I feel like the lighthearted stuff works a lot better when you have some serious material there to provide contrast.
Coming into the series at #3, I feel like Saints Row is best when it's nothing but big dumb bombastic fun. Which is why I'm excited about #4. Nothing I've seen so far indicates that they're expecting you to take any of it seriously.
I'm of the exact opposite mind, honestly. I feel that saints row is at it's best when it has a good balance. Sure. Give us out robot tanks and our dubstep guns. But give us something to balance that out.
You cant have highs without the lows. Well you can, but it doesn't make for very good highs. they just end up being "Meh"
I'm hoping that they re-jigger the way that co-op mission progress applies to your character. I played pretty much all of SR3 with a friend and had an awesome time with it, but I guess the progress we made together didn't apply to his character, only to mine? Didn't really impact me but I think it put him off playing solo. It would be nice to be able to start two characters from scratch together, and have each character's story jump to match the co-op partners.
In Saints Row, you can co-op with anyone who's at any point in the game at any time. It might seem ideal to have two dudes start from the beginning and advance to the midway point of the plot, but what about the guy who was at the beginning and co-op'd with someone who was already at the midway point? You'd skip half the story and the unlockables would go all wonky. I doubt they'll change this. I believe collectibles and bought stores and clothes and items and garage'd cars and acquired experience and money and completed activities all carry over anyway.
I feel like the lighthearted stuff works a lot better when you have some serious material there to provide contrast.
Coming into the series at #3, I feel like Saints Row is best when it's nothing but big dumb bombastic fun. Which is why I'm excited about #4. Nothing I've seen so far indicates that they're expecting you to take any of it seriously.
Yeah
I played Saints Row 1 and 2 and was not impressed by any of it, be it the gameplay or the tone
But I thought The Third was sublime
And apparently it was a huge hit so I'm glad they're doubling down on that approach
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited August 2013
Saints Row 3 and 4 seem to have the right idea. I'd hate to see them try to pull back on the tone for the fifth, let GTA have the drama. Going for absolute maximum open world gangster fantasy parody was the best decision Voliton probably could have made.
I don't want to become emotionally invested in any of these characters and I don't think I can. They're slimebags, if one of them dies in a cutscene, I actually feel relieved.
Saints Row 3 and 4 seem to have the right idea. I'd hate to see them try to pull back on the tone for the fifth, let GTA have the drama. Going for absolute maximum open world gangster fantasy parody was the best decision Voliton probably could have made.
I don't want to become emotionally invested in any of these characters and I don't think I can. They're slimebags, if one of them dies in a cutscene, I actually feel relieved.
The humor and violence is much more tongue and cheek. In Saints Row 2, it can get quite viscous. But the Saints who die in 2 don't really deserve it.
Carlos is just a kid following after his brother. Aisha is just an innocent bystander who happens to be with Johnny Gat. Both of their deaths bring down a maelstrom of destruction in return.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Okay, saying I would be relieved is probably a lil much but I stand by what I said on wanting things to stay abit more silly.
I never actually took notice of the series until SR3, I don't think it really started to stand out from the crowd to outsiders like myself until then.
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
The second-worst thing about Saints Row 3 is that Shaundi never shamelessly stole Pierce's ideas
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AchireIsn't life disappointing? Yes, it is.Registered Userregular
Pierce's heist plan was one of my favorite parts in 2.
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
Pierce was one of my favorite parts of 2.
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testsubject23King of No SleepZzzzzzzRegistered Userregular
Last night I played through the Julius side mission in SR2 for the first time. I think I agree with the folks saying that the silly benefits from being balanced alongside the serious. It makes those dramatic moments all the more impactful. One minute you're fighting off Ultor rentacops and merrily downing choppers, and then suddenly BAM!... serious biz. After that mission I just sat and stared at the screen for about 30 seconds, and all I could think was "that was intense."
Did they take out Pierce changing the car radio stations to classical for 3? That was one of my favorite little moments in 2 and I can't remember if it happened at all in the next game.
I love Pierce, so Russian boss was a natural fit for me. It sucks she's gone.
Has anyone made anything with the IS they feel like posting?
The IS is just refusing to run in a way that I can actually do anything with it on my laptop. I guess that hour I messed around with it the other day was a fluke. I'll have to wait for the PSN release next week.
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
A question for those who use the Gentlemen of the row mod in Saints Row 2, is it possible to change the mod settings without having to start a new game?
