Saints Row is Dead and Volition and Deep Silver Have Killed it

It’s a real shame that Volition had lost faith in its original IP as Saints Row, as GTA-like as some might have you believe it to be, was a truly unique gaming experience.

[-Foxtrot]

The funny thing about Saints Row is that when the sequel came out it was, at the time, facing GTA4...yet in my opinion I felt like Saints Row 2 give me a better GTA experience then GTA4.

It was a perfect blend of an open world game that knew when it had to be serious and not go too far over the top.

Yet despite this they threw it all away with Saints Row 3

[hiredhelp]

Mr fox I said simular when the game first come out,For me I loved the whole gangs working with you help you out while attacking other gangs as well as offering you all the open level design like GTA Series untill saints row 3 and onwords what happened such a huge change.
Put me off made me frankly disapointed to me they killed what could been great franchise.
(Just my opinion)

[Cy]

Definitely. I always thought the Saint's Row series took the GTA formula and perfected it. Until SR3 and 4, which were piles of crap that focused way too much on "lol so random" humor and got rid of 2s excellent character creator.

[sullynathan]

They perfected nothing. Gta V is the closest to perfecting the formula

[IceKoldKilla]

No way is or was Saints Row better than GTA overall. GTA San Andreas to this day is one of my favorite games. I have owned it on all systems. PS2 (back in the day and rebought to play on my PS3 60GB), Xbox (to play on Xbox 360), PC (for mods when it cost 20€), Android (just to try it), PS3 Android port (HD) and now on PS4. GTA V though has become better in many ways. The mechanics, graphics, story telling (although the early 90s setting in the West Coast can't be beat), amount of vehicles, customization, GTA Online (although making it hard to earn money sucks!), etc. SR was dope and good when bored of GTA but it was too cartoon, HORRIBLE mechanics especially in cars and pointless after a while.

[MyDietEqualsGames]

SR IV was the sizzling shizzle. I had so much fun on it, on Steam. Man. *looks up into the sky while reminiscing*

[Nitrowolf2]

That's the issue with the series

I thought the first two were decent but I enjoy them a lot more for at least having a serious tone

They really took that whole GTA 4 feedback that people hated about the game with it not having some crazy silly fun.

That's why I really couldn't get into the new one at all because it was just way too over-the-top they went too far with it in my opinion

[RandomGamer]

I agree , Saints Row 2 was amazing . Then they just went pointlessly over the top over the next few games and ruined it .

[bacrec1]

Thank you.

[neutralgamer1992]

Could not agree more fox

Saints row 1 was good
Saints row 2 was great

Saints row 2 reminded us of old gen gta games like gta 3,vc and sa

I don't know why they felt the need to totally throw all that away with future saints row games

It had potential
It actually sold well

I would love to get a proper saints row game more in line with saints row 2 with bigger open world, bugger story with comedy and seriousness mixed up

[No Way]

I personally didn't care for the "wonky" atmosphere the later games started to obtain. I, however, loved the first two games.. they were pretty damn good. I'm still waiting for a game that plays like Saints Row (or, GTA/Mafia) and has mechanics like the old PC game "Gangsters: Organized Crime." Like, when is that going to happen.. =/

[ChickeyCantor]

> Yet despite this they threw it all away with Saints Row 3

Because there was no point in competing with GTA with a serious narrative.

[ape007]

i loved sr1 and sr2 a lot but let's get serious , against GTA IV, they felt cheap and generic and ps2 like experience, sr2 was heaps fun don't get me wrong but it was GTA IV and its legendary nextgen leap that made volition go crazy, they were like "there's no way we can touch that level of quality,,,,,,.... plan B, let's make it wacky and crazy" and they did, SR 3 was good overall but not as good as SR1 or SR2 and didn't buy SR4 since it's basically a saints row 3 Mod, downloaded the PSN plus free SR4 DLC and it sucked bad :(, johnny gat u were the man in SR1 and 2

Volition is a pretty damn good company, Red faction 1 on PS2 was fantastic, so was SR1 and SR2.......what happened to them??

[Nathan_Hale53]

I loved GTA IV. So much.

[FlyingFoxy]

SR1 was decent but it lacked some things already in GTA.

I personally think GTA Vice City and San Andreas are the most fun in the genre. SR went from kinda half serious to plain over the top, the problem with over the top is that it can become boring a little quickly IMO.

