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The Wait For It Podcast
Hosted by MrEricAlmighty and PhilTheFilipino, the guys discuss all things in Pop Culture from movies, gaming, anime and anything in between. New episodes every Wednesday, all you have to do is...WAIT FOR IT!
The Wait For It Podcast
The Game Room Where It Happens - Saints Row The Third
Remember the first time Saints Row: The Third pulled you into its wild, unpredictable world? We do too, and it's that nostalgia we’re revisiting today. This episode is all about reliving the glory days of this iconic game that dared to break away from its predecessors and the shadow of Grand Theft Auto. Once hesitant about the Saints Row series, we found ourselves unexpectedly captivated by its third installment, which redefined what fun meant in an open-world setting. It’s a celebration of the Xbox 360 era, where the blend of chaos and humor left an indelible mark on our gaming journey.
As we explore the series further, we reflect on the mixed sentiments surrounding Saints Row: The Third and its successors. Despite its success, the series’ pivot towards exaggerated humor and sci-fi madness in later games, particularly Saints Row 4, was a divisive move. Some cherished the evolution, while others yearned for the gritty narrative and emotional depth of the earlier titles. We also touch on the broader gaming landscape of the time, dominated by giants like Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us, and how these titles influenced our gaming preferences and choices.
Wrapping up, we take a critical look at the franchise’s decline and the eventual reboot that left fans wanting more. The attempt to recapture the magic with the 2022 reboot fell flat, failing to resonate with both old and new audiences. We discuss what could possibly revive the Saints Row series to its former glory and its place among other open-world legends. Alongside this, we reminisce about other classic titles like Crackdown and Sleeping Dogs, and look forward to future gaming hits, acknowledging the ever-evolving nature of our gaming tastes and the nostalgia that keeps us coming back for more.
Interested in watching us play games? Follow us on Twitch! Want to hear more about how we got into gaming? Listen to the interview we did with Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamers!
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Speaker 2:Gaming. Wait for it Anime PLUS ULTRA.
Speaker 1:Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered, and all you gotta do is wait for it.
Speaker 2:This is the Wait For it Podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait For it Podcast. I am your co-host, phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino, and joining me, as always, is your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty. And Eric, we are here with the November edition of the Game Room when it Happens, and you and I have had a discussion over the last few months.
Speaker 2:The Game Room episodes have been a little bit of a mixed bag here in 2024, to put it lightly, and we wanted to turn a corner a little bit and make sure we gave people a little bit more of an upbeat and positive episode for the game room where it happens, because, contrary to maybe popular belief, to some people that might listen to, like, say, a 45 second clip on tiktok or something like that.
Speaker 2:We do like video games and there are games that we very much have enjoyed in the past and in our current, but we are going to actually take a trip down memory lane with this episode here today, eric, for a game that we hold very near and dear to our heart, despite us not necessarily being the biggest fans of the franchise as a whole. So I'm very interested to see what kind of like comments come out of this episode and what kind of feedback, because I have learned in researching this episode there are very specific camps. Camps, I think, like us, that say this is one of the most fun games and probably the best Saints Row game in the series, and another camp of very dedicated hardcore fans that say this is where where the series, for lack of a better term, jumped the shark. So I think and I hope we hear from both parties, because we very much fall in the camp of boy what a great time Saints Row the Third was.
Speaker 1:It'll be interesting, to say the least. I think this is a much needed kind of boost to our morale when it comes to trying games that are outside of our comfort zone, because, phil, this was a game that we or at least I will say me as someone completely new to the franchise went out of my comfort zone to kind of play. Yes, is it kind of GTA-ish? Sure, sure, but this game proved to be quite a different experience and one that I really enjoyed, even though, again, it wasn't my normal type of game that I would jump into normally. So it's nice to kind of reminisce back into a simpler time where you could try a game. You weren't sure if you'd like it and it ended up being one of those classics you remember for a long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, back to the glory days of the Xbox 360. Man, what a time. So very excited to jump into this conversation. So for all of you brand new listeners and returning listeners welcome back to the Wait For it podcast and this edition of the Game Room when it Happens. If you want to know where you can find all the rest of our content, as well as our social media pages, make sure you stick around to the very end of the episode. We'll let you know where you can find all of that. But with that being said, eric, let's get to it here.
Speaker 2:Saints row, the third, released in 2011. Quick synopsis of the game a bank heist gone wrong leaves the saints broken and lusting for revenge. They take the fight right to the source, the city of steelport, expanding their influence from the ground up. They will make allies and conquer the different hoods, building up momentum to take down the syndicate. So you had never played any of the saints world games prior to this.
Speaker 2:I had dabbled in 1 and 2 a little bit, and this was certainly a time where every single publisher developer was trying to come up with a GTA clone. There's so many, when you go down the list of all these games that try to replicate what GTA did, and I think the argument can be made that Saints Row 1 and 2 has probably been the most successful. When you look at a collection of those games, I think maybe the only one I think that comes close and maybe surpasses it is the very, very underlooked Sleeping Dogs game, which I think is something we should visit in the future. But Saints Row 1 and 2 certainly had instances where it was very silly and you know, one of the things I always think of is like there's missions where you can spray people with a sewage truck and it seemed like like that was the peak of silliness when it came to one and two.
Speaker 2:But it still took itself very seriously and I think that's why some people very much gravitated to one and two and that's why it's a little bit of a cult classic. Is there a specific reason that you never jumped into one and two? Was it just because why would I need anything other than like a GTA four? I think that was the Grand Theft Auto that was out at the time. Is it something that just didn't interest you, or what was it about the first two games that led you to never check them out?
