It doesn't quite live up to Saints Row 2, but it's a more reliably fun experience than it's predecessor.
Overall: 8.5/10
Pros:
-Superpowers are fun
-Some great moments in the story
-Cool ambient music
-Driving is better
-More interesting, but flawed story
-Actually funny
-Some cool hidden stuff
-AI is improved a little
-Less tonally schizofrenic than SR:TT
-Sound design is crazy good
Cons:
-Zinyak is never given motive or reason and is excessively dark just for the heck of it seems
-The ending to Act 1 is a pretty gigantic misstep and damages the game's narrative as a whole (and they don't even undo it when they're handed a time machine. Really? It was the whole freakin' motivator in the plot!)
-The game tries way too hard to be wacky at times
-The game becomes way too much about the grind of collecting things, and then makes collecting these things stupid easy; so far it's made SR4 the shortest (game lifetime wise) yet
-Some mechanics are overused, like the mech sequences. "Saints of Rage" only shows up once, but it's tedious before you're done with the mission.
-Gat should have been shown in a wittier way with more depth. This character is a very pale one-dimensional portrayal of his former self. He rarely has opportunities to talk, and when he does, it's not particularly interesting or funny. They also ruin the surprise of it by announcing it the end of Act I.
-Underwhelming ending. As I said earlier, there's no reason you couldn't have stopped Zinyak from destroying Earth with the time machine you're given, but instead the Saints just screw up history instead. It doesn't really make the characters likable when they choose a few thrills over the rest of humanity. Aren't we supposed to be celebrating these characters?
-The use of mission music is not as good this time around. I dunno, maybe I'm the only person on Earth that doesn't like Stan Bush's "The Touch" that much.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and they still don't sort out that Dex thing.
It doesn't quite live up to Saints Row 2, but it's a more reliably fun experience than it's predecessor.
Overall: 8.5/10
Pros:
-Superpowers are fun
-Some great moments in the story
-Cool ambient music
-Driving is better
-More interesting, but flawed story
-Actually funny
-Some cool hidden stuff
-AI is improved a little
-Less tonally schizofrenic than SR:TT
-Sound design is crazy good
Cons:
-Zinyak is never given motive or reason and is excessively dark just for the heck of it seems
-The ending to Act 1 is a pretty gigantic misstep and damages the game's narrative as a whole (and they don't even undo it when they're handed a time machine. Really? It was the whole freakin' motivator in the plot!)
-The game tries way too hard to be wacky at times
-The game becomes way too much about the grind of collecting things, and then makes collecting these things stupid easy; so far it's made SR4 the shortest (game lifetime wise) yet
-Some mechanics are overused, like the mech sequences. "Saints of Rage" only shows up once, but it's tedious before you're done with the mission.
-Gat should have been shown in a wittier way with more depth. This character is a very pale one-dimensional portrayal of his former self. He rarely has opportunities to talk, and when he does, it's not particularly interesting or funny. They also ruin the surprise of it by announcing it the end of Act I.
-Underwhelming ending. As I said earlier, there's no reason you couldn't have stopped Zinyak from destroying Earth with the time machine you're given, but instead the Saints just screw up history instead. It doesn't really make the characters likable when they choose a few thrills over the rest of humanity. Aren't we supposed to be celebrating these characters?
-The use of mission music is not as good this time around. I dunno, maybe I'm the only person on Earth that doesn't like Stan Bush's "The Touch" that much.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and they still don't sort out that Dex thing.
The credits reveal that they went back in time to important historical periods and filled them with saints stuff.If they are going to undo Earth's destruction, maybe Volition will save it for a later game/dlc? We don't know what they do with the time machine yet, do we? The game ends only with the discovery of the time machine, so it's kinda sorta like a small cliffhanger. Also, how did the saints screw up history? Zinyak is the one that kidnapped a collection of his favorite humans (including Jane Austen). I agree with you about Johnny though - even his romance scene deepens the character of the boss more than it does him. Also, I disliked the mech, but that's just an opinion.
The credits reveal that they went back in time to important historical periods and filled them with saints stuff.
The credits reveal that they went back in time to important historical periods and filled them with saints stuff.
they also didnt solve whatever happened to killbane at the end of 3.
I hadn't thought about that, you might be on to something there. However, remember that the game is set within a simulation and that allows them to do pretty much anything without justification.I got a feeling they going to further expend the time machine section with the second DLC since it is called "How The Saints Saved Christmas". They cant really fix Christmas without earth.