Saints Row (Zero Punctuation)

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee reviews Saints Row.
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[@theescapist]

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[@stevesoo8484]

The vibe I'm getting from this review is "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."

[@PhoenixFireZero]

I got the general vibe of "more of the same for good and ill"

[@brennanwn]

Nice

[@alexalexander1772]

That’s been kinda the vibe since the Xbox one.

[@nicksnrub7265]

Not any madder than usual.

[@Zegathra]

9/10 moms agree thats the worst possible review score.

[@rogerpuzzitiello5175]

Remember how one of the final missions in Saints Row 4 was literally called "Punch the Shark"? The game was pretty much telling you it could not get more ridiculous after that point, the series was basically done with nowhere left to go. Continuing with the series and keeping that similar vibe just feels so pointless and sad.

[@dawnwayfinder]

Didn't the game end with the gang discovering a time machine on the alien ship?

[@rogerpuzzitiello5175]

@@dawnwayfinder I recall that the aliens had been collecting historical figures throughout time, and the series was rebooted through some magical wish granted in Gat Out of Hell. All that being said, I feel like the series hit the point of no return with 4 in terms of creativity, and I feel like the reboot kind of proved that.

[@michaelkitchin9665]

And yet, they could've went somewhere with the Saints Super Friends 2022 or whatever. They end it relatively nicely but the journey isn't really a journey unless there's a Frank Grimes. I felt like they had no opposition. No opposing gang leaders strong enough to even be named and considered a head honcho. Just bodies in the wake of these four boring people.

[@burner8504]

I was always hoping that the boss would wake up from a horrible trip, sweating and emaciated. Shaundi walks in and explains what happened and that you left Stillwater to go to steelport city. You OD on a new drug and have been kept alive by two gang medics, kinzie and Matt, as Matt walks in the boss just unloads all the bullets he has into him. Matt represents saints 3, 4, GoH, AoM, 2022, so we kill that off immediately. Now the saints are in a new city (not the same steelport as the old games. Make it into a really cool city with lots of wilderness too) and you have to rebuild your gang/franchise.

[@Kaimariification]

@@rogerpuzzitiello5175 Yes, Zinyak did collect historical figures throughout time and you see even more in depth at the end if you did all the loyalty missions. However, they couldn't go back and stop the Earth from being destroyed, so they just went back and messed around for the fun of it. The wish reboot in GOOT was to lead into Agents of Mayhem, but we all know how that turned out. They could have done a Saints in Space, or used the time travel / world remake to redo the previous games in newer engines while offering the option for an alternative storyline. Said story changes would lead to the Saints not becoming a household name, but instead a crime organization that decides to allow other smaller gangs in other parts of the world the opportunity to apply as a chapter of the Saints.

[@abramwalker882]

I love that the protagonist is a horror to look at in the ZP style

[@SilferIII]

so basically nothing out of the ordinary.

[@heartache5742]

i had to wait to see what you mean oof

[@abramwalker882]

@@SilferIII very true but dude's eyes really caught me off guard LOL

[@abramwalker882]

@@heartache5742 oh yeah, I can't get that image out of my head now

[@BillehBobJoe]

I think hes made that joke before where it has two real eyes and a mouth

[@eternalnomad1607]

The gummy bear analogy did it for me it perfectly encapsulated everything that needed to be said.

[@abdulmasaiev9024]

Of all the sweets to choose from though gummy bears are probably the least fitting actually because they're an example of where scaling up from a small bag to a large bag can provide a completely novel experience rather than just being more of the same - most famously with Haribo sugar free ones

[@GawrGurasBathTubPizza]

its games in general, its like switch can do modern games but had chess and solitaire? games haven't evolved

[@drunkendelver1966]

Except they also removed all of the popular flavors because one person had a problem with the established lineup, and they replaced all of those flavors with ones this one person likes (from grape and cherry to pickled herring and dog shit), and then called their original customers shit for disliking the new flavor direction. Meanwhile, the company is losing money, and they don't understand why. The person who asked for the flavor change has strangely disappeared as well, so that's weird.

[@Mr.Maguro]

3 wasn't bad just more of the same but a bit wackier, 4 just went absolutely crazy and it was a more memorable experience because of it.

[@Terralncognita]

"Two and Four were RIGHT bangers." SR2 STILL goes hard, to this day.

[@LopsidedMoz]

SR4 sucked though

[@cloroxusthestainlessone4324]

@@LopsidedMoz I think he ment 3

[@UnBR0k3enAngel]

@@cloroxusthestainlessone4324 no, he meant 4. 3 was the one that sucked in comparison to 2 and 4.

[@riverbecomesastorm375]

I'm playing SR2 now. It is indeed a banger. So much edgier. I just got past the part where you (SPOILER ALERT FROM OVER A DECADE AGO) watch one of your homies get dragged to death by a rope tied to the end of a speeding car, and then lock the responsible rival's girlfriend in the trunk of a car at a monster truck rally as revenge. The stakes are a lot more intense than SR3 or SR4. A huge lurch in tone after I spent the first third of the game fighting rasta-wearing pot-dealers wielding loa magic.

[@UnBR0k3enAngel]

@@riverbecomesastorm375 lmao yea, the Samdai plotline is wayyyy less serious than either the Ronin or Brotherhood plotlines. Doesn't mean it doesn't have its moments, but the Brotherhood easily steal the show as best rival gang for me

[@nathanl8622]

I feel like keeping you and your roommates in different gangs would be way better than just starting your own with them. Imagine busting up a rival gang hideout and then returning home to make awkward small talk with the guy who's friends you just slaughtered, or they're in the rival gang hideout and have to make awkward small talk before commencing with the boss fight.

[@unknownwatcher1123]

Yeah, there needed to be more tension between the four but there was none of that. They were too buddy buddy with each other.

[@82Catfish]

there was so much they couldve done with the premise but they fumbled it. I really like the character creator tho, like alot.. like i almost cant stand any of the others compared to this one.

