For most of my life, videogames have been in my life in one form or another. Playing The Settlers II and Descent with my mom on the family computer back when I was a kid set the stage for what turned out to become a life-long fascination with gameplay mechanics, computer graphics, and, in lack of a better word, gaming culture(s). At one point in my life, I even attempted to pursue a career in writing about videogames, which failed due to multiple reasons, but primarily because I used to run on huge amounts of toxic arrogance that made it difficult for me to work with others. I was convinced that my opinion mattered more than anyone else’s, and used to think that everyone but me was writing about games the wrong way. Eventually, I realized that there was something wrong with me, not with other people. I stopped writing about games and got help. In my mid-twenties, I started working on my mental health and personal happiness, leading up to where I am now, writing about how you all are wrong about 2022’s Saints Row reboot. Look, it’s a process.
Reading various gaming outlets throughout 2022, one thing stood out to me more than others. The new entry in the Saints Row series, a comparatively back-to-the-ground reboot of a game series that literally went to space, received a massive amount of backlash. Although I am aware that in nerd and gamer culture there is a rich and sometimes even funny tradition of whining about the smaller and larger aspects in the media we consume, after a while the often same-sounding complaints reminded me of the ire usually reserved for new Star Wars projects. Even before the game came out, people hated on the new characters, attacked the supposedly lacklustre writing, and concluded that the developers were pandering to a younger generation. Apparently, a cast of presumably young and perceivably diverse characters is still a touchy subject for some gamers.
The negative opinions on the game pre-release started to dampen my own excitement for the reboot, so I started to avoid most media on it and made a mental note to buy it in a sale, as I always do with my game purchases (music software, gear and hardware, as well as vacation are much more important to me). However, after I got Saints Row for free with my new graphics card, curiosity and the desire to play a straight-forward checklist-and-icons-cluttering-the-map sandbox game finally drove me to check it out at the end of 2022.
Over a couple of weeks, I spent about fifty hours in Santo Ileso, and I am happy to conclude that the new Saints Row is fine. It’s not a revolution, neither for its genre nor for its series, even though you could argue that the out-of-city area or the new Empire table which lets you place (shady) businesses on the map and unlock side activities are new and welcome additions to the Saints Row series. Furthermore, no game needs be a revolution, or the most innovative piece of interactive entertainment ever made to be fun. After all, some videogame series have changed very little over the years yet are still tremendously fun to play with each entry.
Looking beyond that, there is nothing that I would actively call upsetting or truly “bad” in Saints Row 2022. But it’s not perfect, neither. While I enjoyed the writing and most of the characters, they feel a bit underdeveloped. There is also a twist coming up towards the end of the main story line that could have used another draft or two in my opinion. On the gameplay side, gunplay, combat and traversal can feel a bit clunky and janky, but I made it through Gothic back in my teenage years, so I’m fine with it. I also encountered a couple of bugs that were annoying, but I’ve had way worse. Finally, I can not help but to feel disappointed by the metal radio station. While I absolutely adore the decision to put Trigger by In Flames on its tracklist, I eventually switched over to the excellent Spanish-language pop station for the real bangers. I would have loved to have some metal tracks that capture the spirit of Saints Row, because no matter how excellent of a song it is on its own, Bleed by Meshuggah ain’t cutting it.[1]
Taken as a whole, however, it’s a fine game that I enjoyed playing and a solid foundation to expand upon in future games. There are even some areas in which its developers show a great attention to detail and care for worldbuilding. For example, a common side activity the player can engage in is listening to info panels at certain tourist spots around the map. These panels, though at times a bit tedious to find, give Santo Ileso character and sense of place, because it feels like it’s exactly the kind of somewhat desperate measure a city tourism initiative would install to drive tourism. Another example is Santo Ileso’s local art scene of street artists and sculptors who have left their artworks all over the city. While some of them may appear a bit hipster-y, I found them to be a believable depiction of the local art scene a lesser-known city of the world would inherit.
While it is obviously subjective, the humour of the game is another positive aspect of the game I would like to highlight. It’s hit or miss, as all humour is, but I had a couple of good laughs. For example, one of my favourite jokes in the game is that one of the three rival gangs of the Saints is not a gang, but a private military corporation that, gameplaywise, functions exactly like one of the other gangs. It’s subtle as a sledgehammer, but it works for me. Plus, their corporate headquarter is shaped like a giant high-tech cowboy boot.
Another of my favourite jokes is that there’s a city-wide, post-apocalyptic fantasy LARP going on in Santo Ileso, complete with custom, non-lethal takedown-animations, papercraft weapons and armor, overacting players, and a brilliantly stupid stealth section in which the main character is basically telling the other LARPers that they’ve drunken an invisibility potion. There’s even a gag about one of the noble houses within the LARP buying up all the crafting supplies in the city so the others can’t craft weapons and armor. I unironically love this mini campaign, which, in another title, probably would have been a DLC addon.
