As a fan of the series this new Saints Row was up there as one of my most anticipated releases. The early footage looked promising and after a recent hands-on it looked like it could sit alongside Saints Row: The Third. But, it feels rushed, unfinished, bland, and empty.

Even when it draws on Saints history, it falls short. A snippet.

Outside of the main story and other connected missions, creating a criminal empire is all about ventures; fronts, illegitimate companies, and other shady goings on for making money. Ventures open the door to side missions and activities, like fan-favourite modes Mayhem and Insurance Fraud. There’s running a food truck business, and working with a scientist experimenting with new weapons and gadgets too.

But, it’s a very mixed bag. Insurance Fraud, the classic mode that sees you run into traffic to ragdoll your way to a pay-day is not fun at all. The physics are all over the place, traffic barely shows up, and there’s no challenge or reward outside of hitting a certain dollar amount within a very generous time limit. The same goes for short-lived Mayhem missions. The flip side to this, some of the new mini-game missions simply rinse and repeat what you have to do without any changes or variation, in a way that feels bloated and boring.

Our Full Saints Row Review