[@ridwana4037]

They even could put Their "alphabet" on the mix for "diversity point". Each gang represent Their own "alphabet". The "L" and "G" gang hate each other, but on a stalemate. The "B" gang mixes between the "L" and "G" gang, going between the line. And the "T" gang is basically the wild card, confusing the other gangs. They fight and argue a lot, but in the end, They have to work together to face the real threat. The most evil force of Them all. *THE CORPORATE, WHITE, RACIST STRAIGHT MEN*

[@MajorSkrewup]

remember the middle earth games? when you forced an orc to join you help him raise in rank and protect him from other orcs trying to kill him? should of had the roommates working together to bump each other up in their respective gangs in order to seize the city either through unifying or king of the hill after the in inevitable betrayal.

[@H4hT53]

Yeah, that's a thing that happens in the game. At least once.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

Holy McGurk it's finally happened. Yahtzee was actually kinder to a game than the majority of other reviewers who despise it wholeheartedly.

[@JJAB91]

Kinder really isn't the right word, apathetic would be more accurate.

[@TheKING3472]

@@JJAB91 and thats a bit worse in a way lol

[@taxevasion2403]

I heard him say once that he doesn't like to shit all over a game that is already universally hated because it adds nothing to the conversation. Instead he tries to bring up the good or talks about the gaming industry in general

[@Evanz111]

@@cookieface80 Yeah. I’m going to be kind of glad in a way when people look back and see how many KZbinrs were just willing to jump on a hate train as opposed to reviewing stuff fairly based off it’s current state and potential. Seen so many people dubbing it “the worst game ever”

[@WhiteFangofWar]

@@cookieface80 Most likely. On that note I always wanted to force him to read Computer Gaming World's 1-star review of his wife Silent Hill 2 when it came out.

[@abehikura]

Whilst I wasn't expecting the cockney voice, I was hoping for something as out of place but the Texan voice is less "out of place" and more "just there". They should have had the voice straight up be a cowboy. Not a "modern cowboy" but a completely out-of-context old west cowboy.

[@ruffethereal1904]

It would have been hilarious working for Marshall. "Yee-haw, morherfuckers, we're wranglin' Panteros today!"

[@tommysalty5864]

Yahtzee has made some good points. I'm looking forward to more on the ants. That got me intrigued.

[@robind8526]

Were the ants about the number of bugs in the game?

[@Arex778]

Compared to the game he was reviewing I agree.

[@wallyhackenslacker]

Maybe we should throw some cash Will Wright's way so he can make a SimAnt remake.

[@VerdeMorte]

@@wallyhackenslacker Last I heard the rights were given to a korean studio, the lead dev of which filed lawsuit after his coworkers embezzled the money for beer & loose women before they sold the rights to a shady chinese mobile company without his knowledge. I think they're in prison now and the game rights are probably tied up with communists. *It's always communists...*

[@wallyhackenslacker]

@@VerdeMorte Jesus H. Tap Dancing Christ!!! Is that the story of the SimAnt rights for real? Where did you get that, I can't find any info anywhere.

[@pieoverlord]

Welp, Yahtzee's proven himself right for me when it comes to dumb repeat names being a problem. I heard people talking about Saints Row and assumed there was a rerelease of the original and didn't look any further into it, whereas I might have been tempted to dive into a new Saints Row game, assuming I didn't then hear that it was shit.

[@Horvath_Gabor]

Same here. I seriously assumed this was just another HD re-releases, and didn't even bother looking into it...

[@Connorthecatsdad]

As an authority in puking after eating brightly colored candy, I can report it's actually not an interesting color. It's mainly just brown

[@stigrabbid589]

or maybe gray if you get the right color mix

[@viljamtheninja]

That is disappointing, but your hard work on your research is appreciated by the interested community.

[@DemigodoftheSea]

This is why I don't eat skittles anymore...

[@Connorthecatsdad]

@@DemigodoftheSea that was what did it to me. One fateful in-theater screening of Wild Wild West with my family and they must have forgot they bought a family size bag of Skittles for us to share

[@MrLego3160]

it really makes the idols seem less of a threat when you kill one of their leaders in the same mission you become enemies with them.

[@Honaro2nd]

Yeeeaaah, I was wondering about that. I thought he would do the typical boss thing and disappear in a smoke bomb or something to get back at us later. Nope, killed him, took his Death Blossom, and just kept moving.

[@KhakiCap]

Fast summary of Saints Row (2022) *"I expected nothing and I'm still let down"*

[@jamesverner9132]

This is honestly one of the kindest reviews of this game…

[@floydthibodeaux1844]

The sad thing is, this review is more accurate. If you take a way the bug issue, it is just a bland open world with an identity problem.

[@FFKonoko]

Yeah, you can tell its more accurate because it solidly compared to previous games and contrasted specific features. While some reviews were more entirely focused on generic criticisms then focusing on what pun or tortured hyperbolic insult to construct.

[@lowhp_comic]

Bad games still merit some weird form of entertainment, be it in the bugs or criticizing it, but bland games are worse. That's probably why he does his "best, worst and most boring" games of the year

[@legatelaurie]

@@floydthibodeaux1844 I don't think that's fair. A review isn't more accurate when you think about what the game could be like when it's patched to a decent state. A review should reflect the product that consumers will experience - if they'll have crashes, slowdown, stuttering, poor physics, etc, that should be noted and that is fair

[@cereal_chick2515]

Can I just say how much I appreciate these new episodes being subtitled? It makes things so much easier to understand, and it always makes me happy when I see the captions appear. Thanks!

[@lowhp_comic]

And perfect for when mummy and daddy are smashing eacothers faces into the steaming hob and you need to turn down the volume on your phone or else you're next

[@releasethekraken5039]

Too bad that the subs cover up most of the art on the mobile app though lol

[@TonyTheTGR]

w e e b

[@KingPK]

This ZP reminded me how fun Saint's Row 4 was and it was $5 on Steam so I've been having fun with that. So...thanks for saving me $55 I guess, Yahtzee.

[@TrueStopwatch]

I remember getting Saint's Row 4 from a $5 humble bundle. One of the best deals I'd ever seen.

[@nathank2289]

plus you can mod it so its more interesting.

