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Willing restarted Saints Row is not out yet, but some sites have spent some time on it through a recent hands-on preview. Impressions of the roughly 40-minute gameplay, full of explosive and wacky hijinks that fans of the series have come to expect, are making rounds online and the mood seems to be the same: the new Saints Row Gameplay is familiar and refreshing, with so many customization options you can really make your unique mark on the world.
Saints Row, which was released in August 2021, is an upcoming reboot of Volition’s long-running open-world action-adventure series. These games usually put you in control of a street gang member who rises through the ranks to become the leader of the squad while protecting his partners. Saints Row has a similar story. You are The Boss, a gang member disaffected with the state of gang affairs in the fictional city of Santo Ileso in the American Southwest. So you leave your old crew to form a new one, with the sole aim of taking power from the three gangs that control Santo Ileso: the fat muscleheads of Los Panteros, the anarchist group the Idols, and the well-known international private military company as Marshall Defense Industries.
This narrative setup is the basis for Saints Row‘s crazy action, according to the hands-off previews. There’s still some polish the game could use and The tone is a total shift for the seriesbut those invited to the preview event left at least hopeful that this reboot seemingly keeps its over-the-top action while offering something different – in the form of a new setting and new characters – for longtime fans to get lost in.
Saints Row will be released on August 23 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Here’s what some gaming sites are saying about the game so far.
During my hands-on preview, I saw the new Saints team in a variety of missions. These include a credit agency robbery gone awry that leads to a major car chase, a helicopter raid on the headquarters of a car-loving Panteros gang, and a rescue mission for one of the player character’s friends after he was kidnapped by a gang Deadmau5-looking Crooks from a gang called the Idols. The new cast of Saints seems likeable enough, but the “angry but endearingly funny millennial” tone of each character’s writing has yet to be anywhere near as endearing as classic Saints Row Characters like Johnny Gat or Kinzie Kensington. The “Try-Hard Lulz” writing that the series was known for isn’t as funny now as it was in 2015 last time Saints Row game has been released. From this early look, it’s hard to tell if Volition’s writers will succumb to the same unfunny writing problems that plagued 2019 borderland 3.
Saints Row still looks like it could be fun. Whether it’s because of the amusing way you can lop off pedestrians’ heads to get a boost when using your flight suit (an item that even fellow colleague Saint Kevin seems to have access to, although in all the footage that I’ve seen shirtless before) or Because you can Change your character’s appearance spontaneously at will. And by changing the appearance, I don’t just mean adding a new hat or trinket to your boss character. I mean a complete conversion from head to toe. In fact, in the game’s preview, the player’s boss transformed from a young, casually dressed woman to a burly man with a full-blown cowboy aesthetic. This all happened in a few moments before the player resumed his business.
Customization was a big focus of the event, with Volition showing off many ways your boss can look like. However, character customization is not a one-time opportunity Saints Row. With a few button presses, you can change your style at any time from a handful of presets you create in the Saints HQ; not just clothing, but every body customization and clothing option is on the table. Do you want to persevere for a mission with a beefy green behemoth in an elegant suit and switch to a stylish yet casual look with a completely different body shape, skin tone, face and hairstyle? As long as these adjustments are part of your visual gear, you can be a whole new you whenever you want. The shops surrounding Santo Ileso will stock up on more clothing and weapons as the game progresses, offering more opportunities to make The Boss your own as you take over the fictional town in the American Southwest. Brian Shea recently previewed it all the things you can customize in Saints Rowand you can read all about it here and dream about how to make your boss look like.
Saints RowThe setting of Santo Ileso plays a big role in balancing the old and the new. Despite the enduring appeal of the past Saints Row games, the final main series entry, Saints Row IVwas launched in 2013 Gat from Hell DLC came two years later, namely Saints Row: The Third 2020 has received a modern makeover, players had to wait nine years in search of something new in this universe. GTA Online has continued to grow stronger over the same period through a series of extensive free updates, not least last year’s dr Dre with The Contract– but being tied to the same environment throughout, part of me has always longed for a new landmass to explore and plunder.
It’s here, in this new environment, that Saints Row should show the most intriguing potential – the developer touches on an entirely different culture and offers the opportunity for new types of stories, gang activities, musical expressions and player interactions to refresh a nearly two-decade-old franchise. And while I wasn’t convinced that Volition did this, I can say that a lot of effort went into creating the set dressing Saints Row‘s story.
One thing Saints Row has always benefited from its wide range of unique weapons, and this is no different. I’ve seen pistols that shoot bullets through walls like they’re paper, finger pistols that fire bullets out of giant foam fingers, and my favorite – the Thrustbuster, a throwable football that sticks to enemies and vehicles and blows them up before they get in tiny pieces explode. Each weapon, even the more conventional ones, has its own unlockable signature abilities, such as B. Transforming a basic pistol into a rapid-fire submachine gun with the push of a button. As you would expect, the action and violence are very cartoonish. It’s also fluid, finishing off an enemy with its own weapon before jumping feet-first into a nearby car for a quick escape – and then climbing onto the roof to fend off pursuers while you’re surfing the car – looks great refined. Enemies look a bit squishy, some shoot multiple shots in the head to take them out, and it’s often completely ridiculous, but that’s always been a part of it Saints Rows charm.
The old cliché of the city being part of the cast is alive and well, but at least with it Saints Row It’s a cliché that Volition has earned the right to use, especially after the eccentric, bustling cities Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV. Each district of Santo Ileso is said to have its own vibe and NPCs, who not only roam the streets but get in trouble with the law – or at least get a speeding ticket – or just hang around and listen to an impromptu musical performance. Possibly from you. Out of the 100 emotes you can play out, you have musical options and ones you can move on with, allowing you to strut down the street and strum your guitar while people dance and applaud. Around here, that would probably inspire a mob to chase you down and hit your instrument over the head, so that’s a nice change.
However, not everything has been revised. The show’s understated humor is alive and kicking, and you’ll hear more f-bombs than you’d hear in a Tarantino film. His gunfight, character comedy and tons of customization options are all staples of the series. That Saints Row However, reboot has adjusted the formula to try and make it that much more genuine.
Saints Row is shaping up to be an interesting addition to the range of games to be released this year. While the last few games in the series haven’t been particularly well received, this series reboot aims to remind you why you loved Saints Row all those years ago and wants to show you what’s possible in the new generation of consoles when it comes to this series. One can only hope that it feels as good as it looks and that developer Deep Silver Volition has made this one that you won’t soon forget.
Based on these previews Saints Row seems poised to make an interesting comeback. While not everyone is confident in the writing, and the open-world checklist might make getting through it difficult, the fluid combat and emphasis on customization make this reboot sound like a fun time at least.