I'm going to be honest with you, I found out they changed the locations of the collectibles and theres no way in hell I'm man enough to find them all without a guide. That might take me a month or two and I was hoping to move on to The Third sometime before then.
A question for those who use the Gentlemen of the row mod in Saints Row 2, is it possible to change the mod settings without having to start a new game?
I'm going to be honest with you, I found out they changed the locations of the collectibles and theres no way in hell I'm man enough to find them all without a guide. That might take me a month or two and I was hoping to move on to The Third sometime before then.
GotR is built so that you can change any of the options in the installer at will and it will not affect your save. Feel free to experiment. Also, restoring the collectibles to their original vanilla locations is one of the options in the misc menu if you don't want the challenge.
A question for those who use the Gentlemen of the row mod in Saints Row 2, is it possible to change the mod settings without having to start a new game?
I'm going to be honest with you, I found out they changed the locations of the collectibles and theres no way in hell I'm man enough to find them all without a guide. That might take me a month or two and I was hoping to move on to The Third sometime before then.
GotR is built so that you can change any of the options in the installer at will and it will not affect your save. Feel free to experiment. Also, restoring the collectibles to their original vanilla locations is one of the options in the misc menu if you don't want the challenge.
Thanks, I noticed it says that in the readme aswell, probably should have just looked at that first. Sorry, I guess I was kind of in a hurry to get everything installed and glossed over it.
Really awesome work on the mod. Turning on some new options, Zombie gang FTW.
Saints Row 3 and 4 seem to have the right idea. I'd hate to see them try to pull back on the tone for the fifth, let GTA have the drama. Going for absolute maximum open world gangster fantasy parody was the best decision Voliton probably could have made.
I don't want to become emotionally invested in any of these characters and I don't think I can. They're slimebags, if one of them dies in a cutscene, I actually feel relieved.
The humor and violence is much more tongue and cheek. In Saints Row 2, it can get quite viscous. But the Saints who die in 2 don't really deserve it.
Carlos is just a kid following after his brother. Aisha is just an innocent bystander who happens to be with Johnny Gat. Both of their deaths bring down a maelstrom of destruction in return.
One of the things I liked best about SR2 was the sense of escalation. It felt very real, and like how gang violence really does spiral out of control in real life (even if the world setting and the actual events are not real life).
The boss is not an innocent party in any of this, he sets many of the events into motion that lead to tragedy, and then he reaps increasingly horrific revenge.
If I had played SR2 first I might not have played SR3 at all. But I didn't, I played the funny one first and then went back and was alternately shocked and impressed and horrified by what I saw. I do think SR2 was really well done, but it's totally not my normal cup of tea.
SR3 on the other hand had a perfect tone. You have
Gat dying, and killing Loren in revenge. But then you don't kill Matt because? Because why? He's just some punk kid and he didn't kill Gat. In fact, the guy who killed Gat is dead. With Killbane there's no reason to go after him because he's already been defeated and humiliated. I get that in the original proposed script he nuked Stillwater and there was a real good reason to want him dead, but that didn't make it into the game - what did make it into the game was such that him slinking out of town in a jet was like "whatever".
Saint's Row 1 was just an attempt to fill in a vacuum left by GTA when the 360 first released. Rockstar would not release GTA 4 for another two or so years, and THQ saw an opportunity to take advantage of that absence. I recall there being a lot of buzz about a next-gen sandbox crime game at the time, so I guess the gambit worked. In retrospect, the game wasn't that great as just a blatant GTA clone, but I heard that it did have superior combat compared to that of older GTA games.
So, fast forward to 2008, and Volition is stuck. With GTA 4 having been released, you cannot rest on the strength of being the only game in town, but THQ clearly wants a sequel because SR1 sold well enough to merit such. When it became obvious that GTA 4 was going to be a more serious drama about the criminal underworld, Volition got the idea to go the other way and treat the game like the weird sandbox it was.
The rest is history, although some argue that the game has gone a bit too zany to the point where nothing is grounded and it's just wacky for the sake of it.
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
I remember hearing about the first SR and the thing that excited me most was being able to customize the main character. I always wondered why more games didn't do that. Unfortunately I didn't have an Xbox 360 at the time, so I didn't get to play it. When I finally did get one, SR2 was out, so I ended up getting that from Gamefly and completely devoured it. I did the same thing again when I got it for PC after building a new one in March of 2010. Still never did go back and play 1. I should probably track down a copy one of these days.