Speaker 1:I think it should be first noted that I also wasn't a Grand Theft Auto like aficionado, like that was not a game I remember like vice city, san andreas a little bit. But gta 4 is really where I got my hands dirty when it came to the franchise, really digging into the game and going into every nook and cranny, enjoying the story and more in the game itself, where the others were casual playthroughs. So so for me it already wasn't a sandbox that I really was playing in. That being said, it might just be as simple as the cover film.
Speaker 1:When you look at the cover of the game for Saints Row one and two, it just doesn't stand out as a game that looked worth playing and for me I never saw any gameplay that made it seem like it was going to be worth my wild. Essentially what it was getting for better or worse was that it was a non-linear experience compared to your grand theft auto, a little bit more gang affiliated or focused in its story, quote, unquote and for that just wasn't really interesting because I was enjoying Grand Theft Auto at the time and it already wasn't something that I actively searched and played through. So it kind of already filled a need. And again for me, until Saints Row the third, I didn't really see the need to expand that catalog anymore. Yeah, and for me, I never beat Saints Row the third. I didn't really see the need to expand that catalog anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and for me, I never beat Saints Row one and two. I mean, I'm really dating myself here, but I think this is probably one of those games that, like I rented through whatever the Netflix of gaming was oh, gamefly, I think that's probably like I rented it through Gamefly, or maybe I was working at GameStop at the time and I took it home and, you know, tried it out for a little bit, but it was never a game that I really dove into. It wasn't until Saints Row the third came out and I took a flyer on it, because I remember seeing like gameplay videos coming out and the trailers and I was like man, this looks way different than the first two. It looks kind of fun and you really can't think of at least as far as us, I think in terms of maybe the first half hour of a game. I can't think of another game that really hooks you in in terms of just balls to the wall, absolute silliness and action and setting the tone for, like the rest of the game. I actually we both went back and played those opening sequences because that's what we wanted to remember and in again, in preparing for this episode, having not played through the entire story, probably since 2011,.
Speaker 2:If I were to go back and do it now, I probably would feel a little bit differently, based off of how a lot of other people have felt now that they have gone back and played this over a decade later.
Speaker 2:But those missions are just so fun and so ridiculous. I mean, you're you're dangling from a helicopter and like shooting people with an assault rifle with one arm while you hang off of a helicopter with the other one. You're flying through the air like after a plane is being broken apart and shooting people, which makes absolutely no sense. It's so stupid, but it's so much fun and I was like man, I'm in for something really, really special and I was definitely brought back to that time when I was replaying it. We'll talk about the issues with the remaster a little bit later in the episode. But yeah, eric, I mean this is one of those games where, like, I kept like pounding my fist on the table for you to play, even though you had never played a Saints Row game, and I was like, dude, you're going to love how fun and how silly this is. And then eventually, you did make the jump and dive into it.
Speaker 1:I think, depending on the game that you're playing, there are a couple different mindsets that you can jump into. So the first one is story based. So the first one is story based. If I know, I'm going to be getting into a very story driven game. I want to be gripped with the characters and the story and the world. I want all that to happen progressively, but pretty quickly at the start to kind of get me hook, line and sinker, for me to really be focused and dedicated to that story.
Speaker 1:This game is the complete opposite of that. It's just straight balls to the wall action, phil. The game starts off with you basically robbing a bank. You then skip ahead very quickly to a helicopter chase fight and then on top of that, you get the plane sequence on top of everything, which is one of my favorite sequences, because it's so absurd when you get on this plane, you jump out of said plane, end up back in said plane and then you continue to plummet down to save someone. It's just an absolute amount of fun.
Speaker 1:That I didn't think was possible at that time and for me, phil, when we jumped into it. It was a very good memory then and getting to play that first hour was a great time. Now, yes, is the game aging? Has it aged? Absolutely, but just the moments and the absurdity alone, I think, really took this to the next level, and if you're gonna be a game that is compared to a classic like grand theft auto, I feel like taking the dial and turning it all the way up is probably the only thing you could do, which is why I think saints row, the third, is viewed, at least for the most part, to be in very good light.
Speaker 2:And you know what, like I had totally forgotten about until again, I watched some videos here earlier today. We didn't even get to the other really great mission in the early portion of the game, which is where you storm this syndicate penthouse to Kanye West's power. Do you remember that?
Speaker 1:remember that we didn't even get to that part no, and and honestly I was thinking about that was that I had done all this stuff in this game and we still had that to go, and I know it happened pretty early. So again, the fact that you had all that stuffed at the beginning and then somewhere along the way you get a dildo to fight with this game is crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is absolutely nuts, especially when it comes to the weapons and the over the top missions. Now, once again, not getting to play the game all the way through. We probably have forgotten a lot of like the filler missions, some of the cornier cut scenes. I'm sure a lot of the humor hasn't aged very well in 13 years. That I can. I can't even imagine what that's like watching here in current day.
Speaker 2:But again, this series is about going back to games like and remembering how they made you feel, and this is one of those gems where it came out of nowhere, especially in a time where we didn't really have social media, we didn't have like TikToks or Instagram reels telling us, hey, you guys should check out Saints Row the third. It was purely vibes and I was like, man, this looks like it could be interesting and you know, I get a little bit of a discount, I'm gonna buy, I'm gonna buy the game and that's what ended up happening. So, um, I do feel for those people that are that were a little upset and disappointed that they moved away from a little bit more of the grittiness from Saints Row one and two, but in terms of a company decision as far as volition goes like. This was a great decision, and we'll also talk about Saints Row 4 here in a moment as well, which you did not play but I did. But, yeah, just a whole lot of fun and it can be played cooperatively.
