Since the release of its original title, Saints Row has often been compared to the Grand Theft Auto games. While that may have been true for the franchise's first few installments, Volition made concerted efforts to move away from those similarities and establish a truly unique identity based on over-the-top gameplay, parodies, and self-referential humor – a decision that began with Saints Row 3 and ultimately escalated to the scope of the player character fighting off an existential alien threat as the President of the United States.
Many were left wondering where the Saints Row games would go next – what frontier was left untouched – and the solution was simple: reboot it all, taking the lessons learned from its four installments, and use them as building blocks to catapult the franchise to a bold new direction. The reboot – simply titled Saints Row – had a controversial announcement trailer that concerned longtime fans of the game, but as new material started coming out and more information about the game became public, the community warmed up to the possibility that Volition could deliver something truly special.
While Saints Row will feature co-op multiplayer from the get-go, people who have had a chance to play the game have expressed that not only does it feel like the developers will add a full-scale multiplayer mode some time after launch, but that the framework was already largely there. Multiplayer has been part of the franchise since the very first game, but it had never been fully realized as a concept the way Rockstar did with Grand Theft Auto 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer mode.
It is unknown at the time whether Volition is willing to take the franchise in this direction. That being said, a source at the company heavily implied to WhatIfGaming that a multiplayer mode was indeed coming to Saints Row. Whatever form this multiplayer might take, it will likely make use of Saints Row's new mechanics to provide a suitably energetic experience the series is known for.
Chief among these include a passive perk system complemented by active abilities spent by Flow, a resource system that gets filled by engaging in combat and dealing damage. Similarly, Saints Row features no health regeneration and instead relies on Execution to replenish a player's health (or the health of their vehicles). Kill an enemy or blow up a car – that's the only way to get one's life back. Chaos and mayhem aren't just encouraged by the game; they are now part of the gameplay itself.
Whether players choose to roam the streets of Santo Ileso by themselves or with a friend, these new concepts promise an exciting experience on paper – and if rumors are to be believed – that experience will be coming online later down the road as well.
Saints Row releases on August 23rd for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: WhatIfGaming