![[V] IdolNinja](/forum/data/avatars/m/0/62.jpg?1394026296){kind=avatar}
[V] IdolNinja
Volition Staff
This thread is not about Saints Row 5. It's specifically about the current DLC and your feelings about it. Once again, please keep discussion on topic.
How do you feel about Saints Row DLC?
- Thread starter [V] IdolNinja
- Start date
Virtually none of the SR series DLC has been that good. All the mission DLCs have been short and able to be finished in under 40 minutes (except that damn blasted heli+truck mission on SR2 Corporate Warfare) and almost all non-mission DLC for the past two games has been just 3 or so outfits and MAYBE a vehicle for something like 3 or more bucks, and that's just not worth it to me.
Haven't even bought any DLC since the season pass, hillbilly pack and the free GATV pack for 4.
Sort of related to the main topic, but I feel SR4's Steelport is nearly dead and REALLY boring after you finish the story as there is nothing to do, so if it wasn't for mods from this place I wouldn't even touch the game again except for the occasional replay. If I had to put up with only the vanilla game (like if I was still playing on a console), I wouldn't even think about looking at DLC as there's really nothing to even use the new doodads ON at that point. At least SR3 still let you get into gang wars after the end and both it and SR2 let you fight the cops/national guard for as long as you wanted (and of course SR2 had mission replay). I hate the notoriety system in unmodded SR4, Marauders and Wardens always bring everything to a screeching halt and no gangs either outside of one short phase in the story.
Hell, you can't even repeat survivals in SR4..
Haven't even bought any DLC since the season pass, hillbilly pack and the free GATV pack for 4.
Sort of related to the main topic, but I feel SR4's Steelport is nearly dead and REALLY boring after you finish the story as there is nothing to do, so if it wasn't for mods from this place I wouldn't even touch the game again except for the occasional replay. If I had to put up with only the vanilla game (like if I was still playing on a console), I wouldn't even think about looking at DLC as there's really nothing to even use the new doodads ON at that point. At least SR3 still let you get into gang wars after the end and both it and SR2 let you fight the cops/national guard for as long as you wanted (and of course SR2 had mission replay). I hate the notoriety system in unmodded SR4, Marauders and Wardens always bring everything to a screeching halt and no gangs either outside of one short phase in the story.
Hell, you can't even repeat survivals in SR4..
I wanted to throw my two cents in about the DLC, but first I wan't to outline what I'm not going to do.
I'm not going to try and project into the company's future and make claims about what would be good for the company's interests. This is criticism that is extremely subjective from my own experiences and desires and I cannot proclaim to speak for most gamers now, let alone their purchase choices in the future. Nor can I speak about what makes good money. A lot of shoddy practices make companies good money, so appeal to buying power is not likely to get the result I want.
I will also not be simply focusing on the negative, but will also try to emphasize positive aspects and suggest possible pathways based on how I, personally, play the game.
I'm not going to talk in hyperbole. We already live in the "everything is terrible" generation, where "awesome" and "worst thing ever" are common in praise and criticism respectively. They are words not really reserved for anything special, so out of respect for their intended use, I'm going to stay away from the extremes. I fully expect this will make my comment dull and unread in its exposition, if the content isn't that already. While exaggeration is all to common in the gaming community, in politics, in historical debate, in philosophical discussions, and so on... I've never seen sensationalism produce long-term favorable results.
If Saints Row 3 did anything well (and it did a lot well, in my opinion), it was coming out with goofy vehicles, as those were most common modes of transportation... So it enhances a lot of the running around I do. They might have had their issues and might not have always been practical, but I tended to play the game as a roleplaying experience, so it made the vehicles that much more special. The bloodsucker pack, in particular (from what my friends have let me play of it) adds a whole new experience to smaller dimensions of gameplay without shortchanging the difficulty. This is a lot more entertaining to me than a pack that unlocks a whole load of cheats. What was sad, though, is that there could have been so much more to things like the Bloodsucker pack or Genki Funtime Pack. It seems like a neat idea that never really takes off. This is the end of the positive things I have to say about it.
The costumes rarely make any sense. I understand people have a penchant for weirdness and it is good to want to encourage people to be "off the wall" in terms of presentation. I'm sure many people who are using Saints Row IV for Machinima reasons are very happy with the range. However, I'm not as impressed by it as there is, similarly to the bloodsucker pack, no real follow through. Pirate costumes, witch costumes, mascot packs.... they are neat to look at, but I cannot personally see myself running around in something like that for very long unless I have made a concerted effort to break with the theming/narrative style of the story. I would like content that makes me feel more immersed in the story. The SR3 story was more of a "Breakout Thug Mercenary on a path of Revenge" gig... and this second story is "Anti-hero with Super Powers as unlikely savior of Earth."... more content to help blend these story ideas would be welcome, but almost nothing that has been done so far has helped pushed immersion... instead, it is usually geared more towards breaking immersion, which is a shame because the "computer world" aspect would allow for MORE immersion than SR3, especially since it gives side missions like Insurance Fraud a more explainable existence in that world. I'm not saying give up on the "off the wall" packs, but it would be nice to see a DLC pack whose focus is on increasing immersion on story-driven aspects.
