Saints Row Preview | GamersGlobal.de

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We experienced the beginning of the story with the new Third Street Saints and were able to cause a lot of chaos even in co-op.

All screenshots and game scenes are from GamersGlobal

In the course of an introductory event, I and my colleague Dennis were given the opportunity to spend four hours undisturbed with the start of Saints Row – from the first tutorial mission to moving into the Saints headquarters. I used the powerful editor to create a female variant of the player avatar Boss, while Dennis’ boss seems to have fallen into the cauldron full of Smurf puree. We played individually, but we also liked to team up for co-op.

Three factions rule the new Santo Ileso setting: the private military company Marshall Defense Industries, the Los Panteros Syndicate, and the anarchist Idol Collective. Your boss initially works for Marshall but lives with three buddies, of which Kevin is involved with the Idols while Neenah is involved with the Panteros. In the course of the first missions there is of course stress with all parties, which in the main game leads to you founding the Saints with your roommates and doing your own thing – like a boss.

Boss can transition into a fatal dropkick instead of a traditional landing from wingsuit flight.

humor factor

Saints Row from the beginning that it’s going to be pretty crazy again. While I haven’t been able to commit insurance fraud in the introductory version by throwing myself in front of cars, I’ve had a couple of very nice “sleek” wingsuit landings. There is also plenty of parody and satire. A commercial for Marshall Defense Industries has Starship Troopers-Vibes. And when the troupe nonchalantly launches a robbery for lack of money to pay the rent, entrepreneur Eli (the fourth in the group) asks us to steal a hybrid car in order to reduce the carbon footprint of our venture.

But don’t worry, there’s also the usual mallet humor and mayhem factor. The first mission quickly escalates the action. However, I was surprised that this tutorial assignment relies so much on shooting bouts with enemy masses. Shooting can be controlled with precision, but it still lacks some punch and the early weapons are still conventional. But there are nice types of opponents like idols who fend off bullets with their glowsticks. Nevertheless: If you don’t like the humor and the dope atmosphere, you won’t want to grab it because of the shooter mechanics.

One of the few quirks in the co-op experience: In this mission, both Dennis and I were co-drivers on an escape. However, only the host Dennis, who was sitting next to the driver, was allowed to climb onto the car roof, I had to stay inside.

Two out of control

In addition, the mission design continues to offer funny scenes and over-the-top action even after the introductory mission. For example, soon we’re supposed to be pursuing a convoy and ONLY pursuing it, even if the boss already offers to simply kill everyone. However, we and our drivers are discovered (but only one boss and one driver is present for the story) and although Boss stubbornly wants to stick to the regulations (otherwise there is no bonus), we have to gnash our teeth and kill everyone, otherwise we will be in a hail of bullets die In the further course of the mission, a ridiculously dimensioned monster truck, a sandstorm and the pitfalls of gravity then play a prominent role.

Except for the tutorial mission, everything in the introductory version could be done with two people. There were a few artificial hurdles in the missions. In a side task, for example, we both shoot at pursuers as passengers when we try to escape. However, only Dennis was allowed to climb onto the car roof, for me the corresponding push of a button never triggered the action, even if the roof was free. Otherwise the feature was well implemented, the progress in the missions seemed to be saved for the other players and we were able to move further apart and cause chaos in different corners of the city.

Whether blowing over opponents, just scraping past other cars or sifting through garbage for goodies: Almost every action brings experience and level-ups unlock new skills – but without a skill tree. Each skill is strictly tied to a level. Challenges encourage exploration and experimentation, because they give you points that you use to unlock perks. But the question is how varied and motivating the activities in Santo Ileso will be in the long run. Since the preview ended with the founding of the Saint headquarters, me and Dennis haven’t had a chance to see new businesses being built in town either. So the story makes a good impression for the first few hours, but we can’t dispel Dennis’ doubts about a possible grind danger due to the unlock mechanics in Saints HQ from his previous Saints Row preview after this play session.

Author: Hagen Gehritz (GamersGlobal)

Opinion: Hagen Gehritz

My biggest concern after the first trailer was whether Saints Row still had enough over-the-top factor or the newest installment’s more down-to-earth approach was overkill. In this respect, the four hours with the latest prank from Volition have calmed me down. On the one hand, the comedic timing was right in the cutscenes and the satirical digs ignited in me. Above all, there are already absurd scenes in the story missions in the first few hours and it was a nice discovery when I ran over a hydrant for the first time and then the jet of water threw my car through the air!

Shooting is solid but doesn’t knock out trees, although I haven’t gotten my hands on the crazier guns yet. For this, the developers give me a powerful and humorous first special ability early on with the good old enemy grenade-put-in-the-socket-and-then-throw-away trick.

And last but not least, the movement through the world is fun. The fact that in missions where I steal things with magnetic hooks, the physics of the pendulum motion of the loot makes the heli-flying a shaky game, I interpret as deliberate trolling. When cruising there is a nice feeling of speed and the popular wingsuit is also fun here, even more so with particularly “elegant” landings. Lying on the car roof with the shotgun in the well-implemented co-op mode while Dennis drives or sailing through the sky together increased the fun factor even more. The three hours went by in no time and made you want more.

Opinion: Dennis Hilla

“How now, Saints Row is supposed to get serious?” Something like that was my thought when the reboot of the series was announced. No dubstep guns, dildos and other wacky weapons, that can only backfire. But after my lessons in Santo Ileso I can give the all-clear, Volition only dosed the humor a little better.

It starts with the successful cutscenes and their pointed jokes and also runs through the in-game dialogues. The shooting and driving don’t necessarily feel great, but so far they have carried the weirdness well. There should be a lot of joy, especially in co-op, I’m looking forward to it!

SAINTS ROW