Speaker 2:If you go and play the remastered version of the game that is now available actually, I'm not sure if it's available as of right now we're recording this on November 18th but when I went and bought it the other day it was $6. So I'm sure it's a game that goes on sale quite a bit. So if it is something that you're looking to play with your buddy and, like you know, you've played through all the other cooperative games, eric, I can't even imagine how much fun we would have had playing this cooperatively and the clips we could have come up with if that kind of like technology were available back then, because, yeah, this would be a whole lot of fun to go through and play with a friend, as far as like from beginning to end 100 and it was fun just for us phil to get to talk about the experiences, to really bond over what we played, and while the details have absolutely escaped us, I remember what I felt when playing the game and do.
Speaker 1:This recent playthrough made some of those things quickly apparent. For example, a couple of things that stood out to me was with the gameplay. It's very simple, very simple gameplay, but it would do fun little things like when you're sprinting and meleeing, you would just like scissor kick someone, or you'd give them the famous someone, or you'd give them the famous or you'd give them any type of move that you could think of Clothesline.
Speaker 2:My favorite is when you, when you attack them from behind and use them as like, basically a skateboard, oh for sure, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:You also have the chance to take people and use them as body shields, like there was a lot of those little things that added more fun to the gameplay. That was already pretty absurd, and where the strengths came out, so did the weaknesses. Like this game graphically not aging very well, which makes sense that they would try to do a remaster, although, again, it sounds like we'll get into how much that was really effective or not. I've heard mixed reviews on that. The game itself, though, not only doesn't age very well, but I definitely remember the fact that there wasn't a lot of variety in enemies. Yes, there were different, like gangs or factions that you fought, but the grunts are essentially just fodder for you to mow down with a machine gun or with a dildo or whatever it might be.
Speaker 2:So for me, said dildo way too many times in this episode and listen.
Speaker 1:Probably it's gonna be this is gonna be the ditty party version of what we did on the last episode with ryan. If you missed that, creator spotlight probably shouldn't be up, probably shouldn't be up, but dildo I just wanted to say it one more time great, great experience, and I really think of that again in that first hour of replaying it phil, those things were just really apparent, both in the strengths and the weaknesses, something that I really appreciated, that I remembered and I could recall, but were easily apparent at the beginning. So you kind of know what you're getting yourself into and for me it just made me not take the game that seriously when I first played it and when I go to replay it, so I could do this episode and talk about it. It didn't sway me in the wrong direction. I just looked at it for what it is, which is just a fun time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I again, like I said in the beginning, I'm very interested to hear from that camp of Saints Row fans that really did not like this game. I mean, one of the YouTube videos I watched literally was the game that killed the series. Like that's how a lot of these fans feel. But again, if you're just trying to bring in somebody on purely vibes and purely just nonsensical fun, this was it. This reminds me a lot of why I also enjoyed the first Crackdown game.
Speaker 1:I think you played Crackdown as well, right, so that was a game Crackdown was absolutely the comp I was hoping you'd make.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I couldn't tell you a thing about the story from crackdown. I could remember I could give you a decent amount of story on saints row the third, but like, when it came down to it crackdown, saints row the third just fun experiences and a chance to run around an open world and create havoc. So, uh, yes, where some of those like side missions and mandatory missions a little rinse wash, repeat, yeah, absolutely. But um, there's also those fun missions where you know you're like committing, like vehicular or insurance fraud, and like throwing your body into traffic and to earn money and all that kind of stuff, and that was a fun way to like kill time. Now, would that be as much fun now? I'm not really sure, but all I know is back then I had a whole lot of fun and and and, when everybody, and once again, and and uh, every other producer or publisher was trying to put out some sort of uh gtsk a game. Uh, this, uh gtsk grand theft auto game.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm trying to say you just kept forgetting that, hey man I really did, and when, when one finally came around, that was like worth your time. It was like, oh great, this is uh, we finally got something. That's a little bit different. I'm gonna, uh, at the end of this episode, eric will do the. Would you rather play? Because there are some gems in here that I totally forgot about that. I can't wait to run by you as we uh wrap up the episode a little bit later.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, to kind of pivot a little bit to some of the things that are definitely like not aging well in 2024. I mentioned this to you and I would be interested to see if anybody else had this issue. I played this on my gaming monitor with through my PlayStation five, and in the really dark corridors, like especially on the plane, I could like barely see, and I adjust my brightness all the way up. I made sure my brightness on my monitor was up, so I did not get a chance to play it like on my TV, which I probably should have done to compare and contrast, but I just didn't have time and I don't know, and I don't know if that's just a remaster thing, because in the YouTube video I watched recently as well, it looked like there were a lot of instances where it was just like incredibly dark and like it was just really hard to see what you were doing. You played on the 360 version through your Xbox One Series S. Did you have any of those issues as far as brightness or visibility?
Speaker 1:Nothing that I wasn't expecting out of a game this old, so nothing that like stood out to me that was graphically wrong. You know there are some. There are some shading issues, you know, throughout there are some graphic and texture things that were not smooth, and then there were also just a lot of things about the world in general that I had critiques about. Driving around in this particular world, not very interesting at all, not very lively, even though there are people or npcs all around, so a lot of the things that I was noticing. Phil, I didn't really take it as a detriment to like again not playing a remastered version. It's a little different, but I didn't really take anything to be a little weird based off my current setup. I just kind of lent that to the fact that this is a older game that I am replaying, uh, and again, very much 360 like in its playthrough yeah, and also I only played about 45 minutes, so I'm sure a little bit later in the game it probably evened itself out.