I cannot propose what that might look like, but I imagine, since we're talking Superhero Wish Fulfillment, different methods of locomotion might be prudent. Perhaps a pack that turns the player into a giant bolt of energy while superjumping might be nice? Or the ability to stop time in the game world (or even intentionally slow it down)? How about enhanced martial arts/hand-to-hand animations like SR2 had? How about a special series of "Fatality" kills for the giant monsters that you can select in a quicktime event to make defeating them less tedious? Maybe more use of special superhero weapons, like swords? Fireball casting? A scream that makes people's heads explode? A magic wand that swaps an NPC's gender or changes aliens into random items? Or maybe more mundane weapons that we haven't seen in a game used to great extent: Whips, maces, bostaff, crossbows? These might be fun AND immersive.
Back to the costumes. As stated before, many of them only serve to break me from my superhero simulation immersion. The only costume pack that might be appropriate is the superhero costume pack and they do look fun. However, there simply isn't enough variety. They all seem fairly stock and don't lend themselves to a lot of mix and match. I'll probably never use the pirate costumes (not to mention the car) and the presidential costumes are really only good for about 5 minutes before they get tiresome.
A large clothing pack which adds a LOT more suits, shoes, pants, skirts, dresses, and hairstyles would be something I would drop cash on in a heartbeat. Even if it were just different cuts and designs of leather catsuits and bustiers, I'd probably buy those very quickly, but why stop there? Why not add more business suits in there? Why not add more flowing styles? More fashionista attention? In addition to a multitude of military suits and styles that could be added, there is still plenty of room for more outfits that can be incorporated. I am notorious for changing outfits constantly, but I really only have a few good pairs of shoes and skirts for this and I would love to see more sleek skirts and dresses. Add more clothing variety... not just outrageous superhero costumes.
Here is an idea I haven't seen mentioned. Why not make more of the training simulators used in the tutorials? Why not allow people to set up custom battles with big bosses or a series of achievements linked to being able to pull off combinations of moves? This would keep me entertained for a long time and add a new competitive element to the game.
In conclusion, I hope that this has helped someone, somewhere, get an idea for what to do next. I love how people are trying everything they can with this series and they took a lot of risks. Nobody is happier than me to be part of it. But this is my two cents on the state of DLC in Saints Row IV.
Adeu~
-Flea
I'm not going to try and project into the company's future and make claims about what would be good for the company's interests. This is criticism that is extremely subjective from my own experiences and desires and I cannot proclaim to speak for most gamers now, let alone their purchase choices in the future. Nor can I speak about what makes good money. A lot of shoddy practices make companies good money, so appeal to buying power is not likely to get the result I want.
I will also not be simply focusing on the negative, but will also try to emphasize positive aspects and suggest possible pathways based on how I, personally, play the game.
I'm not going to talk in hyperbole. We already live in the "everything is terrible" generation, where "awesome" and "worst thing ever" are common in praise and criticism respectively. They are words not really reserved for anything special, so out of respect for their intended use, I'm going to stay away from the extremes. I fully expect this will make my comment dull and unread in its exposition, if the content isn't that already. While exaggeration is all to common in the gaming community, in politics, in historical debate, in philosophical discussions, and so on... I've never seen sensationalism produce long-term favorable results.
If Saints Row 3 did anything well (and it did a lot well, in my opinion), it was coming out with goofy vehicles, as those were most common modes of transportation... So it enhances a lot of the running around I do. They might have had their issues and might not have always been practical, but I tended to play the game as a roleplaying experience, so it made the vehicles that much more special. The bloodsucker pack, in particular (from what my friends have let me play of it) adds a whole new experience to smaller dimensions of gameplay without shortchanging the difficulty. This is a lot more entertaining to me than a pack that unlocks a whole load of cheats. What was sad, though, is that there could have been so much more to things like the Bloodsucker pack or Genki Funtime Pack. It seems like a neat idea that never really takes off. This is the end of the positive things I have to say about it.
