Genkibowl VII released to little fanfare, and, for some, to outright dismay. The content present was mostly rehashed "activities" from the main game. The gameplay, while fine, was not anything most people wanted to spend real time on, and people who'd played through the twenty or thirty levels of respect to get damage immunity didn't really have any difficulty anyways. The boss had no new dialogue in the DLC, with the only spoken words being through a voice modulator (voiced by Troy Baker, as with the Johnny Gat suit at the beginning of the game.) There were only cutscenes at the start and finish, and the only humor to really be derived was from the words "Genki is pleased," the musical cues and weird specificities that made the Luchadores gang stuff so much fun, and from the announcers railing on long tangents about sports. While I really enjoyed Sad Panda Skydiving and the announcer's commentary, Genkibowl VII simply didn't feel like a good economic deal, and I was bummed out that it was so limited in content.
Either Volition listened to the criticism and responded with grand extremity, or they somehow managed to create DLC that almost completely deflects the criticisms of Genkibowl VII. Gangstas in Space opens with new dialogue from your fully-voiced boss. Cutscenes and dialogue are prevalent throughout. The actual content is composed of three twenty-to-thirty minute missions built from the ground up with a story focus. Most of them taking on a ridiculous film grain that adds to the goofy atmosphere. Multiple in-jokes are made to the world of Saints Row: The Third that people who really enjoyed the main game will recognize and enjoy, and it's campy in a way that reflects its fiction.
Even the gameplay has taken on some different life, as the focus here is on new weapons, escorting your co-star Jenny through dangerous missions, and long vehicle sequences. These are, of course, all things the player cannot level up, so they remain pretty difficult even for maxed out players. And the focus on long missions removes the sort of "jack-of-all-trades" feel that Genkibowl has, making sure to flesh out every idea it has to the fullest.
The story is probably the most important addition, though. The two new characters it introduces in Jenny, your co-star (Michelle Ruff), and in Xhen, the director (Yuri Lowenthal) are pretty darn good, and play off both the boss and each other in fun ways. Xhen is completely insane, and at times lets loose with some really smart unhinged dialogue. It's unfortunate that the boss is so restrained in his role, but that also fits the "whatever, man, let's fly these jets" personality he had in the main game.
So, where is the problem? Most of it comes from the actual gameplay, though it's also missing a lot of the specificity that often makes Saints Row The Third so funny. While difficulty isn't reason enough to dislike a game, the repetitive nature of combat in Gangstas in Space definitely ensures that you wouldn't want to spend any real time doing ANY of the gameplay it has to offer, and difficulty does not help this problem. Playing through Gangstas in Space is a bit of an arduous task. It's always worth it to play through to see the dialogue on the other side, but the gameplay ought to be better in what amounts to another 90 minute DLC package. Season pass holders will be encouraged by the direction of Gangstas in Space, but they'll still be a bit disappointed in the end product.