I've blogged at points about the, "Saints Row," franchise. Not too long ago I wrote an essay of sorts about it. I submitted it to a couple of writing journals (to no response, it may be a bit niche), but have decided I'd just post it on my good ol' website for you all to enjoy! Now then...
I have a strange soft spot for the, “Saints Row,” Series of video-games. The franchise started out a bit like a clone/rip-off/imitator of the, “Grand Theft Auto,” series, albeit one loaded with personality. Then, it morphed over time into something quite special and outlandish…before ending with a big, “Thud,” of a reboot. Even as early as the first game, however, there were seeds of creativity and ingenuity that the later games would expand upon. I know all the gamers love, “Grand Theft Auto,” and wait with bated breath for the sixth entry to release at some point this 2026 (unless it is further delayed), but as much as I adore the GTA franchise, “Saints Row,” and its games will always have a special piece of my heart.
“Saints Row,” was released on the Xbox 360 back in 2006. It featured a nameless gangster you designed (often referred to as, “Playa,” by the Keith David-voiced Julius–the head of your gang) who goes and joins a group of gangsters–the 3rd Street Saints. Your character almost never talks (a bit like GTA III), and much of the plot has you choosing which of three different gangs to fight in any order you like to become the sole big gang and rise up to be in charge of the city of Stilwater. Eventually, you accomplish this, and everyone in the gang looks up to you with awe. Then the credits roll before you return to the open-world game to explore. Sounds like the usual, eh? Well, this is where that little sparkle of something special comes in–you’re not actually done.
Your cell phone rings after the supposedly happy ending. Julius has been kidnapped, and you end up taking out a corrupt police chief and mayoral candidate in order to free your boss in some intense missions. Then, the game has you go to the last remaining candidate’s yacht, Richard Hughes. Before you board the yacht, you’re warned that the game is at a point of no return. This activates a cinema scene that lays out how a lot of the game hasn’t been as it seems. One major character is an undercover cop, Julius is watching you on the yacht whilst nervously checking his watch, and Richard Hughes says you’ve helped him cinch the election on his anti-crime policy, and he plans to kill you. Then, without warning, the boat explodes. The second set of credits roll, and that’s it, the game closes to the main screen. It’s a shocking downer of a denouement that leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Thankfully, players only had to wait until 2008 for, “Saints Row 2.”
“Saints Row 2,” is a game where the series finds its voice–further illustrated by how now your main character can talk, and you choose the voice. You awake from a five-year coma to find new gangs have moved in and a big company called Ultror runs the city as well (fun fact: Ultron was the enemy in the futuristic, “Red Faction,” games developed by the same company, Volition). Much of the game is spent doing missions against other gangs, but the tone is much more wacky. After you’ve defeated your opponents, another rug-pull occurs–Ultor wanted this.
The head of Ultor is Dane Vogel (deliciously voiced by Jay Mohr), and he wanted the gangs to wipe each other out so Ultor could move in and remodel, then rent out the city. The final boss in, “Saints Row 2,” isn’t another gang, it's gentrification. There is something hilariously twisted about a game where you play a group of troublemaking gangsters featuring an incisive critique of modern capitalism. Scenes with Vogel laying out the whole plan sound uncomfortably like a concept Bezos or Musk would have for a, “Perfect,” city. Your gang does come out on top via some wild stunts (you literally fly up a jet to Vogel’s office and jump into his office window to put a stop to him), but for a bit it does look like the capitalists could take down your ragtag group.
“Saints Row: The Third,” released in 2011 and shifted the game to a new city called Steelport. The third entry boasts a deliciously self-aware tone, opening with the Saints struggling to rob a bank as they’ve become huge celebrities. Everything goes wrong, and a lot of main characters die (for this entry at least). The third game is essentially about your character rebuilding their legacy after losing everything. The gangs you face are even crazier (wrestlers, cyber-space hackers, etc.), and eventually you have a, “Happy,” and, “Sad,” ending that you can play through both of. The third game in the series was fun but sticks out in my mind a lot less than the first two and the eventually, utterly insanely magnificent fourth game.
2013 marked the release of, “Saints Row IV.” It took the franchise as far away from its GTA-clone roots as it could while also weirdly staying focused on its continuity. The game opens with you becoming President of the United States before aliens blow up Earth—after they abduct a bunch of humans and put them in a simulation of Steelport. From your spaceship, you then beam into the city (a game within a game, basically) and develop superpowers to the point that, “Saints Row IV,” is almost more of a superhero game than anything else. It is utterly off-the-wall and gleefully silly. We’ve gone from fighting gangsters, to dueling with capitalism, to zapping space aliens, all in the span of four games. It would’ve been a great way to end the series, but we have to conclude on a dour note.
Picture this: It’s June of 2022, and a new, “Saint’s Row,” game is coming out titled simply, “Saint’s Row,” just like that original game so many years ago. It is a total reboot of the series. The original cities aren’t in it. The original characters are gone. It is a brand-new game that supposedly has the, “Vibe,” of the old series while being fresh. It isn’t good. Someone playing this new title would get the sensation that this is a game trying to act like it is, “Hip,” but failing at it. The snark, the attitude, and so forth seem like what people who are 40 or 50 think a 20-year-old would sound like. It feels like a paper-thin satire in a franchise that used to have some teeth. Nobody seems to like this new, “Saints Row,” that much, and it is a shame.
The 2022, “Saint’s Row,” did not do nearly as well in sales as the previous games had. The developer of the game–Volition–was shut down after 30 years of existence by a parent company that had acquired it in previous mergers. Perhaps the fact, “Saints Row,” didn’t grow up with those of us who loved it and wanted to appeal to a new generation, which, by all accounts of reviews and general public reception, still found it dated despite its desperate attempt to say, “Hello fellow youth!” imparts a lesson. You’ve got to grow as a person or your attempts to stay stuck in the past will only make you seem further out of touch. The underdog had earned respect and recognition after four amazing games (let’s ignore a so-so spin-off featuring Johnny Gat in Hell), but then chose to turn staid, stale, and dull.
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| Google's AI summary offers little hope for more Saints Row. |
It is 2025, and with, “Saints Row,” seeming to permanently dead and, “GTA VI,” due to debut sooner than later I would wager the underdog franchise will move further out of everyone’s memory. As soon as, “Grant Theft Auto VI,” brings about the second coming or whatever lofty ideals we all have about it few will care about, “Saints Row,” anymore. “It was always in GTA’s shadow,” some may state, while ignoring just how crazy and outlandish a franchise it could be. Still, the fact that it was the underdog of a series for so long is probably what allowed it to take so many storytelling, gameplay, and creative risks. I’m sure, “GTA VI,” will be amazing, but I sincerely doubt it will ever get as weird as the, “Saints Row,” franchise was willing to be.
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