On May 12th, 2022, Deep Silver let us in on an in-depth look at the gameplay of the upcoming Saints Row reboot. They showed some of the missions and features you were able to do in-game, and so far this all looks exciting.
This included checking out the wingsuit functionality and the ability to install an ejector seat in your car. Yep, just like Batman! You could install an ejector seat in any car you purchase or have acquired, once you unlocked it as a feature. Once you got stuck or were in a spot you couldn’t get the car out of but still wanted to move you could utilize the ejector seat to then shoot you up into the sky and glide around with the wingsuit. You’re able to gain altitude once you got too close to the ground by bouncing and kicking yourself up by using the head of a nearby civilian. It was pretty mesmerizing to see how fast the movement could be utilized with it. It will most likely be helpful in keeping a fast momentum in the game.
One thing I was disappointed in though was that the gameplay in the showcase was preplanned and pre-played. I was hoping it would be more real-time or at the very least show off what the basic HUD would look like. The entire showcase felt extremely scripted and only showed you probably the best parts of the gameplay. The HUD was turned off for the showcase so we didn’t get to experience a feeling of what it would be like for a final product. They did talk about that in the QA section luckily with discussing how much you could customize the HUD. Hopefully, that means we can have a lot of control over what we get shown on the screen and how much space it takes of the viewable space. They said the HUD was fully customizable.
They showed off an app called the Style app on the in-game phone you have access to in the game. It has the ability to instantly change to a bunch of set outfits and body types that you put into it from the customization menu. It makes it super easy to change outfits on the fly. I loved how much customization the gameplay showcase demonstrated with your boss. In the style menu, you can choose to pick the body type, the clothing, or both when you decide to apply the boss set you have chosen. You can also adapt and change your skills on the fly. You have a good variety of skills you can put on your boss and adapt them instantly once you unlock them.
During the driving sections we see on the gameplay, there is no line or direction helping you navigate roads. When you decide where you want to go, it just gives you a blip to follow. I think of this as both good and bad, to be frank. Good since it allows you to traverse in any way you want to to get to the location. Bad, because it doesn’t let you know the street set up or even the map set up to make sure you are actually going the right direction with the roads. Knowing how the wingsuit plays, that might be the way I would traverse the game so it would not upset me as much as those who want to drive to the location.
One thing I noticed heavily from the car sections is how ruthless and aggressive the police can be when they are chasing you. The person playing the game would do some crazy jumps up to freeways and make it to some streets pretty far and still have to worry about the police following them. Gave me some vibes of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas with getting four stars in the wanted bar and having to basically switch cars and outfits to get them off your back. Though they would then randomly stop following the player after some time of driving. I hoped we would see more options for getting the police off your back. That will probably be a thing I want to check out when the game gets released.
The layout of the weapons are on a radial selection wheel. Not new but it is easy enough to understand. You have a pretty decent selection of weapons and some are just extremely wacky or absurd. I personally love having the option to use things that aren’t traditional to attack people with. Shotguns and assault rifles are per the norm, but using firework blasters or lasers can make the selection pretty unique. Grenades are not on the radial wheel, and instead is a skill that can be equipped. You will need to make sure you have the appropriate grenade for the assignment and mission you are accomplishing.
They also demonstrated some co-op gameplay, and in doing so allowed us to see just how much is possible when teaming up with another player. The gameplay showcased one person being online and bringing the other player’s car with them on a helicopter to the destination of the objective. They talked about how the co-op is untethered and that people can join whenever on your instance or on theirs. They further went on to clarify in the QA section that the entirety of Saints Row is 100% co-op, regardless of when and where you are. You can do any story mission and side mission online with a friend. Co-op lets you have shared rewards for completing assignments and missions together. Progress is also shared if you are in the same place with the other person in the co-op instance.
Lastly, we were treated to some shootouts while in cars, which demonstrated your boss (characters) ability to either shoot out the window or get on top of the car to have more freedom of aiming. Shooting out the window provides more cover and allows you to heal in the car.
Deep Silver talked about why they wanted to make a reboot. While some featured it was just a cash-in on the popular series, that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t necessarily to redo a story or to do Saints Row again, it was to differentiate it from the first series. That game series came to a conclusion and they wanted to tell a new story but within the formula of Saints Row. Which to them is grounded absurdity. Doing things like attaching an outhouse to a car and driving it around to find the location of your friend. It may be absurd at the moment but it has a real emotional attachment to your boss.
Overall, I really enjoyed the showcase and what it had to offer to fans of the series as well as a good entry point to the world of Saints Row. I look forward to how this can push the bar of the quality of future entries into this particular version of Saints Row. I had a few nitpicks with this specific presentation but it was a good showing of the game and everything that the team of Deep Silver has been working on. I anticipate great enjoyment from this game once it comes out as well as how many crazy designs I can make in the customization system this game offers. I loved looking at the customization options and the body types you could choose from. I hope to see more of this game and its crazy antics before it gets released.
Saints Row gets released on Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PS4, PS5, and PC on August 23rd, 2022. The gameplay that was showcased in the presentation was played and recorded on a PC, however, we don’t know the specs that this particular PC.