Like another review site mentioned it was like having cheats enabled almost through the entire game of SR 4, not to say it's a bad game.. it's decent, but i think it loses a sense of challenge a bit when you get all kinds of super powers and stuff like that.

These games need a fine balance between fun and realism, too realistic = no fun, too over the top = becomes boring quickly. Just my opinion, of course.

[SarcasticDuck]

yup, another example of "too over the top" is Deadpool (the game) (although the gamepley was also a big boring factor in deadpool)

[Cy]

Saint's Row 2 was better than any GTA game except maybe 5. I wish they would HD remaster it for current gen consoles.

[ninjazfistz]

Agree wholeheartedly.

Get the PC version on GOG or Steam until then maybe?

[mezati99]

no matter what stay the f*** away from the PC version, one of, if not The worst port ever made

and lol at saying SR is even in the same league as GTA

[ninjazfistz]

@mezati99

So you must enjoy the really awesome console version better LOL. There is no comparison. I have owned the ps3 version when it was free for ps plus and its weak to put it nicely.

[sullynathan]

And then you woke up

[PFFT]

I highly agree! SR did stuff that GTA could barely dream of. SR raised the bar. Its a shame what they have done with this amazing series.

[ape007]

LMAO SR is generic and shallow compared to any gta game.......yes SR1 and SR2 were good but compared to the legendary gta it's generic and shallow, no game has the amazing feel of the gameplay or environment than GTA, that what makes it legendary

[MyDietEqualsGames]

Was better than GTAIV, at least to me. GTAV is just a masterpiece, though. It's probably the greatest open world game with tons of legit and unique things to do of any game I have ever played.

[ThunderPulse]

SR4 was an awesome game but the DLC was meh.

[ChrisW]

SR4 was nothing but a full-priced expansion of SR3. It should have been SR3 DLC.

[iTechHeads]

No one cares

[ironcrow2386]

so your saying there is no saints row 5?? bad times :/

[Errorist76]

I feel like Saints Row went so much over the top that they simply couldn't top it anymore. It's done for good imho.

[ShaunCameron]

There was nowhere else for Volition to take Saints Row. I can't fault them for going the goofy route with 3rd and 4.

[2pacalypsenow]

Saints row has been dead after the 3rd one came out, the 1st one is so much better.

[Hoffmann]

They have a wave of not so good /thought out opinion articles on hardcoregamer this week.

[Grap]

For good, never liked it but i feel bad for anyone who want a sequel.

[TheColbertinator]

SR3 had some funny and good moments but SR4 was just wrong.

Aliens? Simulation world? Snore

[blackblades]

Yeah SR3 was hilarious which why I liked it. I played with the black voice which was better then the other imo. SR4 was suppose to be dlc to SR3 which why it was like that. Stuff happen and it ended up being SR4. SR isn't dead they have a new game placed in that universe.

[windblowsagain]

Saints row has always sucked and that is why it failed.

GTA4 was crap, but GTA5 made up for it.

[Jayszen]

Saints Row 2 was a very good game and then the devs decided to make SR3 which took matters in a different direction what with Alien attacks and Superpowers, something that was then taken to an even more extreme in SR4 and the game seriously took a step off the cliff.

As for the spin-off, it remains to be seen how the game turns out but I am willing to give it a chance. I hope they reboot Saints Row and bring back Johnny Gat, Kinzi, etc., etc., but in a more plausible, less over-the-top open world.

[Kabaneri]

Saints Row 2's Stilwater is still my favorite open world city.

[hiawa23]

I love the first 3 games. Don't like the ones after that. I was hoping they would return the series to the originals. Sucks..

[Psychotica]

I wish they had kept it as a more serious game like GTA

[CPTN MITCHELL]

This game went from trying to get in a gang to trying to be ghostbuster / god of war type of game they should have followed the original and not try to be something else

[XXanderXX]

Great kill off an awesome franchise while feeding us that BS game about some lame 4 Horsemen crap franchise

[Redx165]

If Saints Row 3 was just like Saints Row 2 the franchise would still be alive to this day. The over the top crazy stuff they had after 2 is what killed the franchise for me and many others...

[FallenAngel1984]

Well unlike GTA, the Saints Row franchise revolved around the same cast of characters so it couldn't go on forever. It was great while it lasted and didn't need to be an never ending franchise.

