Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:12 pm**

Agents of Mayhem, Deep Silver Volition's next game to be set in the Saints Row universe, now has a release date: 18 August 2017.

Last year's announcement video; the new Bad vs Evil video.

The obligatory Steam blurb:

From the creators of Saints Row comes Agents of Mayhem, a new IP set within the Saints Row universe! When the nations of the Earth have fallen under the rule of LEGION, a supervillainous cabal of criminal masterminds and costumed megalomaniacs, only MAYHEM is left standing to take back the world.

Control a group of unique and diverse Super Agents to cause mayhem in the open world of Seoul, and stop the evil plots of the nefarious forces of LEGION.

Features
Take the fight to LEGION in Seoul: The City of Tomorrow, an open world brimming with world-shaking missions, city-spanning doomsday devices, and evil underground lairs!

Take your team of three Agents into the field and swap between them on the fly for maximum mayhem!

Upgrade and customize your Agents to create your personal dream team of gadget-wielding anti-heroes!

Upgrade the ARK--MAYHEM HQ--to unlock even more mayhem-making means!

The newest game from Volition, the studio responsible for Saints Row!

Posted: **Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:26 pm**

I don't know if anything can beat a gangster President super hero, but I'm willing to try.

Posted: **Tue May 09, 2017 1:34 pm**

"Franchise Force" trailer

Meet Agent Fortune

Learn all about Agent Fortune with Senior Designer Ryan McCabe, Sr Animator Mike Jungbluth, Writer Jeff Bielawski, and Fortune voice actor Melanie Minichino on our May 4, 2017 stream!

[...]

We'll be streaming Agents of Mayhem every Thursday at 2pm PT/5pm ET/22:00 GMT from now until release on August 15!
http://twitch.tv/dsvolition

They've also adjusted the release date to 15 Aug, making it a traditional Tuesday release, and opened up pre-orders on Steam.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:10 pm**

It appears that the game just unlocked on Steam, an hour ahead of schedule.

The initial wave of reviews seem to be all over the map, so if you're interested in the game you might want to make a point of checking reviews by someone who's tastes tend to align with your own. Volition's SR games were right up my alley, and the gameplay streams that popped up for the last few days look good to me, so I'm all in for this one.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:45 pm**

I'd love to pick up the game sigh unseen basically on the strength and fun I had in saints row. BUT, i just dont have the time to play so i probably will pick this up in the winter sale. Eagerly looking forward to reading impressions.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:02 pm**

Tom Chick at QT3 absolutely loved it, FWIW.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:23 pm**

I really loved SR3, and while 4 had some really cool moments, I thought all the powers you got by the end of the game ended up ruining a lot of what made SR3 (and open world games in general) fun.

Looks like this will be a return to a slightly less high powered kind of game. I'll miss being able to customize my guy, but lots of new things to enjoy all the same.

Edit: Gave in and ordered. Assuming the wife is in a good mood tonight, I'll try to give some impressions tomorrow.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:37 pm**

pft...i'm weak...for those playing at home, if i steadfastly say i'll buy it 6 months from now....chances are i'll give in a few hours. I'll steal a few hours here today to give it a go.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:24 pm**

I love Volition and will buy all their games. Just not until after GenCon.

Saint's Row always had heart and over the top action. Maybe LEGION will give me the satisfaction in punching some virtual Nazis in the face. That would be cool, especially if we could get in some OO coop games.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:37 pm**

I am liking it. It's definitely not Saints Row 5, but it's got a bunch of those elements to it - zone control, stealing cars, team members ragging on each other, etc.

So for the spoiler babies on this board who have not played SR4, I'll spoiler tag some brief impressions.

Spoiler:

There is crafting and lots of junk to collect and money, and you can use it to create stuff if you collect blueprints. Haven't got very far into that.

I imagine there will be a ton of challenges and side-missions and other non-main-story once I level up my base enough. You command a squad of three agents (so far?) at a time. You can switch between them at will, but they each remain as-is when you switch to a new agent. So if your tank is near death, he'll still be near death when you switch back to him. Unfortunately I only like 1.5 of the three starter agents.

All the agents you have active at one time (3) level up together, they all gain the same amount of XP for a mission or whatever you are doing. I'm not sure how that will work out with mismatched agent levels. Could end up being a powerlevel whine on forums.

Good points: very frenetic SR3 and SR4 -like combat. Lots of jumping around, which I did not like in Borderlands Pre-Sequel, but I have come to like it in SR games.

Bad (well, let's say unlikes for now): Ground movement seems clunky somehow, as do the weapons for 2 of the 3 starter agents. No cooldown timer for dash (dodge, basically). Hard to keep track of cooldowns/recharge on your special (usually some kind of AOE, but not necessarily) and Mayhem ("ultimate" power, think Overwatch or Borderlands class power).

