Current Events > Started playing Saints Row IV again. Still hate it *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I had trouble stomaching Saints Row The Third when I first started playing it, but I eventually got the platinum trophy for it. I grew to love the game's setpieces, mechanics and characterisation. But Saints Row IV has always been a turd to me.

Like, they just double down on the goofy, irreverent humor again and again, until it's not funny any more. Oh look, a Dubstep gun. Oh look, you're making fun of Mass Effect. Oh look, the game's skybox looks like shit because it's an alien simulation. The aliens look shitty, Zinyak is a piece of shit antagonist and every mission leans so hard into the conceit that it's hard to enjoy it. It's the third game ramped up to 11, and frankly I hate it.

The worst part is when the Earth is destroyed. All the other characters from Saints Row are just dead now. But it's okay, because we have the simulations to play the part! And at least there's the Steelport simulation to play around in! Eat shit.

I hate the simulation. I hate the red fucking towers you have to remove from Zinyak's control, and I hate the butt ugly martians you have to kill. I hate how the game jumps the shark so hard it feels like it can just make fun of the shark-jumping, because that's all Saints Row is now - a bunch of superpowers, aliens and Dubstep. It's almost cynical how much they ramp every single aspect up in this game.

And the worst part is that I want to have a good time, since the gameplay is based on The Third's gameplay and I really like that game. But there's something so unbearable and ugly about this game that I can't get past. Dedicating so much energy to disliking a game like this is ridiculous, but it genuinely puts a pit in my stomach having to deal with the shitshow that this game is. I get that it's popular and people like it, but I can't bring myself to like it.

I felt similarly about Borderlands 2 for a while, but that's because the starting area in the snow sucks and I could only ever play it at my friend's place. I didn't start liking that game until I got my own copy and got to take on the game at my own pace. I can't say the same for Saints Row IV. I've owned it for years now, I've tried to play it multiple times - to the point that I've gotten the superpowers and the spaceship and saved a bunch of my crew - and I can't fucking stomach the humor or the villains. Saints Row can be stupid at times, but this is beyond stupid. It's forced, lame bullshit.

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ya. felt much the same, but i just let it go...


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What is love?

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I like 4 more than 3. The entire time I played 3 all I could think was "I wish this was more like 2", because they were close enough in concept to be compared. 4 is so far removed from the original Saints Row premise that I don't even make comparisons. It also does have some nice call back missions to 1 & 2 that scratched my nostalgia itch.

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Four I enjoyed for a while because of the super powers, but then you slowly realize that that's all it is. The super powers and the side activities. If you go out of your way to clear out the side activities right away, you've basically beaten the game because that's what most of the story missions ask you to do anyway.

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I agree, 4 is just too absurd. However, I believe you actually find a time machine at the end of the game.

And at least with Earth being destroyed, that leaves the only reasonable option for the new game to be a reboot.

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If 4 didn't have some really good references. Id agree.

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I loved the game so much I 100%'d it twice. >_>

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viewmaster_pi posted...

I agree, 4 is just too absurd. However, I believe you actually find a time machine at the end of the game.

And at least with Earth being destroyed, that leaves the only reasonable option for the new game to be a reboot.

Spoilers for Gat out of Hell.

That's basically how Gat out of Hell ends.

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I had fun with it, but yeah, it grated after awhile. Also, that Santa DLC sucked.

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The-Apostle posted...

I loved the game so much I 100%'d it twice. >_>

Same. Holy shit was the gameplay and collecthone elements fun.

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I guess I was lucky that 4 was my first Saint's Row game. I had a blast cause it was just mindless fun which was a change from the games I had been playing at the time.

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Saints Row 2 is the best Saints Row.

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Thompson posted...

Saints Row 2 is the best Saints Row.

Yup. Though I still think if the Boss wasn't, well, the Boss, the Saints and the Brotherhood could've had a legit partnership.

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dave_is_slick posted...

Yup. Though I still think if the Boss wasn't, well, the Boss, the Saints and the Brotherhood could've had a legit partnership.

Oh sure, but the Boss in Saints Row 2 is an unapologetic, sociopath, with a bottomless thirst for power and the game makes that abundantly clear. Then SR3 comes along and he is now more of a heroic gangster.

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3 is my favorite, and 4 is a huge step down. The super powers are just not as fun as the grounded gun play. And collecting all those little things all over the city was mind numbing. Also, Russian girl better than French girl.
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At the beginning when you ride the missile and Aerosmith started playing I knew it was going to be worse then the third one.

Powers were fun for a few minutes.

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Strider102 posted...

At the beginning when you ride the missile and Aerosmith started playing I knew it was going to be worse then the third one.

Powers were fun for a few minutes.

Sounds like your first mistake was taking a Saints Row game too serious.

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It's fun for one play through, but that's it. The humor in it is just too much though. Waaay too corny and wacky and lol randum!! for me.

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Saint's Row is the Sharknado of games.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Sounds like your first mistake was taking a Saints Row game too serious.

SR 1 and 2 had some outlandish moments, but was a good balance between humor and seriousness though. I loved the second SR.

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Southernfatman posted...

It's fun for one play through, but that's it. The humor in it is just too much though. Waaay too corny and wacky and lol randum!! for me.

Yeah, I agree with this. I played it on the cheap and enjoyed the gameplay enough, but I've always felt Saints Row humor and presentation was complete shit.

It feels like the GTA knock off's that you see on network sitcoms and television shows. The kind that were so absurd until, you know, Saints Row came out.

Kinda like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYWOE8pCE6E

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Saints Row 2 is the best one. It perfectly blended extreme action, humor, and seriousness. It had a lot of fun side activities that buffed up your character and had the 3 major gangs to fight in any order you wanted and not a linear structure.

3 was okay but it just got too zany. I haven't bother with anything past that. I am very much so looking forward to the reworking of 2 on Steam!

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Strider102 posted...

SR 1 and 2 had some outlandish moments, but was a good balance between humor and seriousness though. I loved the second SR.

Most series like this always end up in a super outlandish place tho. I'd take that over releasing the same game over and over again.

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I 100% the game after buying it day one and 100% the game again on current gen systems.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Same. Holy shit was the gameplay and collecthone elements fun.

Agreed af.

TC just needs to not take the game so seriously.

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the superpower thing didnt work for me.

not to mention it made vehicles and weapons completely pointless.

I enjoyed SR4, but it's also the only Saints Row game I've played.

The superpowers are what actually sold it for me.

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ZevLoveDOOM posted...

not to mention it made vehicles and weapons completely pointless.

my biggest gripe as well, especially considering some of the weapons and skins were really cool

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Weapons were still relevant my whole playthrough, in fact the gunplay was more polished than it had ever been. Vehicles weren't necessary anymore, but I didn't get stuck on that. I seen it has being cool you had a faster way to get around but still had the option of driving. To an extent, you kind of end up hating on the game having diversity when you get hung up on old ways and can't accept a fun change of pace.

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The series peaked with the 2nd game. 3 is fun but I agree that 4 just jumped the shark so hard as to make it ridiculous.

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saints row iv is the crackdown 3 we should have got

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It was great. Superpowers done right.

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TwoDoorPC posted...

saints row iv is the crackdown 3 we should have got

This is something I wanted to say, but I'm not very experienced in Crackdown. Think I beat the 1st and played the 2nd for like 5 hours. That was about 4 years ago to. You wanna see how to really fuck up a Saints Row style game? See Agents of Mayhem

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4 was great

If you have a co-op partner they all are great.

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