I remember hearing about the first SR and the thing that excited me most was being able to customize the main character. I always wondered why more games didn't do that. Unfortunately I didn't have an Xbox 360 at the time, so I didn't get to play it. When I finally did get one, SR2 was out, so I ended up getting that from Gamefly and completely devoured it. I did the same thing again when I got it for PC after building a new one in March of 2010. Still never did go back and play 1. I should probably track down a copy one of these days.
I had never even heard of Saints Row until I happened upon a blog post by a gay blogger who was raving about this game with great character customization, Saints Row The Third. He posted a really funny video of him making his boss, who turned out to be a kind of a bearish dude who runs around in a thong.
I bought it just based on that, and fell in love with the franchise.
His death was not dramatic, it was stupid. He died offscreen in a situation he's walked away from a million times. In Saints Row 2 he fights his way out of a courthouse swarming with police. In Saints Row 3 he gets shot by some Belgian douche. His death was only in the game as a shock, but it's lousy execution just kills any drama that could come from it.
That being said, I still enjoyed 3 as a fun, silly game. I just think it was a step backwards from 2.
His death was not dramatic, it was stupid. He died offscreen in a situation he's walked away from a million times. In Saints Row 2 he fights his way out of a courthouse swarming with police. In Saints Row 3 he gets shot by some Belgian douche. His death was only in the game as a shock, but it's lousy execution just kills any drama that could come from it.
That being said, I still enjoyed 3 as a fun, silly game. I just think it was a step backwards from 2.
Yeah, and the more SR3 spoilers
THQ's meddling with Shaundi's character arc kept anything interesting from coming out of it.
Saint's Row 1 was just an attempt to fill in a vacuum left by GTA when the 360 first released. Rockstar would not release GTA 4 for another two or so years, and THQ saw an opportunity to take advantage of that absence. I recall there being a lot of buzz about a next-gen sandbox crime game at the time, so I guess the gambit worked. In retrospect, the game wasn't that great as just a blatant GTA clone, but I heard that it did have superior combat compared to that of older GTA games.
Man, SR1 has one of the best endings of any game ever.
Protagonist: "Yo, could you speed this shit up? I wanna go to Freckle Bitch's..."
<boat explodes, apparently killing everyone on it>
The whole meddling with Shaundi's emotional arc makes so much sense in retrospect. She was stuck in angry mode. It's pretty clear from the trailers that she is going to get closure, and maybe ultimately become someone in between the Shandi we met in SR2 and the SR3 Shandi, which would be excellent.
That said, I appreciated the interplay between the boss and both Shaundi and Viola. I thought their snarky criticisms and put-downs were a good counterpoint to the boss, who is really an arrogant lunatic.
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I've been trying to avoid Saint's Row 4 info as much as possible (probably can't afford it, want to wait for a sale, the details will make me crack, etc), but I just watched a video from Game Trailers and... holy shit. I mean, I knew it looked cool, but the mix of powers and gunplay with the traversal abilities... it's like Prototype and Advent Rising had a sexy fucking baby.
The whole meddling with Shaundi's emotional arc makes so much sense in retrospect. She was stuck in angry mode. It's pretty clear from the trailers that she is going to get closure, and maybe ultimately become someone in between the Shandi we met in SR2 and the SR3 Shandi, which would be excellent.
That said, I appreciated the interplay between the boss and both Shaundi and Viola. I thought their snarky criticisms and put-downs were a good counterpoint to the boss, who is really an arrogant lunatic.
I can see Boss now on the sidelines, "Will you just make out with yourself already?"
Viola was a really great homie, she felt like a character that fit in the universe. Rather than Tera Patrick who seemed like she was just phoning it in.
I've been trying to avoid Saint's Row 4 info as much as possible (probably can't afford it, want to wait for a sale, the details will make me crack, etc), but I just watched a video from Game Trailers and... holy shit. I mean, I knew it looked cool, but the mix of powers and gunplay with the traversal abilities... it's like Prototype and Advent Rising had a sexy fucking baby.
Posts
Coming into the series at #3, I feel like Saints Row is best when it's nothing but big dumb bombastic fun. Which is why I'm excited about #4. Nothing I've seen so far indicates that they're expecting you to take any of it seriously.
You cant have highs without the lows. Well you can, but it doesn't make for very good highs. they just end up being "Meh"
In Saints Row, you can co-op with anyone who's at any point in the game at any time. It might seem ideal to have two dudes start from the beginning and advance to the midway point of the plot, but what about the guy who was at the beginning and co-op'd with someone who was already at the midway point? You'd skip half the story and the unlockables would go all wonky. I doubt they'll change this. I believe collectibles and bought stores and clothes and items and garage'd cars and acquired experience and money and completed activities all carry over anyway.
