Saints Row stands out as an open-world action-adventure game where you step into the role of a rising crime boss in the fictional city of Santo Ileso. Set against a backdrop of gang rivalries and entrepreneurial schemes, this third-person shooter lets you build a criminal empire from scratch alongside a close-knit crew. With a focus on chaotic combat, extensive customization, and a sandbox environment filled with activities, it draws from classic gangland narratives while incorporating modern mechanics like district takeovers and business ventures.
Gameplay
The core of Saints Row revolves around third-person shooting and driving in an open world that encourages exploration and destruction. You navigate Santo Ileso on foot or in various vehicles, engaging in combat that mixes firearms with improvised tools and vehicle-based attacks. Missions drive the story forward with linear objectives, often involving heists or confrontations, while side activities offer distractions like criminal ventures where you set up illegitimate businesses disguised as legitimate fronts. Taking over the city's nine districts unlocks benefits, such as new revenue streams, and the game emphasizes using the environment vertically with tools like wingsuits for traversal. Combat feels stylized and brutal, inspired by action films, allowing you to call in gang members for backup during fights.
Customization plays a major role, letting you tweak your character's appearance in detail, including gender and traits, alongside weapons and vehicles for personalized loadouts. Driving mechanics reward aggressive play, turning cars and bikes into weapons during chases. The world expands with activities spread across urban and desert areas, blending shooting, racing, and exploration into a loop that builds your gang's influence block by block.
Game Modes
Saints Row offers a single-player campaign where you progress through the story solo, tackling missions and building your empire at your own pace. The cooperative mode supports drop-in online multiplayer for two players, each controlling their own customized boss character. This setup allows seamless joining and leaving without interrupting the action, with individual mission progress saved separately. Co-op enhances the experience by enabling teamwork in missions or pranks between players, though it sticks to the campaign without additional competitive elements.
Factions and Mechanics
At the heart of the conflict are rival groups vying for control of Santo Ileso. Your gang, the Saints, starts small with allies like Neenah, Kevin, and Eli, expanding by challenging Los Panteros, a vehicle-focused smuggling outfit; the Idols, an anarcho-communist group tied to nightlife; and Marshall Defense Industries, a high-tech private military force. Mechanics center on waging war against these factions through district takeovers, where seizing control grants access to empty lots for launching ventures that generate income and perks.
Weapons range from revolvers to rocket launchers, all customizable for different playstyles, while vehicles include cars, bikes, helicopters, and hoverboards for varied traversal. Post-launch updates added elements like the Sunshine Springs region, expanding the map with new districts and activities, though the game's development ended with the studio's closure in 2023.
Is It Worth Playing?
With a Metacritic critic score of 61 and a user score of 3.3, Saints Row has drawn mixed reception due to technical issues at launch, dated gameplay elements, and polarizing writing. However, updates addressed over 1000 bugs and added content like the Heist and the Hazardous DLC, improving stability and expanding the world. It attracted over one million players by late 2022, showing appeal for those who enjoy open-world chaos.
If you prefer action-adventure titles with strong customization, co-op play, and a focus on building a criminal network through shooting and driving, this game delivers a solid foundation, especially at a discounted price. Solo players or co-op duos seeking lighthearted gang warfare will find value here, but those expecting polished innovation might look elsewhere given the mixed reviews and lack of ongoing support.
