjoy the gameplay - the absurd plot, a lot of quests, even more, additional activities, the possibility of modifications and the enormity of the world make you just want to play it despite the shortcomings. Saint's Row 3 is a great game and it is really worth investing those 150 PLN for the premiere to experience it all again.
Saints Row 4 is to the series what Blood Dragon is to Far Cry. But he does it with more force.
In Saints Row 3, the Volition studio has almost reached the heights of absurdity, at the same time often and audaciously crossing the boundaries of good taste. It might seem that the team has gotten to the point where the only good solution would be the recently popular reset of the series and start all over again. "These numbers are not with us!" - the authors seem to be talking to us, however, wading in the fourth part even further than before. And what's interesting, at times it is done in a masterful way.
However, in order not to be too sweet, I will mention at the outset that Saints Row 4 also has a lot of disadvantages. And it's pretty serious.
The beginning of the game is a proven patent stolen from the "master of suspense". Just a few minutes after choosing the option to start the campaign, the world literally collapses our heads, the Earth is annihilated, and our alter ego goes to the virtual world. After a few more minutes, we run away from VR, then from the tank in which the Aliens breed us, to finally find ourselves on our ship in the "real world".
If at this point a neon sign with the word Matrix lights up in your head, it means that you have a properly functioning system of associations.
I also hope you will forgive me for this small spoiler, but without it, it would be almost impossible to relate to many elements of the gameplay, as well as the structure of the game world itself. We operate in parallel on two planes all the time. The first is the aforementioned virtual reality generated by the computers of the Zinyaka ship, in which we will spend the vast majority of our time. The second is the real world in which the Zin Empire invaded and destroyed the Earth while kidnapping selected representatives of our race. As you can guess, our task is to take control of the simulation and get out of Zinyak's hands.
It is a pity that the plot is - to put it mildly - very symbolic. It is hard to shake off the impression that it was not tailored to a full and long game, but an extensive DLC (Enter The Dominatrix), which was initially supposed to be a four. If you look closely at it and analyze it coldly, it does not offer us too many surprises or twists. It is primarily a pretext to introduce a few characters onto the stage, sometimes it also explains some unusual rules for the functioning of the world.
Fortunately, it does not bother us that much if we accept the mocking-parodic formula proposed by the creators. I already initially compared Saints Row 4 to Far Cry3: Blood Dragon, and for good reason. Both titles share the most important feature - broadly understood play with conventions, in which the new Volition game can shine many times. If at this point someone asked me the question "Why is it worth playing Saints Row 4?", My answer would be simple: just for these games with conventions, flavors, references, and parodies.
The team responsible for the Saints Row series has proven many times that there are plenty of ideas to diversify the game, and the four of them have a real festival of this type of flavor. From the basic concept based on the Matrix, through comic book superheroes, or levels taken from classic beat'em up games, and ending with armor-like in Dead Space, everything floats in a sauce of references. There is so much of it that the list - which will surely be created on fan pages after the premiere - will make many a hunter of this type of flavor dizzy.
Of course, the still-returning Matrix dominates here, but the Mass Effect series, for example, has also gained a lot. The easy-to-spot romance options on our ship are, however, only a prelude. If you want to see the absolute best and at the same time interactive parody of the Mass Effect 3 ending, you will find it in Saints Row 4. Most importantly, these games are not limited only to simple animations or genre scenes. Often these are whole stages, such as the already mentioned, pixel-art aesthetic level in the beat'em up convention.
Last but not least, Volition clearly stopped with the septic-sewer, barracks humor. This type of cheap licks has not been completely abandoned, but there are many more really accurate and funny jokes or cool ideas here than a dazzling perversion of disgustingness.
I've sweetened a bit, so it's time for a tablespoon of tar. Or maybe a bucket. Or even a barrel.
Recycling.
This word is the biggest bane of Saints Row 4. If you were expecting a new city, new terrain, new heroes, new weapons, vehicles, and outfits, put your dreams away. Let them sit there sadly with their heads down, crying silently. It's exactly the same Steelport, exactly the same gadgets, and exactly the same characters that you saw in the three. A classic copy-paste example, decorated to avoid recognition with a few additional ornaments and filters, intended to suggest communing with something new. Yes, we will find some news here, but I have the impression that it is less than 5% of the total.
For someone who still played the previous game, bought all the bizarre DLCs, and spent several dozen hours at Steelport, it can be a traumatic experience. It is difficult - except when we perform story missions - to chase away the thought that we are not playing the full version of the new game, but a bit distorting the well-known "reality" expansion.
The more so that the vast majority of our time will be spent on "side quests", i.e. a bit forced completion of challenges and activities available on the map, cleverly grouped into packages. Here, too, we will experience several previously tested patents, fortunately, however, a large number of tasks are new and based on the specific setting of the four. So we have various variations on the subject of racing against time, numerous - and initially very stressful - platform elements, simple logical puzzles, and several activities involving the elimination of opponents.
