There comes a time in every successful franchise where the developers wonder, “Where do we go from here?” In the case of the “Saints Row” series, the answer to that previous question came in the form of switching cities, elevating the main character’s status in the world, and even going into outer space to battle aliens. After a tepid spin-off and developer woes, it seemed the journey for the Saints street gang-turned-cultural vanguards was over.
Then the announcement of a reboot arrived in 2021. Under the bright, desert sky, a new group of would-be gangsters were ready to make a name for themselves. But the story didn’t end there as the reviews for “Saints Row” (2022) started pouring in and this long-time “Saints Row” enthusiast was scared that what was to come wouldn’t live up to the hefty standards of its predecessors.
Did I Complete “Saints Row” (2022)?
As per the norm with these “Saints” games, the introduction is bombastic with the player taking control of their created character from the rather beefy character creation tools featuring body sliders, face distortion, and some impressive clothing options as they enter their first day on the job as one of the Marshall Defense Industries grunts meant to take down any threat to said Industries. What starts off as a story about young people having to live two different lives evolves into a ragtag group of friends deciding they can conquer the criminal world and make a bunch of money.
Unfortunately, unlike previous “Saints Row” games, this iteration demands players to grind for money to experience everything. The grinding necessity comes in the form of “Ventures” – businesses the player places on their “Criminal Empire” map that unlocks what used to be known as “Diversions” in the previous games like “Mayhem” and “Insurance Fraud”. When these “Diversions” are completed in full, sums of money are gradually dished out via the in-game cash app. This need to literally wait for money is complemented by the generous amount of side content including “Side Hustle” missions such as “Pony Express” rally races where the player attempts to reach the goal under the allotted time while avoiding the cops and if the player is unsuccessful in alerting law enforcement they must clear the mission finale’s area.
Other “Side Hustles” will have the player fighting off hordes of enemies after giving bad reviews of businesses (“@TCHA”), jumping out of helicopters to destroy satellites (“Wingsuit Saboteur”), protecting a car from the passenger side by shooting down vehicular enemies (“Riding Shotgun”), and using a helicopter’s magnet to steal items (“Choplifting”). “Discoveries” are these yellow markers on the map indicating everything from history lessons of the game’s city Santo Ileso, to activating the fast travel points by taking pictures, to propelling off launch points so the player can use the automatically-owned wingsuit.
Following forty-plus hours of actual gameplay (not counting just being away from the controller while the game filled up the cash app), I finished the relatively short main story, all the “Side Hustle” and “Venture” missions. All that’s left to do for another platinum trophy is several random gameplay trophies including completing multiple challenges and buying an item from every store.
Did “Saints Row” (2022) Live Up to the Hype?
As much as things change they also stay the same – a phrase perfectly associated with the 2022 reboot of “Saints Row”. It doesn’t take long for anyone who’s played the last two numbered “Saints Row” games or almost any third-person shooter from two gaming generations ago to feel right at home. The gunplay is mostly solid, though not as precise or tight as its predecessors thanks to a varying reticule speed, with a majority of the guns feeling different even if the enemies themselves are bullet-sponges who have uncanny agility and can easily dodge roll in avoidance of an incoming bullet. Similar to “Saints Row The Third” and “SR IV”, each of the three gangs – the monster truck-driving Los Panteros; Daft Punk-inspired anarchists The Idols; the aforementioned paramilitary group Marshall Defense Industries – have not only their own look, but also specific mini-bosses that arrive if their notoriety level reaches the maximum of five (same for the police).
Though the general firefights and even the little hand-to-hand combat feels familiar (though the fistfights are much worse with melee strikes lacking precision), there are a bunch of added features and, unfortunately, franchise gameplay standards completely changed or removed. On the positive side of things are “Perks”. “Perks” are both passive and situational abilities unlocked by completing multiple in-game challenges like killing a certain type of enemy with particular weapons a various amount of times.
