Saints Row Reboot Roundup

Saints Row is heading to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S is just a few short months, and a bunch of outlets recently attended a developer-led preview event showing the game off. While none went hands on with the game, most came away impressed with what was shown, despite prior reservations. Here's a roundup of what folks are saying ahead of launch:

GameInformer

Having seen Saints Row in that early build last year and comparing it to what was presented last week, I'm feeling hopeful that jumping into the shoes of The Boss and building this new Saints empire will be a great time. The flexibility and abundance of customization options are impressive, and the improvements to combat options, traversal, and the interlocking of systems are proof Volition is making great strides to polish the game before its release.

VG24/7

With more RPG elements (yes, really), some zany abilities, and a level of action that’d look a tad too much even in a Nicholas Cage flick [...] Saints Row 2022 seems like a game keen to drop the excesses of its past, but keep that curious, there’s-nothing-else-quite-like-it flavour that made the series so popular in the first place.

Gamesradar

It's all very fast, very frantic, very Saints Row, albeit fresher and sharper, viewed through a modern lens with gorgeous visuals. If acknowledging the past while looking to the future is Volition's overarching goal, I reckon they've done a fine job of walking that tightrope between deference and daring

Eurogamer

With all that said, Saints Row still looks as if it holds the potential for fun. Be that because of the amusing way you can bop off pedestrians' heads to gain a boost when using your flight suit (an item even fellow Saint Kevin seems to have access to, despite being shirtless in all the footage I have seen so far) or because you can change up your character's appearance on the fly as and when the mood takes you.

IGN

Having watched roughly 50 minutes of Saints Row gameplay, I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen. Deep Silver Volition’s reboot of the series looks a lot of fun, filled with the wackiness, carnage, and humour you’d expect. It feels comfortably familiar, but with enough new ways to play to make it not just seem like a retread of what’s come before, and promises to be a welcome throwback to an era when playful, urban open-world games were a much more common occurrence.

PC Gamer

Nothing in my 20-minute hands-off tour really surprised me, which is strange for a reboot. But it did absolutely seem like Saints Row. It couldn't be any other game. This is fine with me—there isn't a Saints Row I don't like—and no doubt this will be good news for fans worried about Volition changing too much. But any reinvention needs something bold and new to showcase the new direction, and so far Saints Row doesn't seem to have that. With the delay pushing it back to August, however, there's still time to wheel out something unexpected.

So yeah, while most of these previews are hesitant to label the reboot as anything ground-breaking, it sure does sound a lot like Saints Row. It isn't too long until we can all go hands on to try it ourselves, anyway. Saints Row heads to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on August 23rd, 2022.

Are you looking forward to trying out the Saints Row reboot? Let us know in the comments.