At one point,Saints Rowwas a serious alternative toGrand Theft Auto, and many fans still love the first two games more than the others in the franchise. InSaints Row 3, the crew got more gimmicky and hilarious, withSaints Row 4pushing that to its limits with the Boss going from President of the United States to a galactic Emperor. There was even a trip tohell with Johnny Gat.GTAhas been persistent in its underlying satire but otherwise serious approach to storytelling, whileSaints Rowdropped all pretense and went with an over-the-top approach that, for many, did at least work inSaints Row 3andSaints Row 4.
Because of this former competition and some key changes made inSaints Row’s reboot and known changes at Rockstar Games, many may be worried thatGrand Theft Auto 6will repeat the same mistakes asSaints Row. The thing is, Saints Rowhasn’t earned all of its criticism, definitely not the kind it shares withGTA 6right now. Many are upset that the “low hanging fruit” jokes aren’t as prevalent inSaints Rowas before, but that’s not what dragsSaints Rowdown. Likewise, GTA 6 isn’t looking to punch down with its jokes and some want to draw parallels here; instead, it seems the worst aspects ofSaints Roware somethingGTAgames have long figured out.
RELATED:Grand Theft Auto 6 Will Set Creative Benchmarks, According to Take-Two
Saints Row vs. GTA 6: Humor Has Nothing to Do With Its Flaws
From the get-go,Saints Rowhas faced an uphill battle because many believe the franchise has gone “woke.” This early reaction is still relevant in discussions going on now, as many have been upset about unimportant changes like Jim Rob and FB, but that’s not remotely an issue with the game. Many may struggle to separate this identification from its actual problems, and this could lead just as many to reduce its problems to “going woke.” That’s not to say everyone will, but some will definitely not look past this. However, throwing in offensive jokes would not fix this game, nor would making each of theSaint Rowmain charactersjust copies of the OG Saints gang. The world itself could be exactly the same as the first four games, and it would not be better received.
Structurally, the problem is this game has a lot of heart but does not do well to develop those moments. It takes players a good chunk of the game to become the Saints, but even after then, everything moves quickly but slowly at the same time, with it going too fast to develop anything personal but also stretching the story so it feels slow too. There’s a lot of padding, ultimately, but the game tries to endear players to characters like Eli, Kevin, and Neenah. The problem is each character is so one-dimensional that the game fails to accomplish that. Eli is the business nerd,Neenah is a driver, and Kevin is a shirtless, laidback social person. Their characters do not really grow beyond that, and this issue makes it hard to get attached to the story.
It doesn’t help theSaints Rowstory at all that the missions, save a few, feel the same.Saints Rowuses the classic open-world formula of scattering a ton of things across the map, with missions taking place here, there, and everywhere, but only a few stand out. The rest feels like background noise, because everything seems to be on repeat. Shoot, move on, shoot some more. Players are going to experience everything in the first few hours, then spend the next repeating them in missions, dialogue, and so on. But, hadSaints Rowtaken the time to develop the characters more three-dimensionally, had perhaps taken a different route with the story and the gang, and told a much more personal story, it could have been better. The problem is:Saints Rowdoesn’t take itself seriously, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily for its world, but it doesn’t take itself seriously whatsoever, in anything. This makes it hard for anyone else to take any element of it seriously as well.
Why GTA 6 Isn’t Likely to Be a Saints Row Repeat
Just asSaints Rowwas labeled as “woke” when it was revealed, many have reacted the same way to a recent report aboutGTA 6.Note that this isn’t even official information communicated by Rockstar Games, but many have decried reported aspects of the game nonetheless. This report alleges that there will be dual protagonists, with one of them being a Latina woman, and thatRockstar Games won’t punch down its humor. This also comes with news that Rockstar Games is avoiding crunch culture, which is ultimately a good thing. But these “woke” criticisms don’t have a foot to stand on now and they likely won’t when the game launches, just likeSaints Row.
WhereSaints Rowhas real problems, though, it’s hard to imagine Rockstar dealing with those same issues. ForSaints Row, the franchise hasn’t introduced a new crew since the first game and this one struggled to make those characters more than background noise. Rockstar, on the other hand, has introduced new characters, new cities, and more in everyGTArelease. Every character was filled out and added something to the game, such as dealing with Michael’s family, Franklin’s friends, or even Trevor’s murderous, capitalist, sociopathic tendencies inGTA 5. Each game takes time to build these up and flesh them out well, whileSaints Rowonly beats the same drum. As such, it’s hard to imagineSaints Row’s criticisms about character and storyapplying there.
GTA 6will still be as satirical as it ever was, but it’s likely to take itself more seriously. Sure, it’s humorous watching Trevor being a murdering machine, but at least players probably won’t hear the newGTA 6protagonist proudly claim that about themself as much as thenewSaints Rowbossdoes.GTAnails character and personality in ways that this newSaints Rowdoesn’t, because it has experience in this approach.GTAhas defined each entry with new characters, where breaking away from the boss, Johnny Gat, and all those beloved characters is much harder ask for aSaints Rowgame. And this reboot failed to live up to those characters.
Furthermore,Saints Row’s open-world structure feels as dated as the game’s graphics. At the end of the day,Saints Rowfeels likeSaints Row, but saying a 2022 game feels like a 2013 game in terms of graphics and world structure is a backhanded compliment. Rockstar isn’t likely to fall into these trappings, as it has its own defined approach to citybuilding, and it’s a good thing thatGTA 6will focus on one cityas a result, reportedly only expanding later.
GTA 6has been called woke already. Saints Rowwas called woke at launch. But these criticisms don’t hold water.Saints Rowdrops the ball where it counts, and whileGTA 6has yet to be properly revealedand so this should be taken with a major caveat, Rockstar excelled in these exact areas inGTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and far more. Reducing critique of a game, one released and one not yet released, to some ridiculous worldview is a disservice, as each game will succeed or fail on its own pedigree.
Grand Theft Auto 6is in development.
MORE:Grand Theft Auto 6’s Bonnie and Clyde Inspirations Could Lead to Interesting Heists
