I'm mixed about this game. It certainly is a pretty good game in the Saints Row franchise, the classic humor we came to expect from Volition's game is all there intact, but the game has a few issues:

• The busywork and grind outlives the content. Again. While it's not as bad as Gat Out of Hell, there are a few things that bothered the hell out of me (namely Connected Contracts achievement being one). If you're the completionist/collectionist sort like myself, make sure to start completing connected contracts as soon as possible, and hunt down every single last shard you can. Unlike previous games there's no minimap, collectibles don't appear on the global map unless you have an Agency upgrade, and only then they appeared on the global map only if you're in a 150 meters radius, which means TAB + Click + Click, see if there's anything, escape, escape, move, repeat.
  
• The gunplay is rather anemic. It's sad to say, but they really went the old school "easy" hard mode… the enemies don't get tougher, they just gain an insane amount of HP. At max level enemies can have as much as 20k shields, 35k armor and 30k health… while you shoot bullets dealing 350 damage each. It takes forever and then some. Considering the difficulty is directly tied to the money but more importantly to the XP received, if you want to level up all the different characters prepare to suffer. Ah, in all of this I forgot to say that enemies actually hit your face for 6.000+ damage per shot instead. *Le sigh*
  
• There are many playable characters, but not enough XP to go around. I've played on the hardest difficulty possible getting the most XP that I could, doing all activities I could reach, and by the end of the game I didn't even complete leveling up all the characters. I really wanted to level up all of them and then get back with a few team combinations which I thought I'd like, but by the time I did that the game was over, and I already replayed several missions. Pity.

That being said, I still think this game is awesome. Yes, there can be a few grindy parts if you're the obsessive type, but even then I had a lot of fun for almost the entire time I played this game. If we take away the last 2-3 days I played just to clean up the connected contracts achievement, I've had MASSIVE amounts of fun:

• The characters are awesome! Each with their unique abilities and personalities, banters, storylines and motives, I really loved all the various interactions over the COMMs or while in the same party. It's really a lively and fun place.
  
• The story is quite on the insane side. It's a common by now, with all that's happened in the Saints Row universe, but I never felt the story coming short. There are quite a few interesting levels and designs I fell in love with.
  
• It's just plain fun.

Some people lament that the dungeons you go through (Legion Lairs) share the same aesthetics all throughout the game. That's certainly true, most of the lairs are randomly generated and all share the very same building blocks, but I personally didn't find it boring or frustrating in any way, just the same way I don't think Dragon Age II was a bad game because of reused assets.

So, to sum it up:

1. The game is great
   
2. Ignore the achievements
   
3. ?
   
4. Profit.

I'm mixed about this game. It certainly is a pretty good game in the Saints Row franchise, the classic humor we came to expect from Volition's game is all there intact, but the game has a few issues: [list] [*] [b]The busywork and grind outlives the content[/b]. Again. While it's not as bad as Gat Out of Hell, there are a few things that bothered the hell out of me (namely Connected Contracts achievement being one). If you're the completionist/collectionist sort like myself, make sure to start completing connected contracts as soon as possible, and hunt down every single last shard you can. Unlike previous games there's no minimap, collectibles don't appear on the global map unless you have an Agency upgrade, and only then they appeared on the global map only if you're in a 150 meters radius, which means TAB + Click + Click, see if there's anything, escape, escape, move, repeat. [*] [b]The gunplay is rather anemic[/b]. It's sad to say, but they really went the old school "easy" hard mode… the enemies don't get tougher, they just gain an insane amount of HP. At max level enemies can have as much as 20k shields, 35k armor and 30k health… while you shoot bullets dealing 350 damage each. It takes forever and then some. Considering the difficulty is directly tied to the money but more importantly to the XP received, if you want to level up all the different characters prepare to suffer. Ah, in all of this I forgot to say that enemies actually hit your face for 6.000+ damage per shot instead. [i]*Le sigh*[/i] [*] [b]There are many playable characters, but not enough XP to go around[/b]. I've played on the hardest difficulty possible getting the most XP that I could, doing all activities I could reach, and by the end of the game I didn't even complete leveling up all the characters. I really wanted to level up all of them and then get back with a few team combinations which I thought I'd like, but by the time I did that the game was over, and I already replayed several missions. Pity. [/list] That being said, I still think [b]this game is awesome[/b]. Yes, there can be a few grindy parts if you're the obsessive type, but even then I had a lot of fun for almost the entire time I played this game. If we take away the last 2-3 days I played just to clean up the connected contracts achievement, I've had MASSIVE amounts of fun: [list] [*] [b]The characters are awesome[/b]! Each with their unique abilities and personalities, banters, storylines and motives, I really loved all the various interactions over the COMMs or while in the same party. It's really a lively and fun place. [*] [b]The story is quite on the insane side[/b]. It's a common by now, with all that's happened in the Saints Row universe, but I never felt the story coming short. There are quite a few interesting levels and designs I fell in love with. [*] [b]It's just plain fun[/b]. [/list] Some people lament that the dungeons you go through (Legion Lairs) share the same aesthetics all throughout the game. That's certainly true, most of the lairs are randomly generated and all share the very same building blocks, but I personally didn't find it boring or frustrating in any way, just the same way I don't think Dragon Age II was a bad game because of reused assets. So, to sum it up: [olist] [*] The game is great [*] Ignore the achievements [*] ? [*] Profit. [/olist]