Speaker 2:But yeah, they were just in. You know, right after you do the plane mission you're driving around steelport and it's nighttime. Even then I was having like trouble seeing what was going on. Um, there are, as far as controller layout, it is not the best. Y is responsible for way too many things. I actually remember that from my first playthrough, like you could have probably, you know, changed this up a little bit, but like the y button is responsible for, or has too many uh responsibilities in this game, some of that obviously hasn't done too great, but everything else is really simple. I mean, you jump in, you know how to shoot your gun, you know how to. Um, you know, I was totally getting distracted because I just got a steam notification that your brother just loaded up balatro or whatever it is that game that we were talking about in our discord. I've never seen him play that up until just now. Now, granted, I didn't become steam friends with him until like later in the year, but no, I don't distracted me.
Speaker 1:I know total side story from our discord. We were talking about the card game that made the game of the year nominations and my brother stefan and our friend jay are dead ass trying to convince us that they knew about this game, and I don't believe him. So.
Speaker 2:I believe Stefan does, because he he's always playing something random on Steam. But yeah, but remember, like I think this is like with the way I felt I heard I saw Jay talking about it from Super Bracker Bros out of TJ. It reminds me of how I just very fiercely defend Jurassic World Evolution 2, so I was like you know what? I'm gonna give this to him. So it's like the same vein geez, well, that was a turn.
Speaker 1:Phil saints, row the third.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I got so distracted because I've never seen that notification come up before now I've talked about balotro, or however it's pronounced, nine times in one day anyway a lot saints row.
Speaker 2:the third is not balotro or some card game that we've never heard of. It's a very, very fun game, so very interested to see if you guys jumped in and played it to kind of look at the series again as we fast forward. Well, actually, eric, are there any other story beats that you want to point out other than the ones that we've talked about in the very beginning? Because I think it is kind of telling that a lot of the stuff that we remember the most is in the beginning of the game and not so much towards the middle and end.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think for me this is a game that once you kind of get bought into it, you're just going to sink a lot of time into it. Especially at that time I'd be curious what other games came out around the same time. That would have taken our attention. But for me I just really enjoyed the fact that you'd build up your reputation. The story was just absurd.
Speaker 1:This game really stands out, I mean, first off, compared to the first two, it immediately shifted gears, it went full purple, it went full obnoxious, raunchy, all of the things that I think were appealing at that time for an audience that was clamoring for something a little different, but still in somewhat of the realm of things that they know and like. So it's going to be interesting, phil, because I absolutely see both sides. I think think Saints Row III is the best game out of everything I've seen from this franchise Again, my limited experience but I can absolutely see where it kind of took this franchise to a whole different direction with the fourth one and in turn kind of leads us to where we are now. So it's definitely a pivoting point, I think, in the moment, a really good pivoting point.
Speaker 2:looking back maybe not so much well, eric 2011 was a pretty uh busy year for gaming, so here are some of the games that came out in 2011. Portal 2, which I didn't play. Did you play portal 2? You played through portal 2, didn't you, or no?
Speaker 1:like casually again. It was one of those games that I remember playing, but do I remember like going through it?
Speaker 2:no, got it. Well, portal 2 obviously was a that might have been game of the year if it wasn't this other game I'll mention here in a moment, infamous 2, which I was playing the hell out of on my PlayStation 3. Uncharted 3 came out this year, dead Space 2, eric, batman Arkham City a little game called Batman Arkham City, la Noire came out the year. If you were wondering which Call of Duty was out at that time, it was Modern Warfare 3. So there you go. Battlefield 3, gears of War 3, lots of 3s, jesus Christ Resistance 3. And, eric, this game came out that I think you've heard of. It's called Elder Scrolls V, skyrim. So like I don't know if you were playing through that, I guess I didn't play.
Speaker 1:You might have been preoccupied. I don't know how much of Saints Row the 3rd I played because outside of the PlayStation games you mentioned, because I did not own a PS3 at the time.
Speaker 2:Bullet storm, I played all of those, all of those storm we dabbled in uh. Crisis 2 we dabbled in we do crisis underrated? Lego pirates of the caribbean. I also very much played um. Dragon age 2 came out that year. So, like 2011 was crazy, jesus, these are, and we're not even taking it into account. We were still playing like Madden and I was playing 2K Dead Island the first one. We played that with some friends. So 2011 was an insane year. So the fact that we fit in Saints Row III.
Speaker 1:What a life, what a life to be able to just play games all day, every day at that time. That's the only way.
Speaker 2:That's the only way that I played this much of saints row, when arguably it's the worst game out of everything you just named you can make the argument yeah, uh, well, I think it's definitely better than bullet storm, but the rest of those, uh, you could definitely have a conversation. Um, were you about to make an argument pro bullet storm? Is that what you're about to?
Speaker 1:do okay. Bullet storm is one of those stupid ass games that we just try. We should have a whole episode of games we just like dabbled in, because bullet storm is like a perfect example of that.