[@nielsmichiels1939]

Sorry, but i simply don't understand you people that liked SR3/4. SR3 was a complete downgrade feature/gameplay/story/and customisation wise compared to SR2, and SR4 was just a glorified expansion pack to SR3.

[@ForrestFox626]

@@nielsmichiels1939 Cheap

[@nathank2289]

@@nielsmichiels1939 Never played 2 but the reviews all said it was basically a GTA clone, sounds boring as shit. At least in 4 you got superpowers and hovertanks.

[@danielgrezda3339]

Wow, he is getting slightly more positive. I swore he would shit on this game, but he gently roasted it.

[@GAPIntoTheGame]

He’s getting soft in his old age

[@tanx20]

I feel the decades of constant disappointment from AAA games, especially of the 'Open World' genre, has led him to be just numb to the pain.

[@brandonhavok]

It's a game that is just neither good nor bad. It's in that limbo of meh that just bored him.

[@yassinesobh4165]

“I am a banana, and like a banana I feel I am getting softer in my old age”

[@AleksandrStrizhevskiy]

I wouldn’t read it that way. Remember he said a bad game was still better than a bland game? I think he just considers it a bland game.

[@wolflordandy]

Gat out of Hell even gave them a plot way out for a reboot in the ending.

[@antonakesson]

Saints Row 4 also did with mentioning the Zin could time travel.

[@VarenvelDarakus]

@@antonakesson honestly time travel plot could work , or "hell coming to earth" or aliens instead what they do: lets do boring reboot of 1 , make characters boring and uninteresting and setting boring and uninteresting , also lets remove all British accent/jokes who was staple of the series , its sad because saints row was always known for over the top , British sarcasm and being obnoxiously ridicules. there was gay furry bar with huge banner in hell one. not to say furries appearing everywhere. its not terrible , but just inferior version of past games. , bland "corporate remake" who are afraid to do anything creative or edgy because 1 customer might not buy it.(meanwhile your losing hundrets of thousants becouse your game became boring)

[@kaineandrews3790]

Yeah, but when they made a sequel to the “official” ending of Gat Out of Hell, everyone crapped on it and it died. I suppose something could have been done along the lines of “Having seen Agents of Mayhem via a God-granted vision, Gat decided to rewrite reality a different way” but I feel like they already used their card for that one.

[@VarenvelDarakus]

@@kaineandrews3790 story is just 1 part , remake just feels ininspired on characters , game , even 3 gangs dont feel unique enough anymore , one of my friends called it "worse knockoff" , know quite few games who not had best story but gameplay carried it or humour or both

[@exploertm8738]

@@kaineandrews3790 those are just messed up timelines that gang accidentally created by moving Lincoln's chair first time by two inches, 2nd time by three inches. Thats wouldnt be a joke though, I would literally made this the reasoning. So new game would briefly touch on these games and acknowledge them but like that one Serious Sam dream game. Boom problem solved, you free to do time travel antics, assemble Avengers and go fight Zin just as they invade Earth

[@instantstupor]

3:19 Might be the first time McDonald's has ever been likened to vegetables in its entire existence.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

Give it another yr or two and the us education system will make technically a vegetable like they did pizza a decade ago

[@jeffbezos3200]

You have to appreciate that he never picks low hanging fruit. If everyone loves a game, he’ll find flaws and if everyone hates a game, he’ll find the positives. You can always appreciate that he will add to the full picture of a game’s quality rather than parrot the masses

[@23randomuser]

Exactly. Everyone here acts like this is unheard of, despite the fact that numerous games have been mired in controversy or hated have been given a fair shake by Yahtzee. Coming to mind: The Last of Us 2 and No Man's Sky Games for everyone would think he would absolutely tear them a new one, but they fail to understand another review that just says the same old tat is worth less than the garbage it's reviewing. It's also why he made a dig at his audience for believing and indeed frequently saying in the comments, "This is high praise coming from Yahtzee!"

[@Mark73]

So he's a contrarian

[@colehartel7206]

Yeah, he's quite the disagreeable fucker.

[@Jamushu]

Mr. Bezos, that is *_actually just_* being a Contrarian. Razorfist does the same shit. Just with less *"Oi Lad".*

[@JackFoz454]

@@Jamushu I disagree. When the consensus is that something's terrible, he rarely says that the consensus is wrong. The point is that he doesn't settle for just repeating the consensus and calling that the review, either. To me, it feels like he recognises when the obvious stuff has already been said enough elsewhere, and makes the effort to add something new to the conversation.

[@FredericoLohmannJr]

"This isn't a nostalgic callback to sandbox games from sixteen years ago, it just IS a sandbox game from sixteen years ago." Sold. Right there. Thanks, Yahtzee. 💙

[@vasudeanguy8523]

Then get Saints Row 2. It's on Steam for a lot cheaper and it doesn't feel like you're playing a character you wanted to punch in the throat.

[@vanished91]

I want Gat to waste them....or I want to waste them as a proper Boss

[@BainesMkII]

Yahtzee left out the key point that it is a fairly mediocre and rather buggy sandbox game from sixteen years ago. It doesn't compare well to the old sandbox games that people fondly remember, or to the previous Saints Row games.

[@gyflies]

You do realize that's not a good thing. A game that pays tribute to 16 year old games means taking the good elements of those old games and putting them in a modern context. A game that is a 16 year old game is already outdated as soon as it's released. You see, indie games that try to look like old games are also simply paying tribute to those games by taking the good elements and updating them with a modern context in mind. Those games work because they only take the good elements and exclude the bad while something that is an old game would include the bad as well. Simply put, Saints Row 2022 is an outdated game that doesn't realize how far games have come in the last 15 years.

[@alaeriia01]

@@gyflies it's sorta like Yooka-Laylee. It's a 90s Rareware platformer, warts and all, instead of what we wanted (an homage to 90s platformers, like Sonic Mania or Impossible Lair.) Was it fun? Sure, I guess. Would I have more fun playing Banjo-Kazooie again? Yep.

[@TheDarknessin2light]

Saints Row 5 could have been about time travel. Going back just enough in time to stop Zinyak from destroying the earth and saving everyone. Main character merging with his past self and becoming greater. Could have used it to save Lin and Carlos.

