Saints Row

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About

Saints Row is a series of action-adventure open-world video games developed by Deep Silver Volition that follow the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang operating out of the Saints Row district. The series, initially labeled a Grand Theft Auto clone, focuses on over-the-top gameplay, parodies and pop culture references. In August 2022, a reboot of the franchise titled Saints Row, was released.

History

On August 29th, 2006, Saints Row, the first installment in the Saints Row series, was released by Volition and published by THQ for Xbox 360.^[1] The single-player open-world game, set in the fictional city of Stilwater, introduced the player to the 3rd Street Saints gang as they played as an unnamed protagonist to rise through the criminal ranks (trailer shown below, left). On October 14th, 2008, Saints Row 2, the second installment in the series, was then released (trailer shown below, right).

While two initial installments of the game were commonly described as clones of Grand Theft Auto,^[2]^[3] the third game adopted a less-serious tone focused on over-the-top gameplay and presentation.^[4] On November 14th, 2011, Saints Row: The Third was released, with the fourth major installment, Saints Row IV, released on August 20th, 2013 (trailers shown below, left and right). On January 20th, 2015, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, a standalone expansion to Saints Row IV, was released.

On August 25th, 2021, Deep Silver Volition announced Saints Row, the fifth major installment and a reboot of the series (announcement trailer shown below, left).^[5] On August 23rd, 2022, the game was released^[12] to mixed reviews from both fans and critics (gameplay trailer shown below, right).

Saints Row (2022) Announcement Trailer Reactions

Following the release of the announcement trailer for Saints Row (2022), the game was criticized by many for its design choices as fans expressed their concerns about the series losing its identity.^[6] In the following days, Saints Row aggressively responded to criticism on Twitter, with several media outlets reporting on user reactions (tweet compilation shown below).

Reception

On Metacritic, Saints Row installments received mixed to positive reviews over the series' history. Saints Row, the first game in the series, received positive reviews and maintains an 81 average critic rating based on 74 critic reviews and a 7.6 audience rating based on 266 reviews.^[7] Saints Row 2 has a 72 average critic rating and a 6.9 user rating.^[8] The third and fourth installments^[9]^[10] maintain an 84 critic rating and 8.1 user score, and an 86 critic rating and 7.4 user rating, respectively.

As of its release day, Saints Row, the latest installment in the series, had a 64 average critic rating, the lowest in the series.^[11]

Saints Row (2022) received criticism from some over stepping away from riskier jokes and design choices, such as toning down its humor to make it less offensive, the quality of its writing and the game's outdated mechanics and bugs.

In Memes

In memes, the Saints Row series has been primarily referenced over its bright, colorful presentation and over-the-top gameplay. Additionally, the games have often been compared to Grand Theft Auto, another open-world action-adventure series.