Saints Row is an action-adventure video game series developed by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang that originated in the Saint's Row district, hence the series' title.
The Saints Row games feature an open world in which the player can complete missions to advance the overall story as well as engage in various side activities. The majority of the gameplay consists of driving and shooting, with some role-playing elements thrown in for good measure. Due to early entries being labeled as Grand Theft Auto clones, the developers sought to create a more distinct experience beginning with the third game, with a heavy emphasis on over-the-top gameplay, popular culture homages, parodies, and self-referential humor; these changes have been controversial among fans of the original games. The first four games in the Saints Row series were mostly set in two fictional locations—Stilwater and Steelport—that were loosely based on real American cities.
Work on the original Saints Row began in 2003, following the completion of Red Faction II by Volition. The game was released to critical acclaim and commercial success in August 2006. Saints Row 2, the sequel, was released in October 2008 to critical acclaim and commercial success. Saints Row: The Third, the third installment in the series, was released in November 2011 and was the final Saints Row video game published by THQ before Deep Silver acquired the rights to the series in 2013. Saints Row IV, the fourth installment in the series, was released in August 2013, with a standalone expansion called Gat out of Hell released in North America and Europe in January 2015.
A reboot of the franchise, titled simply Saints Row, was announced in August 2021, and is scheduled to be released in August 2022.[1][2] The reboot takes place in the fictional city of Santo Ileso in the American southwest, and follows a new gang, simply called The Saints, as they attempt to take control of the city from the different gangs ruling it.[3]
Games
Saints Row (2006)
Saints Row is the first game in the series, with development beginning in mid-2003 as a PlayStation 2 title called Bling Bling. [4] The game was announced for the Xbox 360 at E3 2005. It was also supposed to be compatible with the Nintendo Wii. Saints Row was widely anticipated as the first non-linear gameplay-style video game released for the Xbox 360; its pre-beta demo build broke records after being downloaded nearly 400,000 times in a week. [5] It sold over 500,000 copies in its first month of release in September 2006, and it received critical acclaim. As of 2019, the game had sold over two million units. [6] The game was notable for being the first seventh-generation sandbox game, and it introduced features that have since become genre staples. It has online multiplayer, a mobile phone in-game, GPS navigation, extensive character and vehicle customization, and a weapon wheel. [7] [8]
The game takes place in the fictitious city of Stilwater. Players design their own character, who remains silent for the majority of the game and is only known as "Playa." After being caught in a shootout between three rival gangs—the Vice Kings, Los Carnales, and the Westside Rollerz—the player character is rescued by a fourth, smaller gang called the 3rd Street Saints, and later joins the Saints to help them reclaim the Saint's Row district from their adversaries. The player's goal from there is to take over the entire city in the name of the Saints by weakening the gangs that control each district. They accomplish this by completing both main and side missions related to each enemy faction, which can be completed alone or with the assistance of other gang members.
Saints Row 2 (2008)
Saints Row 2 began development in mid-2006, a few months before Saints Row's Xbox 360 release. [9] A PlayStation 3 port of Saints Row was in the works, but it was canceled when Saints Row 2 was announced in May 2007. [10] In early 2009, a Microsoft Windows port that was announced in June 2008 was released. The game expands on the foundations of Saints Row by improving the respect system, adding more diverse activities, expanding the extent to which the player can customize their character, gang, and vehicles, and introducing a number of new vehicle models. It also adds new gameplay features and content to the Stilwater setting, as well as new locations. [11]
The plot picks up roughly five years after the events of Saints Row, and follows the same player character (now known as "the Boss") as he awakens from a coma to find that the 3rd Street Saints have fallen from grace in their absence, allowing three new gangs—the Ronin, the Brotherhood, and the Sons of Samedi—to take over the Saints' former territories. Furthermore, the Ultor Corporation, which has plans for Stilwater, has transformed the Saint's Row district into a pristine commercial and residential area. The Boss works to restore the Saints to power, this time as the gang's leader, after recruiting new and old allies to their cause and establishing a new base of operations. The plot is structured similarly to the first game, with players completing missions related to each gang they must defeat, as well as Ultor later in the plot. These missions are mostly unrelated, and the player must first earn respect by completing side activities.