Speaker 2:They wanted that to hit so hard yeah, that was from the people, I think that did gears of war, I believe, right so, and it was like their first foray into something else they're like, because it was like stylistically very similar but it was obviously very silly too. But, um, yeah, 2011 was a crazy year, um, when it comes to a bunch of other games that came out. So the fact that we fit saints row the third in amidst all that other stuff like, especially like bottom warfare 3 I'm sure a halo had come out, like the year before that you know. So we were probably still playing that here and there, um, assassin's creed revelations. So, to kind of pivot into like the where the series went from there, because sales wise it did great. I mean, as far as when you look at a graph, saints were one, saints row two and then saints were the third. It was a huge uptick in terms of sales.
Speaker 2:The reception was solid. Uh, metacritic scores in the 80s IGN gave it an 8.5. Official Xbox magazine gave ita nine and a half. That's a little overzealous, but that's fine. Official Xbox magazines probably why you're not around anymore, I don't think. But, uh and I, an 8.5 from IGN is pretty solid. Um, and then you know, you have Saints Row 4 come out out, which I don't have what year it came out here. But Saints Row 4, I did play, you did not. And one thing that's very clear is that they made sure that Saints Row the third is basically not canon. Which? Saints Row the third is like so silly that who cares it doesn't really matter. Saints Row the third is like so silly that who cares like it doesn't really matter. But Saints Row 4 to revisit that time. Eric, why didn't you play Saints Row 4? Because you did enjoy the third one, so much was it. You had just heard from word of mouth that it wasn't very good, or was there just something in there that just didn't interest you in terms of where the series was going?
Speaker 1:so we mentioned earlier a game like when you're being compared to another great franchise in a similar vein. Sometimes, especially if that game is a little more serious, a little bit more linear, sometimes it's okay to copy the things that you like about that and then also take what you have and turn that dial of craziness all the way up. Well, for the fourth one I was able to tell they were gonna turn that dial, break the dial and continue to turn it, because we went from you know, jumping out of planes and these like cinematic feats of fun and silliness and raunchiness and all of that, to just absurd, absurd levels of absurdity where you're basically now superhuman, you have superpowers, you have a ridiculous presidential storyline as like your main kind of get for this game. It just didn't seem like once we started to introduce like a bunch of supernatural and things like that, once we started to introduce like a bunch of supernatural and things like that, once we get aliens in the mix which I think the third did have a little bit of but once you really dive into that and you make that your whole thing, now we've lost sense of the plot and for some people that works as a repetitive game, I think, for that type of game, you really only have one real shot to make that impression, and then you got to show me a little bit more and, from everything I remember, leading up to the fourth, there was just nothing that made it stand out to where, oh man, I have to play it.
Speaker 1:Here's the third, and the fourth is going to bring it to a whole nother level of gameplay, of visuals, of graphics. None of that seemed prevalent at that time and I'm sure, phil, if we look at the games around that time, you know, years later, we just talked about how much time, in 2011, we had to play all those games. Well, years later, I'm now more of an adult than ever. I'm having less time to play games, so I'm sure that's also.
Speaker 2:Another part of it is that I just ran out of time and saints row 4 just didn't fit into my queue at that time for games I could or wanted to play the most yeah, and I'm gonna go through the 2013 releases here in just a moment and it's kind of very fitting that even in a two-year span, our attention spans and where what we wanted out of our games in two years completely changed, so I'll bring up those titles here in just a moment. But yeah, like you said, you have those superpowers and it's essentially like saints were the third didn't really, wasn't really part of the canon, part of the storyline. I do apologize for the Saints Row heads here that we have taken this long to mention Johnny Gat, because he is such an iconic character for this series and very, very much an important part of 1 and 2, and then he's unceremoniously killed offscreen in the 3rd, which definitely is one of my bigger gripes with that decision. Like, if you're going to kill off an iconic character, fine, but like to do it in that unceremonious fashion was definitely a huge bummer for a lot of people. And then he's just fine in Saints Row 4. Also, depending on the ending spoilers for Saints Row 3, shaundi is alive again in Saints Row 4. So all that is thrown out the window, and there are a lot of those fun silly elements in Saints Row 4, so all that is thrown out the window and there are a lot of those fun silly elements in Saints Row 4, um, and honestly, to a point there are. There is a lot of fun to be had in having superpowers and punching the shit out of pedestrians. That's not gonna get old. That's actually a very Crackdown-esque. That's one of the reasons we love Crackdown is because you could like jump in the air and fly around town. But like those were just things that I wasn't necessarily looking for in a game and they really doubled down on that volition and deep silver in Santero 4. And it just wasn't as fun.
Speaker 2:I think this one also got reviewed pretty well. Let me pull it up right now. Yeah, more so like high to mid 70s for Metacritic Destructoid gave this a 9.5. What the hell happened there? Uh, gamestop 7.5, ign 7.3, polygon a9. So it was still reviewed very well. But again, when you're talking about your core fan base that already didn't really enjoy the third game to really even more so dive into the quirkiness and the silliness, and this one really didn't bode well for the core fans, to the point where, again, this game went away for a very, very long time. So unfortunately, it just didn't stick, and I know for a fact I did not beat Saints Row 4. It was probably another one of those rentals that I hung on for a little bit, you know, got my feet wet and then returned it to wherever it was, wherever it is, I got it from.
Speaker 2:So, 2013, eric, what happened in 2013? A couple of games that I know for a fact we played Injustice Gods Among Us. Even though we're not big fighting game fans, that one was a whole lot of fun. Tomb Raider the Tomb Raider reboot we played the hell out of that for sure in 2013. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag probably the last Assassin's Creed we ever played. All the way through. That one was really, really solid. Some other games that I know for a fact that you played there's a game called Bioshock Infinite. Remember that one? That was pretty good in 2013. That would explain it. And then two other games in 2013 that would explain it. And then two other games in 2013 that came out eric, the last of us and grand theft auto 5. So why would we play saints row 4 when grand auto 5 came?