These “Perks” range from being able to move faster when low on health, to gaining more ammo from dropped enemies instead of the regular amount while also sporting three levels of quality: “Minor”, “Major”, and “Elite”. Though the game offers a lot of “Perks”, the amount of slots to equip those “Perks” are limited both in number and how much the player has to spend to unlock the four of five slots broken down into pairs of two slots for “Minor” and “Major” “Perks” and only one for “Elite”. It would’ve been nice to have a few more “Perk” slots to really mix & match abilities.
Alongside “Perks” are the more active character upgrades known as “Skills”. “Skills” open up alongside the playable character’s level increasing to a maximum of level twenty. Unlike “Perks”, a majority of the “Skills” are offensive in nature including stuffing a grenade in an enemy’s mouth and pitching them, hopefully, toward a group of that foe’s allies. Some “Skills” will help the player survive when pressed by mounting numbers of adversaries like activating a temporary health boost or calling forth a pair of magically-appearing Saints grunts.
“Skills” are limited by the “Flow Meter” that fills up with successful attacks on enemies. Depending on how high leveled the main character is will determine how many “Flow Meter” icons are available with certain “Skills” using up to three “Flow Meter” segments. Like “Perks”, however, only four “Skills” can be equipped at a time. Also a huge disappointment associated with “Skills” is something taken away from the gunplay itself: not being able to buy throw-able items of destruction. Weapons like grenades are solely associated with “Skills” instead of going to the local “Friendly Fire” and buying as many of them, Molotov cocktails, or Farts in a Jar as one would want.
There some interesting gameplay implementations and one that is absolutely dreadful. Driving in “Saints Row” can take some getting used to thanks to the somewhat lacking friction between the tires and the road, but once the player does it proves rewarding mostly due to being able to sideswipe those incredibly aggressive cops. Players can also hold the vehicular exit button to crawl atop the car’s roof so the player can shoot at enemies and innocents alike (an implementation associated with certain missions both major & minor including the “Riding Shotgun” “Side Hustle”).
Added in “Saints Row The Third” were major melee attacks such as running at someone and pulling off a tornado DDT as if this were a wrestling game. In this “Saints Row”, that ability to perform a melee-centric exclamation point to a moment is connected to a meter and, of course, a cool-down timer. This melee meter known as “Takedowns” are meant to be used as a way to replenish the player’s health, but as the game progresses and the enemies hit a lot harder and are more numerous, “Takedowns” become less effective.
Customization is a big deal in “Saints Row” yet again; going beyond just clothing options, putting different designs on guns, or changing the color of a car. In regards to weaponry, each type has a specific criteria to unlock that item’s special ability like pulling off double kills with a shotgun to make it do more damage. Guns can be upgraded at the “Friendly Fire” for a price that, once again, improves their overall effectiveness; same for vehicle types. Players will unlock certain “Perks” and vehicle “Signature Abilities” when performing the required challenges associated with that car, tow truck, or helicopter. There are some customization issues mostly associated with the actual character including a lacking of unique voices that offer variety for players who don’t have someone specific in mind like a British import.
For everything this reboot does, limits, and attempts to maintain in terms of gameplay be it the gun action to the variety of “Side Hustles” and “Discoveries”, what it doesn’t do is provide a memorable story. While the story is short with the “Ventures” padding the lacking narrative depth with the addition of extra-curriculars associated with the bought businesses including destroying gang cars and clearing areas of gangs five times per “Venture”, the story’s biggest flaw is connected to the characters themselves. The level of cringe in regards to the dialogue will vary from player to player. What can’t be denied is a lack of exposition and explanation in regards to how the new Saints know each other and even the rival gangs beyond the playable character’s time in the Marshalls.