I'm sure I'll start liking it more once I unlock some agents that better match my play style.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:42 pm**

Crashing on startup for me. Sounds like a number of others are having the same issue, so hopefully gets patched soon.

Edit: Started working after reinstalling and rebooting.

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:23 pm**

One issue I came across was it not starting. Disabling my antivirus enabled it to start.

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:16 am**

It's not bad so far. I'm missing all the customization and the coop play, but the combat is fun, the characters all have different and unique power, and I enjoy the mechanic of being able to swiftly change between the 3 agents in your party.

Probably reasonable to wait for a sale if you're on the fence, but it's fun enough if you enjoy this type of game.

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:33 pm**

Mayhem Pierce is awesome! At least when compared to Saints Row Pierce.

He's a very capable agent.

Posted: **Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:42 pm**

I'm starting to get the groove of this game (after unlocking a few more agents) and I'm really digging it.

Volition did a good job of taking the SR gameplay and turning it into a new game. I don't think you're going to run into the SR4 OP issue. So far (and I'm not all _that_ far so...) if you start doing stupid things your entire squad will get killed in short order.

That did happen to me once so far, but as far as I can tell there's no penalty to dying. I expect you fail active missions but I didn't happen to be on one.

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:45 pm**

Some small notes:

Differently-leveled agents get different experience for missions. It doesn't vary dramatically, but it is different.

When you assault a Legion base, if they are going to give you Legion tech it will be for one (or more) of the agents you took on the mission.

Hollywood is kind of a dick. Gat's mayhem power is cinematically amazing.

Posted: **Fri Aug 18, 2017 12:19 pm**

So put in a few hours over the last few days. Not that far into it...

-its very twitchy/busy i feel in combat. I dont normally play shooters so take that into consideration. But in combat you have to keep pretty busy aiming, firing, and moving around. Very fast paced for my tastes and I'd prefer something a bit slower. But that's just me. I can adapt to it. For comparison, i prefer the combat from M.E. Andro. over this.

-has the same attitude of S4 and such. Which i like a lot. The atmosphere i think is pretty cool overall. I think T. Chick referred to it as in the same vein as freedom force and i think that's fair.

-you cant get damaged from falling; which i think is awesome. So you can just drop from a tall ass skyscraper and go along your merry way.

-like being able to swtich instantaneously between your team members

-powers are pretty cool so far of the agents I've unlocked (4 so far).

- no real game stopping bugs that i've hit.

-havent gotten into the open world too much.

Overall enjoyable and i look forward to playing more of it.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2017 8:52 pm**

After a lot of time with this game (and reading the complaints about it from the grumps on the internet) I think I've figured out the best way to explain the appeal of this game.

It's NOT Saints Row 5, it doesn't try to be. As I see it now, it's Saints Row City of Heroes (unfortunately there is only one story arc). So CoH-lite in the SR universe.

You've got a bunch of heroes, each with their own spec. True they are all "shooters" in effect but that's not really the best way to play all of them. If you don't like brawlers, choose someone else. Like glass cannons? There are a couple of them too.

Then you have the random sandbox missions. There is always some crime happening in the city. It's your job to clean it up! Save hapless kidnap victims! Beat up random baddies! And the most "CoH"-like mission: infiltrate a Legion base.

These are set up almost exactly like CoH door missions. There's a set of rooms all randomly stuck together, with random end mission goals. Sometimes you can sneak through without fighting anybody. Sometimes you have to take down the level boss.

Once I got into the CoH mindset I started enjoying the game a lot more than I had been. I'd already started burning out on it to tell you the truth.

The game even lets you set your own difficulty. It will recommend one, but if you think you're a super-badass (like I was when playing Masterminds in CoV) set it two levels higher if you want! I am not a super-badass in AoM

If I were to start playing now, I'd tell myself to play enough story missions to unlock all the heroes before you really get going in the metagame (leveling, sidequests, etc.). Just some advice from me to me. I hope you like terrible primary school Uranus jokes. I do, though, so that works out for me.

Posted: **Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:09 pm**

killbot737 wrote:If I were to start playing now, I'd tell myself to play enough story missions to unlock all the heroes before you really get going in the metagame (leveling, sidequests, etc.). Just some advice from me to me.

Yeah, I got carried away with the open world stuff and suddenly noticed that I had everyone at the level cap before getting around to unlocking Scheherazade. Oops.

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:46 am**

...

Volition Layoffs Reported

Over 30 employees were laid off this week from Volition, reports Kotaku, where they say the casualties include general manager Dan Cermak. They have not heard back from Volition owner Deep Silver about this, so it is unconfirmed, but they say their information comes from three sources. According to these informants, this move was prompted by the disappointing performance of the recently released Agents of Mayhem, an action game intended to expand the Saints Row series. According to the story, the developer had around 200 staff prior to this.

spotted @ Blues

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:01 am**

KDH wrote:...