[@stormtempterf8058]

SR5 could have had you be Nyteblade and do it tongue in cheack like Saints in Space or Faster More Intense.

[@tehbeernerd]

Never thought I’d see the day where Yahtzee reviews something more positively (relatively speaking) than Skill Up

[@gubshitescholarship7043]

Strange times indeed.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

I know, right? I hadn't even heard they were making this game until I saw SkillUp's review, and from not only the way he described it but what he actually _showed_ of it I was convinced that I'd sooner fellate a Glock barrel than play this game. Can't believe how easy Yahtzee went on it. Maybe they patched out most of the bugs before he got around to playing it? (Unlikely, given how little effort they put into making the fucking game in the first place.)

[@CaylexT]

It's not that strange if you consider two points: one, that many other game reviewers have their opinions tainted by public opinion and will most likely parrot whatever that is, rather than formulating their opinion from scratch based on the game itself like Yahtzee tries to do. And two, that Saints Row 2022 isn't worth expending the kind of energy that Yahtzee reserves for things that are truly, mind-boggingly bad. It's not even heinous enough to get worked up over. And being that middling and dull is worse than being interestingly awful. Perhaps I shouldn't say "middling", if it is as bad as it seems, but it's PREDICTABLY bad, not surprisingly so.

[@Ltblitzful]

@@ArcaneAzmadi Yahtzee generally doesn't riff on bugs much as they're usually patched out and then it just makes the review pointless down the line. also he doesn't like to bring up points _everyone_ is bringing up

[@HKy0uma]

The writing of this game has felt like you are automatically perfect and you create the Saints. There's no edge to it. Everyone feels too normal and nice vs what the original protag and gang put up with. I don't see the trauma or motivation on why it matters to make a gang. My impression of the characters are as follows: "The system sucks man so lets rebel yeeeah man rebel. Lets be a gang yo."

[@Nyghtking]

I figured what they could have done was lean into the time travel they gained access to at the end of 4, and the next game could have been about traveling into the past to recruit versions of yourself, revisiting the old maps, before finally going back to during the initial invasion of earth with all the you's and other versions of your crew to kick Zinyak's ass and save the world.

[@comethiburs2326]

but that would be WORK! i would have loved that. the game visuals from each era, preserved, so the boss would have variants of himself in the different "engines"...

[@Nyghtking]

@@comethiburs2326 customize each of the boss's for that timeline and if you make them look different your character would comment about it.

[@jedimike7622]

That would have been interesting and definitely worth a play, just to see how it all spans out. Which makes it even more unfortunate that this one isn't that.

[@original__gmebvy]

@@jedimike7622 the general consensus was that the fanbase didn’t want more aliens and superpowers and space travel and stuff which is why the reboot is the way that it is. Had more fans been more favorable towards SR4 in the beginning, this game probably would have been more of SR4’s antics. I’ve come to the conclusion that the SR fanbase is way too split and divided to know what they truly want and both sides go at each others throats on what they want the series to be instead of accepting it for what it actually is and moving on with their lives

[@jedimike7622]

@@original__gmebvy seems fair. I enjoyed 4, but 2 is my favorite overall. It still has goofiness woven into it, but the story also manages to make its serious moments feel serious. Earth blowing up in 4 felt like a punchline (which it pretty much was, given the lead in), but it arguably should be something with more weight and seriousness to it. In other words, 4 is great superpowered dumb fun, but I actually cared about the characters and world in 2. Which is ultimately what I personally prefer in games most of the time. Games like 4 are what I play while I recover from more serious games that I get more invested in. Part of what makes 2 so great, in my opinion, is that it does have that goofiness in the game, like the poop spraying minigame. It keeps the game from getting too serious and heavy handed.

[@giga-chicken]

"And why about 60% of them have a grappling hook" Yeah, even boomers knew that the grappling hook worked for boomer shooters: it was by far the best mod for unreal tournament and I think it made it into the game of the year edition.

[@kingsleycy3450]

Saint Row 2022 is probably going to get DMC'd out of existence in the next entry.

[@Flood520]

There's not going to be a next entry. The merciless critical and popular reception of this game has flat out killed the franchise.

[@XyzCloud]

I see, he must have time traveled ten years into the future to play the version of this game that actually worked and didn't crash every fifteen minutes.

[@DarknessXER]

I have had two crashes. So i guess they fixed that on Pc at least.

[@ShenDoodles]

Holy shit, Yahtzee likes SR2 and also likes SR4?! Finally, someone else who can appreciate 4 for what it is and not what it could be!

[@flamingmoomba5608]

I saw this and thought Yahtzee was doing a retro review. I didn't even realise they had made another saints row

[@Nick-mp1zh]

"The McRib finally comes back and the ice cream machine promptly breaks down." Implying any McDonalds has ever had a working ice cream machine in recorded history

[@chriso1373]

I never got this joke. Ive lived all over the US, and traveled all over the world, and never been to a mcdonalds with a broken ice cream machine.

[@0ptera]

To be fair SR2 had more activities and a livelier world than 3 or 4. I wouldn't mind playing more of that with an up to date engine.

[@nekovanguard9553]

The best thing about this reboot is that it motivated me to finish SR2 on PC despite its very very unstable performance (even with GOTR mod)

[@alseenei8072]

Seriously. The game crashes after an hour of playtime for me. Shame, every time Im on I do something different and it's fun.

[@MistahJay7]

What a nightmare that was for me to finish. I would om average get 30 min to an hr. So basically complete 1 mission and spam save lol there would be numerous times where I would reach the very end of the level or even at the level over screen just for it to crash.....worth it tho for gentlemen of row mod

[@cybertramon0012]

Something they could’ve done to ‘add a new spin’ to it was have your protagonist be the same one from the other games, waking up in the rebooted universe. And then we could have them deal with the fact they’re not the emperor of the universe (or president of the USA) and the comedy could come from the world and everyone acting normal and grounded while you’re apparently off your rocker. Like a mission where you sneak into a military base, steal a VTOL, and then have a dogfight before crashing it on top a rival gang leader while he’s sunbathing. Or a mission where you use plastic surgery to disguise as a lieutenant, sneak in to a meeting, and then trick everyone into shooting the real lieutenant.

