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‘Agents Of MAYHEM’: Volition Announces New Game With Deep Silver — What We Know So Far

By David Cornell
Published on: 02:53 PST, Jun 7, 2016

Agents of MAYHEM is Volition’s latest announcement, and it appears to be a spin-off to the Saints Row franchise. All we have to go on for now is the trailer they released this week, but there might be some hints throughout it which could tell us so much more.

Not everybody is happy with the new game being announced, some jumping on the “armchair critic bandwagon” and calling it more ridiculous crap, and wishing Volition would go back to making games more like the first two Saints Row titles. Others are really hoping for their next big open-world superhero romp, as the trailer for Volition’s Agents of MAYHEM is set in a fictional, futuristic Seoul where war is being waged with advanced machinery.

In a way, this almost mirrors Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. It’s still unknown if this was intentional, but the game is expected to be part of the Saints Row shared universe, a concept Marvel is famous for.

When Saints Row IV was released, it wasn’t that well received, having been riddled with odd glitches. Some of these glitches were excusable, alluding to the fact that most of the game took place in a “Matrix” setting. In a probable nod to Assassin’s Creed, it had you playing a game within a game.

The fans who loved SRIV have been hoping for another sequel, and almost got one when Volition made Gat Out of Hell, a continuation which had Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington drawn into Hell to save the President of the United States (or what was left of it). Volition’s Agents of MAYHEM is a spin-off of the Saints Row storyline, though it seems to have a few things in common with another Deep Silver franchise.

Fans of Dead Island might notice that Hardtack looks and acts a lot like Sam B, the rapper whose concert introduced the series. The weapons used by our heroes in the upcoming open-world action title are different, which might indicate different skill sets. This could mean that we will be upgrading different skill trees throughout the game, much like Dead Island, where everybody had different strengths and weaknesses.

They might want to give Hardtack more than just a harpoon for a weapon though, or there could be cries of racism (a black guy throwing a spear?)

One radical change gamers will notice is how the art style appears to borrow from Borderlands, with its outrageous cartoonish cell-shading, and an almost Claptrap-like robot at the beginning. It’s almost like the game is trying to be a playable cartoon with an anime feel.

The most noticeable tie-in to Saints Row comes from a brand tag which says “Ultor,” and the logo for Agents of MAYHEM, which looks a lot like the one for the Third Street Saints.

The villain, Doctor Babylon, appears to be a super-powered one whose command of technology borders on the absurd. The heroes themselves appear to be an interesting mix, from Hardtack’s harpoon, to Fortune’s dual pistols and Black Widow-like reflexes, and Hollywood’s assault weapon, grenades, and massive ego.

Volition’s Agents of MAYHEM could easily be a spoof on the Marvel TV series, taken to extremes to keep it from being a complete rip-off. We will know more when Volition and Deep Silver reveal more at next week’s E3.

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[Feature image via Volition]

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