Volition Layoffs Reported

Over 30 employees were laid off this week from Volition, reports Kotaku, where they say the casualties include general manager Dan Cermak. They have not heard back from Volition owner Deep Silver about this, so it is unconfirmed, but they say their information comes from three sources. According to these informants, this move was prompted by the disappointing performance of the recently released Agents of Mayhem, an action game intended to expand the Saints Row series. According to the story, the developer had around 200 staff prior to this.

spotted @ Blues

Why the "snooty" emote? Are you trying to look smug about the fact that 30 people lost their jobs?

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:58 am**

the fact that the emote is labled "snooty" is beyond my control ... I was disapproving of the news, because 30 people lost their jobs. I think the "publishers" should try their hand at creativity and let their kids next meal ride on the outcome .. there'd be a lot of hungry EA kids

I don't always read what an emote is labeled .. things to do, people to meet .. ya know?

on a side note .. we need better emotes .. who supplied these? The BB-Code folks?

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:58 pm**

Ah, OK, I failed my perception roll on that one.

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:05 pm**

Perhaps you should watch the next emoji spelling bee.

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:59 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote:Perhaps you should watch the next emoji spelling bee.

Messages that are "spelled out" in emoji/symbols I can usually puzzle out, given sufficient motivation to make the effort. It's really just an evolution of 1337-5p34k for the most part. It's the case of a single contextually ambigous symbol is that often proves difficult for me.

At any rate, the news of lay-offs at Volition makes me feel

. I like AoM and *loved* the entire Saints Row series.

<understate>Freespace and Summoner and Red Faction were pretty good too.</understate>

Posted: **Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:52 pm**

Volition had been a pretty stable workplace. This is disappointing.

I haven't bought Agents yet only because I don't have much time for kid inappropriate gaming any more.

Posted: **Sat Sep 30, 2017 12:54 pm**

Yeah it's not exactly a kid-friendly game. Although the whole Uranus exhibit at the planetarium floats around middle/elementary school humor.

Fortune has some nice booty-shaking idle animations, and the bouncy one she does when she's deployed.

Posted: **Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:30 pm**

killbot737 wrote:Yeah it's not exactly a kid-friendly game. Although the whole Uranus exhibit at the planetarium floats around middle/elementary school humor.

Yeah, but it's intentionally juvenile and stupid. It's the payoff for the banter between Friday and the agents at the beginning of the mission. Still, it probably helps to have an appreciation for "dad jokes" to enjoy it.

Posted: **Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:32 pm**

I finished the final-final mission battle by accident. I knew what to do, but the enemy was invisible (I guess?) so I missed the moment once or twice. The third time I lucked out.

I don't think this game is going to get the after-launch love it deserves. It is really fun, but it's not a Saint's Row game. It's too bad they are making cuts to the studio, but I guess these things happen all the time and I hope all those people can find new jobs right away.

Posted: **Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:40 am**

Patch Notes v1.05

NEW FEATURES
• All Agent vehicles are now equipped with a weapon that fires a circular shockwave, affecting nearby vehicles and people. It can be activated with: PS4 – Circle button, Xbox/PC gamepad – B button, PC keyboard – Q key.

HARDWARE SUPPORT
• PC: Agents of Mayhem now supports CPUs without SSE 4.1/4.2 such as the AMD Phenom and Phenom II. While the game should now run on these CPUs, they are below minimum requirements and we do not offer technical support.

IMPROVEMENTS AND TWEAKS
• There is now clearer audio/visual warning when the current agent is at low health. Squadmate icons also show low-health, so you can better decide which agent to swap to.
• LEGION takebacks of Outposts no longer loses previously completed Relic Trading Companies or Gremlin Meetups.
• A countdown timer on the map now shows when LEGION's Outpost takeback offensive will start.
• LEGION can now only retake a maximum of 3 outposts, always leaving at least one in player control.
• The SQUAD menus now indicate unspent skill points via a green "+", and new core upgrades via a core symbol. The DEPLOY menus indicate new skins via a shirt icon.
• The contracts list now uses icons to show the different goal types. They are also now sorted by Agent name, so all contracts for an agent are grouped together.
• Joule’s damage has gotten a buff
• Agent-specific contracts now only require that agent to be in your current squad. You no longer have to be directly controlling that agent.
• LEGION lieutenants that appear in the open world (Ariadne, Hammersmith, etc.) now drop fleurs when defeated so you can revive downed specialists after the fight.
• The shard-finding upgrade now solely uses 2D map distance instead of taking altitude into account.
• The maximum number of simultaneous Hate Machines in the open world has been reduced to 3
• One of the random load-outs for the Pride Bot was borderline impossible to beat. Its stats have been reduced.
• Moving platform elevators on MAYHEM controlled Outposts no longer need to be hacked again.
• After loading into the Ark, the agent can move immediately, instead of having to wait for the current animation to finish.