[@bloodmoney7968]

First person on the internet that finally acknowledge that Elden Ring is actually just a Dark Souls in an Open World map.

[@slambangaction]

I'm proud to say I still have the physical copies of Saints Row 2, 3, and 4 for my PS3, as well as a ton of other games that hold up pretty well in my opinion. I play plenty of current gen stuff too, but I am much more eager to revisit games like Just Cause 2, Batman: Arkham City, Red Faction: Guerrilla, or Assassin's Creed: Black Flag than most of the last five years of new content.

[@odditypardonme]

Proud for you

[@dustygearhead]

Guerilla is a fucking great game. No other games have destruction like that. It’s crazy no other developers would add any destruction to their games. Hell just cause 2 is still the best one. It had a sprint and a dodge roll. Just cause 3 and 4 don’t even have that.

[@quetzalthegamer]

"...I honestly can't remember the last time a AAA release felt like an actual step forward for game design." Such a perfect line to describe the AAA videogame industry.

[@TonyTheTGR]

They don't have to step forward with game design, just with graphics and arguably sound design

[@thepeanuts55]

@@TonyTheTGR when you put 4K graphics, haptic feedback and 3D sound on a pig, in the end it's still a pig

[@DownHavenEnt]

Volition: Haters gonna hate. Who's having fun with this game!!?😃 Cricket: *chirps Volition: ALRIGHT!!🤘😃

[@nielsmichiels1939]

.............i mean..........i'm kinda..........having fun with it? 😶‍🌫

[@rushi5638]

@@nielsmichiels1939 man you're one weird cricket

[@nielsmichiels1939]

@@rushi5638 Feature and gameplay wise i had more fun with it than SR3/4. Also the city looks verry nice and has plenty of interactivity. (compared to steelport) It isn't SR2 but, it's in the ballpark. And it's true, i'm actualy having fun with it. Is it worth full price? God no. buy it at 45 or 50 bucks but not more. It's to glitchy and the characters aren't that great. But to me it seems they made more efford to try to reclaim that old SR2 magic and i aplaud them for the efford and i hope the sequel gets A LOT better.

[@marklangridge2356]

"its a sandbox game from 16 years ago". Whellp, you sold me. I am happy to ride that nostalgia train right through my early twenties.

[@holynarwhale8729]

It looks fun but it’s a “imma wait until it’s $5” fun.

[@MissCroft09]

For real, it's not worth 10$

[@TaylorHwkins]

Gotta love how "Gat outta Hell" doesn't even get a passing mention 🤣

[@brandonwithnell612]

gat ut of hell was fun for a quick little time waster but it felt more like a dlc than a standalone game, im just glad i got it free through ps+

[@pokugrf4000]

Saints row 5 totally could have been an open world time traveling game given the credits of 4. Imagine kicking people out of flinstones cars and having a gang war against a T.Rex that talks or Snoop Dogg playing himself

[@Chubzdoomer]

Breath of the Wild was the last true step forward for open-world game design, which is kind of hilarious since so few games have taken any cues from its formula since then (there was Immortals: Fenyx Rising, but beyond that I can't name a single other title that has truly felt like an alternate take on BotW). It's almost as if every other AAA developer _wants_ Zelda to remain on top indefinitely.

[@Seraphil1]

That's pretty much the crux of my issue: what does Saints Row 2022 offer me that I can't get by just replaying 2 or 3? From the gameplay vids I've seen it looks like it even removed stuff that 3 had already. That on top of the bugs and shitty balancing for some missions is just a big turn-off. Sure the story/characters is cringe but I can stomach that if the gameplay itself is good.

[@ruffethereal1904]

The content locking with not being able to access a diverse array of missions for variety hurt it. I liked jumping around all the many missions already available to me without having to pay cash. The new upgrade gating was terrible. I can't get better weapons by grinding and the unique upgrades being so hard to get if you don't play a certain way was annoying as hell

[@strrmnn]

this game looks like the kind of AAA sandbox that actively hopes you'll forget about it within a year

[@shoutingstone]

Balls. Lasted 40 years but now I have the music to Hover Bover for the C64 stuck in my head again.

[@thiusernameisinvalid]

Kept waiting for Yahtzee to go, "And this would have been my review.....IF THE DAMN GAME DIDN'T HAVE MORE BUGS THAN A ROACH ORGY!"

[@HikariOblivion]

That’s probably covered by the “it’s just exactly like an old saints row game” bit

[@uhobme2028]

Dunno how they thought releasing it in such a buggy state, with the mountain they already had to climb, was a good idea but I envy their optimism.

[@Jaymic]

I'm surprised he didn't mention how painful the dialogue is. It's like they had an AI generate a cross between Watch Dogs and things overheard at a University coffee shop.

[@jeffhardy7404]

Always love the escapist and his great quick reviews

[@justitgstuff5284]

You went easier on it than I thought you would. I do agree though, it is a Saints Row game, and that comes with all the good parts and the bad parts. People trashing on it and saying Saints Row 3 is superior are lost in nostalgia because SR5 isn't particularly different or worse than the last 2 games.

[@uakon_]

Been watching people playing the game, and this is exactly what I'm feeling. It is very much just another Saints Row game, but comfier in terms of visuals, the map, and some of the controls. And one of the worst parts to me is that despite it being a reboot, this game doesn't bring back spinner rims and lowriders.

[@the_flaming_tree_troll9380]

2 and a half years of membership. And many many more years having watched your content and you never fail to give me a good laugh Yahtzee

[@dakoatajohnson4335]

As someone who works at Mcdonalds I can say that the ice cream machine is a universall thing. None of them in my town work despite constant repairs.

[@benjabby]

To be honest I would've enjoyed a saints row 5 travelling through time as was alluded to in the credits of 4. Each of the gangs in the time periods could have been started by a previous saints row antagonist also send back in time a couple years before you arrived

[@Kezmark]

This was way more charitable of a review then this game deserves.

