Agents of Mayhem Reviews
A bizarrely hollow yet mechanically competent open world action RPG that struggles to justify its own existence.
Agents of Mayhem may take place in the Saints Row universe, but this adventure title has its own bizarre cast of vulgar misfits aiming to save the world from mad scientists.
Agents of Mayhem does a good job paying homage to the cartoon and live-action TV heroes of the 80s and 90s, and revels in the absurd tropes and idiosyncrasies of those inspirations. A broad and goofy arsenal of unique weapons and gadgets and the ability to switch characters on the fly to access complementary abilities offers some solid combat and good mindless fun, but due to some unpolished writing and repetitive environments and enemy types, it doesn't fully live up to its heroic potential.
Serves up a generous range of play styles, but it's hampered by repetitive levels and a few uninspired design choices.
Hero-swapping tactics add a unique edge to third-person combat, while humor and heart elevate Agents of Mayhem's typical world-saving fundamentals to memorable heights.
Agents of Mayhem is absurd, but it leans into its own insanity in a charming way and backs it all up with fun, destructive action
Obnoxious attitude, poor mission design, and technical bugs make Agents of Mayhem chaotic and repetitive.
You can swap between the three agents you bring into the field instantly, letting you chain their different special attacks together for maximum impact. There are some clever choices here too. Derby star Daisy, for example, has to cool off her minigun by dashing through enemies, which turns a typically boring weapon cooldown mechanic into a renewable power resource.Remember those great characters? Well, practically all their dialogue is bland beyond belief. Much of the writing in Agents of Mayhem is “joke adjacent,” meaning it's delivered with the tone, pacing and structure of a joke, but is not, in actuality, funny in any way.This has likely started to feel like a litany of sins rather than cogent critique, but it's the best way I have of illustrating Agent of Mayhem's failings. It is not felled by any one thing, but is rather undone by a thousand little cuts. Agents of Mayhem heaps theoretical fun on you. Characters, powers, upgrades, tons of missions — it's desperate to for the player to just have fun. It's a noble impulse, but one that it's depressingly incapable of consistently delivering on.
It may share a genre and universe with Saints Row, but Agents of Mayhem is a lifeless husk of Volition's prior work.
Agents of Mayhem is many things, but mostly it's what happens when the development studio responsible for one of the raunchiest game series dials back the dildos and gives its heroes a little more maturity and humanity. It's something special. Like Uranus.
Agents of Mayhem wears the right outfit but doesn't go far beyond posing in the mirror.
Agents of Mayhem has spirit, but not as much as its Saints Row predecessors and not enough to completely outshine the paint-by-numbers design. Try it.
We're living in a post-Saints Row world where Volition wants to bring players something new, but familiar to the table, and for the most part, Agents of Mayhem fills that void. It retains Saints Row's sense of humor and mayhem all while adding in team-oriented gameplay. It's the agents and their individual stories that steal the show thanks to snappy writing, bizarre scenarios, and perfect comedic timing. The story itself is a highlight thanks to the insane villains, although it takes a few chapters before things pick up. It's disappointing that the remaining activities are so repetitive and lack the imagination of what Volition is known for, and with a myriad of technical issues, it feels like Agents of Mayhem was shoved out the door earlier than it should have. Still, despite a few hiccups, there are still hours of fun to be had with Agents of Mayhem. It may not be the best open-world game out there, but like its predecessors, it stands out in a sea of AAA titles that take themselves far too seriously.
For whatever reason, this feels like a game that wants to reach as high and far as the games that came before it, and simply can't.
The Saints Row vibe is strong, but Volition's latest is still a brilliantly bonkers blast-fest
Despite fun combat and characters, Agents of Mayhem becomes repetitive and grinding. In trying to chase the popularity of Saints Row, it misses having an identity of its own.
Agents of Mayhem came out with great hopes, offering a wonderful open world and a unique style of play, with many unique characters to choose from, but faced a storyline that was used in many film and games, It was put to fill the void no more, I would have been pleased if a cooperative play mode was added to increase the fun that could have made us overlook the bad story just for the fun of playing with friends.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Agents of Mayhem is a strange game. I did enjoy much of my time with it, but I kept wishing it was a fully-fledged Saints Row sequel, not some alternate universe spin-off with less content. I didn't expect all that much going in, but by the end, I wanted more than I got.
Agents of Mayhem does not do anything wrong, but it also does not stand out in any of its mechanics.
Review in Spanish | Read full review