Alongside the new “Boss” is Neenah, Kevin & Eli who get this version of the Saints off the ground. The plot drops the player in the middle of this quartet’s attempt to make money to pay off student loans and not live in a raggedy apartment. There’s no explanation how these four obviously varied personalities became friends, let alone felt comfortable enough to start robbing people together. This lack of character connections expands when it’s revealed Neenah works alongside Los Panteros, while Kev is a DJ for The Idols. There’s never any given reason why these characters are in gangs and, most importantly, why Neenah doesn’t get along with Los Panteros’ muscle-bound leader. Story’s flow is haphazard at best with intended emotional moments coming out of nowhere mixed in with sessions of LARPing taking up three missions just to get over how fun it is to play pretend with a bunch of oddly-dressed adults.
One of the best things about the original “Saints” games was witnessing the growth and deterioration of relationships of many characters from the perspective of the player’s created protagonist. Here, the player is put in the middle of a story without worry that, maybe, the emotional attachment the characters have for each other won’t find its way to making them endearing to the player; not to mention failing to create any memorable antagonists or significant goal-oriented obstacle along the way to really make it appear these Saints earned their spot in the criminal world.
But for all its flaws – the lacking character development & relationships, repetitive mission structure alongside grind used to pad overall gameplay time, certain implementations from the original games either removed or changed – nothing compares to how unstable this game is weeks after launch. Funny graphical glitches aside are detrimental moments where enemies spawn outside of the mission’s invisible borders that, when passed, activates a ridiculously short warning timer that may or may not result in a mission failed if the player is, say, performing a health-restoring “Takedown”.
Multiple times guns will turn backwards and become unusable in combat. “Skills” randomly are unequipped and the “Flow Meter” empties after loading up a save. AI allies connected to particular story missions glitch out across multiple missions. Customized clothes reset when shopping. Mission completion rewards – a positive as almost everything the player does in this experience offers something for the player to either shoot with, wear, or decorate – will unlock in a delayed manner or may not unlock at all while the mission is shown as “completed”; forcing a reloading of a previous save and replaying of said mission. This has to be one of the most unpredictable games on a technical level not only in the “Saints Row” franchise, but also the genre on this scale.
Thankfully, Santo Ileso looks great even if the draw distance is absurdly bad when driving even on a PS5; and almost every area lacks interesting NPCs as well as their conversation. The soundtrack is mostly stellar and has one of the best showcases of musical variety in the franchise’s history. Accessibility options are numerous including modifying certain gameplay options like the length of mission timers that can make those excruciatingly difficult “Mayhem” missions compared to their predecessors a lot easier even on the hardest difficulty. There is the option for co-op play online, but getting a game started proved to be too much of a hassle a majority of the time when attempting to start a session. Co-op games also have a nasty bug as of this time where challenges can no longer be completed.
“Saints Row” (2022) represents all that was fun about the franchise and the genre in general over ten years ago. Sadly, in a world where games like “Grand Theft Auto V” and even “Saints Row The Third” exist, this reboot feels like a tired retread featuring a lacking narrative, poor characterization & relationships, and bugs galore while the gameplay proves as its only overall saving grace when technical issues don’t get in the way.
Should You Play “Saints Row” (2022)?
For as bugged and uninspired this reboot is, the heart of its gameplay is rooted in the last two numbered “Saints Rows” even if there has been some significant modifications. Though there’s a level of bombastic wackiness in terms gameplay in this iteration, the previous games delivered where this reboot doesn’t in terms of making memorable characters, missions, set-pieces, and humor with the latter being subjective.
With all of that being stated, gamers who’ve enjoyed the previous entries in terms of gameplay will have a lot of fun with this one when it wants to work. Old “Saints” fans will find this a lot more palpable than those who just want an open-world, third-person shooter in the same vein as “Red Dead Redemption 2”. Even if someone is interested in picking this one up, wait for both a sale and multiple updates that fixes the plethora of bugs hindering main story missions and general progression. Like a refurbished toaster that refuses to work, “Saints Row” (2022) is an undercooked experience.