[@pagatryx5451]

Yeah way too charitable. Almost like he didn't play it and is just commenting on promotional footage. Not that I can blame not spending however much on this shite. It's an openworld sandbox game from 16yrs ago but not even an average one, a terrible bland one, that is so full of bugs it's barely functional. And Elden Ring was an actual step forward for gaming... You can literally say any game in the history of gaming is just 'x' game but 'x' now. Games, like literally every artificial form of entertainment, don't fabricate new steps. It's always building on things that came before, combining things and doing it better. Technically, it was Dark Souls but Open World now. But it took so many steps forward in regards to what an open world game is and can be, that saying it isn't a step forward is effing moronic. Course people can have their opinions on things but lets just say I don't really respect his.

[@SlamDank]

IMO if they wanted to get even more crazy, they could've made a time travel game after the Saints find a time machine at the end of 4. I think the reboot was necessary because by 4 it made cars redundant and pretty much switched (sub)genres from GTA clone to superhero sim. This one feels like a tame imitation of SR2, but that's not a bad thing because SR2 is easily in my top 10 all-time.

[@niymeh342]

This could have been amazing - although I wonder if they just couldn't think of a way to pace it. I can see the first couple of missions already - the prologue/intro mission is you going back to the time of Saints Row 1/2, with the contrast of their grittiness and seriousness while you just straight up superhero/alientech your way through everything. Go back to 'now' and oh shit, you've screwed the timeline, so proper mission 1 is you go back to stop yourself fucking up the timeline, and that makes things worse! So act 1 is you shutting down your powers and trying to make sure that Saints Row 1/2 happen as they did originally, and once things are 'back to normal' you can time travel to any point in Saints Row 1, 2, or 3 and the rest of the game is 'let's see how we can make things cooler' with the Boss and the others planning to 'improve' the timeline and the end goal being to have Earth prepared and waiting for the Zin to arrive and have the planet end up undestroyed. Sort of a cliffnotes 'best bits' of the previous games and ending on a high.

[@HappyNBoy]

I feel like every Zero Punctuation script has the line "WHAT AM I ON ABOUT?!" in it at one point, and this one time Yahtzee didn't take it out.

[@nejinaji]

Its so weird that these people are in gangs when they look like they have no business being in the same zip code as the gang areas.

[@arkeshn729]

Who would take Kevin and Eli seriously? The payday loans robbery (no mask, highly recognizable tattoos and a dude dressed like Urkel) told me I would have to cut my brain off to find enjoyment in this game.

[@zackeryh250]

Whenever people say things like this, it just sounds like you have a very narrow idea of what a gang is.

[@nejinaji]

@@zackeryh250 it sure ain't this group of hipsters.

[@FFKonoko]

@@nejinaji some of them kinda are...

[@nejinaji]

@@FFKonoko where do you live that you have GANGS of hipsters

[@Tommoslasguitaros]

The thing I like most about ZP's intro is that I can press "L" exactly one time to skip it and get to the review

[@TonyTheTGR]

I'm fairly certain this is deliberate Now, whether it's ZP doing this for your convenience, or KZbin, that's the mystery

[@THC007]

I love that even while researching they forgot about Gat out of hell, as one should

[@DJA7943]

Agreed.

[@mekman4]

They do have an option for a cockney accent, I watched a let’s play by a host from IGN who sported it for her in-game avatar. Great Stuff!

[@Fakan]

Sounds like a game to pick up cheap (or inevitably free with console membership) if you're just looking for something new yet familiar to fuck around in with little stress.

[@gotchamocha]

You say that until you want to start unlocking the upgrades for weapons, and you realize that you need to do very specific things to unlock them but you cant do those things correctly half the time because the game engine is crap. Trying to play the game normally, is stress inducing.

[@Fakan]

@@gotchamocha Fair, but by that time they'll have likely patched it well enough. Nothing works on release day anymore.

[@Roronoa2zoro]

That's pretty much exactly what it is. I got my copy marked down a bit and figured "why the heck not?". It's not a mindblowing experience, but a decent way to kill some hours in the afternoon if you've nothing better to do than bum around a sandbox for a while. The weapon and vehicle objectives are entirely optional and only unlock the signature upgrade which, while neat to have, aren't necessary to complete the game. The regular upgrades just cost in-game cash.

[@Matosonar]

Could just say there’s little Saints Growth in the series

[@Ramsey276one]

0:45 that's a wonderful explanation for... THIS XD

[@sleeplessindefatigable6385]

The fact that Volition still exists but hasn't made another Red Faction game is just depressing to me. Like, come on, how about we leverage those sexy new-gen consoles' CPUs for what they were truly built for: disassembling a building with a sledgehammer, piece by piece. Come on, Volition, it's a guaranteed slam dunk.

[@unusualusername8847]

Red Faction is literally built upon promising world destruction then never delivering on it.

[@eccentric-j]

I kinda fell off after Saints Row: The Third. Mechanically, it was better but story wise, missions, etc... felt kind of by the numbers and took the fun out of having a silly character because now it's expected. I'm playing Saints Row 2 atm and I'm surprised how much of the gameplay holds up. Additionally the seriousness of the story makes the absurdity of my character really funny to me. While some of the missions often entail "Go to this place, kill these folks then go somewhere else", I appreciate how open-ended it feels compared to The Third. It doesn't really care how you achieve the goals, and since most missions take place in the over-world there's a lot of fun in coming up with contrived ways to accomplish the tasks. I have not played this reboot yet, but my friend who also prefers Saints Row 2 said they like it more than The Third but less than 2. To me that's a step in the right direction and I look forward to giving it a shot eventually.

[@DB-ku7vu]

Saints row two is just a way better game than it has any right to be.

[@WillyShankspeare]

I just finished my 4th playthrough and Saints Row 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. And yeah, the overworld is friggin huge! I can't imagine how they have the entire city of Stilwater and all those interiors with zero loading screens between them. You can go into nearly every store and plenty of other buildings like the science centre, the prison, the strip club, the underground mall, the above ground mall at the marina, the Stilwater U Student Union, the trailer park office, the airport terminal, those apartments in Shivington, and I can't remember how many more.