MISSION FIXES
• Fixed long delays in mission conversations that could occur during driving objectives. This was most noticeable on the PlayStation 4.
• Braddock's agent vehicle is no longer set to the default after finishing her personal mission.
• Fixed dialogue in Braddock’s personal mission that could repeat depending on how Hauser took damage.
• Rama’s unlock mission now displays the “call vehicle” tutorial even if the Agent vehicle is already spawned.
• Fixed possible infinite load screen when entering the VR section of Red Queen.
• Objective icons for the Heaven Sent “Go to Planetarium” objective now work correctly if the marked mission vehicle is ignored.
• Objective icon on Red Card’s vehicle is now correctly removed if his personal mission is aborted.
• Opening the SQUAD menu during an Agent mission no longer has a chance to crash the game

OPEN WORLD FIXES
• Fixed pedestrian spawning issues that could cause them to suddenly appear out of nowhere
• The hack icon for the Master Programmer Outpost can now be completed even if the boss fails to appear
• Fixed the long delay between hacking the antenna at the first LEGION Outpost and getting the completion screen.
• Hate Machine, Drop Pod Launcher, and Ice Barrage no longer silently clear LEGION alert level when destroyed.
• The Gravity Dominator will no longer pick up vehicles that are important to other gameplay, such as the target of "destroy vehicle" or in Hollywood’s Personal mission.
• Floating chests are now correctly aligned with the ground.

ARK FIXES
• Failing a Wreck Room challenge while the mission briefing objective is displayed no longer hangs the game.
• Fixed hangs caused by returning to the ARK in unusual circumstances, such as right before the entire squad dies.

MISC FIXES
• Pausing right as a cutscene ends no longer hangs the game
• Gremlin Tech status effects are now correctly applied to Joule's turret when the "Haute Couture" elite tech is used.
• Rama’s bow now behaves correctly if the menu is opened while the bow is in a drawn state.
• Agent “arrival in Seoul” voice lines now correctly play after teleporting in to the city.
• Poison Gas in LEGION lairs now renders correctly if you leave the room and then return (instead of being invisible and still causing damage.)

ACHIEVEMENT FIXES
• The "Hardcore Gamer" achievement can now be completed by replaying missions at difficulty 7+. You no longer need to be at that difficulty the first time through, and Agent missions are no longer counted towards the achievement.
• The “Hello Ladies” achievement for unlocking all vehicles now works correctly on PC (previously fixed for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in patch v1.04.)
• Team skin achievements (e.g. "Three's Company") are awarded the first time the skins are equipped (instead of having to remove them, then put them on again).

MAP AND UI FIXES
• The Relic Trading Company completion screen now reflects the additional income from the “Madigan Bank Investment Portfolio” agency upgrade.
• Fixed various issues with "NEW" icons displaying incorrectly or not displaying at all.
• The agent roster grid no longer overlaps other UI elements when more than 12 agents are unlocked.
• When joining new connected contracts, the progress meter shows the correct completion percentage instead of always showing 0%.
• Agent missions no longer have duplicate text in their descriptions on the map and mission log.
• Added messaging if the target in "Acquire Vehicle" is destroyed or the captive in "Hostage Rescue" dies.
• The messages after destroying LEGION Tracking Equipment no longer overlap.
• Red “required kill” triangles now show on the city map
• Gremlin Meetups after the initial tutorial visit now remind you to return later for more Gremlin Tech.
• Fixed the Global Conflict timer being displayed incorrectly in certain circumstances
• Onscreen text now reads “COMPLETE” instead of “TASK COMPLETE” when finishing an open world activity.
• Usage of the new Agent vehicle shockwave weapon is now part of the tutorial for Heaven Sent: Down to Earth.
• The Vehicle Bay and Squad Load-out screens now give info about where to find vehicle and Agent skins
• Corrected the description of Intel on the Inventory screen in regards to how it is earned

Posted: **Sat Apr 21, 2018 12:42 pm**

I know the initial impressions for this game were decidedly "meh", but I'm rather enjoying it. I didn't expect it to be Saint's Row (in any capacity) so maybe that's what people were grumbling about? It's a cheeky Saturday Morning Cartoon theme with random dick jokes and low-brow humor. It actually reminds me a bit of City of Heroes with each character having a distinct personality and set of powers (or weapon styles). The controls aren't the greatest (I'm using an Xbox 360 controller) but I've been enjoying it enough to continue playing. With the next STEAM sale right around the corner, I figured I'd bump this thread a bit so interested parties could add it to their wish list.

Posted: **Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:41 pm**

It's started to pop up on sale for around $6.50 which nudges it into impulse buy territory. I will probably pick it up if the base game + DLC bundle hits $10.

Octopus Overlords

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