Octopus Overlords

New city, new gangs, new boss, new sidekicks. Target release date: 25 Feb 2022.

100% in.

Here is the rest of the segment from Gamescom Opening Night Live.

Oh. Yeah!

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Aug 25, 2021 2:26 pm100% in.

Absolutely. One of my favorite series of games of all time. I enjoyed every damn one.

I love the Volition team and Saint’s Row. 100% in, and I hope to reunite for coop. Saint’s Row brought together my Punk Rock Girl with Rip’s Cowboy for some street brawling.

Apparently it's going to be an Epic Games Store timed exclusive, so if you absolutely have to have it on Steam you'll likely be waiting until Feb 2023.

The Saints Row reboot will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC

A Deep Silver spokesperson confirmed today that Saints Row will be a timed Epic Games Store exclusive.

Deep Silver wouldn't clarify how long the exclusivity period will be, but if the arrangement is similar to Epic's deals for big games like Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3, Saints Row will probably be Steam-free for at least a year.

Saints Row

Saints Row Gold Edition

There's also a platinum edition, but it's just the gold edition with a copy of SR3 Remastered, so only for those who miss out on the freebie.

Should have guessed that was happening. See you in 2023, thread.

Some of the EGS timed exclusives have been less than a year (Borderlands 3 was only 6 months), but it was a year for SR3RM, so I'm expecting the same this time as well.

I'm in if the early reviews support the hype... you know, like Cyberpunk 2077

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:12 pm

Should have guessed that was happening. See you in 2023, thread.

It is probably better to get it in 2023. Going to be less buggy and maybe at least 75% off sale.

I wonder if that means a new sequel to Red Faction: Guerilla won't be far behind. Surprisingly, the series hasn't had a new game aside from the remastered version. Both the Saint Row games and Red Faction are also in a shared universe given than Ultor Corp appears in both series.

Exclusivity deals are really tiresome but since they’re also going to release the game on all the consoles it doesn’t affect me since I’m playing a majority of my open world and shooter games on a console. And I might even have a PS5 when 2022 rolls around.

I have no issues with Epic. I have an account, I've paid for games on Epic, and I use Epic. I'm fine with it, and I'm fine with buying games from them. I don't care that they don't have the features that Steam does. They don't need most of them - not every store needs to serve as a full-featured gaming service.

But I agree at this point. Epic needed exclusives to get a toehold in the market, and I was OK with that early on and defended them on it. But they've got their toehold. Now they need to grow their brand through quality. Exclusives at this point don't have the same justification in my eyes.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:48 am I wonder if that means a new sequel to Red Faction: Guerilla won't be far behind. Surprisingly, the series hasn't had a new game aside from the remastered version. Both the Saint Row games and Red Faction are also in a shared universe given than Ultor Corp appears in both series.

Or Descent. Or Freespace. Or Summoner. They could all use a new sequel or a reboot. Although I'd prefer a sequel Red Faction over Guerilla. Same setting, different feel.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 11:37 am

Rumpy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:48 am I wonder if that means a new sequel to Red Faction: Guerilla won't be far behind. Surprisingly, the series hasn't had a new game aside from the remastered version. Both the Saint Row games and Red Faction are also in a shared universe given than Ultor Corp appears in both series.

Or Descent. Or Freespace. Or Summoner. They could all use a new sequel or a reboot. Although I'd prefer a sequel Red Faction over Guerilla. Same setting, different feel.

Thing is, I don't think the original linear Red Faction format would work too well in this day and age. It's so 2000. Everyone is all about open-worlds now.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 1:04 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 11:37 am Although I'd prefer a sequel Red Faction over Guerilla. Same setting, different feel.

Thing is, I don't think the original linear Red Faction format would work too well in this day and age. It's so 2000. Everyone is all about open-worlds now.

I know, and I'm pretty burned out on them. Open world mostly just means a vague, confusing storyline, balance issues (if you play too thoroughly, or not thoroughly enough), and padding (no, I don't want to collect all 50 whatsits, mostly by doing things that make no sense in terms of the setting - why would I climb all of these again?) Open worlds became a hit because they were something different. They're not something different anymore.

It's time for the pendulum to swing back toward the middle. There's a happy medium between open world and linear where you can still have a tight story with setpiece moments without massive maps full of mind-numbing busywork, yet still give the player freedom. Deus Ex did it 20 years ago. The newer ones do it while you're on missions. But another giant map with some variation of towers to reveal points of interest in a region and 75 audio logs to collect? Ugh.