[@Evanz111]

You fell off

[@BLeePrit]

I'll admit I have a guilty pleasure for the reboot because Saints Row 1 and 2 are my favorites in the series and this game reminds me more of them than 3 and 4.

[@ericestrada6283]

Better than 3 but not as good as 2 is the best way to summarize this game. I'm enjoying it but I don't sink hours into it.

[@duckwantbreads]

I was going to say Prey was genuinely inventive. Then I realised it was 5 years old and I only played it recently because people were pointing out it was better than 99% of AAA games that had come out since then.

[@nemosisalpha9040]

Ironically this is the most positive review I've seen of this game

[@lukejensen8950]

Surprisingly, this is the nicest review of Saints Row I've seen yet.

[@LouCooper]

I was expecting Yahtzee to give this more of a bollock kicking, but this felt like more of a half arsed, middle schoolers, back handed whack to the goolies. Much like the game I suppose actually. Carry on.

[@legateelizabeth]

Yahtzee: every sandbox game should mandate sidequest content Also Yahtzee: why do so many sandbox games force me to faff about, I just want to get the main story done!

[@Doogie2K3]

That also confused me. I suspect there's a bit more nuance to this seeming shift in attitude than fits in a five-minute comedy review but it was a very jarring sentence.

[@brandonwithnell612]

i think theres a needed balance where the side content is rewarding and fun and not just random stuff that doesnt really add much, if you add side content it should feel like it has a purpose

[@sEaNoYeAh]

I kept waiting for him to tear it apart, and then it dawned on me that it's so uninteresting he's too jaded to say much beyond "it's just a game from 16 years ago."

[@Mediquette]

Very well said, though one tiny bit had me scratching my head, and hate to be that guy... It was stated taking old formulas and melding with newer mechanics that work, then cites boomer shooters resurfacing except with grappling hooks, with emphasis on grappling hook being 'newer mechanics'. However, I fondly recall losing myself in the wonders of Quake 2 in '98/'99, while absolutely making everybody mental for my ninja railgun skills *while grappling*. xD (If I had a dollar for every accusation that I received of being a Zbot, I'd be a millionaire today -- since I was consistently in the top 3 [often 1st] of overall competition ladder, while using railgun 99% of the time along with being a grappling ninja. :P)

[@chrisanderson5576]

First time seeing a review by them. I was intrigued, laughing, and nodding in agreement. I have played the Saints from 2 through (bff5tt) and 2 and 3 were awesome. 4 is cute. But (bffttt) is 12 steps back in everything but character creator. Half way through I just stopped caring about "the crew" and was rewarded with it at the end for not caring.

[@caesarspeaks]

He’s a lot softer than I thought he would be on this game

[@CaylexT]

It's not interesting enough to get worked up over, frankly. We had the feeling that it would be kind of shit, it came out and it was kind of shit, so better that it just pass back out of collective consciousness and die in obscurity like it deserves.

[@micheljavert5923]

I guess the people at Volition/Deep Silver realized at some point that they basically have no other IPs to their name. But the rent doesn't pay itself.

[@queenskelaton6507]

That scientist gummy bear is just the cutest thing

[@Laarye]

I actually remember that the original Saint's Row had you being an Undercover Cop that ends with you in an explosion, then SR2 starts with you in the prison hospital with amnesia, so you forget the cop part, and the explosion is a reason to redo your appearance.

[@postapocalypse0763]

I thought the undercover cop plot got moved to another character?

[@gubshitescholarship7043]

That's Troy.

[@RobCrowley85]

Troy was the undercover cop in SR1

[@TouchscreamPresents]

That's not what happened but that would have been a hell of a twist if you we're the undercover cop Bioshock level of twist tbh

[@ParkerTotten30]

The moment I saw the thumbnail I knew he would be murdering this game

[@hjalmarthehelmetman]

I miss 2010 Yahtzee, just like the new Saints Row, Yahtzee (2022) got soft and limp.

[@carpetfluff35]

Ironic when the ZP teardown is one of the more postive takes on a game.

[@chrisjones5949]

Those of you wondering why he didn't mention the bugs: Yahtzee has largely given up on complaining about bugs in this era of "release it now, patch it later" development. It's a sad indictment of the games industry that that's where we are now, but he'd have to have the same complaint about basically every AAA game that comes out these days. It would get old. He mostly only mentions bugs if they're either a constant presence (Cyberpunk 2077) or they somehow break the game entirely (Subnautica: Below Zero crashing with no auto save). SR5 doesn't really present either case. I've put at least two dozen hours into this game already. I was expecting Yahtzee to tear it apart, based on his documented love for the old games and the fact that a lot of other reviewers already did. But no - he gave a very fair review. This game doesn't really do anything new or anything we haven't seen in SR before, but it's a nice change of pace from the current trend of AAA Jiminy Cockthroat open world games.

[@Mr.Korzack]

I guess it's hard to really get yourself invested in ripping a game apart when you can tell the developers didn't put much effort in either... One for the bland 5, methinks. Meanwhile, saints row 2-4 + gat aren't going anywhere, and maybe on these days the PC port of 2 won't play like comatose arse

[@Wolfs0n]

Yeah much like Yahtzee called the franchise getting rebooted, I called how he was gonna feel on this one. If not for the blatant retread of a 16 year old formula with nothing to shake things up. Then for just calling it "Saints Row" and being yet another installment in an established franchise with an identical name.

[@fwg1994]

Calling it Saints Row is especially annoying because it's not even a remake of Saints Row. It's a prequel about the founding of the gang, whereas I'm pretty sure Saints Row was an established gang that you join in the original Saints Row.

[@Novodantis]

So glad someone else is finding this trend of dropping sequel numbers annoying and confusing. After all: if you're worried that a large sequel denomination makes your game sound unoriginal, that's kind of a hint it's probably time to make something else.

[@user-zg3om3uv7r]

I'm reminded why I haven't watched Zero Punctuation in quite a few years. Of all the complaints that Yahtzee could have come up with it is that this game is too similar to SR2.

