Santo Ileso and The Heart of the Saints

Saints Row 2022 is everything we expected

Alexander Razin
5 min readSep 18, 2022

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Source: Deep Silver

In 2013, after the boss became president and thwarted intergalactic beings in Saints Row 4, what was next for Saints Row? There were two options. One, Deep Silver Volition could scale down the next game. Two, they could reboot the franchise. The reboot seemed like a wise option. The Saints could return to the gameplay and appeal of their first two titles.

A decade later, Volition unveiled a reboot screen on the Saints Row official website. The rebooting screen could only mean one thing: a return to form. The anticipation was palpable as admirers and fans awaited a trailer. We hoped the reboot was a chance to once again experience gameplay like that of Saints Row 1 and 2.

Once they released the trailer, we saw a lackluster and straightforward third-person shooter. As a response, fans raged online by disliking the YouTube trailer and mocking it with jokes.

I gave the game a chance, hoping I’d enjoy the new characters and gameplay. However, as Saints Row hit digital and physical storefronts, all my worries came to fruition.

Saints Row 2022 is trying too hard and has no clue what it’s doing. I can overlook the downgraded graphics and lackluster story if those were the only problems, but alas they are not. The new Saints are uninteresting, and the new city, Santo Ileso, is barren. Regardless, when I played for the first few hours, I hoped for anything worthwhile, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, I felt let down as the hours ticked by.

To express my frustration with Saints Row, I’ll break down the game into The Good and The Bad. And it’s up to you if you should play it or skip it.

The Good

In Saints Row, rival gangs return (Los Panteros, Idols, and Marshall). To gain their territory, you must create a city venture. Some ventures include stealing cars for JimRob or lugging your…

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Alexander Razin

Aficionado and connoisseur of obscure and strange music, movies, and TV. Fictional and nonfictional pieces have their place here, too