Saints Row is the fifth main entry in the series, and the first since 2013, not counting DLC and spinoffs. It is a reboot in a way, showcasing how this infamous group rose to power once again. Players still take on the role of The Boss.
They start from ground zero in one gang before splitting off with friends to create another. It’s a familiar story that most fans should be good with. Still, was it worth the wait? While the consensus seems to say no given that the reviews have been poor, Saints Row is not without some positive qualities. Let’s see what Volition's reboot does and doesn’t do so well.
8 Best: Mission Variety
The mission variety has always been a plus for the Saints Row series. One of the reboot's most fun early missions has players retake a church so it becomes the headquarters of The Saints.
Players start by bulldozing through equipment, and then they try to terrorize a realtor by driving wildly through the desert. This mission ends with a standard shootout at this old church. That’s one of many great examples that will keep the attention of players until the end.
7 Best: Assist Options
One of the most positive things about Saints Row is the assist options. Five preset difficulties are set on a series of slider menus. These sliders can be tweaked further to the player’s liking. The easiest difficulty, for example, will slide everything down to zero, making almost every aspect of the game a cakewalk.
Players may then choose to increase other areas such as enemy danger or how much ammo they can find. It’s a nice assortment of tools that can be inviting for the less hardcore gamers out there.
6 Worst: The Technical Issues
The biggest flaw with Saints Row is its laundry list of technical issues. First, the game tends to freeze during cutscenes, even before it can get going. Second, the sound mixing is all over the place. Sometimes the mixing will be off wherein one track will be lost, making cutscenes feel weird.
Third, subtitles can get ahead of the player, also throwing off the flow of cutscenes. This series has always had glitches, but they have never been this detrimental to the experience.
5 Best: Character Customization
The choices for character customization in Saints Row are as diverse as ever. Players can become a male or female version of The Boss, or they can go down a different route if they prefer. The series has always been inclusive.
There are even ways to turn The Boss into a cyborg. Players can attach a cybernetic arm or leg wherever they please. Sadly, this won’t affect gameplay since the prosthetics are only there for cosmetic purposes. It would have been funny if Saints Row attempted to parody Cyberpunk 2077, which was another game that launched with a plethora of glitches.
4 Best: Things To Do And Shoot
Saints Row is jam-packed with stuff to do. The aforementioned story missions are a highlight, but there are some great side hustles as well such as one where players fly helicopters and steal things with a giant magnet. There are plenty of guns to cause havoc with. Running around an open-world city like this, causing mayhem is part of the fun.
One of the coolest mechanics in the game is the wingsuit. It’s a mechanic that has been done in other games before, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it feels right in Saints Row too.
3 Worst: Tryhard Quirkiness
The humor in this series has never been for everyone. The third and fourth games took things to a whole new level, transcending the Grand Theft Auto clone fatigue that the first two games brought to the table. There were cringeworthy moments in those games, but nothing like this fifth entry.
Saints Row feels like it is trying too hard to be funny with its excessive language. If a curse word is used too much, it loses meaning. A well-placed F-bomb can be great but not twenty times in a row. Overall, the story can feel a bit obnoxious.
2 Best: The Wild Physics
Some of the glitches in Saints Row are bad like the audio cutting out. However, some bugs, like the wonky physics, can be a plus. Does it make sense that a fire hydrant could blast a car into the air? No, it doesn’t, but that’s what makes the chaos in Saints Row so addicting.
It’s also funny to see characters slide around the world and go into places they shouldn’t access. That’s what makes creating chaos in open-world environments so appealing. As long as these glitches don’t hurt the save files or cause players to backtrack, they can be fun. That is seemingly the motto for this series.
1 Best: Co-Op
The co-op feature returns once again to Volition's series. Players can have a friend join their campaign or they can jump into their friend's game. It can make most of the missions easier since players won’t have to rely on the buggy AI allies for help. Co-op makes driving and shooting a breeze, as one example.
It’s a bit hard to make connections right now, which is another technical issue. Still, when co-op works, it can make Saints Row a thousand times better.
Saints Row was released on August 23, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.