The costumes rarely make any sense. I understand people have a penchant for weirdness and it is good to want to encourage people to be "off the wall" in terms of presentation. I'm sure many people who are using Saints Row IV for Machinima reasons are very happy with the range. However, I'm not as impressed by it as there is, similarly to the bloodsucker pack, no real follow through. Pirate costumes, witch costumes, mascot packs.... they are neat to look at, but I cannot personally see myself running around in something like that for very long unless I have made a concerted effort to break with the theming/narrative style of the story. I would like content that makes me feel more immersed in the story. The SR3 story was more of a "Breakout Thug Mercenary on a path of Revenge" gig... and this second story is "Anti-hero with Super Powers as unlikely savior of Earth."... more content to help blend these story ideas would be welcome, but almost nothing that has been done so far has helped pushed immersion... instead, it is usually geared more towards breaking immersion, which is a shame because the "computer world" aspect would allow for MORE immersion than SR3, especially since it gives side missions like Insurance Fraud a more explainable existence in that world. I'm not saying give up on the "off the wall" packs, but it would be nice to see a DLC pack whose focus is on increasing immersion on story-driven aspects.
I cannot propose what that might look like, but I imagine, since we're talking Superhero Wish Fulfillment, different methods of locomotion might be prudent. Perhaps a pack that turns the player into a giant bolt of energy while superjumping might be nice? Or the ability to stop time in the game world (or even intentionally slow it down)? How about enhanced martial arts/hand-to-hand animations like SR2 had? How about a special series of "Fatality" kills for the giant monsters that you can select in a quicktime event to make defeating them less tedious? Maybe more use of special superhero weapons, like swords? Fireball casting? A scream that makes people's heads explode? A magic wand that swaps an NPC's gender or changes aliens into random items? Or maybe more mundane weapons that we haven't seen in a game used to great extent: Whips, maces, bostaff, crossbows? These might be fun AND immersive.
Back to the costumes. As stated before, many of them only serve to break me from my superhero simulation immersion. The only costume pack that might be appropriate is the superhero costume pack and they do look fun. However, there simply isn't enough variety. They all seem fairly stock and don't lend themselves to a lot of mix and match. I'll probably never use the pirate costumes (not to mention the car) and the presidential costumes are really only good for about 5 minutes before they get tiresome.
A large clothing pack which adds a LOT more suits, shoes, pants, skirts, dresses, and hairstyles would be something I would drop cash on in a heartbeat. Even if it were just different cuts and designs of leather catsuits and bustiers, I'd probably buy those very quickly, but why stop there? Why not add more business suits in there? Why not add more flowing styles? More fashionista attention? In addition to a multitude of military suits and styles that could be added, there is still plenty of room for more outfits that can be incorporated. I am notorious for changing outfits constantly, but I really only have a few good pairs of shoes and skirts for this and I would love to see more sleek skirts and dresses. Add more clothing variety... not just outrageous superhero costumes.
Here is an idea I haven't seen mentioned. Why not make more of the training simulators used in the tutorials? Why not allow people to set up custom battles with big bosses or a series of achievements linked to being able to pull off combinations of moves? This would keep me entertained for a long time and add a new competitive element to the game.
In conclusion, I hope that this has helped someone, somewhere, get an idea for what to do next. I love how people are trying everything they can with this series and they took a lot of risks. Nobody is happier than me to be part of it. But this is my two cents on the state of DLC in Saints Row IV.
Adeu~
-Flea
Last edited:
I love your suggestions, too. I really think we could use a few more locations, and they could even be incorporated into the holodeck. They came so close by allowing you to visit former Saints Row territory, but you never get to go back there for any other reason. Would make the use of Old-school homies so much more meaningful.
While I agree that DLC should just be extra stuff to enhance your game experience, I think my main complaint (summarized from my post above here) is that nothing has really been enhanced. They're tacked on with seemingly little thought as to what we're supposed to do with them.
Instead, it takes away from it, in many occasions. I love the 'Merica gun. If anything, it is one of the few guns on-par with superpowers, and can be added to my repertoire of assault methods without losing anything, but changes the way I fight/spend money. But cowboys and pirates? How does that enhance my experience in the story?
I'm not against them being there, but I do wish that some of these costume packs (with their weapons) were a little better than their current status as gameplay kitsch. It is ironic that the game introduces the superpowers as a major departure from previous elements in the series, and yet none of the DLC has been directed towards them, save for the superhero costume packs, both of which hold little appeal when the replayability of the end-game world is very limited.
A perfect example of this is the Shark Attack gun. It was really creative, so I don't really like that I am using it as a negative criticism. However, it doesn't really thrill me all that much to use it in that game. It breaks my experience of being a gun running world famous gang boss. It has no place in that world and just exists to break the 4th wall a bit and give me a chuckle (and it did) but I'm not going to go start a new game just because of it.
But if the same level of creativity were directed towards adding something to the game that changes my experience? That'd be so much better! Heck, the Shark Gun might be a more welcome addition to SR4 than SR3. I'd love a superpower that lets me conjure a shark and throw it at my enemies.