Red Faction wasn’t open world because you could break the game with its destructible terrain mechanic. And Volition had a reputation for getting games done without falling into development holes.

Guerrilla was,but lacked the terrain destruction.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:01 pm Guerrilla was,but lacked the terrain destruction.

Yeah, I actually forgot that the first two games had destructable terrain. It was Guerilla that had the destructable buildings only. That said, I still think it'd be rather amazing if it had both in a Guerilla sequel. One thing I didn't like about it though were the super-agressive enemies, which is the same problem I've had with Just Cause 4.

The building destruction was fine, and it made sense. It did get pretty old after a while, though.

The destructible terrain was something they ended up regretting. First, it required buy-in. You had to ignore the fact that if you mined out around a building, you'd get a floating building. Or that the underground had to have invisible walls. Second, it apparently made designing the gameplay a nightmare, as you couldn't have a closed door or a wall. You couldn't have a building. It was like having noclip on the whole time. It made it impossible to design the levels or pacing. In the end they ended up making the terrain destruction - the big selling point of the game - into a feature that didn't show up that often. Instead you were always in unbreakable rooms or hallways. It was the only way they could make a game around their destruction engine, and they were pretty heavily criticized for it.

Red Faction was basically started to implement the destructible terrain intended for Descent 5. It was cool technology to see in development. I talked them into letting me visit and see FreeSpace 2 when I was doing user mission reviews and FRED tutorials. A lifetime ago.

Actually, come to think of it, there is a game with fully destructable terrain and buildings that came out recently that uses voxels. I haven't played it but I've seen it in action and it looks pretty sweet. It's also got fluid and smoke physics.

I know it’s just preliminary footage but the game looked rather, generic, for a Saints Row game. I found the absurdity and ridiculousness of the last two games rather refreshing. If this version pulls back from that too much I can wait for a sale. It’s rather liberating walking down the street swinging a dildo as a weapon without any constraints on your sense of fashion.

I do expect Saints Row to have at least as much wardrobe customization as the previous games. I do not expect much in the way of sex toy based weaponry this time around.

$iljanus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:05 am I know it’s just preliminary footage but the game looked rather, generic, for a Saints Row game. I found the absurdity and ridiculousness of the last two games rather refreshing.

It's not just the silliness they're pulling back from, but they're also emphasizing the driving more and focusing more on action movie tropes, going for the Fast & Furious crowd. But yeah, the absurdity was refreshing and it was also how it set itself apart from the GTA series, but at the same time, the world has changed greatly since the last game came out. Two good articles below about what to expect.

https://kotaku.com/the-new-saints-row-r ... 1847571588
https://kotaku.com/six-things-you-ought ... 1847563011

After reading this thread I went and grabbed Saints Row 3: Remastered for free from Epic and man I'm having a blast. I played and finished the first two but somehow never got around to playing 3 or 4.

I remember loving this series more than the GTA games I never finished because the sense of progression felt more immediate. I love open world games, but I don't like them *too* open, as weird as that sounds. In other words, I don't have much interest in "making my own fun" by just goofing off and exploring. I want missions, I want upgrades, I want visible progression, and Saints Row delivered that.

I'm totally down for this one.

How can you be more outrageous than establishing a Gangsta4Life Entertainment Empire, becoming President, fighting Aliens, getting superpowers and going to Hell itself?

It’s not possible. It’s time to get grounded again and build from there. A Las Vegas city really has potential — and I want to see their strange version of the Strip and Burning Man.

Zarathud wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:28 pm How can you be more outrageous than establishing a Gangsta4Life Entertainment Empire, becoming President, fighting Aliens, getting superpowers and going to Hell itself?

It’s not possible. It’s time to get grounded again and build from there. A Las Vegas city really has potential — and I want to see their strange version of the Strip and Burning Man.

I think my reaction to it is less about toned down silliness and more about the tonal shift. It puts it now into being in the camp of a Driver successor than a Saints Row successor, if the focus on F&F style driving is to be believed. It sounds way more like every other open-world vehicle action game now.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:43 pm

Zarathud wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:28 pm How can you be more outrageous than establishing a Gangsta4Life Entertainment Empire, becoming President, fighting Aliens, getting superpowers and going to Hell itself?

It’s not possible. It’s time to get grounded again and build from there. A Las Vegas city really has potential — and I want to see their strange version of the Strip and Burning Man.