Speaker 1:out no, oh 100 between that and bioshock, like absolutely, and I know I was later on the last of us train, uh, but that explains it for you. And then Bioshock for me, grand Theft Auto for both of us Like yeah, why would we play this game? Or the expansion Gat from Hell which I don't know.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that was a thing. I didn't play. Gat from Hell yeah, he goes to hell and fights Satan, if I remember correctly, goes to hell and fights satan, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 1:Once again, it's just like that's fine and there's an audience for that, but I think at a certain point it's it's just a little bit too much. And again, there are franchises that make a living off of that. Like I was never a duke nukem guy, you know, that just wasn't a game of mine. There are those type of games that are absurd and get crazier and have those like periods where they're insane. Like that.
Speaker 2:I can only do so much of that because it's already not my genre to begin with yeah, and call of duty ghost came out that year so it was like a new call of duty. I mean, ghost was not very good but we still put a lot of time into it. For me, pokemon x and y had also come out on the 3ds, so that took up a lot of my time. Um, I know this is gonna sound funny because it's the second lego game we brought up, but lego marvel superheroes came out and you know that was like right in the middle of the mcu, so like having that game was a big deal. So, yeah, it just failed to really capture the same magic as saints Row, the third, and not only that, like I mentioned, like our interests were changing and we were looking for something different in our games. I think this was the year that the PS4 and the Xbox One yeah, I was like what did they call that Xbox? This is the same year that that came out, so our focus was elsewhere, you know. So it just really failed to capitalize on the momentum from the third game but to talk about. I will bring this up here because I do want to make sure the people that are really really big fans of the first two games this is from the Saints Row subreddit from about a year ago.
Speaker 2:Is it fair to say that Saints Row the third ruined the perception of the series? I've been a fan since the original and it's always bugged me when people call Saints Row an over-the-top, silly version of GTA. I mean it is Saints Row 1 and 2 weren't that at all. They were a perfect balance of genuine emotion with amazing characters and crazy fun with their own identity. And because of Saints Row 3 and the following games to become a series no one takes seriously anymore.
Speaker 2:I think my biggest letdown with the reboot was the reveal poster with the wall and you know a little bit more there. A lot of comments, people saying a lot of the same thing and I honestly did not know that the dedicated fan base of the series does not like Saints for the Third and that video I watched earlier today 40 minutes, eric, of just shitting on the game. Well, I won't say that because they say the parts that we talk about, the first part of the game, spoken very, very, in very, very high regard. But yeah, really surprised me that the fan base was not a fan of the third and looking as to how the series like ended up and where it went after three. I guess I I kind of understand like if you'd like that nitty gritty, saints Row one and two storytelling, and then you got dildo bats in Saints Row the third and flying around as a superhero in four and then Johnny Gat goes to hell in a DLC, I guess I kind of understand why you'd be upset about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know the customization was another thing. I don't even think we talked about like getting to create your character. That was such a fun, like little wrinkle to everything to make the experience a little bit different for everybody. So when you're, when you're playing through I don't know about you, phil I definitely took a solid 10 minutes to make my character for my replay. Why did I do that, can't tell you. I got problems, but I will say none of this surprised me. As far as reception, I didn't know that the first two were more highly regarded for the core fan base, but it doesn't surprise me because it seemed like the core fan base for saints, row one and two, and then the new fan base that kind of liked the third and maybe the fourth and then fell off. Both of those groups didn't seem excited for the reboot, which neither you or me played, and honestly, phil, I don't think that's surprising at all because it seems like the people that did play it didn't enjoy it either yeah, um, where this series ended up is kind of baffling.
Speaker 2:Really quick, I want to, um, I asked uh chat gpt to kind of summarize one of the longer comments in the uh in that subreddit question, and here's what they did. The critique argues that saints row the third set a flawed standard for the series by focusing on wacky gimmicks over the balance of storytelling and gameplay seen in Saints Row II. Volition and Deep Silver misunderstood the third's success, abandoning the gangster roots in favor of exaggerated humor and sci-fi elements, which alienated longtime fans. Game journalists reinforced this shift by praising the third's superficial features while overlooking its weak plot, shallow characters and reduced customization. The reboot's reliance on the third's tone rather than Saints Row 2's balance reflects this misstep.
Speaker 2:While the third is fun, the author finds it overrated compared to two's stronger narrative, character depth and blend of humor and grounded action. So, yeah, I totally get that, especially when, like I said, when you know, people loved the story and the characters of the third of Saints Row 2. I can't really tell you too much about the third's characters, like personality or anything like that. Yeah, I'd be impressed to give you any type of details when it comes to those characters. So, yeah, so, like I said, this game went away for quite a long time and we somehow ended up with. What saints? When did that come out?
Speaker 2:2020, because it kept getting delayed after yeah, let's see 2021, 2022, yeah 2022 and remember we got like a trailer for the game a long time before that had come out and, um, it finally released in 2022 and it was just a disaster. Uh, you know we don't throw around stupid terms like woke and all that bs that people think you know want to want to say when they're trying to be edgy on the internet. But, like saints row is the perfect example of them trying to like appeal to everybody, not one specific fan base. Like. The thing with Saints Row is like you knew who your audience was and Saints and the new Saints Row, saints Row 2022, was like hey, everybody can kind of enjoy this thing. Like whatever the hell it is, and it just none of it looked any fun. It looked like the most bland map you've ever seen. All the characters were cringe as hell. The gunplay didn't even look any fun, that all the silliness had basically been removed and I joked about this in the pre-show like because you thought that I had gone through and played this, because I talked about it with like boogie and Jordan was like, hey, maybe we should try it out because it was like one of the PlayStation free games, but this is one of those YouTube rabbit holes that I've gone down when it comes to this game because, again, very dedicated fan base, this is even something I didn't touch.
