Saints Row (2022) hands-off preview gameplay featuring chaos, co-op, epic Saints humor, and more

Volition's upcoming Saints Row is shaping up to be an interesting title, featuring the new Saints partaking in familiar shenanigans. Set for an August release date, the reboot promises to bring a breath of fresh air to the franchise.

Volition shared an extended look at the gameplay of Saints Row behind closed doors, featuring missions, a few side activities, and a lot of Saints in Santo Ileso. The gameplay retains the familiar experience one expects from a SR title, while being innovative in its own way.

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Saints Row debuts new gameplay

The Saints Row reboot received mixed responses when it was revealed last year. Compared to the original colorful cast of Third Street Saints, the new cast appeared underwhelming. However, the new gameplay, which presents the new Saints in action and explores the story, has certainly captures the fan base’s interest.

The gameplay features a couple of missions, ranging from looting a bank and escaping a high-speed chase across deserts and bridges, attacking a Los Panteros garage and burning it down to the ground, and rescuing one of the Saints from the top of the Santo Ileso sign and then wingsuit to take down the Idols.

Throughout the gameplay, Volition showcases different gameplay features, with different driving mechanics, chaotic combat, and different abilities. The gameplay also features side missions and co-op gameplay.

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On-road to off-road, the Saints Row drive-by

The new reboot does not feature the superpower of leaping across the city and flying to the destination. As open-world driving generally plays a major role in Saints Row, the focus on driving mechanics is back. While Volition has already teased the extensive customization of vehicles in the title, this extended gameplay features a closer look.

The game features over 80 vehicles at launch, which can range from the tamest van to an extravagant 007 car custom fitted with ejector seats. All vehicles can be extensively customized in the shop, from the color to body parts.

While the previous iterations were set in cities webbed with asphalt roads, the new reboot takes the franchise to a diverse location with rocky mountain paths and sandy deserts. The diverse landscape brings the opportunity for offroad driving and offroad vehicles, each of which can be customized and tuned according to the player’s requirements.

The game also expands on vehicle combat with a button that players can use to hit other cars during a chase. All in all, driving in the new titles is certainly going to be fun, from a rocky mountain path to a sun-scorched asphalt road.

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Everything goes boom in Saints Row

Unbridled larger-than-life chaos has always been a part of Saints Row, and the new reboot is no expectation. The game features an in-depth arsenal tuned for maximum chaos ranging from fun, novelty melee weapons to literal miniguns. The game also features deep weapon customization where players can change parts, making it look completely different.

The epic arsenal is further expanded by the new skill tree that can be accessed through the phone. These skills go hand-in-hand with the combat, from passive abilities like resistance to fire to the ability to attach grenades from an enemy and throw them back.

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The side activities of Santo Ileso

The game features an untethered co-op, including the main missions. A player can not only join a friend in Santo Ileso and cause chaos, but can complete a later mission together. The player will then have the option to skip that specific mission once the game reaches that point in the story.

Side activities have been a major part of the Saints Row experience. The game features familiar activities such as insurance fraud and mayhem, but also introduces new activities. A side mission showcased in the gameplay had the player defend a lady from the police during the gateway chase after robbing a jewelry store. The player can either peek from a window or climb to the top and chose a better angle, but be exposed to more gunfire.

Saints Row is shaping up to be an interesting entry. The game launches on August 23, 2022, for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC via the Epic Games Store.