5 Features the Next Saints Row Should Borrow From GTA V

First Person Perspective

Imagine all of Saints Rows’ wackiness in first person, closer than ever. Now, in all truthfulness they are very similar games but Saints Row has gone out of its way to be… unique, to say the least, but how would all of that change with a first person perspective in Saints Row? For example take Saint’s Row IV’s super powers, how would they look in first person? The super sprint would certainly make many people nauseous.

The best bit of all would be the side missions, or activities as they call them. Insurance fraud anyone? That would be without a doubt one of the craziest experiences in video game history. If you thought rolling a plane in Grand Theft Auto V was crazy, just picture repeatedly being sent 30 feet into the sky as you rack up a high score.

In Grand Theft Auto V the recent addition of the first person perspective really gave the game some verisimilitude. The level of immersion implemented by this feature is outstanding and gives the player a closer look and connection to the crazy, homicidal, criminally insane goings on in Grand Theft Auto V. Plus it added an extra angle to experience those incredibly gorgeous graphics.

Multiple Player Characters

Right, picture this as a story for the next game. Zinyak was close to completing a time machine so the player character, you, goes back in time to save planet Earth. Something goes wrong, you get split up into multiple player characters in different Saints Row universes and settings. Perhaps one with more realistic crimes and stuff, or a warrior princess universe where Gat, The Boss, and the Saints are all women.

The great thing about this is that the Saints Row series could totally pull it off. Look at how bat shit insane the last game was! Think of how that idea was pitched, “Guys… Guys, what if – what if aliens destroyed the Earth?” How the fuck does that come up in a board meeting and THEN become the foundation to an awesome game.

There is no telling what the creators of Saint’s Row are smoking but as long as they take these ideas and run with them, we will be ensured the series will never become boring. However, breaking it down to the nitty gritty, there could be some great things implemented on a game play level.

The way Grand Theft Auto V utilizes this is amazing. It isn’t just a plot device, it adds to the game play. The benefit it has to the player is a richer story experienced from three different viewpoints that show three stark differences. Michael is a rich, lazy criminal who has a deep passion for film making. We have Trevor who is balls-to-walls crazy, and likes nothing more than to kill and commit crimes, although deep below the surface of the psychopathic killer lies a sensitive and misunderstood murderer. Then last we have Franklin who is just plain fed up with his dead beat friends and wants to make a dishonest buck. These three characters combined to create a dynamic story with organic relationship chemistry. Just imagine having the same dynamic with playable Saints. 

Increase Online Players and Diversity

Now, Saints Row IV‘s cooperative mode is amazing but it has been implemented then left to stagnate. Simple things such as increasing the player count or re-implementing the original Saints Row online game modes would help tremendously. Everyone knows the classic Saints Row game modes were the best, so a return would inject some much needed life into the online space.

Everything is better with friends. Especially committing heinous crimes and getting away with it. The more the merrier. Who the hell has exactly one friend anyway? Volition, are you trying to ruin friendships? Because this is how you ruin friendships, by making us choose who we spend the Saint’s Row experience with.

Grand Theft Auto Online is self explanatory. You have either played it, and loved it, or need to go play it right now. The game understands that the only thing that makes crazy fun open world games more fun is friends! So unless you are Gollum from Lord of the Rings this should be a good thing for everyone.

Realistic Crimes

Now this doesn’t have to be uber realistic, just a shout out to the old days would do. The premise of the original Saints Row was to join a gang and do illegal shit to take out rival gangs that have a grip on different markets. Harken back to that please? Fans loved the illegal street races with the Westside Rollerz and the player character’s single line while taking on the Vice Kings.

Grand Theft Auto V carried weight in its game play. When you are doing the heists, when you are investing, and when you are screwing up and dying these things all have one realistic impact. Your money. What else is crime about? Why do people turn to a life of crime? Most of the time that is due to needing, or wanting, money and lots of it. So how can any game based on being a criminal not focus on that? In Saints Row money is a passively gained resource where as in Grand Theft Auto V it is progression. You are a nobody in Grand Theft Auto V without money, but in Saints Row you are still the leader of the Saints.

The balls-to-the-walls attitude that the series has now is charming but, for lack of better words, escalating quickly. There is only a certain amount of crazy that can be pumped into these games and they’re vastly approaching that limit. There needs to be a balance between realism, and the wackiness of Saints Row.

Return to a More Popular World

Sorry Steelport, but Stilwater was the best setting for Saints Row. The game just never felt right in Steelport, it lacked the rough and ‘raggedy-ass’ness of Stilwater. Steelport was, and is, too clean. Saints Row is anything but clean. Gat’s mind is probably cleaner than the streets of Stilwater and that is saying something.

We have memories there that we need to relive. We’d have to kill the zombies first but that’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity. A lot of players would like to go back to when the Saint’s were a gang and not a government. Is that too much to ask? Nope, crazier shit has happened to the Saint’s Row franchise so now the only way forward is backwards. Normality is what would be crazy to see in Saint’s Row now.

Grand Theft Auto V going back to Los Santos was a brilliant idea. Why? Because everyone loved Los Santo but they also already experienced it from another beloved character. Some times you do not need to bother designing something new and reuse something you already have. It take time and effort that could otherwise be spent on things like the previous mentioned points.

Tell us in the comments what you would love to see in the next Saints Row!