Things the New Saints Row Should Steal from Sunset Overdrive

Things the New Saints Row Should Steal from Sunset Overdrive

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The New Saints Row needs character to differentiate itself from GTA, and Sunset Overdrive would make a solid point of reference.

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Things the New Saints Row Should Steal from Sunset Overdrive

On Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, Deep Silver Volition pulled the curtain back on its new vision of Saints Row. Originally touted as a “GTA-Killer,” the franchise truly hit its stride with the release of Saints Row: The Third. Rather than a straight imitation of GTA, Saints Row effectively became a parody of the sandbox crime genre, featuring increasingly absurd scenarios and juvenile humor. The new sequel, however, seems to be striking off in a new, familiar direction.

While the reboot presents a great chance for the series to recover some sense of narrative grounding, the game also must have a clearer, more distinct identity than the franchise’s first two titles. Deep Silver Volition faces stiff competition from GTA Online, as Rockstar continues to update the title, and it must bring more to the table than a squad of fresh faces. Fortunately, the fresh start presents the developer with a wonderful opportunity to revitalize and spice up open-world gameplay by drawing from another playfully irreverent title: Sunset Overdrive.

Make Movement Fun in Saints Row

Things the New Saints Row Should Steal from Sunset Overdrive

The greatest strength of Saint Row’s new trailer is its hyperkinetic, mayhem-as-a-joyride nature. Once the Saints make their entrance, everything leaps into motion. If the game plays like it looks, with cars that can climb and reliably leap from building to building, and moto-cross backflips into moving vehicles, gamers are in for a treat. It would be a crime, however, to waste those concepts on flair for a flashy trailer.

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Sunset Overdrive — a title that seems like an obvious pick for a remaster — has one of the most satisfying movement systems in open world games. Grinding, ziplining, jumping and dashing to build a combo meter and maintain flow is like playing a level from the Tony Hawk’s franchise mid-gunfight. The game itself feels like watching the trailer for the new Saints Row. Incorporating a trick system, especially one that leverages your four man squad in innovative ways, would be a great way to spice up GTA’s comparatively grounded formula.

Better yet, Saints Row could take things even further by introducing such stunt or trick system for vehicles. Being able to flip into cars from motorcycles mid chase, or jumping up a building could lead to some impressive chaos and even serve as a driving hook for the game.

Saints Row: Off-the-Wall Weaponry

Things the New Saints Row Should Steal from Sunset Overdrive

The original Saints Row franchise had some truly outlandish weapons, especially in its later installments. Even though the game is going in a more grounded direction, it would be a pity to deprive players of creative weapon mechanics.

Again, Sunset Overdrive provides a useful point of reference that is worth revisiting — especially if Sony decides to sleep on the series. The game gave players access to an enormous arsenal of cobbled-together weaponry that fired everything from vinyl records and flaming bowling balls, to acid-spewing teddie bears. The Saints do not need to drink deep from this well, but having some unconventional fun weapons that deviate from the pistol/shotugn/assualt rifle/sniper rifle standards would be a great way toward giving the title a unique identity.

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There’s still plenty of room for traditional irons, and big guns that go boom, like the missile pod-esque rocket launchers featured in the trailer. However, Grand Theft Auto does big booms very well already. Bringing unconventional options to a gun fight would make for a more distinctive, flavorful experience, while offering players something they can’t get elsewhere.

More Fun, Less Edge

Not all things age equally well, and the humor in both Saints Row and Sunset Overdrive is a product of the time that produced it. But while Sunset Overdrive could be irreverant, it never strayed into the realm of penis-bat and mascot murder-spree edginess. Dialing things back a notch, shooting for punkish and witty, rather than crass and ironically juvenile “adult content,” could provide the perfect balance for the new series. Even if the series doesn’t bring back “The Gat,” it needs to maintain a rebellious sense of humor of some sort.

The delightful thing about Saints Row, is that it has freedoms that the relatively grounded GTA franchise does not. The Saints can revel in being inside a video game, and the reboot should take advantage of that.

Saints Row is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 25, 2022.

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