Saints Row’s Story Starts In The Worst Way Possible

Although the Saints Row reboot has plenty to offer, the game does not start off on the right foot. The world of Santo Ileso has plenty of activities for players, but the opening phase of the game does not do the best job of introducing them. While this does not condemn the game as a whole, it does affect the first impression, which may be enough for some players.

Saints Row is the reboot of the series of the same name, having just released this week. Set in the new city of Santo Ileso, it follows a new iteration of the Saints as they get their start as a gang. With a brand new cast and location, it has a lot of opportunities to tell stories and create events that were not in past titles. Even though Saints Row has no returning characters, there is still plenty of interest to be had in taking on the new game.

Even though Saints Row shows promise, the way the story begins is far from the series’ best. It strays from series traditions in a way that doesn’t benefit it, and it also doesn’t do the best job of showing what the game has to offer. Saints Row may have the weakest opening of any game in the series, and there are a few good points to explain why this is the case.

Saints Row’s Intro Cutscene Gives Away Too Much Success

Saints Row begins with a flash-forward, showing off the Saints’ headquarters in the midst of a gigantic party. The gang is clearly thriving, and the Boss films a video proclaiming their success over their enemies. It is a far cry from past games, which used Saints Row‘s sense of absurdity to their advantage, and the flash forward actually works to the game’s disadvantage for a couple of reasons.

By showing the gang’s success before the player even starts the tutorial mission, it takes a lot of tension out of the game’s opening chapters. The player knows that the Saints will become wildly successful, and the cutscene also reveals that all of the game’s main allies will survive up to that point. This particularly removes the drama from an early mission where Eli gets shot, because the player already knows that he won’t die there. Had the flash forward not happened at the start of the game, there would have been much more tension and emotion during the firefight and following scenes. When the player already knows how high the Saints will rise, the journey feels less impactful. Grand Theft Auto 5‘s true ending wouldn’t have been as satisfying if the player knew what would happen beforehand, so showcasing the Saints’ success before the game even starts is an odd move.

Admittedly, the intro does manage to inject some drama back into it as the Boss is knocked out and buried, providing a mystery to be uncovered. At the very least, there is something for the player to wonder about. However, the initial rise of the Saints is still marred by predictability.

Saints Row’s Protagonist Spends Too Much Time Working For Marshall

Marshall Defense Industries is one of the three rival gangs in Saints Row, a private military corporation that uses high-tech weapons and armor. They bill themselves as noble soldiers, but their real goal is serving the whims of Atticus, their supremely selfish leader. The Boss is actually a Marshall employee at the beginning of the game in an arc that lasts for too long. While it may not be the same mistakes from Saints Row 4, it is still a poor opening to the actual gameplay.

At the game’s start, the Boss is a new Marshall soldier on their first day on the job. Rather than simply being a setup for the tutorial, the Boss remains as a Marshall employee for the first six missions of the game. Depending on how much time the player spends on side missions in between, this could stretch to a few hours of gameplay before the Saints as a concept are even mentioned in-game. It doesn’t help that the Boss spends a lot of their time at Marshall being disrespected by their superior officer, making those missions a more annoying experience to go through.

The Boss’ past as a Marshall employee is an important part of their backstory, as revealed in Saints Row‘s overview trailer. However, too much of the early game is spent with Marshall rather than letting the boss act independently. The early Marshall missions don’t feel like proper Saints Row missions, and they keep the game from getting into a proper flow during the opening arc.

Saints Row’s Initial Side Missions Are Too Far Apart

After the first mission of the game, the player will have the opportunity to try some of the game’s Side Hustles for the first time. SIde Hustles are some of the game’s more prominent side activities, so there is value in learning them quickly, especially with most of them being new to the series. However, the initial rollout of the Side Hustles in Saints Row‘s beautiful Santo Ileso was not as good as it could have been.

At the start, each available Side Hustle will have one available location, and the player has to drive there in order to play it. Completing one of these initial Side Hustles will open instances of that activity across the map. However, there are some issues with the initial locations of the Side Hustles. They are fairly spread out, so the player will have to drive a long distance for some of them, making the game feel slower. The most egregious example of this would be the first Pony Express hustle. It is near the bottom-left corner of the map in a rather desolate area, so not only will the player have to drive a long way, but there is almost nothing to see during the trip.

These initial activities being spread out also has the side effect of making Saints Row‘s 15 districts feel empty. Thankfully, this will be alleviated as more activities open up across the map. However, the commute required for some of the starting activities can leave the first impression that there is not a lot to do in Santo Ileso.

Saints Row is a game with plenty of activities to entertain the player. However, it begins its story in one of the least effective ways that it could. The beginning of the game does not play to its strengths, and it leaves a weak first impression. Saints Row is still a solid title, but its opening chapter leaves a lot to be desired.