Downloadable content
Saints Row 2 saw the release of several downloadable content (DLC) packs, including two story DLCs. The first, Ultor Exposed, adds Red Faction: Guerrilla-themed content[12] and stars American pornographic actress Tera Patrick[12] as a whistleblower and former Ultor Corporation microbiologist. It was released on April 23, 2009. [13][14] The second, Corporate Warfare, was released on May 28, 2009, and focuses on the conflict between the Saints and the Ultor Corporation.
Saints Row: The Third (2011)
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Saints Row: The Third was announced in March 2011 and released in November 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows. [15] It began early development at Volition in September 2008, one month before Saints Row 2. [16] The game marks a major turning point in the series, with a greater emphasis on comedy and a variety of pop culture homages, parodies, and self-referential humor, as well as an over-the-top nature. The game's reception to these changes was mixed, but it still performed well both critically and financially.
The game introduces a new setting: Steelport, Stilwater's sister city, which is controlled by the Syndicate, a single criminal organization comprised of three gangs: the Morningstar, the Luchadores, and the Deckers. After selling their license to Ultor to produce merchandise based on the gang, the 3rd Street Saints find themselves stranded in Steelport after an altercation with the Syndicate, and must find new allies to help them take over the city and eliminate their rivals. Steelport is placed under martial law halfway through the game in response to increasing gang violence, and a paramilitary known as S.T.A.G. is called in to restore order, complicating matters even further for the Saints. The mission structure has been altered from the first two games, with missions now having to be completed in a specific order. [17] The game also incorporates narrative choices and has multiple possible endings.
Downloadable content
Downloadable content for Saints Row: The Third was announced prior to the game's release, as was THQ's commitment to support 40 weeks of content. Among the smaller upgrades were three major content packs: Genkibowl VII (released on 17 January 2012), which adds new challenges as part of the titular contest; Gangstas in Space (released on 21 February 2012), which focuses on a film the Saints are producing that involves aliens; and The Trouble with Clones (released on 20 March 2012), which focuses on the Saints reuniting with a hulking clone of their deceased friend, Johnny Gat.
Remaster
On May 22, 2020, a remastered version of Saints Row: The Third was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, including all of the original game's DLC. Sperasoft created it, and it includes remastered assets and textures, as well as improved graphics and lighting. [18]
Saints Row IV (2013)
Saints Row IV was released in August 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. In 2015, it was ported to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Linux. On March 27, 2020, a Nintendo Switch port was also released. The game expands on the humor and over-the-top nature of Saint Row: The Third by introducing superpowers. Saints Row IV was released in a number of limited and summative editions, and it was briefly banned in Australia. It received mostly positive feedback and sold more than one million copies in its first week.
The story picks up five years after the events of Saints Row: The Third, with the Boss being elected President of the United States after foiling a terrorist attack. When an alien empire known as the Zin attacks Earth, the Boss and the other Saints are kidnapped and placed in a Steelport simulation designed to break their wills. [19] The Boss is able to manipulate the simulation to their advantage, gaining superpowers, and must now find a way to escape, rescue their friends, and defeat the Zin, all while dealing with enemies from their past and their own worst fears.
Downloadable content
Enter the Dominatrix, Saints Row IV's first story-driven downloadable content pack, was released on October 22, 2013. It is a "director's cut" version of the cancelled Saints Row: The Third expansion of the same name. [20] The plot picks up where Saints Row: The Third left off, depicting an alternate version of the Zin invasion. How the Saints Save Christmas, the second story DLC, was released on December 10, 2013. Its plot revolves around the Saints' efforts to save Santa Claus from the Steelport simulation, with the Boss, who despises the holiday season, learning the true meaning of Christmas along the way.