Speaker 2:I had no desire to go in and play it. There are just, it just didn't look interesting whatsoever. It didn't seem to have any type of redeeming qualities. There was never any video that I watched that was like, yeah, but it's a terrible game, but it does do this pretty well. None of that existed. So that's when you know the series is pretty much in the ground. I don't know what it would take for them to revive it. At this point, eric, it seems like this is just over and done with, and that is definitely upsetting, because there certainly is a space for a game like this to exist alongside a GTA or any other open world game you want to throw out there.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. I mean, that's a hundred percent true. I think, phil, that it's a shame, really, because the game on the surface seems like it improved graphically and that it was going back to its roots, and that didn't seem to really appeal to the people that were alienated by the third and fourth game and it definitely didn't appeal to people who liked the third and fourth game. So it was a very weird dynamic for us to get into, and the fact that it basically flopped is not a surprise, not a shock, and the fact that the franchise is probably dead also not surprising or a shock. So I don't know where it goes from here.
Speaker 1:I think if you're going to bring back this game, you have to lean into stuff, but to a certain extent, and you also have to bring new elements into the fray. Again, we talked about the opening to the game. If you're not going to be a story driven game, I need to be having fun from pressing start. There's no negotiation and if you want to be a story driven game, you really have to focus on that narrative and have very engaging gameplay behind it to support the story. There's so many things like that that I think games do very well and certain franchises do very well. Saints row has always had little elements of all of this, but never put it all together. And at this point, four games and a reboot in. I don't think they're gonna get to that point. I think they should just stop trying. It's just, it's too late.
Speaker 2:That ship has sailed it is a bummer because in a gaming landscape where ubisoft releases the same far cry game every year, you're telling me that like you couldn't come up with at least a fun saints Row and you had so many years to do it. Like, yeah, I still play the Far Cry games, but that's mostly because of cooperative play. I couldn't tell you a thing about the story in Far Cry 5. But the fact that they couldn't nail this and that's such a good point, eric like it didn't appeal to either audience. Like who was this for? It's not like Gen Z was playing it, millennials weren't playing it. Like no one was playing this game. The scores obviously reflect that as well 60s for metacritic six, uh, six out of ten. Game spot six out of ten. Ign game informer gave it a night 8.5.
Speaker 1:That's why you guys are also not around.
Speaker 2:Man gave it forward getting it uh, each uh electronic gaming monthly gave it a two out of five stars, so, like, it was just not received very well. Um, I, I think they did state that it was profitable but, like, not in the terms of, like you know, continuing to make the series and keeping it around. So it is a huge bummer. Um, I don't think this is something I will ever visit, even though it's like in my library. Technically, technically, just not something that I really ever want to play, and I don't see this being one of those games that YouTube five years from now, like similar to like Days Gone, right, like, I understand why there was an audience for Days Gone All this time.
Speaker 2:Later you can find, you can just type in Days Gone, and there's a million YouTube videos about why it was a good game. That doesn't exist for saints row, unfortunately. So in terms of the core series, eric, before I talk about some of these other open world games, is there anything else you want to mention about this? Uh, at least we got to fondly remember saints for the third. I'll just say that, like I mean six dollars, I'll go back and play saints for the third, maybe at some point, way before I play the reboot, that's for sure I think it'd be a fun game to put on stream one day and just absolutely go through the craziness.
Speaker 1:I would be down to do the co-op campaign. Honestly, I'm not gonna lie to you, that would be interesting, I would be curious. So there's there's elements of that game that even today, stand out, and this was just a great game to get back to our roots for this episode, where we can reminisce about a game but also critique the game and or franchise in what I think is a pretty healthy and, uh, very transparent way. So I think, uh, yeah, let's jump into this last piece and, uh, and kind of wrap this up. I think we said everything that there can be and, honestly, argument can be made. Too much was said about saints row the third, because I do still think you and me love this game way more than the average person oh, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2:So, um, if anything, if you've never played a saints row game, definitely go and play the third one if you're looking for a lot of silliness. Um, and the first two again, are very highly praised by its uh, its core fans. But here are some of the games eric that, um, I just looked up like gta clones, and this is a list from game rant about the 10 best gta clones ever made. I'm gonna throw out some of these that I'm pretty sure you've played. Um, would you rather play gt? I'm sorry. Saints row the third, or Sunset Overdrive.
Speaker 1:I only dabbled in Sunset Overdrive, so I will say Saints Row, the Third.
Speaker 2:Okay, so Sunset Overdrive is outstanding. We've talked about it quite a bit with our friends over at Friendly Neighborhood Gamers. It's certainly a game that I think deserves a remaster or a reboot in 2024. Because, yeah, it is great that one was made by Insomomniac, so they really cut their teeth on that one to make spider-man, so crackdown crackdown is saints road.
Speaker 1:The third that is really tough. That is really tough. I can't remember if I like crackdown one or two. I think it's crackdown two that I enjoy more.
Speaker 2:I know we didn't like three, yeah I know three we didn't even really play, because 3 was the one that took forever to come out.
