Saints Row Backlash

Revealed earlier this week during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2021, the fully rebooted Saints Row has been under fire since its big unveiling. Across multiple YouTube channels — including the official PlayStation, Xbox, and Saints Row channels — the game's CG announcement trailer has been bombarded with dislikes. Collectively, the trailer has more dislikes than likes at this point in time.

What's more, various Saints Row social media accounts have been hit with general negativity following the reveal. On Twitter, the official Saints Row account has been replying to some concerns. One reply in particular reads: "We are not backing down on this game. We get it, it's new and it's a shock reaction to a reboot like no other." This was after the same account had posted a gif exclaiming "haters gonna hate".

It's all a bit of a mess, to be honest. But why is the new Saints Row being criticised in the first place? Well, as stated multiple times, it is a reboot — and generally speaking, people overreact to change. But there's more to it than that. There are questions surrounding the game's more realistic art direction, and we've seen a lot of people having a pop at the character designs.

Indeed, the game's core characters don't really look like hardened criminals — more like hip teenagers with access to guns. But it's important to note that this reboot tracks the rise of a new Saints empire. You're meant to start out as a group of nobodies, before taking control of the title's city setting. And to be clear, there's full character customisation — your 'Boss' can be anyone you want.

It's also worth noting that we've seen the game in action — and it looks a lot more like Saints Row than the reveal trailer might suggest. At least, in terms of gameplay. You can read our thoughts in this Saints Row preview.

What do you think of the new Saints Row? Is this backlash justified? Roll with the gangs in the comments section below.

[source twitter.com, via videogameschronicle.com]