Gat out of Hell, a standalone expansion to Saints Row IV, was released on January 20, 2015 in North America and January 23, 2015 in Europe. [21] The game follows Saints members Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington as they attempt to rescue the Boss from Hell after being kidnapped by Satan. [22]
Saints Row (2022)
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According to Embracer Group's financial report from August 2019, a new Saints Row title is in development at Volition Studios. [23] The new game was confirmed to be a reboot of the franchise in August 2021. [24] The reboot, simply titled Saints Row, is set to be released on August 23, 2022, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows. [24] [2] The game is meant to be a return to the series' roots, with a focus on gang warfare and a less "wacky" tone than Saints Row IV. [25]
Gameplay
Setting
Stilwater
The fictional city of Stilwater is located in the midwestern state of Michigan, United States, and serves as the setting for both Saints Row and Saints Row 2. Stilwater is loosely based on the real-life American city of Detroit. Saints Row's city was designed before the script was assembled and was more than four times the size of its final version during the early development process. It was reduced in size because development resources could not support a city of that size. Stilwater's red light district is heavily influenced by Harlem, with the Raykins Hotel serving as The Cotton Club. [29] The city experienced constant expansion and cropping during its development phase. In Saints Row 2, for example, the shopping mall and trailer park districts were originally The shopping mall and trailer park districts in Saints Row 2 were, for example, included in early Saints Row designs. [29] Because creating the city without load-screen interference was a design challenge, the engine was designed to stream around the player's location in individual chunks of the city. [4] Saints Row product art director Matt Flegel stated that the city was designed to feel diverse and have a variety of districts "We wanted the city to have a variety of architectural styles, from the towering skyscrapers of downtown to the gritty industrial feel of the factory district. We want the player to feel the differences between the districts rather than just see them." [30] The districts were created in order for the gangs that controlled them to feel relevant.
The Stilwater of Saints Row 2 is vastly different from the original; the city is 45 percent larger than its predecessor. [31] Saints Row 2 redevelops much of the city from Saints Row, making it more "alive" and full of depth. [32] "Stilwater in Saints Row 2 is very different from Saints Row," said lead producer Greg Donovan. In fact, every detail has been influenced in some way. [...] I believe that people who have played Saints Row or are fans of the franchise will have a great time exploring the city and discovering new things.[Also], newcomers to Saints Row 2 will be met with a massive, dispersed, and distinct environment that has been meticulously polished and detailed." [33] Saints Row 2[34] has no in-game load screens, which is a notable achievement given the game's ability to support seamless co-operative play. The city has over 130 interiors, including over ninety different shops. [35] Saints Row 2's city is more dynamic and lifelike because the artificial intelligence is smarter, i.e., civilians will interact with one another. [36] Furthermore, because Saints Row 2 shares some technology with the Volition-developed Red Faction: Guerilla game, certain elements of the game's environment are destructible. [37] Its surroundings also include numerous landmarks and Easter eggs, one of which was named "Top Easter Egg of 2008."
Steelport
Saints Row IV is set in Steelport again, but this time as a Matrix-like simulation created by the game's alien villain, Zinyak. Zinyak has replaced almost all signs of the Saints in the city (for example, the Saints' own clothing chain, Planet Saints, has been replaced with Planet Zin) and added images of himself and alien technology to fit his likeness. The player disrupts and eventually destroys the simulation throughout the game in order to find and kill Zinyak. Because this version of Steelport is set in a simulation, new gameplay mechanics such as superpowers are possible. It also allows for references to previous games: in some missions, characters and gangs from previous games can appear in the city. A fun example is when the player is required to kill the default character from the original Saints Row. The player can also explore various simulations, such as when the player has to rescue the other main characters from their individual 'nightmare' simulations, which are based on the worst times in their lives in order to break them and make them surrender to the Zin. Other than the player's simulation, the game only takes place in the real world at the beginning and end of the game, and when the player is in the Zin facility or The Ship, a stolen Zin spaceship that serves as the Saints' base.
New Hades
Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell is set in New Hades, Hell's capital city. It is much smaller than any of the cities in previous games and, due to its harsh location, has a very basic design. The city has been designed to complement the game's new flying mechanic and activity-based story. The city's islands are surrounded by lava instead of water, and in the center is a massive tower with a large hole above it, presumably the entrance to Hell.
