Too much GTA, not enough absurd nonsense

Aliens and dildo swords – that’s what most people know about the Saints Row series. The soon-to-be-released reboot is supposed to go back to its roots and also seems to get back to earth when it comes to absurdity, i.e. by Saints Row standards. After about four hours I can say: no aliens, very few dildos.

Saints Row: A needed reboot

After spaceships, superhero abilities and a trip to hell, Saints Row has somehow cornered itself in a spiral of absurdity with Part 4 and Gat out of Hell. A reboot was sorely needed and whether that was successful, I was allowed to see at a try-out event in London.

This trailer was seen at the Game Awards last year:

Saints Row Day One Edition (PlayStation 5)

The price may be higher now. Price from 07/20/2022 11:25 p.m

Developer Volition naturally sticks to the third-person shooter in an open world with many side activities. For the reboot, however, the Third Street Saints were said goodbye and a new gang was invented in a new city. Of course, as a player, you’re still the boss, but at the start of the game, the Saints don’t really exist. At this point the “back to the roots” comes out particularly, because it is again about build a criminal empire from scratch.

The new gang

You have been able to test the versatile character editor for yourself for a few weeks now. You can do the Boss Factory download here. Whether you want to lead the Saints in the look of a mafia boss, as Shrek, a vampire or a human made of metal, there are hardly any limits to your imagination. Lack of imagination was a problem for many fans after the first trailer. Your comrades-in-arms for the conquest of the city of Santo Ileso, namely Neenah, Kevin and Eli, initially seemed to many like pranksters and hip Tik-Tok teenagers and that didn’t go down very well. At this point I can give the all-clear, postponing the release from February to August 2022 had a positive effect.

The fans were not particularly enthusiastic about the first trailer:

You can’t get rid of the sayings, but they are also part of Saints Row, but they now fit the setting better. In some cutscenes, the three even show some depth and I really felt like I was following a group of friends. Of course you also have to leave the church in the village here, it probably won’t win an Oscar for the best screenplay.

Building an empire

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to come to the exciting part, i.e. the moment when we as a boss expand the Saints and expand our sphere of influence during the introductory event. Arrived at the “war table” it was over for the time being. This is an interactive map where you can see your influence on the city’s districts and buy land to set up shell companies there. I was particularly looking forward to this partbecause after Part 4 and Gat out of Hell, it was about time for me to go back to the gameplay of a “normal” aspiring street gang.

The first few hours play like a prologue, introducing the factions and explaining the basic gameplay. At the front there is no groundbreaking innovations. There is a lot of shooting, whether on foot, from the car or from the car roof. In addition to the weapons, active skills and perks provide variety in the fights. However, these must first be unlocked by completing a challenge, which I really liked in general. It is much more motivatingto tackle such challenges when the rewards are more than XP and money. The weapons also have unlockable upgrades, which is also a nice incentive to not always use the same machine gun.

What can the Open World do?

Saints Row will be purely graphic do not set new standards in terms of open world, probably purely in terms of open world (not just in terms of graphics) either. Overall, the game world seemed a bit lifeless, but the first missions also took place in the less densely populated parts of Santo Ileso. Otherwise, there are shops for weapons and clothing, as well as plenty of side activities to earn money, XP and influence. In my short test session, however, none stood out as particularly original.

However, some of the missions are quite fun. Pulling a shipping container across town on a rope while watching the uncontrolled destruction is what I want to see in a Saints Row. What I haven’t seen enough of in the four hours are real highlights, whether it’s gameplay or Saints Row humor. As already mentioned, only the beginning of the game was open to me at the event.

Saints Row: The reboot may come at just the right time

The new Saints Row looks like a rather cautious start to the reboot of a whole series. It is much more down-to-earth and therefore perhaps more accessible for a larger target group that only knows aliens and dildo swords and can’t do anything with them. However, Volition runs the risk of not picking up the actual community completely. I’m encouraged that they responded quite effectively to the criticism after the first trailer.

I hope that Saints Row still has a few surprises in store that will only open up to me after the first few hours of play. Saints Row could be released on August 23, 2022 at a good time with a currently not very present setting. There are hardly any releases in August, especially not an open-world game that takes place in the present and in which you build your own criminal empire.

There’s one right there the sticking points for Saints Row. How well does the empire building work, not only in terms of gameplay but also within the story? Another important point is the topic of humor or absurdity. The game certainly made me laugh, but from a Saints Row I expect more even with a down-to-earth reboot. Saints Row is often referred to as a GTA alternative, but Saints Row simply doesn’t have to be a clone. Part 3 had reached a good point for me that Volition didn’t want to start there again straight away, I understand. However, a bit more absurd nonsense would have been in there just to be less like GTA.

The potential for a good open world game with lots of action and a fun story is there and a pinch of old Saints Row would add the right kick. By the way: while the new Saints Row isn’t lacking in lewdness, I haven’t been able to find the penetrator yet.

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Saints Row is due on August 23, 2022 for PS5, PS4 , Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC (Epis Store).