Saints Row is coming imminently, and already press reviews are pouring in for this reboot of the famous franchise. An exit which marks the beginning of the return to Video Games, and which does not seem to be the best student.
[Mis à jour le 22 juillet 2022 à 18h27] After almost a decade of absence, the Saints Row license returns with a reboot with new ambitions. A creation of Volition studios which offers us its version of the crazy and criminal universe of the eponymous fictional city. You will find both the uninhibited humor of previous opuses, all under a new graphic universe at the height of new generation consoles. The game is scheduled for August 23, so very soon, and attracts the attention of the press, which gave it a mixed score. We are looking into the matter with you.
With an overall score of 63 on Metacritic for 44 international reviews, Saints Row is placed in the low average of the releases of 2022. The title does not seem to have convinced, but keeps some positive points in particular for JVC which offers it 15/20: “In fact, this new adventure is still struggling to establish itself through its technique, its gameplay or its creativity, which remain anchored in a certain immobility despite some novelties: it is however an effective action game which does not never takes itself seriously, rather funny and with damn generous content, which we can never blame it for. Volition finally delivers Saints Row 3 with far-west sauce, which remains appreciable without breaking three pieces of pasta to a gunslinger.” Same note from our Italian counterparts at IGN, who offer it 7.8/10 “A familiar series makes a comeback with a game that’s overall funny, engaging, and explosive in its own madness. Unfortunately handicapped by many bugs.“
As for gamesradar+, the newspaper seems quite convinced by this new entry in the franchise, and offers it three stars out of five: “My experience of Saints Row was pleasant, and more than often frustrating: sometimes I felt that Volition was close to a major breakthrough in both the open-world genre and in social commentary, while other times it felt like the game was maintaining the status quo.” The game was not at all to the taste of Gameshub, however, which did not hesitate to rate it two stars out of 5: ” Saints Row manages to recall and refresh the affable personality of a dormant franchise, but this reboot is a comeback, not a revolution.“
It is therefore the August 23, 2022 that we can discover Saints Row “Selfmade”. A six-month postponement that Jim Boone justified by the impact of covid on development processes: ” In all honesty, we underestimated the impact of covid on our planning, although all employees adapted very quickly to the teleworking situation.He continues his explanation by mentioning:If we had released the game on the initial date (in February, editor’s note), it would not have been at the level of the objectives that we have set ourselves and that you expect and deserve.“A situation that seems familiar as the coronavirus crisis has greatly impacted the video game industry.
There are several things to note before diving into analyzing these early Saints Row gameplay footage. First of all, this is a pre-alpha version of the game, meaning that many things that can be seen in this small gameplay trailer are likely to be changed at release. The second is that it is more of a presentation of the universe of Santo Ileso rather than a real presentation of gameplay. Aside from a driving sequence, there’s not much to get your teeth into. Conversely, we still take full view. The universe of this reboot seems rich, huge and colorful, nothing more normal for a title from the Saints Row license. The graphics are already impressive and the driving seems very fun. We expect much more news from this next installment, by its release on February 25, 2022.
This new opus will therefore be a total reboot of the franchise. New enemies, new characters, new scenario, this trailer seems to present us with a game a bit more serious than the previous episodes. Smooth graphics in a style halfway between cartoon and realism, it seems that Saints Row is trying to get a little closer to GTA, by offering a scenario a little less crazy than that of its predecessors.
The wacky world of Saints Row is a thing of the past, and we’re not sure if we should be happy or not, although it’s true that Saints Row 4 was downright embarrassing at times. Unfortunately, there is always the possibility that the result of such a decision leads to the creation of a bland game, which would be only the shadow of a GTA. But we must keep hope! The Volition and Deep Silver teams have confirmed it, this reboot will return to the roots of the franchise, to the stories of criminals in search of redemption, to gang wars, to the merciless world of Santo Ileso. A scenario that has something to dream about (a little more than the characters in this trailer who seem straight out of The Sims or a free-to-play Ubisoft). A reboot planned for 2022 which could as much become the game of the year as go unnoticed.