The beauty of my sandbox experiences has been partially self-made goals where I conduct my own rules and limits. (Handgun headshots only for this mission). But it has to be facilitated by the game itself. If I could change up my gameplay, it would be nice.
I need something more than the Executive Privilege Pack. Packs like that robs me of gameplay by making the game blow by that much faster. But even if you don't care about this, it is poorly implemented. Its just *bam* everything unlocked. Why not integrate it more? Why not give me access to a time machine in the end that lets me go back to the beginning of the game with all my superpowers? A New Game Plus? Might not even need to add new dialogue, but it would make going through earlier missions more fun to have the tutorial elements removed from them in order to make way for more challenging "New Game +" type missions.
To summarize, I don't need DLC packs to introduce a whole other storyline. ETD was fine. But I wish the Packs were more integrated... heck, if a new superpower were introduced (Or even aesthetically altered to a significant enough degree) I might feel motivated to go back and replay the main story from scratch.
As you well know, Marrow, I went back to SR3 for a long time.I couldn't explain why it felt fun, but I didn't miss the superpowers like other people seem to say. The thing I DID miss was the customization in weapons. That mechanic breaths so much life into gear that *SHOULD* have become irrelevant in the wake of the superpowers, but it kept me using them a lot in SR4. I think added customization and repeatable missions that are *not* repetitive would breath more life into repeated playtime.
I'm thinking more about those missions in a certain other series involving a superhero that dresses up like a flying mammal. :3 The "Stealth" missions and the "Take down" missions? I love the heck out of those. Maybe they could do something like a cross between those and the Genki Death Bowl missions.
Incidentally, I've been thinking a lot about "Whored Mode." A lot of people didn't like it and thought it was tacked on, as it didn't have anything to do with the rest of the game. (perhaps people didn't like it for other reasons, but I enjoyed it for what it was.) Not being able to play your own character in those worlds didn't help matters. But... I don't know if anyone else would agree with me on this, but that mode might actually be more entertaining here now that we we have super powers. Killing a certain number of enemies under a time limit? That sounds alright, but it would be even cooler if you got rewards for doing it.
The Telekinesis challenges in the Genki Bowl stuff was so good! It helped me practice my powers and forced me to be efficient. If you could do something like that for other challenges, it would probably be a ton of fun. Maybe a "Flawless Victory" mode where you lose if you get hit one time and have to take down all the enemies? With Ice powers? Randomized limits and victory conditions? Lots of potential here.
Again, I feel hesitant to say this, knowing how unloved Whored Mode was, but I felt a little short-changed by the "Arena" matches in SR4. I was very excited about them, and it was over so fast.
Last edited:
Super-Powered Fuzz. You have to, uh, stabalize certain parts of the simulation because they're going bad in the wrong way. So you get to work with the zpd in this case, using quite brutal force and a full array of super-powers. Skip that driving to and from the crime scene with other cops, no, you all super-speed there or fly a dropship (across half the city now, in response) and have to take down hackers and bad code. Aggressively. Using different tactics because sometimes they're resistant to whatever (like for example immunity to blasts, so you have to use your guns or alternately you get more 'stability' from using the recommended way). Leading to greater escalation under stricter timelines. Pirates vs Ninjas is not the end all now.. it's just the start.
It'd be a coding nightmare, as noted before, but as a DLC adding some loved features to the game.. activities that spread across much like the Genkibowl DLC did.. very good results. That's one option I'd look for in a 'new features' DLC.. repeatable content.
It'd be a coding nightmare, as noted before, but as a DLC adding some loved features to the game.. activities that spread across much like the Genkibowl DLC did.. very good results. That's one option I'd look for in a 'new features' DLC.. repeatable content.
have Volition ever explained exactly why Fuzz was so hard to code? Just curious. I too would love to see the return of Super Fuzz or even regular Fuzz in any capacity
All on-board with it... just need to add the obligatory Assassin's Creed mockery to it about synchronizing. Ironic, though, that the glitches are what helps you gain superpowers... wouldn't it make more sense to be causing the rifts? I guess as end-game, it works... sort of... but I'm not sure I would want to work with the ZPD. Maybe another alien race trapped in a neighboring simulation? I dunno. sounds neat!
More Demons of the Badlands, a little less everything else...I miss Red Faction.
My biggest gripe about the DLCs is that your character is given all sorts of items for free. You shouldn't start the game with an assault chopper or a car with a machine gun on it, or even an extra pair of pants. They should be out in the world, hidden, or for sale, or waiting for you to steal them from their possessive owners or something. Er, I wasn't thinking of stealing the clothes from their owners, but that could be fun too...