Saints Row

Saints Row is an experience with peculiar contrasts Volition truly tried to reinvent the franchise for a new generation, but not wanting to betray its roots it was unable to evolve in the way it needed to be truly relevant in the midst of 2022...It is an entertaining and fun experience that many will have a good time with, of that we have no doubt. However, it has clear flaws and antiquated systems, so it will probably be remembered without much shame or glory.

Somewhere between GTA and Just Cause, Saints Row doesn't manage to match the gameplay of these two titles, and its particular humor doesn't hit the mark often enough to compensate. The realization also leaves something to be desired, with sometimes poor graphics, fights that are as superficial as they are imprecise, and exploration that gives the impression of floating in the scenery as soon as you want to climb somewhere. Fortunately, the driving and car chases compensate, especially in co-op. Saints Row still allows you to spend some good moments indulging in absurd activities, with some funny situations.

Sometimes repetitive, sometimes eye-rolling, and sometimes just plain busted, Saints Row 2022 is far from perfect, but that doesn't stop it from being a chaotic good time.

Saints Row offers a decent reboot of the franchise, although the production costs don't go up to the level of GTA. The focus on fun, action and variety of activities is strong. The co-op helps the fun even more.

Every time Saints Row does something that reminds me how much I love the series, it follows it up with an issue that makes me frustrated with it. As much as I enjoy the gameplay and getting lost in Santo Ileso, the structural problems, both in open world game design and under the hood, make this a tough one to stick with. There are highlights, like losing track of time in how much fun a Saints Row game can be, but it’s lost under a pile of bugs and glitches.

The Saints Row (2022) reboot takes things back to basics but with very little push for innovation. It still gets a lot right, but that success is in areas where it was already strong, and little effort has been invested in strengthening the weaker aspects. A reboot should offer a chance at a clean slate, at cutting ties with what held you back in the past, but Saints Row (2022) fails to do this in any meaningful way.

It's the Saints Row game with best driving mechanics, but it's not the best Saints Row game in general. I wish it were the other way around.

The knockabout glee of classic Saints Row ultraviolence is here, but held back a little by new-found restraint.

Saints Row reins in the absurdity to a fairly significant degree but still manages to indulge in some of the chaotic action and silly hijinks the series is known for. Its story is simple and fairly predictable, yet spending time with its diverse and well-rounded characters makes it worth seeing through to the end. It's a shame the gameplay isn't quite as progressive, opting instead for out-of-date mechanics and level design. Combat is decent, and the story missions are enjoyable when at their most over-the-top, but there's too much bland filler in between. Rebooting the series made sense, yet in many ways, Saints Row is still stuck in the past and struggling to live up to its legacy.

Saints Row delivers no shortage of shallow shoot 'em up thrills, but it's a very familiar and uninspired brand of sandbox fun.

A newcomer would be shocked by crude animations, wonky physics and bad gunplay. Fans of the franchise are kinda used to that, but they’ll be disappointed for another reason: while Saints Row 2022 does have a few fun moments, most of them are blatantly ripped from previous games of the series. [Issue#260, p.32]

There’s a weight of history behind Saints Row, and no matter whether you’re comparing it to the more serious early games or the sillier later ones, it’s pretty clear that the Saints Row reboot doesn’t live up to any of them.

That’s not to say Saints Row doesn’t have redeeming qualities, but its memorable moments are so few and far between. It delivers what is expected from a typical action sandbox game, but only at the bare minimum. Most of what Saints Row has to offer has already been done better elsewhere. If you’re looking for an open-world game with silly fun and over-the-top action, then maybe it's worth taking a trip to Santo Ileso. Unfortunately for most, this reboot struggles to provide anything unique that makes it stand out from the crowd of similar games.

The 2022 reboot of Saints Row manages to put together a decently engaging crew, but just about everything else is a litany of issues - from shallow and repetitive missions to unsatisfying action mechanics, poor presentation, and plenty of bugs.

There is no shortage of enjoyable things to do in Saints Row, but doing them means putting up with a severe lack of polish. As it currently stands, Saints Row is barely playable. It’s good, mindless fun, but I cannot recommend it in good faith. I offer a little prayer that a day one patch can address some of these concerns, and that the studio has a long-term plan to salvage this promising title.