Saints Row is out now, exclusively on the Epic Games Store. The Saints have a new world to explore in the American Southwest. They’re here to take over Santo Ileso, to grow a street gang into a fearsome organization, and to have fun doing it. But first… they have to pay the bills. 

The latest Saints Row is a reboot of the series, grounding the characters but not the action. As big and as brash as it gets during your empire building, Saints Row is about four flatmates trying to make it in the world. At the start, the friends have little power, no money, and each works for other gangs. But they have dreams, and when criminals dream, things get wild. No more knocking-off payday loan shops. Not when there’s a city to take over. 

Santo Ileso, and the surrounding desert, towns, and cities, are a war ground with multiple factions vying for control. There’s Los Panteros, thugs with a forge and a love of cars; The Idols, a tech cult with weird weapons; and Marshall Defense Industries, a private military company. They’re as likely to fight off each other as they are to fight you, which gives just enough space for you and your team to begin building a criminal startup. The game gives you all the tools to do that.

We’ve seen a lot of Saints Row. We’ve created grotesques with the Boss Factory character customization, which is just one of a number of crafting suites in the game. Customization will let you build a boss, detail a car, design an HQ, and craft a gun out of almost any object you can. Seriously, you can shoot someone with a guitar case gun. 

We’ve also played the opening hours of the game, which quickly leads you through humongous set-pieces, bad waffles, and the morning after losing your job (hey, there’s nothing more grounding than being sacked) to bring you to where you need to be for the new Saints to rise. Before leaving you to impose your will on the world.

This is where Saints Row shines. Santo Ileso is huge and full of opportunity with the new “Criminal Ventures,” a number of enterprises that you can use to build your brand. It’s up to the player to choose where they get built, which will change the local neighborhood, and what activities they’ll get involved with. Gun running, insurance scans, money laundering, and more are there for you to turn your hoodlum startup into a “legitimate business.” 

The open world is the biggest the series has ever had, and full of things to find, cars to jack, places to explore. You can do so on your own or invite a friend to play alongside in co-op. 
 
Be your own boss. Saints Row is available now.