Hey, we’re back with a new game, today we are going to do a Saints Row 2022 review, in this article I will be giving you my first impressions of the latest game.
So, this is a reboot for the franchise a few years in the making and we’ve been playing a review copy on pc.
I’m disappointed with this one I don’t think it’s the outright disaster summer’s saying but it just it doesn’t really matter.
- Read more: WWE 2K22 Review: Best game of the franchise?
Saints Row 2022: Review
The bottom line is that I just didn’t have much fun playing this game you might still pick it up you might enjoy it you do this is not dunking on anyone.
But for me despite a cool new world and some good hijinks here and there, I found this new saints row 2022 to be messy and devoid of any of the charm or soul of the previous games.
Now just some context just so you know where I’m coming from I’ve played all these games and I love them all pretty much.
The original was a game I kind of convinced my young self was awesome two was great three was great four was great and gad out of hell was pretty cool I just didn’t like that spin-off game agents of mayhem that much still the series has changed and gotten goofier and weirder.
I never cared about its morphing identity I was always having fun so whatever everyone has a different take on this series that’s just mine and I just wanted to put it out there so you know where I’m coming from.
New Saints Row isn’t fun anymore
I was totally open to a new saints row 2022 I didn’t really care but uh this actually feels like a step back and an identity crisis both from the fun factor and personality factor.
It feels aged you know like a regular old open-world crime game but it doesn’t give any nostalgic feelings.
It goes zany at times but never in a way that was compelling or unique it simply just is one thing that is good that’s stuck around is a high level of customization.
You know make any type of person you want all kinds of sliders and options different voices you can make a really cool person or a ridiculous dummy.
And the game world is filled with places to like pull over and buy all types of weird clothes and accessories.
You’re also customizing your cars nicely you’re customizing weapons kinda and you’re customizing your other group members.
You know saints row stuff it’s good that that’s there sticking with a lot of the positives.
First, i guess the world itself is pretty cool santo illeso is a pretty varied and fun sandbox you know random things happen car accidents pop off pedestrians shoot off fireworks there’s always stuff to find and each district offers some different stuff
There are dense residential areas with low buildings there are wide open plains and deserts to cruise through city areas with much more verticality.
But it’s all designed with like fresh creativity to it you know buildings and landmarks all feel pretty cool.
And I just like driving and flying around checking the place out it’s a sun-drenched new feeling location.
It’s not just like shiny California or grim dark city maybe because I’m fresh off better call saul and re-watching breaking bad I just like having this southwestern crime place to mess around in.
Saints Row 2022 Review: Gang Empire Creation
But diving more onto the negative side your character has three roommates and you guys decide to really build a gang empire and take over the town because you’re tired of being broke.
Each of your friends has their unique quirk you know the muscle guy the brains the driver each with their own unique background which is nice, but the game really leans on this group dynamic.
Unfortunately, this roommate to gang group thing did not really work for me at all.
The best I can compare it to is some of the group stuff in watch dogs 2 you know not the worst ever there but it had plenty of cringe-inducing bits.
Saints row is basically all of the bad parts of that I don’t mind keeping things nice and loose and dumb and even self-aware.
But everything for me here pales in comparison to anything the saints row series is known for you know from voice actor jokes to weird pop culture references.
You know the saints row stuff was always an acquired taste but hey it’s swung for the fences.
Saints row 2022 feels far more standard and churned out by a laboratory with just bad jokes.
Character Issues
And I found most of the characters grating or just forgettable save for a few you know weird tones a few story beats you can see coming from a mile away and just so many jokes that just did not land for me.
Again humor is subjective you might feel differently, but I’m just putting it out there.
Now where the comedy does at least work for me is in some of the side hustles and criminal ventures.
You know the stuff to keep busy in this open world and slowly build your money and your influence and your power.
You know you’re stealing specific cars you’re leaving bad yelp reviews for places and then fighting the bad guys that show up that was dumb enough for me uh you’re doing the insurance fraud stuff.
There are high-level bounty targets you can take down that stuff is fun on paper you know the bigger ones the criminal ventures specifically are more focused on.
You know getting some down to progress to the next story mission there’s some fun to be had here.
But it varies some of it is mindless fun but after a few hours most of it got old and a lot of it is just repetitive and uninspired.
My biggest disappointment with the game though other than that lack of charm or soul there is that.
Saints Row 2022: Worst Shooting Mechanics?
I just didn’t find it very fun to play the most important thing you know the core elements are third-person shooting and driving that’s what you’re predominantly doing most of the game and I just didn’t really enjoy it.
The third person shooting is extremely bare bones you can crouch dodge roll shoot aim down sights and if you get enough kills you could do cool over-the-top finishing moves that just give you back some health.
The shooting itself just never really feels great you can get some satisfying headshots that work really well from a feedback standpoint they pop.
But otherwise aiming and shooting is extremely dull with aiming and targeting never really feeling quite right even no matter how much I messed with the settings and just endlessly dodge rolling and shooting got old really quick.
Stuff explodes easily there’s a quick button to quickly shoot explosive barrels and stuff and even if the main weapons are straightforward they can cause some chaos.
But that’s about all I’ll give it the shooting and combat you know the main thing you do in the game it just feels kind of outdated.
And odd finishers are also extremely glitchy with animations not always matching up.