Speaker 1:And then it was so different, it looks so different. I believe as well. I'm gonna say Saints Row the 3rd, but man shoutouts to Crackdown dude. That was fun, that was a fun game.
Speaker 2:I don't think we could ever do a full episode on it, but it's a good game.
Speaker 1:It is a discussion point for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, here we go. This is the one I forgot about Scarface.
Speaker 1:All right, now hold on.
Speaker 2:The Scarface game is so much fun.
Speaker 1:Do you guys know we could do an episode on that one, the Scarface game?
Speaker 2:I wonder, if they're, is that available on Steam? I would totally replay Scarface. That's tough. You could probably emulate it.
Speaker 1:I'll go Saints Row, the third, because I think the gameplay is probably stronger. But man Scarface is a hidden gem there. I think it's a great game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what about did you play? I don't think you played this version, but didn't you play a getaway game on the Xbox 360? Was it getaway? Or maybe I'm thinking of driver? What was the game that you played on the xbox 360 man ignition stuntman? That that's not an open world game. Maybe that's not what I'm thinking of. I'll skip that one. Uh, did you play any of the mafia games one, two or three?
Speaker 1:no, mafia wasn't my thing, no okay, mafia one very good.
Speaker 2:The third one was, uh, very repetitive, but I played that one all the way through. Um, have you ever played simpsons hit and run?
Speaker 1:I recall simpsons hit and run, uh, but not not to the point where I could speak on it, so I'd have to pick saint's row yeah, simpsons, hit and run uh, that is absolutely a game that deserves a remaster or just a brand new game in the in the 2020s.
Speaker 2:Um. And then the last one, which I think is kind of like the gta quote-unquote clone uh, sleeping dogs have you ever played sleeping dogs?
Speaker 1:no sleeping dogs I think you mentioned it at the beginning is one that we probably need to jump into a little more. Uh, always been a fan of it from afar, though. Um, it seems like it has that same type of appeal crime series.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was going to be true crime hong kong, and then they they re, uh, renamed it to sleeping dogs. But, yeah, that one is one. I actually own that game on the like, the ps4 disc, because, uh, they've never remastered it for ps5, but, um, that's a game that I'll jump into maybe once or twice a year just to reminisce, and, um, have a lot of fun with. Yeah, yeah, in terms of, like, gta clones, that is the one that comes to mind, and then Saints Row 2 is number one on this list, but yeah, if I could go back in time, I would play Sleeping Dogs over Watchdog.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean, I don't blame you for that, I definitely don't blame you for that, which is a bummer, because they're doing this weird thing with Watchdogs and we'll end on this, because watchdog doesn't deserve to this much time. But the watchdogs one obviously pretty bland, not very good. Watchdogs two excellent, and then watchdogs whatever the new one was called where they're in london and there's like no main character awful, so they're doing like bad, good, bad. So maybe the next watchdogs game will be really good again. But yeah, that was another, uh, one of those games we had very high, high hopes for, but unfortunately it uh did not come to fruition.
Speaker 2:So, uh, yeah, guys, moral of the story is Saints Row 3rd hell of a lot of fun. Go check it out if you have not done so already. Eric, anything else you want to mention? Any other comparisons you want to make before we wrap up this episode? Otherwise, uh, I think we've, uh, we had a good time on this one, which, again, has not been necessarily been the case on the game room this year, unfortunately, hoping to have more hits than misses in 2025 yeah, well, listen.
Speaker 1:Uh, next month marvel rivals comes out and we plan on covering that. Hopefully that doesn't suck. Well, you, you said you enjoyed the beta and all of that, so I I mean things are looking up, I didn't play the beta. Well, what the fuck do?
Speaker 2:I know I've watched people play the beta. Ah, same thing, I didn't get invited.
Speaker 1:That's so sad. A lot of good vibes around that one. It's always interesting to do games that we are excited that are coming out but we don't know whether or not we're going to like them. So to sandwich this one in between you know a few different games this year that haven't really worked out, that we've tried for the first time going down memory lane with this one a good thing and probably we're overcompensating for those other episodes by making this one too long. So we appreciate you if you stuck with us. But yeah, I think it's time to uh to put this one to bed.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. If you would like to listen to the rest of the game room where it happens library, you can find everything you need in the link tree link in the show notes. You'll find all the rest of our content, including our social media pages, and the most important ones to keep up with being Instagram, TikTok, our growing Discord page, YouTube, as well as Twitch, where we stream each and every other Thursday. If you want to support the show, you can do a couple of things. You can head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you are listening and wherever you can leave us a five-star review or whatever the highest possible review is that you can leave it's one of the most important things to a podcast. It helps us get out to new listeners, which is obviously very helpful. You can also share the content, tag us, let us know you're listening and let other people know that you are listening as well. We're turning the corner into December here very shortly, which is crazy. Eric, correct me if I'm wrong. We are off next week, Is that right? We?
Speaker 1:are we, we are, we are. But if you did miss out on our interviews at Ocala comic con, you can check that up. That episode went up, uh, right before this one actually, so you could check that out. If you haven't seen the clips or you weren't able to catch that on social media, they're all put together in one episode on audio and video, so check that out to make up for the time off. But we're going to make that up by the end of the year with a couple of extra episodes, so stay tuned.
Speaker 2:Yeah, december is going to be busy and we still have a what did I miss? Episode planned for the month of November, as well as December, as we welcome back in to Lennon Jordan to wrap up the year. But if you find yourself, just you know what, there's just not enough Wait for a podcast.
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