Without too much ambiguity, the scenario places us at the head of a group of four broke friends who decide to embrace a career as gangsters in order to make ends meet. Simple but effective, this postulate still comes up against the rather questionable design of these anti-heroes, who can easily be described as millennials, hipsters or slappers (pleonasms?). The most unbearable of them is certainly Kevin, the tattooed man who spends his time bare-chested, even if the binoculars Eli and Neenah are also struggling to convince. There remains the main character, who has no other name than "the Boss", and whose androgynous appearance will be quickly changed by most players, since the customization tool allows you to create the hero that the we wish. And on this point the game hits hard, because the options are extremely numerous.
...this postulate still clashes with the rather questionable design of these anti-heroes, who can easily be described as millennials, hipsters or slappers (pleonasms?).
If the latter necessarily tick the box of inclusiveness (arm and leg prostheses, female and male "attributes" which are not mutually exclusive, possibility of sticking a woman's voice to a man and vice versa ...), they push especially perfection to the point of authorizing an absence of symmetry on the face. Creating exactly the character you have in mind still requires some time and some talent, but those in a hurry or less talented can happily import the Bosses created and shared by other players. This is a quick and effective way to play with a lookalike of Dwayne Johnson, Michael Jackson, The Joker, Aiden Pearce, Agent 47, Walter White, John Wick, Donald Trump or even Willy Wonka. The immersion takes a little hit, especially since it is possible to change appearance at any time and at will, but it would be inappropriate to complain about it, because the Saints Row saga is better known for its delusions than its realism. Note in passing that this extensive customization also concerns, but to a lesser extent all the same, weapons and vehicles.
"WOKE ME UP, BEFORE WE GO GO !"
Still inspired by the GTA recipe, like its predecessors, the new Saints Row had to offer a striking and interesting city. From this point of view it is rather a success! Santo Ileso is a sunny city, which cheerfully borrows from Las Vegas in particular and the American West in general. The atmosphere therefore has accents of the modern Wild West, and the game does not hesitate to push this character trait to the limit, via the presence of saloons, canyons or cowboy outfits. However, no monotony or monomania is to be feared, because the different districts each have their own personality, which makes it possible to pass at any time from a desert expanse decorated with cactuses to an ultra-modern city center. The ten radio stations available reflect this quite well, since there are also channels dedicated to rap, metal, classical music, country music and even synthwave! Likewise, enemy factions are noticeably different from each other. The guys from Los Panteros are big guys who seek contact, the soldiers from the security company Marshall use technologically advanced weapons and implants, and the Idols bring fun and neon colors to the confrontations.
Still inspired by the GTA recipe, like its predecessors, the new Saints Row had to offer a striking and interesting city. From this point of view it is rather a success! Santo Ileso is a sunny city, which cheerfully borrows from Las Vegas in particular and the American West in general.
On the other hand, the number of gangs and soldier archetypes per gang does not seem high enough to us to avoid a certain feeling of repetition over time. It must be said that the game offers many missions and parallel activities, and can therefore occupy for long hours. The recipe for an open world filled with things to do (things to collect, things to take a picture of, targets to eliminate, challenges to complete on a loop, secondary missions, etc.) is applied here to the letter, even if it seems somewhat dated . Fortunately, the zany aspect of certain actions helps to pass the pill and leads to good times of great nonsense, despite the absence of a weapon as delirious and striking as the Penetrator from Saints Row: The Third , to name but one. A skill system still allows you to trigger a few unusual moves, such as the flaming fist or the pineapple express (which consists of grabbing an enemy, putting a grenade in his pants and throwing it at his fellows). Helicopter driving, flight suit, possibility of positioning yourself on the roof of cars to shoot, and other stunts also answer the call.
THE SAINT-GLINGLIN
The most important novelty of this episode certainly comes from the Criminal Empire Table. The latter presents us with a map of the city on which appear fourteen empty plots, which will have to be occupied by fourteen illegal companies. It is possible to place the business you want in the location you want (it's good), even if it doesn't change much in the end to the aspect or the activities of each district ( it's less good). These companies can eventually raise a maximum of money passively, but for that you will still have to complete a maximum of missions relating to each activity. Getting rid of questionable toxic waste, recovering food trucks dedicated to drug trafficking, or throwing yourself under cars to make false insurance claims are just a few examples of what awaits you. This criminal empire system makes it possible to vary the situations even more and is one of the good ideas of the game, which offers us some sympathetic flashes, like this life-size and deliberately cheap role-playing game, or this mission which asks us to ruin the tuning of a car, and which thus brilliantly hides a tutorial dedicated to the customization of vehicles. The ultimate elimination animations, to be triggered regularly during fights, are dynamic and nicely staged, while some lighting, shading and volumetric smoke effects are quite advanced.
But the graphics are still quite classic on the whole (from a technical point of view), even though the artistic direction constantly hesitates between realism and cartoonishness, and ends up reminding us at times of the Sims (no, it's not a compliment) ! But the most embarrassing comes from the finish of the title, which would have deserved a few additional months of development. The festival of bugs and technical problems thus features permanent clipping (sudden appearance of certain decorative elements), pure and simple crashes, sometimes misplaced characters, scripts that do not start, or even tutorial messages which remain permanently displayed in the middle of the screen. The height is reached with the error message "unable to start the game" which completely prevents some players (including us on too many occasions...) from starting the game! As you will have understood, the new Saints do not really take us to paradise…