You know sometimes your character will do half of a finishing move on like the air and a lot of those finisher instants kill things are insanely long.
Like I love an over-the-top silly stabbing shooting john wick animation as much as the next guy maybe even more.
But here it’s just ridiculous and it actually breaks up the action in a way that i found kind of annoying.
Enemy Behaviour
The other big issue for that is the enemy types and the behavior now this for me personally has always kind of been a saints row issue depending on the game.
But a lot of the enemies here just stand and shoot out in the open or just mindlessly run at you there are rankings now and armored enemies and a few from the certain gangs have some cool attacks, but i’d say the vast majority of them are forgettable.
There’s a lot of just kind of genericness to them and with no cover button and really not much else to do other than just strafing left and right and shooting and using the abilities which are sometimes cool.
It still just all managed to feel really bland it just adds up to it feeling like a chore.
The game starts off strong and peppers in some cool sequences throughout it but ultimately I just found myself so bored with the progression and the upgrading to it isn’t really too much to write home about through your in-game cell phone.
Yep of course you equip abilities and perks that you unlock as you go there’s active and passive stuff.
So health bonuses modifiers cooler moves and like I said some of them can get pretty crazy and all of them just kind of require you to spend a regenerating thing.
You know as much as sometimes they have the saint’s row charm like the first one.
I still think is one of the better ones where you just shove a grenade down the guy’s pants and throw them overall all of it like was never enough to get me excited about leveling up just kind of going through the motions.
Saints Row 2022 Review: Worst Driving Experience?
Now the driving is probably the better of these two core things it’s arcadey style so it’s easy and fun but it’s also floaty.
Uh, there is a good but awkward drift button but you know driving just doesn’t feel quite right or very satisfying.
Most car sounds are underwhelming the feedback could be more satisfying and because of the floatiness, the vehicles are often all over the place.
Like hit a small pebble off-road or you know get tapped by a pursuing car at the slightly wrong angle your vehicle will just like go completely off the rails in unreasonable directions.
That kind of kills the fun and the momentum more than it should.
It’s not really a difficult thing there’s a good amount of destruction and crashing through stuff, especially with nitrous with your cars, and lots of cool opportunities for jumps.
But it all still misses way more than it hits there’s at the very least a real satisfying option to ram vehicles that works fairly well and makes cars explode.
They actually look really impressive a lot of the time like the cars explode and flip over and the driver goes flying out of the car amidst all the fire and the metal parts and stuff and that’s nice.
But otherwise not super into driving and in a weird just cause influence, you can hop out of your car and shoot from the roof where again aiming doesn’t feel quite right.
Unsatisfying progression system
But you can also jump to a wingsuit and glide around the environments there are also points around the map to launch from too but gliding around is quiet and slow and just kind of comes out of nowhere.
You just have the ability which is just another thing in the game’s weird unsatisfying progression system.
I mentioned earlier also it’s worth noting that the game is buggy most of my bugs and glitches were visual and didn’t really impact gameplay or anything much just weird graphics things animation things.
I mentioned earlier some draw distance stuff but I’ve spoken to other reviewers that have had uh bigger mission bugs and corrupted file issues.
Now please note the game will be getting a day one patch to be fair so it’s hopeful to think that you know some of these issues will be fixed quickly.
But overall even with a quick patch i mean the game is just a messy feeling experience the word jankiness I know is like a hack that needs a phrase for reviewers at this point.
But like there are a lot of janky parts a lot of it just feels jacked up man saints row just like the game really gets in the way of itself.
It could have been fun but simple kind of dumb open-world thing to turn off your brain but it didn’t even really get there.
Saints Row 2022 Review: Conclusion
I think it annoys more than it entertains.
It’s a game that tries to kind of satisfy all types of saints row fans.
You know those who preferred the earlier games and those who preferred the later ones and ultimately comes up doing nothing really and I don’t think it’s going to make many people happy and me like I said as someone who’s liked all of them and was open to a reboot you know a new saints row thing I was left completely disappointed and hollow.
One of the most exciting things i did feel from the game was hearing an eric b and Rakim song shouts out to my old school hip hop people out there reading uh.
It kind of actually reminded me of the original game back in the day that also had uh eric b and Rakim’s i ain’t no joke.
You know the fact that I’m digging into the soundtrack to find positive points should tell you enough.
It might sound like I’m just complaining and whining in this Saints Row 2022 review of this game.
I know i look for the positives in games but like i don’t really recommend this at all if you were really really excited.
I don’t want to totally take the wind out of your sails maybe it’s just me.
This is, of course, a lot of personal opinions but i think when you reboot something it has to be totally fresh.
Try something new maybe even better than the old games and this new saints row 2022 didn’t even feel like it tried.
I’ll admit it’s hard to stack up characters against like you know johnny gat shandy all those people.
But damn man this one is a bummer but of course, this is just my Saints row 2022 review and those were some pros some cons, and some personal opinions and now I want to hear yours down in the comments I definitely just want to know where you’re at with.
The saint row series because I’ve talked to a bunch of different people that have come into the game for different things or fell in love with a different specific game so I just want to know that let’s talk about all the cool memories if you are jumping into saints row this new one let me know what you think if you heard what I had to say and heard I was disappointed but ultimately still wanted to give it a shot more power to you let’s talk about it.
You can also reach out to us on Twitter.
