Saints Row – Review
Our Score: 8/10
The Saints are back! This new Saints Row takes place in a rebooted world where the Saints are a bunch of Gen Z low-level criminals residing in the southwest of America. While being more outrageous than a game like GTA, the title moderates the heroic antics of Saints Row 4. But still, everything fits together into a fun bundle.
Building your empire over the streets of Santo Ileso and engaging in combat for control of the city, you will form The Saints with Neenah, Kevin, and Eli by your side. Los Panteros, The Idols, and Marshall will be your enemies. In the end, Saints Row is the tale of a fledgling firm; the difference is that The Saints are in the criminal enterprise. Exploree the biggest Saints Row playground ever made. The extraordinary sprawling world of Santo Ileso serves as the setting for a wild, larger-than-life sandbox of exhilarating side hustles, criminal endeavours, and blockbuster missions as you shoot, drive, and wingsuit your way to the top.
Does your Saint, Row?
Making your Boss is the first step in the game. You can alter your character whenever you want once you’re in the actual game, so don’t worry about being confined here. The sole restriction on personalization possibilities in this game is the amount of in-game money you have available for purchasing additional outfits. The sharing system is one of the most important topics we’ll discuss later, but first, you start with a flash-forward sequence. You’ll return “a few months” after seeing that to when your character first started working for Marshall Industries to attempt to make ends meet.
Your four closest pals and you all share an apartment. Kevin is a terrible chef and doesn’t like to wear shirts, whereas Eli is a cute geek. Snickerdoodle is a cute cat, and Neenah is a fantastic mechanic and driver. Neenah runs with Los Panteros, while Kev runs with The Idols, a neon-infused bunch of rebels who aspire to live in a post-modern world. You all peacefully coexist as best friends attempting to get to the top. After a string of outrageous incidents, you ultimately decide to form your own gang, which you naturally call The Saints. The new Business Venture system is a significant component of the game. Soon after starting the game, you’ll be able to access your empire table. From there, you may manage a variety of enterprises, beginning with a chop shop, to generate passive money and open up a lengthy line of quests.
A Push Away from Insanity
The game begins with a few plot missions before introducing “side hustles” (or perhaps “side gigs”), which are enjoyable pursuits that let the player earn some extra cash before the action truly gets going. On the map of Santo Ileso, there are ten to fifteen districts. Each of these districts must have a side business placed by the gamer. Develop these companies, and the district will be yours.
It’s mind-blowing how much imagination has gone into these side hustles. They include anything from selling weapons to disposing of poisonous waste, cleaning up crime scenes and removing bodies, to repossessing vehicles. The problem is that, after putting each of the companies, the player is given between five and fourteen assignments to fulfill in order to establish the establishment and control the neighbourhood. Additionally, each of the several businesses has unique task mechanics that are all unique.
Even though the gun violence in this instance is very cartoonish, it is part of the dream of being a crime boss, so gamers who are uncomfortable with gun violence might not want to join the Saints. In the context of our contemporary culture, The Saints’ status as humorous, handsome, and wholly murderous antiheroes does raise some conflicting concerns.
The game does have its fair share of bugs that can range from visual bugs like pop-in and animation glitches to certain sidequests not progressing. Hopefully, this can be ironed out and patched soon alongside improving the game’s performance.
Final Verdict
The Saints Row reboot is an incredibly fun, bombastic, and over-the-top experience that manages to recapture the magic in a new era. And while this game won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, there are so many creative ideas and mechanics that are bound to keep you engaged and hooked.