[@johnwrath3612]

I’m genuinely shocked at how positive this review is

[@snaek2594]

Me too, because I've seen the game and it's dookie.

[@jakass]

I think it helps that this has been a ghost year for game releases apart from one ring game

[@johnwrath3612]

@@cookieface80 compare it to any other review on KZbin. He doesn’t even mention the plethora of game breaking bugs and terrible technical state. Yahtzee’s review is pretty lukewarm on something most people are saying is offensively bad. For the guy whose entire shtick is hyperbolic and nitpicky criticism, cynicism and dick jokes, by Yahtzee standards this is almost glowing when he says it’s just an old style of game that he’s ambivalent about.

[@GayBearBro2]

I came from Patreon! Feels weird getting that notification before I got the KZbin one, but it also makes me feel like I accessed a secret.

[@HuskyHighlander23]

Exactly! Me too

[@Schramm456]

"It just IS a sandbox game from 16 years ago" Good thing I love sandbox games from 16 years ago

[@H4hT53]

As someone who loved SR2, felt entertained by SR3 and thoroughly bored by SR4, I really like the "back to the roots" angle. My problem is that the new one never quite reaches the zany-ness of SR2 or 3.

[@taz31999]

Did everyone in The Escapist got a version of this game different from the rest of the world? Everyone else talk about how broken, buggy the game is, how insufferable the main characters are and how shit a lot of the missions are. Yet, here I would have to believe that the game is just okayish and worth the time when on sale or something.

[@radicalhonesty8244]

Not to mention everything Yahtzee said he loved about SR2 is gone, Yet he didn't say a word

[@no-barkthechosenone2436]

@@radicalhonesty8244 probably just doesn’t care about this game, not passionate enough to get mad.

[@BainesMkII]

@Tyler Wesley The "told you so" was that the series would be rebooted.

[@Dolthra]

Not that I'm defending the game, but people were saying it was going to be a broken, buggy, bland boring mess before the game was even shown to content creators. And, usually, with the way things go on the internet, a lot of people do not actually buy or play a game before they form an opinion on it. I'm guessing the majority of people parroting this consensus wanted the game to be bad, found one or two people who actually played it who parroted their opinions, and then decided that they were right all along and are still arguing from their uninformed original opinion. Most of the reviews I've seen from people who previously raved about the Saints Row series have said that it has some bugs, but is ultimately just a little bland and doesn't do anything new for a Saints Row game, much like Yahtzee's opinion here.

[@BainesMkII]

@Tin Watchman Not everyone is going to watch/read every review. For some, Yahtzee's video may be the first coverage they've seen. Other reviews also may skip various issues, which means you might miss coverage of those matters even if you do watch/read a few other reviews. For example, some of the major sites barely even mention bugs and glitches anymore. Maybe they believe the promises of the devs/publisher that the issues will be fixed by release, or maybe they've just decided that AAA games are going to launch broken...

[@daaaah_whoosh]

I've been replaying Saints Row 3 instead of paying for the new one, it's the only one I've ever played and has a definite sense of 'yeah this is actually 100% endgame content, go nuts'. I wonder if it really does assume I played the previous two, though apparently the SR2 PC port is awful.

[@stigrabbid589]

There are mods that help the PC port of SR2 be actually decent, but i never played the PC port of that one, only SR3 and 4. SR2 i played on my xbox 360.

[@StBrodes]

Also, if you're at all interested in SR1, it's wicked easy to emulate for PC. I did so via Xenia Canary a week ago and was so hooked that I played through the whole thing lol. Definitely better than this piece of garbage.

[@lexslate2476]

I could actually go for a straightforward crime sandboxy thing. A game that strives for and reaches the dizzying heights of adequacy. Silly enough to not fall in to unrepentant bleakness. Might wait until it's on sale, though.

[@chaotea2042]

The 'what am i on about' bit cracked me up. It was like the penny dropping after all these years :D

[@Dendarang]

Honestly, I don't really care about the leads not being initially sympathetic or relatable at all. The protagonists in both 3 and 4 basically start from the top and I love both of those games (3 especially). I'm not a game designer and I honestly couldn't care less about the lack of innovation, SR gameplay was always serviceable and in service to the plot and the world. No, what actually kills the game for me is that it's not fun or funny in the slightest. I don't know what it says about me or my sense of humor but I genuinelly laughed my ass off at 3 and 4 and had a really good time playing both, I didn't crack a smile nevermind laugh once at absolutely anything I've seen out of SR2022. The game universe and the characters and the plot just aren't fun or funny. That's simply what buries the game.

[@jak1165]

The protagonist starting at the top in SR3 was the entire joke of the game. That you sold out and became a celebrity, reduced to a parody of a gritty open-world sandbox protagonist which is why you rob the bank dressed as yourself but as if Johnny Gat had the DK mode cheat used on him

[@YourBlackLocal]

I’d honestly love a gang management game that is simply that. No story missions just running territories, with prompted events.

[@BerenElendilAPGaming]

Ssssoooooooo... a modern urban-themed Paradox Interactive game?

[@YourBlackLocal]

@@BerenElendilAPGaming Id prefer it not to be top down though. Also I know that mafia game exists but it was pretty tedious last I played it.

[@frankuraku5622]

Yeah, that's called Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires. Just remove the gangster aspects. I need more game with rich lores that has spin offs that mostly focus on the world instead and ignore the story, i mean at least put a end goal.

[@LuciferSpiro1993]

At the end of GatOutOfHell, if you choose to retcon the world not to have exploded, Gat is a Cop. In agents of Mayhem, Gat is a cop. Ergo, cannon GooH ending is that the world was retconned, and this is the new origin story for the saints, and you are the same character you played as in the previous games. This makes it extra wrong that they removed the best voice.

[@ManinTidyWhities]

Saints Row 2022 will be forever regarded as a game of all time. The saints were rowed, the rows were sainted, and 2022 is 2022

[@BTML498]

Gotta admit, I was really hoping he'd be angrier in this one. I know every other reviewer is already doing that, but still.

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

Haven't you gotten the memo? ZP is chill now

[@regalvas]

@@goodsocksproductions9397 Super cass, have a tix