Saints Row 3 & Automachef Free On Epic

Monday, I wrote about buses and Alexx wrote about The Garden Path being kickstarted. Tuesday, WWE 2K22 was delayed into 2022, Midautumn heads to Kickstarter, and I wrote about a free-to-play game. Wednesday, Xbox had a showcase that wasn’t overly long at Gamescom, Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster got a release date, and I spoke about a swat game I’m actually excited about. Thursday, the grotesque world of the Ken Doll was brought upon us all, as he once again did one of those shows to tell us he actually has friends in the industry. So yeah, Alexx covered Opening Night Live this year.

Another week, another double-bill on the Epic Games Store, which originally wasn’t meant to be a double-bill until yesterday. Yes, finally announced officially, the Saints Row reboot that Alexx was on about yesterday also brought something else, the remaster of the not-so-good one, and it is free. Well, that will get me emails telling me how I am wrong, and my opinions are invalid despite playing many hours of the entire Saints Row franchise. Except Gat Out of Hell, because I’ll do anything for Saints Row 2, but I won’t do that. The Saints Row The Third: Remastered edition might be free, but would I still recommend it? Yes, actually.

This is where I’m about to bring some other news that is tangentially related but is nonetheless worth noting. Mike “IdolNinja” Watson passed away, and though you might not instantly recognize the name, Mike was the best human to walk this worthless landscape we call Earth. Recently Mike stepped down from his position as a community manager at Volition after a cancer diagnosis became severe. He is also the man that created the “Gentlemen of the Row” mod which fixed Saints Row 2 on PC, and was working on the official patch. Of course, pick up the remaster of Saints Row The Third, but go play some Saints Row 2 and install “Gentlemen of the Row.”

As far as my opinion of the game goes, it is alright. It is not jumping the shark shirtless, playing “Star-Spangled Banner” on a guitar, shooting aliens, and having sex, which the fourth one is. However, it isn’t Saints Row 2‘s grim and honest look at friendship in a gang with young people being caught up in it, and the Batman villain-levels of mischievous costumed antics you can get up to either. Antics like flinging poo while dressed in stockings, suspenders, and a bowler hat. While the former is the peak that requires a reboot to be the next logical step, and the latter is the balance of gritty and cathartic, The Third just feels like the middle child. It isn’t young enough to be showered with affection and not old enough to be so messed up it can be blamed on the first try. It is a mix of the two in all the wrong ways.

Moving on to the game I knew I’d be covering this week but still haven’t touched, even though I already had it thanks to Prime Gaming. Let’s discuss Automachef. The answer to what would happen if you had to program a kitchen and didn’t have a rat to tell you what you were doing. For the most part, you are swearing at the contraption you create to just make a burger, which is something you could have done in that time. The challenges get more and more complex over time, as you have to create complicated machines in more and more constricted locations while orders come in. I must say, I really enjoy Automachef in the same way I enjoy puzzle games and Satisfactory.

All this week, you can pick up Saints Row The Third: Remastered and Automachef for free on the Epic Games Store until the morning of the 2nd of September. Next week is another game I quite like, and I’ll be talking about that after I yell about the crap over on Prime Gaming either Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m glad I’ll be talking about Yoku’s Island Express.