The Way of the Saints. History of the Saints Row Series (Topic)

Since the release of GTA 3, a new offshoot of the genre has emerged in the game world known as "GTA clones". Almost any third-person game in the open world of a metropolis that appeared in the 2000s could be called a clone of GTA. Unfortunately [or fortunately], most of them were crooked fakes that had no style of their own and didn't try to bring something new to the industry. But in 2006 a game appeared that skillfully used the format. And as it is not difficult to guess from the name of the material - this is Saints Row. In honor of the recent news about the adaptation of the game, we decided to recall the history of Saints Row.

San Andreas' answer

The first part of the game, released on the Xbox 360, was an attempt by Volition to create their own San Andreas on a new generation of consoles. In spirit, it really was close to the Rockstar hit that came out 2 years ago: gang war, graffiti, hip-hop, drugs. However, it cannot be said that the game was exactly trying to be like San Andreas in a different package. Firstly, she recreated the present tense, and secondly, she did not try to be serious, although she was not yet as crazy as in the future. For you to understand, already in the first part there was the mechanics of pouring shit on people and buildings from a sewer.

Even in "Saints", our main character was variable, and we ourselves created his appearance (although his character was still written in advance]. And if in the end you get bored with him, you could change his face at the plastic surgery clinic.

The plot was not original and was simple. We play as a new member of the Saints gang from 3rd street. Our main goal is to fight for control of the city against the other gangs of Stiluther - a fictional city that looks like a mixture of Detroit and Chicago.

We had three enemies in total. Los Cornales Latinos specializing in weapons and drugs, Vice Kings [sounds like the name of ice cream, don't you?], Who ran prostitution and gambling, and West Side Rollers are car thieves.

What I want to praise the game for is the skillful application of the GTA formula: a large fleet of vehicles, an open world, weapon tones and a high level of assignments. Hollywood actors were also invited to voice acting for the game. Saints Row was a solid game, but due to its exclusivity on the Xbox 360 it didn't get much attention.

The same, but better

A couple of years later, a sequel was released, but already on all platforms that were relevant then. According to the plot, our hero was lying in a coma after the events of the first game for 5 years, and the gang lost its credibility. And the city is not what it used to be. In addition to being torn to pieces again and divided by new gangs, Ultor [which we put on our list of the most evil corporations in games] has also gained a huge influence.

And if we draw parallels with the first game, then Volition reworked what they did in the first game, improved and released it to the public. We again regain our influence and fight against three gangs: Children of Samedi - local drug dealers and reggae lovers, Ronin - insane samurai smugglers and Bratswa - such poor anarchs who are very fond of monster trucks.

Our main enemy was the Ultor corporation. It was she who made us kill all the other gang members in the city in order to quietly buy up all the businesses in Stillwater.

The game received mixed reviews, but I think this is the second best game in the series and I'll explain why now. For those who did not play the first Saints Row, this part became a “holy revelation”. All the distinctive things were polished, the enemies became more charismatic and memorable, the direction was improved, and the game itself became better to keep a balance between trash and seriousness, and one did not interfere with the other. Your companions got some development, and there was even a little drama in the plot. The city itself has become better, and the NPCs are more diverse.

I really love this part for still trying to keep it serious, and for interesting side quests like riding a burning ATV. You can scold Saints Row 2 for the crooked port on the PC, and for the fact that although it was an improved first part, it did not go further. For this reason, the developers took more time to release objectively the best game in Saints Row history in 2011.

Purple Lily

The next part completely moved away from the rivalry with GTA, successfully removed the seriousness, focusing on the sandbox with trashy activities. Saints Row The Third showed us something new: grotesque weapons [huge purple dildo, shark-calling cannon, aerial missile strike], colorful carjacking, Indian movie finishing touches and an absolutely crazy story.

According to the plot, the gang became so famous and popular that it turned into a brand. Bank robberies are more like signing autographs to hostages, there are brand stores everywhere in the saints, and the gang also produces its own energy drink and TV shows. This time our adversary was a syndicate of criminals who kicked us out of Stillwater and took everything we had acquired through honest and dishonest labor. The new scene is Steelport, completely subservient to this very syndicate. It includes:

• Morningstar - an elite gang of killers,
• The Luchadors - Masked Wrestlers
• The Deckers are cyberpunk guys in computer technology

The plot went off the rails. Recall only the chase on carts, which were harnessed by BDSM lovers, a trip to the local "Tron", where we played as a model of a toilet bowl armed with a Megaman rifle, or falling down from an airplane and shooting enemies in the air. What are the crazy tests of Mr. Genki worth?

In fact, the game was the same GTA-like action movie, but with more pleasant shootouts, good stylish graphics and its own vision of the sandbox. The franchise made a comeback with a loud voice, and the fans fell in love. I would also like to highlight the musical accompaniment, as well as the song of Kani West "Power" during the capture of the first fortress.

Infinity is not a chapel!

It seemed that what we were shown in the third part was impossible to beat, but damn Volition did it. Despite having survived the death of their publisher THQ. With all this, the next game became completely different, and to this day it is definitely difficult to talk about it.

She grew out of the DLC to the third part, where the character was first given a try to use super powers. As a result, the add-on grew so much that it was stretched and decided to make the next part number. In fact, it was the same third part, with the same graphics and city. To divert attention from this secondary, the creators have redrawn the gameplay.

According to the plot, our hero became the president of the United States. At this moment, aliens attacked the earth and destroyed it. A gang of saints ... oh, I beg your pardon, the holy administration of the President of the United States was saved by going into space in a large ship. In order to somehow win and avenge the planet, we go to Steelport's computer simulation to show earthly hospitality.

Alas, the game sold worse, and all the innovations were not enough to make Saints Row IV more interesting than it tried to seem.

Adische

And now we come to the end of the history of the Saint Rov series in the face of the addon Saint Row: Gat out of Hell. The developers took into account past experience and did not issue another reskin of the third game as a new part. Gat out of Hell was the first where we did not create a character, but played as lieutenants of the saints Joni Guetta and Kinzy Kensington, who spread Hell. How did it happen? The Ultor company made a deal with Satan to kidnap the Saints / President boss. The devil decided to marry him to his daughter. Brave friends went to rescue him.

Steepleport was quite successfully reworked into Hell, and new ones came to replace the superpowers from the previous part. One of which is flying on angel wings. Powerful, you can't say anything.

This is how the original history of the Saints Row series ended, perhaps one of the most unusual series of games that has just been released. She was able not only to amuse us, but also not to become a typical GTA clone.

The Topic of Article: The Way of the Saints. History of the Saints Row Series.
Author: Jake Pinkman