What the Hell is Going On With the Saints Row Reboot?

I like the Saints Row series. It’s fun, chaotic and much like a giant sandbox. But the Saints Row series really went off the deep end in Saints Row 4, literally destroying the whole damn planet. Somehow, Gat Out of Hell managed to follow that game, but frankly, we’re at a dead end for the series. With the planet and most of the supporting cast gone, there’s only one last avenue we can travel down. Saints Row is getting a reboot, with a brand new game, a reboot showing the start of the Saints.

However, when we finally saw the teaser trailer for the Saints Row reboot, well, people were pissed. Reactions are all over the damn place, but also rather negative. Many people lost hope almost immediately upon seeing a basic CGI action trailer, which had basically no actual gameplay in it.

Our first look into a new Saints Row game, and everyone hated it.

Seriously, people were really pissed after seeing the cinematic trailer. The biggest screams were “WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE?” Which is somewhat understandable. All the cast that we were used to seeing, like Gat and Shaundi, weren’t here. Instead, we got what looked more like a group of edgy teenagers looking to have some fun while stealing weapons. These new personalities can’t be compared to the original cast, and look way too young to be doing anything. The massively high expectations here were crushed by a new, younger cast, who were barely even wearing purple.

The trailer didn’t even make much sense. It was too crazy and chaotic, and the younger cast really don’t sell it. The bigger problem though is that these kids have MASSIVE shoes to fill. And it’s possible they might fall flat.

The gameplay looks fine.

I was going to write this article as soon as the reboot trailer came out, but, well, I didn’t want to get overly angry by a trailer that doesn’t even show gameplay. Cinematic trailers rarely give an accurate impression of a game, and that was certainly the case with Saints Row. Thankfully, we did get a gameplay trailer as well, and things suddenly seemed a lot less angry.

Seriously, it looks fine. Your normal chaotic shooting game. It has basically nothing to do with the cinematic trailer that Deep Silver/Volition released. Basically no super powers, much more down to earth. I honestly don’t have much to say about the gameplay, since we don’t have much information yet. But yeah, combat and stuff looks fine.

More importantly though, the Saints Row reboot LOOKS cool. The city of Santo Ileso looks absolutely amazing, a vibrant, stunning fictional city set in the middle of a desert. It genuinely looks like an absolute blast to explore, and the city is apparently bigger than ever. Also the game is not set in Steelport. Thankfully. I think there’d be actual riots of the devs used that damn city again.

No 4 player Co-Op

The thing that really makes me sad is no co-op mode for more than 2 players. The Saints Row series is absolutely perfect as a chaotic sandbox with too many guns. But we’re still restricted to sharing that with just one other friend. I understand wanting to make the main campaign just for two players. After all, Saints Row campaigns have always been rather clunky.

In the Saints Row reboot though, you have an absolutely awesome landscape, but you’ll mostly be playing it alone. It’s a real, real shame. Four players in a massive sandbox is way more fun than two players in a massive sandbox.

Wait and See

Ultimately, it’s honestly too soon to judge. We have seen very little of this new game, just random teasers and the like. We have no idea what the story is going to be like and how close it is to the original series. The reboot looks amazing, and I am tempted to buy it. When it comes out of course, because I hate pre-ordering games.

That being said, I still recommend caution. There are far, far too many unknowns when it comes to the Saints Row reboot.

A big but…

Oh, there’s also one last thing that people understandably hate. Much to my displeasure, the Saints Row reboot will be an Epic exclusive. And that IS generally a shitty thing. I’m not going to even bother trying to defend that. I’ll probably just wait until the game’s cheaper, because I’m definitely NOT paying €60 for a pre-order. I’ve learned from my previous mistakes.

So, yeah, the Saints Row reboot does look cool, but damn, that cinematic trailer really did NOT help sell the game at all…