I think my reaction to it is less about toned down silliness and more about the tonal shift. It puts it now into being in the camp of a Driver successor than a Saints Row successor, if the focus on F&F style driving is to be believed. It sounds way more like every other open-world vehicle action game now.

Perhaps, but has anyone ever nailed both driving and third person shooting? I haven't played all of them. Most of the tight shooters have floaty, exaggerated driving. The ones with more racing style driving have floaty, imprecise shooting only saved by auto aim or lock on.

Hrothgar wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:25 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:43 pm

Zarathud wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:28 pm How can you be more outrageous than establishing a Gangsta4Life Entertainment Empire, becoming President, fighting Aliens, getting superpowers and going to Hell itself?

It’s not possible. It’s time to get grounded again and build from there. A Las Vegas city really has potential — and I want to see their strange version of the Strip and Burning Man.

I think my reaction to it is less about toned down silliness and more about the tonal shift. It puts it now into being in the camp of a Driver successor than a Saints Row successor, if the focus on F&F style driving is to be believed. It sounds way more like every other open-world vehicle action game now.

Perhaps, but has anyone ever nailed both driving and third person shooting? I haven't played all of them. Most of the tight shooters have floaty, exaggerated driving. The ones with more racing style driving have floaty, imprecise shooting only saved by auto aim or lock on.

That's not something I've ever really thought of or paid much attention to. Mostly because when it works well, I tend to not even give it a second thought But Ok, here's an example. Red Dead Redemption 2. Being on a mount is an intrinsical part of the game, and shooting from it is nearly flawless. I can move around while on my horse and still get a lot of accuracy while on horseback. Ok, so maybe I cheated a bit with that one given it's not a modern setting, but it's a fairly solid experience all around.

I'll concede that. Maybe if Rockstar makes GTA VI, they'll nail car handling as well. V didn't. It wasn't as broken as I thought starting the game. I just had crappy cars. Driving never got to the level of fun.

I wouldn't know floaty exaggerated driving if I saw it. I can tell you that I'm not a fan of racing games, so having the driving feel like an action movie rather than being realistic and sim-like is fine by me. In fact, I'd call it a plus. I certainly don't want to have to worry about changing gears, or flipping the car if I corner too fast.

Hrothgar wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:26 am I'll concede that. Maybe if Rockstar makes GTA VI, they'll nail car handling as well. V didn't. It wasn't as broken as I thought starting the game. I just had crappy cars. Driving never got to the level of fun.

Yeah, that was one of my issues with GTA V as well. The physics felt fairly light and too grippy. I know I'm a minority, but I much preferred GTA 4's physics, as all the cars "felt" different and had character, and it was fun to 'tame' them and know their limits. It made chases a more rewarding experience. GTA V's cars on the other hand, it felt like the only different thing about them were their top-speed and acceleration, with characteristics based on model type (truck, car, van, semi, 4x4) rather than actually statistics. For me that was a step back, and while I know many didn't like 4's physics, I felt it was too far in the other direction. I think ironically, even San Andreas had better physics than 4.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:30 pm I wouldn't know floaty exaggerated driving if I saw it. I can tell you that I'm not a fan of racing games, so having the driving feel like an action movie rather than being realistic and sim-like is fine by me. In fact, I'd call it a plus. I certainly don't want to have to worry about changing gears, or flipping the car if I corner too fast.

And see, that's exactly why I found it fun. There was an unknowable element to it that made things exciting. GTA V's physics on the other hand felt too safe. For an action game involving cars, the cars felt entirely disconnected from the driving experience.

Characters, Customization and Co-op

It’s been a couple of weeks since we announced Saints Row, we’ve been looking at all of the various responses and the questions that have come up. Rebooting Saints Row is a big change, and change is never easy, but we set ourselves the mission to build the very best Saints Row game we’ve ever made, and we’re confident that for longtime and newer Saints Row fans, there’s something for everyone in what we’ve created.

Saying that, we also wanted to answer some of the common questions we’ve seen. This is a Saints Row game through and through, and that brings a lot of opportunity to create and show off new things. We also see that you really want to see more of what the game looks like in the moment to moment gameplay, we’re busy readying some things behind the scenes and look forward to unveiling them when ready.

I just finished SAINTS ROW 3: REMASTERED. Is it worth diving into SAINTS ROW IV?

Lord yes. It has one of my favorite video game moments of all time - something I had to screenshot because it still brings me happiness to see.

Yes. If you want to try some multiplayer, I think I still have it installed with my savegame.