Although you can see that efforts were made to diversify the fun as much as possible by introducing various variations in many of the activities, with higher doses, counting them becomes a bit boring. This is additionally combined with the already mentioned "I know this environment by heart" effect. Fortunately, at least some of these tasks are so effective that for a few minutes we can forget about the boring jumping on platforms just around the corner.
The gameplay mechanics are - apart from one extremely important exception - basically nothing new. We gain experience, advance to the next levels, unlock new abilities and features, or even upgrade weapons and vehicles, spending slow credits for all this. These in turn come from several different sources, ranging from quest rewards to the "cache" generated by hacked stores. Anyone who has played Saints Row 3 will immediately feel at home. The problem is that a large part of this development system is completely unnecessary.
The reason is the superhero powers that our character is endowed with. Divided into passive and active, they change the character of the game beyond recognition, making our character a one-man army. Freezing, setting the fire, causing earthquakes, telekinesis, running at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour, jumping several dozen meters, or running on the walls of buildings - all this is possible. About halfway through the game, you can - and even for purely practical reasons - give up on wheeled or flying vehicles. Steelport turns into a parkour area for a superhero. And guess what? This is cooler than 95% of games licensed by Marvel or DC.
While the music offered by several available radio stations is really diverse and good - although half of the music genres present in the game are alien to me - the operation of the radio initially seemed quite bizarre to me. After turning on the music, we can listen to it not only in vehicles but also while running around the city. The realization came the first time I leaped into the air and skidded over Steelport rooftops, still hearing from Holst's speakers. That's how it works. Here, special thanks to Volition for the Night on Łysa Góra Mussorgsky.
For a change, the biggest advantage of the game is what has always been the strength of the Saints Row series, and in recent years has been an effective antidote to the increasingly serious GTA - mocking, easygoing, and often exceeding the limits of good taste world climate. In Saints Row 4 we find a huge number of really successful allusions, references, and references to pop culture, with video games at the forefront. Volition laughs and mocks all the well-known games, not avoiding self-mockery. Other advantages of the game include the huge variety of tasks, skillful juggling of conventions from other game genres, and finally, the mass of pure fun that being a superhero provides.
Gat Out of Hell - a standalone expansion that doesn't require the base game - is a pleasant return to the crazy world of Saints Row. The gameplay maintains a high level from the fourth part, although the adventure is a bit too short and offers too modest the main plot.
The new creation of Volition studio takes players to Hell. The hero of the previous part - the president of the United States and the head of the Saints gang - is kidnapped by Satan. Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington come to the rescue. Playing as one of these characters, we start making trouble in the kingdom of the devil to get his attention.
We are invariably dealing with absurd and twisted humor. Most cutscenes can make you laugh - for example, a scene in which the form of the story suddenly turns into a musical fragment straight from Disney fairy tales. The horned ones can sing too.
Hell turns out to be similar to Steelport, although we see some important differences - lava in the river, demons in the streets, or dilapidated cars driven by sluggish zombies. The Satanic city is also smaller than the metropolis of Saints Row 4. From the beginning, we have access to each district without any restrictions.
The gameplay remained virtually unchanged compared to what we dealt with in the fourth installment of the series. While moving, we use super-sprint, we can also glide - this time thanks to angel wings. Flying is still a nice, relaxing experience. At least until the demon rockets try to shoot us down.
During the fight, we also use the already known powers, slightly modified. We turn enemies to stone with a magic bullet; the shock wave returns, knocking back enemies, we can also activate the aura that deals damage to nearby monsters.
The only completely new ability is summoning little imps that attack demons. It is a pity that the developers have not designed more powers that we have not seen before. The potential of the infernal abilities was somewhat wasted.
The arsenal is a bit better. In addition to standard weapons, we can purchase demonic tools of destruction. For example, a bolt gun, an exploding frog launcher, a crossbow with electric missiles, or a submachine gun that spits a swarm of dangerous insects at enemies.
The most interesting item is an armchair equipped with a heavy machine gun and rocket launcher. We can upgrade all weapons - for an appropriate amount. And so are skills. However, we pay for the development of the power with so-called "clusters" - balls of energy that we collect while visiting the city.
Destroying Satan's possessions and messing about in the streets is fun, as always in Saints Row. Unfortunately, the story missions are disappointing - very simple and short. There are few of them, and we spend most of our time doing side activities just to fill the gauge of interest we've managed to spark in Lucifer.
Side missions include flying along a designated route, repelling attacks from several waves of enemies, demolishing a city, or taking over buildings that control souls. All such missions take 4-5 minutes at most. There were no interesting orders closely related to history and NPCs.
The screenwriters managed to introduce some interesting personalities - we meet, among others, Shakespeare, who became a DJ in hell, or Vlad the Impaler. After one short cutscene, however, these characters become only standing pegs that send the hero to the city to complete another set of repeatable missions. It is a pity that the authors did not use them in a more creative way.
The adventure will be completed in less than four hours, and the next two hours will be occupied by the remaining side quests and collecting collectibles. The modest plot aspect, however, leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction.
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is a decent dose of chaotic fun, but at the same time it is too poor in interesting content. It can bring a smile to your face and will probably please the fans of the cycle.
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