Yeah
I played Saints Row 1 and 2 and was not impressed by any of it, be it the gameplay or the tone
But I thought The Third was sublime
And apparently it was a huge hit so I'm glad they're doubling down on that approach
I don't want to become emotionally invested in any of these characters and I don't think I can. They're slimebags, if one of them dies in a cutscene, I actually feel relieved.
The humor and violence is much more tongue and cheek. In Saints Row 2, it can get quite viscous. But the Saints who die in 2 don't really deserve it.
I never actually took notice of the series until SR3, I don't think it really started to stand out from the crowd to outsiders like myself until then.
In 2, they keep making me think "Holy shit, you're a sociopath."
They did a good job of making him an actual character and funny. He's actually more of a badass than Gat now.
Because my Gat is DEEEAAAAADDDDD
Don't think I would be able to clean up all the dead hobo bodies without him.
Steam: Chaos Introvert | Twitch.tv: Chaos_Introvert | R*SC: Chaos_Introvert | PSN: testsubject23
And I love it.
I love Pierce, so Russian boss was a natural fit for me. It sucks she's gone.
The IS is just refusing to run in a way that I can actually do anything with it on my laptop. I guess that hour I messed around with it the other day was a fluke. I'll have to wait for the PSN release next week.
All that viscous violence.
I'm going to be honest with you, I found out they changed the locations of the collectibles and theres no way in hell I'm man enough to find them all without a guide. That might take me a month or two and I was hoping to move on to The Third sometime before then.
That's basically the explanation as to why they went with that as the canon ending.
GotR is built so that you can change any of the options in the installer at will and it will not affect your save. Feel free to experiment. Also, restoring the collectibles to their original vanilla locations is one of the options in the misc menu if you don't want the challenge.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/idolninja
Really awesome work on the mod. Turning on some new options, Zombie gang FTW.
You know that plan is an exact copy of the one CJ uses in GTA San Andreas? That's the best part of the joke.
Heh
One of the things I liked best about SR2 was the sense of escalation. It felt very real, and like how gang violence really does spiral out of control in real life (even if the world setting and the actual events are not real life).
The boss is not an innocent party in any of this, he sets many of the events into motion that lead to tragedy, and then he reaps increasingly horrific revenge.
If I had played SR2 first I might not have played SR3 at all. But I didn't, I played the funny one first and then went back and was alternately shocked and impressed and horrified by what I saw. I do think SR2 was really well done, but it's totally not my normal cup of tea.
SR3 on the other hand had a perfect tone. You have
But the IS trailer sold me, simply with the "Epic Sax Guy" dance move the gi wearing dude does at 1 minute into it.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
So, fast forward to 2008, and Volition is stuck. With GTA 4 having been released, you cannot rest on the strength of being the only game in town, but THQ clearly wants a sequel because SR1 sold well enough to merit such. When it became obvious that GTA 4 was going to be a more serious drama about the criminal underworld, Volition got the idea to go the other way and treat the game like the weird sandbox it was.
The rest is history, although some argue that the game has gone a bit too zany to the point where nothing is grounded and it's just wacky for the sake of it.
I had never even heard of Saints Row until I happened upon a blog post by a gay blogger who was raving about this game with great character customization, Saints Row The Third. He posted a really funny video of him making his boss, who turned out to be a kind of a bearish dude who runs around in a thong.
I bought it just based on that, and fell in love with the franchise.
That being said, I still enjoyed 3 as a fun, silly game. I just think it was a step backwards from 2.
Yeah, and the more SR3 spoilers
I can't wait to see how SR4 plays out.
Protagonist: "Yo, could you speed this shit up? I wanna go to Freckle Bitch's..."
<boat explodes, apparently killing everyone on it>
<credits roll>
Fuck yeah!
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
That said, I appreciated the interplay between the boss and both Shaundi and Viola. I thought their snarky criticisms and put-downs were a good counterpoint to the boss, who is really an arrogant lunatic.
.... I may have to crack.
I can see Boss now on the sidelines, "Will you just make out with yourself already?"
Viola was a really great homie, she felt like a character that fit in the universe. Rather than Tera Patrick who seemed like she was just phoning it in.
Yay, someone else who played Advent Rising!