Published by: Deep Silver
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: January 20, 2015
MSRP: $59.99
Rating: Mature 17+
Available On: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4
[tentblogger-youtube CamVtw2uG78]
Saints Row has become something of an anomaly in the games industry. What ostensibly began as a very transparent effort to cash in on the immense hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto, the Saints Row franchise has grown into its own behemoth. Saints Row games are as beloved as the games from which they shamelessly borrowed features; in fact, there’s a strong contingent of fans out there who prefer the Saints Row franchise to Rockstar’s infamous offerings. The major difference? Ridiculousness.
Sure, in Grand Theft Auto you can steal a plane or murder a prostitute. In Saints Row you can kill a flying toilet with a dildo. There’s simply no substitute for the sublime, weird, and often unexplainable things that happen in the Saints Row universe. If oddity is what turns you on and you’re not afraid to laugh at a few middle-school sex jokes, Saints Row can be quite the rewarding experience. It’s not Citizen Kane, but every entertainment form needs its mindless pursuits.
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell takes everything you already love about Saints Row and dials it up to max volume. The game boasts a massive open world, incredible array of side missions, and a main storyline centered on the Saints leader literally being held captive by Satan. Yes, Satan. You’ll find more to do than ever as you explore the strange New Hades universe, which features five islands packed with demonic delights. Did we mention the Satan thing?
The superhero powers from Saints Row IV are back. But there’s more; Gat Out of Hell also introduces the power of flight by giving the player angel wings (any write-up of a Saints Row game requires a dozen footnotes that say, “yes, seriously”). Simply put, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell takes the most revered elements of Saints Row IV and enhances them with a near-infinite number of weird tweaks and additional features. The bad has been refined, the good retained, and everything else expanded and exploded.
The one major limitation present in Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is the inability to build a custom character. Making and sharing ridiculous, horrible player characters has long been a grand tradition of the Saints Row community and Volition’s decision to remove this feature in Gat Out of Hell is sure to cause some backlash. However, players are now able to build their own version of the Boss character, and the options for doing so are just as astoundingly weird as you would expect.
Overall, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is the most bombastic, weird, and ambitious Saints Row title to date. It’s not likely to convert any Saints Row haters into fans, but it’s just crazy enough to bring a few neutral players into the fold while singing all the right notes for franchise fanatics.