(I've refrained from giving any key elements away, but it's a review so.....spoilerish.)
So, let's not kid ourselves. Though we all obviously love the Saints Row franchise, the same can't be said for it's DLC. The franchise has been riddled with half baked and sometimes flat out insulting DLC, but that was under the greedy thumb of THQ. With Saints Row 4 I believe we all hoped for a new beginning. To be able to look over at GTA's massive world expanding DLC and say.....nah, I'm too busy Rowing it up!
Before I get too deep I will say that both of the DLC missions are $10 together.....that's pretty cheap considering, but this isn't about value. This is about giving us a reason to continue playing SR 4. Unfortunately, EtD is not up to the challenge. Frankly, despite being cheapish, it still barely lives up to it's cost. Which is bad. It's pretty safe to assume the missions can be rapped up in far under an hour. Also, most of the new content is merely items brought back from Saints Row the Third, but with some textures thrown on for good measure. Though it packs a few laughs, and gives us a little more of SR 4's self parody humor, it falls far short of what I had hoped for, and that other games are providing.
In the end EtD finds the line in which Saints Row goes from irreverent to stupid. Some of the humor works, but more often then not it seems like the DLC's major punch line is that it sucks. Volition has never presented Saints Row as taking it's self seriously, and that's how I like it, but despite that, I still care what happens. I enjoy the story no matter how insane it is. EtD has 100% no effect on SR 4. EtD is in fact the story of EtD's own development.....derp derp. It brakes the 4th wall wide open, and though it leads to some ha ha moments, more often then not it is used to justify short cuts and the shear lack of new content. No new diversions, or gameplay expansions. Just one joke stretched way too long at our expense.
In the end, the only thing that redeems EtD is that it's cheap, but what Volition failed to understand is that it was never about the money honey. We just want more gameplay. If EtD was more on par with Skyrim DLC or GTA I would be more then happy to throw down $20 or more. However they said, "What if we just charge less?" Doesn't really help us here.
So, my verdict is that EtD is probably worth the money....but it still isn't good. It doesn't reignite your passion to continue dropping hours on the game. If you got bored with fighting aliens in Stillport then EtD will give you 45 minutes more on the clock. It's not what we wanted and it's not what SR 4 needed.
5/10: Worth a play through, but painfully mediocre. Adds no reason to continue playing past it's last mission. Over very quickly.
So, let's not kid ourselves. Though we all obviously love the Saints Row franchise, the same can't be said for it's DLC. The franchise has been riddled with half baked and sometimes flat out insulting DLC, but that was under the greedy thumb of THQ. With Saints Row 4 I believe we all hoped for a new beginning. To be able to look over at GTA's massive world expanding DLC and say.....nah, I'm too busy Rowing it up!
Before I get too deep I will say that both of the DLC missions are $10 together.....that's pretty cheap considering, but this isn't about value. This is about giving us a reason to continue playing SR 4. Unfortunately, EtD is not up to the challenge. Frankly, despite being cheapish, it still barely lives up to it's cost. Which is bad. It's pretty safe to assume the missions can be rapped up in far under an hour. Also, most of the new content is merely items brought back from Saints Row the Third, but with some textures thrown on for good measure. Though it packs a few laughs, and gives us a little more of SR 4's self parody humor, it falls far short of what I had hoped for, and that other games are providing.
In the end EtD finds the line in which Saints Row goes from irreverent to stupid. Some of the humor works, but more often then not it seems like the DLC's major punch line is that it sucks. Volition has never presented Saints Row as taking it's self seriously, and that's how I like it, but despite that, I still care what happens. I enjoy the story no matter how insane it is. EtD has 100% no effect on SR 4. EtD is in fact the story of EtD's own development.....derp derp. It brakes the 4th wall wide open, and though it leads to some ha ha moments, more often then not it is used to justify short cuts and the shear lack of new content. No new diversions, or gameplay expansions. Just one joke stretched way too long at our expense.
In the end, the only thing that redeems EtD is that it's cheap, but what Volition failed to understand is that it was never about the money honey. We just want more gameplay. If EtD was more on par with Skyrim DLC or GTA I would be more then happy to throw down $20 or more. However they said, "What if we just charge less?" Doesn't really help us here.
So, my verdict is that EtD is probably worth the money....but it still isn't good. It doesn't reignite your passion to continue dropping hours on the game. If you got bored with fighting aliens in Stillport then EtD will give you 45 minutes more on the clock. It's not what we wanted and it's not what SR 4 needed.
5/10: Worth a play through, but painfully mediocre. Adds no reason to continue playing past it's last mission. Over very quickly.