![]() At one point, I drove a limousine down a freeway at night and was taken aback by how pretty the lights of the city in the distance were. But it was a great playground for speedy car chases, stunts, and sightseeing. I only saw a smidgen of what's on offer, spending most of my time riling up the Idols and Panteros in your typical American southwest digs, a dusty place filled with sandy ramps and cacti. It’s a city made up of nine districts and controlled by three rival gangs: Los Panteros, beefcakes who I'm convinced would warm to Louis Theroux as he stood there watching them fix up muscle cars the Idols, violent spawn of a TikTok content house and Marshall, a cowboy security force that wield laser guns and. Maybe the game's zaniness grows as time goes by, or mixes things up as the Saints start regaining a foothold over Santo Ileso. It took me a while to warm up to the cast: Neenah (the no-nonsense mechanic), Kevin (DJ bro), and Eli (nerdy hacker), but they seem like a colourful, lighthearted bunch who you'll warm to over many car rides. Here, the new Saints Row seems like it's being held back by IV's step too far into outer space. The Third owned its over-the-top attitude and it culminated in silly missions and weapons and scenarios that oozed confidence. At one point you parachuted into a rooftop party while Kanye West's Power blared over the speakers. Except it's one that falls short of Saints Row: The Third's opening missions, which saw you plummet to earth dodging plane debris and shooting agents in free-fall. At least early on, the game makes it clear that it's comfortable sticking to an old script. Many of the missions I played followed a similar formula: pull up to a location, shoot some dudes, then things escalate and you shoot them in better ways, like from the roof of a truck using an RPG or with a mini-gun. It’s a comforting and silly throwback to simpler times, but also an obvious indication that the game’s paralysed in fear, opting to nudge the series with its foot, rather than punt it into the stratosphere and trust that the reboot will thrive as a result. At one point you lie down on a jetfighter and shoot some more dudes as they periodically pop out of caves and conveniently position themselves next to explosive barrels. ![]() This is evident right from the get-go, where you're thrust into an intro mission that's largely just shooting dudes as you run through a Wild West-themed set. The game ditches triple A energy in favour of double A batteries, juiced by both the original Saints Row and its more bombastic brethren in an attempt to strike a balance between the two. From what I played, though, I found it drew heavily from the past - both to its credit and its detriment. For whatever reason, I expected there to be a next-gen veneer coating it all, perhaps an all-new weightiness to character movement or an unexpected flourish here and there, like Volition had pushed the titular Row in an exciting new direction. Where does it really sit on the timeline? At both ends, I reckon.Īfter four hours with the game's early sections, I was surprised by how Saints Row felt. So, yes, this year's Saints Row reboot is technically Saints Row 5, except it’s more of a careful reboot. ![]() A time when Saints Row and Saints Row 2 were lighthearted Grand Theft Auto alternatives, then Saints Row: The Third came along and cranked up the silliness, and then Saints Row 4 grabbed the lever and cranked it so hard it snapped. I have a gaming PC! Bills to pay! A smartphone that recognises my face! Grey hairs! I say all this because Saints Row - not to be confused with Saints Row yet also to be confused with Saints Row - whisked me back to the early 2000s, when I was but a naïve teenager whose life largely pivoted around their Xbox 360. After four hours with Saints Row, it's funny being back in the present.
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