Agents of Mayhem Reviews
In the end, it's one of those 'good game buried in here somewhere' experiences.
Agents of Mayhem is a whole lot of fun but we've seen it all before.
Agents of Mayhem is an exaggerated, fun and challenging game. The combat is simple and frenetic, and the possibility to combine different agents with a variety of skills and styles makes the game fun to play. This also shows that Volition continues getting better without losing its sense of humor and characteristic style, nor the courage to make something new. The only problems are its technical issues and the small variety of missions.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Volition has essentially created their own open world hero shooter in the universe of Saints Row. Taking staple elements that are becoming increasingly popular with each passing day; Hero Characters, Loot Boxes, and Open Worlds. Splicing popular elements from other games has previously worked Volition's favour, but the lack of mission diversity, other than bosses, holds AoM back more than I’d have liked it to. The small world to explore meant things got boring and repetitive. Although, AoM isn’t so long that it becomes a total burden. If you were a fan of Saints Row then Agents of Mayhem could go either way for you, but there are nice nods to the combined universe. But, it can also be lighthearted fun and the humour is on point, as expected from Volition.
Agents of Mayhem utilizes a cool idea of steering a trio of agents, has cool cartoon graphics and proper Saints Row humor. Unfortunately the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired – there’s too much repetitiveness. Joy turns into boredom really quick.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Agents of Mayhem had a lot to live up to with a built franchise like Saints Row, but I feel the spinoff accomplishes its goal and more. The open world was a fun world to play with and the story is very charming and enjoyable. The only real flaw with the game is it can drop in frame rates and there were a few bugs that required me to restart the game but none of that was a deal breaker.
There's a lot to love in Agents of Mayhem, which makes the pitfalls harder to swallow. An imaginative story and cast of characters is burdened by an uninspired and soulless open-world. Exciting character combat gets pushed out of the limelight by notable slowdown and other bugs that inhibit gameplay. In a day where open-world games are evolving and giving players a lot more depth, meaning, and life, Agents of Mayhem feels like a step backwards. Volition ought to consider either abandoning or stepping up the open-world if they decide to continue the franchise.
Agents of Mayhem proudly barrels out into the world as a robust and absolutely fun single player experience. If you want an escape from the grimdark settings of most modern games, but still want to make things go boom, you should stop reading and pick it up now. Above all else, Agents of Mayhem is a master class in fun.
But despite these technical flaws, I still had a really fun time messing around with the agents. Enjoying Agents of Mayhem is sort of like watching a cartoon you used to love without the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia or the naivete of youth. You'll get more of a kick laughing at it, rather than with, but there's a smile on your face either way.
At its worst, Agents of Mayhem is an extremely watered down Crackdown and at its best it's a moderately watered down Saints Row experience. The game's positives just aren't enough to make up for the rest of the game's shortcomings.(...) With so many better alternatives out there, some of them even made by Volition themselves already, there just isn't much of a reason to choose Agents of Mayhem.
At the end of the day, even with it's issues, Agents of Mayhem is still a fun experience that anyone who is a fan of hero shooters or the previous Saints Row titles will be able to enjoy. Shooting hoards of Legion scum won't get old any time soon.
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.
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
From a creative standpoint, Agents of Mayhem is great. Its world stands on its own, looks good, and is hilariously written well… for the most part. Playing around with the agents' special abilities can even be fun, but many missions felt repetitive and dull. If the world of Agents of Mayhem intrigues you, I would recommend diving into it — just know that under the hood, its missions and open world aren't as creative as the rest of the game.
Agents of Mayhem is a great game and it provides a unique style of excitement.
Agents of Mayhem is a step back for Volition after the success of the Saints Row series. While the characters are good and fun, they don't feel larger than life when compared to The Boss and their crew. There aren't as many memorable moments either, and the city of Seoul is wasted. The game is less Agents of Mayhem and more Agents of Mehhem.
The presentation, the characters, the gameplay -- Agents of Mayhem feels like a great game in spots. It's got all the Saints Row style that you're accustomed to seeing from Volition, but it lacks in features when compared to other open world games of this nature.
You would expect the team behind Saints Row to make something with more verve and fewer grey hallways, but here we are with Agents of Mayhem.
Agents of Mayhem is one of those games with so much potential that just doesn't quite reach the heights it probably could. That being said, it's exhilarating combat and unique character system have me looking forward to a more polished, more fully conceived sequel.