Other media
Film
Rapper 50 Cent announced in 2009 that he was working on a screenplay and had optioned the rights to a Saints Row film. [39][40]
A Saints Row film is set to begin pre-production in April 2019, with Fenix Studios, Koch Media, and Occupant Entertainment producing. The film will be directed by F. Gary Gray, with a screenplay written by Greg Russo. [41] [42] According to Russo, the film will be inspired by both The Warriors and Escape from New York. [43]
Cancelled games
In 2009, Savage Entertainment was working on a spin-off for the PSP called Saints Row: Undercover, but it was canceled. Volition discovered a prototype of the game in a PSP development kit and made it available for free download on Unseen64.net on January 22, 2016. [44] [45][46]
Saints Row: Money Shot was originally planned as a spin-off of the main series for Xbox Live Arcade. [1] The game would be available as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360 and as a PlayStation Network game with 3D graphics for the PlayStation 3. [47] [48] As part of the game's marketing campaign, the game would have been linked to Saints Row: The Third. Playing Saints Row: Money Shot unlocked exclusive content for Saints Row: The Third, and vice versa.
Other cancelled games include Saints Row: Drive By, a Nintendo 3DS title announced at E3 2010, and Saints Row: The Cooler, a Kinect/PlayStation Move fighting game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Red Faction
The links between Saints Row and the Red Faction series are most visible in Saints Row 2, which features the Ultor Corporation heavily. Ultor was introduced in 2001's Red Faction, set in the year 2075, as a corporation that has begun mining operations on Mars due to Earth's rapidly depleting resources. Saints Row 2 and its downloadable content foreshadow these events. Despite potential licensing conflicts, more references to the events of Red Faction were present in subsequent Saints Row games after Deep Silver purchased the rights to the Red Faction and Saints Row series in 2013.
Agents of Mayhem
In June 2016, Agents of Mayhem, a new intellectual property set in the Saints Row universe, was announced. [54][55] The game takes place in a futuristic Seoul, South Korea, following the events of Gat Out of Hell's "Recreate Earth" ending, in which the Saints Row continuity was retconned. The cinematic announcement trailer depicted Persephone Brimstone (a character from Gat Out of Hell's closing epilogue) leading an organization known as "M.A.Y.H.E.M." on the payroll of the Ultor Corporation in order to stop the terrorist organization "L.E.G.I.O.N." from destroying the world's nations. [56] Agents of Mayhem debuted on August 15, 2017. Pierce Washington and Oleg Kirlov are two of the twelve playable characters in the game, with Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington added as downloadable content. [57] [58] [59] [60]
Reception
Critical reception
Saints Row and Saints Row 2 received positive feedback for their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports, respectively. However, both games' mobile phone ports, as well as Saints Row 2's Windows port, received mixed reviews. Furthermore, Saints Row 2's downloadable content packs received mostly average reviews.
Saints Row's Xbox 360 port received generally positive reviews and scores. Review aggregators GameRankings and Metacritic gave it 82.20 percent and 81/100, respectively. IGN reviewer Douglass Perry gave the game an 8.5/10, praising the presentation and gameplay while criticizing technical flaws and the game's often forced humour.
Saints Row 2 received positive reviews on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It received 83.37 percent and 82.99 percent from GameRankings, as well as 82/100 and 81/100 from Metacritic. According to GameSpy reviewer Gerald Villoria, "Saints Row 2 offers up a shooting and driving experience that is plenty of fun [...] It's self-consciously funny in its irreverence, and its low-brow humor will definitely appeal to much of its audience." [74] Nate Ahearn of IGN gave Saints Row 2 an 8.2/10, praising the gameplay but criticizing the lack of polish and the weak AI. [75] However, the PC port of Saints Row 2 was met with much less enthusiasm. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a combined score of 70.68 percent and 72/100.
According to Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer, Grand Theft Auto IV was a boon for the Saints Row series because it allowed the latter to be "gleeful silly sandbox games" while the former took a more serious turn.
Sales
During the month of its release in October 2008, Saints Row 2 sold over two million units for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. [77]
THQ CEO Brian Farrell announced on November 2, 2011, that Saints Row: The Third was already the most pre-ordered title in series history. The game received four times the number of pre-orders that Saints Row 2 received two weeks before its release. THQ predicted that the game would sell more than 3 million units before the end of the publisher's fiscal year in March 2012. Saints Row 2 debuted in October 2008 and sold 2.6 million units by the end of the fiscal year. THQ announced on January 25, 2012, that The Third had shipped 3.8 million units globally and that the title was expected to ship between five and six million units over its lifetime. [Citation required]
To date, the series has sold over 13 million units, with Saints Row 2 selling over three million.
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