Something went wrong?
The 2022 Saints Row reboot is widely judged as a dull and outdated take on a once popular series. That stance is its clearest fault, amplified by a lack of meaningful progress over the prior installments and a technical package that feels cobbled together.
What should a reboot deliver? At minimum a fresh story and a reimagined gameplay loop that discards obsolete ideas and introduces mechanics the team could not implement before. In some cases the lore prevented certain features from ever taking shape, so the reboot promised more than surface updates.
The gameplay appears stuck in older hardware aesthetics, as if the work was built with PS3 and Xbox 360 constraints in mind. Early missions push players toward a target through a map, only to yield a hallway shootout or a siege of waves in open spaces. Sometimes the action happens on a car roof, sometimes in a narrow corridor, and the entire experience can feel repetitive and unpolished. Movement, combat, and driving often generate frustration rather than excitement, suggesting the team started from scratch but did not achieve a satisfying result.
Is Saints Row a walk-through?
The series moves away from the high intensity skirmishes of modern action games and never quite matches the physics depth developers hoped for. It stays arcade in tone and then adds moments of plain spectacle. The timing of responses, the aim reticle, and the vehicle physics never quite align with expectations set by rivals like GTA V, which loomed large in the genre for years.
Driving often feels inconsistent. The creators mentioned inspiration from films about bold breaks in style, yet the mechanics can feel exaggerated, with physics taking odd turns that disrupt immersion. If weight and response are the goal, Saints Row frequently falls short of the standard set by other open world titles with tighter car handling and more convincing collisions.
The game’s physics can seem toy-like. Cars may react oddly to collisions, with deformation and damage that look incomplete. The texture of the world sometimes betrays corners cut in development, and certain elements fail to interact realistically with the environment. These choices contribute to an overall impression that the game was kept deliberately light in its approach, rather than polished into a cohesive experience.
The tone of Saints Row teeters between a grounded attempt at drama and a chaotic fantasy of flight and destruction. It mixes moments of gravity with bursts of over-the-top spectacle, but does not consistently land either mood. The result is a tonal mismatch that leaves players unsure how to engage with the story and its characters.
The New Saints feature a cast of young characters whose personalities can swing between sympathy and reckless humor. Some attempts at social commentary hit a faint note, but the gameplay seldom integrates these ideas into meaningful choices or consequences. The mid progression design asks players to clear optional side content before main missions, which can feel like a gatekeeping mechanic rather than a narrative tool. The resulting cadence of mission structure tends to erode momentum rather than build it.
In contrast, other titles explore social themes with more cohesive integration. A title like Yakuza: Like a Dragon handles social and human elements through engaging gameplay that enriches the core loop, while Saints Row often pushes these ideas to the periphery without substantial gameplay payoff.
Nothing feels truly exciting in the open world. There are seeds of novelty, such as a usable wingsuit, some quirky side missions, and instances of inventive enemy interactions. The wingsuit offers a moment of genuine thrill when soaring through the city at night, but these flashes are sparse next to a broader sense of monotony in the routine tasks and predictable encounters. The city landscape contains some visually interesting spots, yet the overall experience rarely delivers a strong sense of momentum or awe.
The lack of a central unifying element for fun leaves the game feeling uneven. It echoes earlier open world projects where the ride overshadowed the point, turning play into a series of repetitive chores rather than a cohesive adventure. In the end, Saints Row 2022 struggles to capture the charisma that defined its predecessor and the energy that fans hoped to rediscover.
One potential upside is that patches might address some of the technical issues over time. There is a possibility that future updates could improve stability, polish some mission design, and offer a more satisfying progression path. A subscription option on consoles could help players try the game with less upfront cost, if a publisher chooses to pursue that route. The long-term value would hinge on how quickly the development team can resolve core problems and deliver a refined experience.
Would you try Saints Row if it appears on a subscription service with conditions?
While some players might revisit Saints Row to see if updates improve the feel, the current package remains a mixed bag with uneven quality across its components. The title might intrigue fans curious about how a reboot handles old ideas, but it also risks disappointing those hoping for a modern, tightly crafted open world experience. The final verdict rests on ongoing post-release support and the willingness of the team to align the game with current standards in driving physics, enemy AI, and mission pacing.
All screenshots from Saints Row can be viewed here. [Source VG Times]