Other jokes hide in the game world and its many activities. The tourist information panels, for example, often carry a fun twist on some of the sights being explored. In the vehicle customization screen, you can make a tank look like it’s made from meat. Insurance Fraud, one of my favourite activities from past Saints Row games, is back and just as funny as it’s always been for me – perhaps even funnier, thanks to a side character informing the player character that they don’t have to throw themselves in front of cars but the player character insisting on doing so each time. Speaking of the player character, the voice actress of the player voice I chose for my player character, Rachel Butera, deserves an award. Her line deliveries have been one of my absolute highlights of my playthrough.
Finally, I’d like to say something about the main characters and their story. The Boss/Player Character, Neenah, Kevin and Eli are probably “not quite there yet” in terms of character development (except for a b-plot that goes a bit deeper into Neenah’s past), but far from what some commenters declared to be total cringefests. No, not every line lands. Yes, they are on the younger side, and some might find that irritating for some reason (just create an older looking Boss character for some weirdness to ensue). They’re also just a little bit too clean-looking in my opinion to take them seriously as up-and-coming crime overlords. But that’s kind of the point. They are underdogs in a world that’s been unfair to them and doesn’t take them seriously, and they turn to crime to get back on it on their terms. They’re done being pushed around by corporations and the vague promise of the American Dream and decide, pro-actively, to do things their way. It’s simple and the perfect background to clear a virtual map full of activities.
Santo Ileso is a city with character, much more than Steelport was in my opinion, and there are a couple of great ideas, lines, moments, and details in there. Some of them feel as if the development team was putting in more care than they had to: for example, the local news commenting on the player’s action throughout the city are being read in Spanish on the Spanish radio station, not in English as they are on all the other stations. I really appreciate details like that, because similar to what it does with the info panels and the local art scene, it gives Santo Ileso a real sense of place.
In addition, despite none of the characters from previous Saints games coming back (I believe I spotted Johnny Gat as tattoo or on a t-shirt), and despite the lack of superpowers that defined parts of The Third and the whole of IV, the game still feels like a Saints game. It’s silly, but it’s earnest, and it treats itself and its characters with enough respect to feel grounded. For example, there’s a series of missions that always starts with the player character being interrupted while they are trying to do something nice for their friends. They stand in line to get tickets for the local sports team, or they are trying to get an artsy book signed for Neenah when the phone rings. It’s not much, but a nice little touch of humanity in between over-the-top violence, a ridiculous train heist and being able to wingsuit over half of the map.
To me, it really signifies that the core of what Saints Row still appears to be intact. Because even though the series gave its characters superpowers, locked them into a Matrix-like simulation programmed by aliens, made them fight Santa, and went to literal Hell with them, it always took itself serious enough to make all the silliness work. It always treated its own ridiculous premise and characters with enough respect and dignity for the player to actual care about these people and their ridiculous stories. And that’s something I absolutely felt playing through the reboot, imperfect as it may be.
All in all, the 2022 Saints Row reboot reminds me of a pilot episode, or perhaps the first season of a show that is still trying to find its tone. It has a couple of great ideas and some memorable moments, but you can feel that the writers are still getting to know the characters. It is entertaining, but also feels incomplete. However, there are hints of greatness, and the game is often cleverer than it needs to be.
To stretch that metaphor, I would like to see a second season. I might even buy the game on Steam (my graphics card came with the Epic Games Store version) once it comes out on Valve’s cursed platform. There’s a lot to love here, and not as much to hate as some people and/or bots on the Internet want to make you believe. And while it probably won’t change your life, it might entertain you well enough to forget about the stress going on in your life for a couple of moments. It might even make you laugh, and maybe the happiness you gain from laughing makes you realize that the whole online culture war thing the game got dragged into is just a giant waste of time. Maybe you will start to see how amazing it is that there’s a machine that turns math into interactive stories and expansive, virtual playgrounds, and how amazingly boring it is to use this machine instead to hate on said interactive stories and playgrounds. Maybe you start to realize that every single game ever made is some kind of techno-artistic miracle, and that some of them, such as Saints Row 2022, can even be fun on top of that. Enlightened by that newfound appreciation for games, you’ll take a deep breath, close your eyes, and silently thank me, the author of this piece, for the path I set you on by telling you how wrong you were about Saints Row 2022.
You’re welcome.
footnotes
[1] If you are reading this, Volition: first of all, thank you for reading and for making cool games. Second: are you taking suggestions? I mean, there’s entire genres of metal that are ridiculous in the best sense of the word. How about some symphonic metal? Technical death metal, death core? Grindcore? Pirate metal, as in… metal about Pirates? Musical shitposts such as Hatebeak or Neckbeard Deathcamp? And have you heard about power metal, the musical equivalent of an airbrush painting of a wizard fighting a dragon on the side of a van? My point is, Saints Row is a party, so the metal playlist should reflect it. The ether is full of great bands that make awesome tracks but don’t take themselves super seriously. Hit me up for a few specific suggestions. 😛
christoph-david volbers 