Plus Volition's new game Agents of Mayhem canonically takes place in the Saints Row universe after the events of Gat out of Hell, and the spirit lives on with its similar irreverent tonality.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

i actually loved saints row 3~ idk care what other people think of it, i had a great time playing that game. sr4 and beyond has all been complete garbage though. 4's world sucked so much ass, and really cheapened the experience. being a super hero would have been so much better if it was based in "reality", and if each player was actually unique in some way.

but yeah, they've definitely ruined the franchise now. there's no way they'd go back to a gta vibe, and their whole comedy shtick is just getting lame and extremely cringe-worthy.

[brianunfried]

Let it die, time for a new Red Faction and GeoMod 3.0

[TimelessDbz]

Saints row 3 was my favorite . Over the top but kept it grounded .

[JCW2005]

the less gta rip offs, the better

[WeAreLegion]

Saint's Row and Saint's Row 2 are decent GTA clones with a touch of light-hearted comedy. Saint's Row The Third is a parody of the genre. Saint's Row IV is a parody of everything.

I freaking love Saint's Row IV.

Of course they lost faith in the original vision. It was a bad vision. They improved it.

[ThunderPulse]

4's intro was the best intro ever.

[opinionated]

Who said it was dead? Is agents of mayhem supposed to be the "remake in the saints universe"? Kind of misleading... And their corny college joke games were better than their San Andreas knockoffs. Why would anyone want saints row to go back to that when GTA exists? Rockstar has the serious satire on lockdown. Saints needs to push for the crude.

[SouljAx360]

I really liked SR3, had a lot of fun with it. Just the perfect amount of crazy. I didn't like SR4 tho never even finished it.

[captainexplosion]

I loved Saints Row 4 and I hope the next one is even more over the top.

[ninjazfistz]

Gatt out of Hell is pretty much what you are looking for I think :) I hope they can have a little more of both with the ability to toggle worlds like from Stillwater to hell or whatever or split the series up if they need. Personally, I like both but want the ability to turn it off sometimes.

[ShaunCameron]

I had more fun, surprisingly, with SR4 than any previous SR game.

[Majister-Ludi]

I never really compared gta to saints row. I enjoy both but think they are completely different experiences. I say they start a new Super hero ip they already have the ground work. Distance yourself further from gta make an open world super hero game with lots of different powers and choices.

[meche334]

They should go back and make a game named SR2: The After Effect because Sr2 was the last good one imo

[Germany7]

To be honest, i never liked this series, they try too hard to be funny and the gameplay is just not good, there are many way better open-world games out there, i will not even compare with the Rockstar games because they are in another league.

[pyroxxx]

GTA is depressing in terms of how much reality it reflects,.. Never liked Saints Row much,.. It was always a clunky C- tier game with retarded premises and try hard retarded humor, that did not work 99 percent of the time ... But to each their own. Low budget I can understand (Earth defense force), retarded just never resonated with me.

[zerocarnage]

I loved saints row, still do, they put the fun back into a sandbox gangsta game where rock star in my eyes took the fun out and went all serious.. it's all the daftness that sets saints row out for me against gta, that and the characters.

[ocelot07]

I hate what they did to the Saints Row series. SR1 was great sure it was a GTA clone. But it was just nuts in it's own little way but also had a little seriousness to it. SR2 was better but turned up the craziness to it but also kept the seriousness to it.

SR3 was the fall of it. But it has it's fair share of fun I suppose. SR4 was just way to silly for me.

[Valenka]

I always loved Saints Row since day one, but I started to lose interest when the game started leaning further away from the realm of realism and gang-based warfare and went in the direction of outlandish. I feel like Saints Row should have been one or the other from the start. The whole "over the top" thing was nice, but not for Saints Row, in my opinion. I've been hoping for a reboot that's more in the style of SR1 or SR2 with modern, non-cartoony graphics.

[ninjazfistz]

To me, in a way, Saints Row was like a continuation of the silly crime sandbox era games like GTAIII, Vice City and San Andreas. Eventually they must have felt that the market for that type of game would dry up. I don't think Mafia, WatchDogs, GTA, Sunset Overdrive or Saints Row is offering the genre anymore. Maybe its time for a return to its roots and form.

Though I will say Sleeping Dogs is a pretty good detour. Wouldn't mind them to make a sequel to that even though it isn't necessarily a Saints Row type game at all.

[Valenka]

Sleeping Dogs was like Watch Dogs for me: loads of people hated it and felt like it was watered down, but I really loved it. Though, I'm not blind to the vast improvements Sleeping Dogs needs. It felt very lacking in a way in terms of story, especially with the route of the girlfriends for Wei who apparently disappear completely after their final mission.