Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell

By: Robert Murphy

Saints Row IV took players in a different directions that the ones of previous generations have, instead of going from rags to riches, you go from riches to politicians. Long time leader of the Saints gets elected president and your rag tag team of lovable gangsters joins on as cabinet members. Then, an alien attack comes out of nowhere, the earth gets destroyed and the few remnants of humanity were dropped into a computer dream program like the one from the Matrix. Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, picks up from the conclusion of all this as the team is all semi safe and flying around outer space in a stolen space ship. The day we pick off from in particular is a special one, it is red headed heart throb, Kinzie Kingston's birthday and all the surviving Saints members are celebrate and what better way to celebrate than with a good old fashion ouija board. However, unknown to all of them this board is possessed and it in turn opens a portal to Hell and sucks up the President of the United States (your former main character.) Now, you take on the role of big time muscle, Johnny Gat and optional go between Kinzie Kingston to go down to Hell and get back the President before he is married off to the devil's daughter, Jezebele. 

The name of the game for Gat Out of Hell is destruction and chaos, basically Johnny's plan for getting back the boss is to shoot the devil right in the face. An admirable plan to be sure, you will be going around the five districts of Hell during the game, the Barrens, Shantytown, Downtown, Forge and the Den to try and attract as much of Satan's attention as you can. You do this by completing Diversion mission strewn throughout the districts which are basically minigames and throwbacks to the classic Saints Row minigames we have seen before. A standard Survival mission is present where you kill off a varied wave of demons and other enemies. There is also a mission involving a capture the tower type scenario where you take over three spots in a soul extraction facility as well as a Pledge challenge where you whack frat boy demons with popped collars into a Stargate looking portal with a studded paddle. Admittedly fun for the first few times you do it but sadly this is the extent of the games range in terms of gameplay missions, there aren't any story style missions to go through that players have become familiar with and the game boils down to repeatedly doing these minigames over and over again. 

The new look and style for the game is a bit of an enjoyment though as you dawn the wings of the fallen angel and gain the ability to fly, run at super speeds, jump super high and etc. Gat and Kinzie get new demonic stylings to their old looks and new abilities from some of your unlikely allies. Former enemies of the Saints are now on your side as well as two new but well known names from history aide you in your quests, a disc spinning DJ Shakespeare and a still impaling people with pointy sticks Vlad are here to help. They all introduce you to new abilities, a force stomp, an aura area shield, summoning and a blast ability all become a part of your arsenal. Each of which has a cool down system to limit your use but this can be upgraded through collecting the soul clusters that can be plainly seen from any high place. There are also ritual spires throughout Hell that unlock different effects for all these abilities such as a vampire perk to your aura that drains life from those around you and a holy stomp ability that harms nearby enemies with a flash of divine energy. 

Along with these new abilities, Gat Out of Hell features new hellish weaponry for you to find and use. Weapons modeled off of the Seven Deadly Sins are present for your destructive pleasure, Sloth being my personal favorite which is an arm charm equipped with two mini guns and rockets below the foot rest. There's also a soul sucking Sloth gun that turns souls in rockets which burst on impact and shards target nearby foes, a Greed style SMG with enough bling to make Liberace faint. Outside these big named weapons though are other guns such as the Lil' Croaker that shoots plague referencing frogs everywhere which explode on impact along with other gems to add to your chaos across the land. While the Seven Sins guns are more unique, the other guns really are just remodels of things like grenade launchers so there isn't much diversity among them but it's still a kooky element of fun for the game that we know Saints Row is famous for. 

It is a bit of a let down to see features that work so well for previous games be gutted in this stand alone DLC though. There isn't anything in the way of weapon purchasing outside of finding and then upgrading the stock weapons you are given and vehicle purchasing and upgrading are gutted from Gat Out of Hell too. Also, character customization and custom penthouse cribs are left out of the picture which made me feel that the game wasn't as stand alone as it is made out to be.

All in all, I am a bit torn by Gat Out of Hell. The ridiculous gameplay and laughs are still there as it is with the previous Saints Row titles but something about it just doesn't feel well worked out. It is incredibly fun and easy to get yourself started on the road to hell but once you realize what little there is to do, you'll find yourself beating the game and ending it before you even really began. I had just started doing more of the main minigame missions after causing serious havoc when the game chimed in with it's musical halfway point and then the final battle with Satan was shortly followed without me doing much of anything. The weapons, abilities and demonic powers/look will all be fun for you but to quote Johnny Gat, "Is this really all Hell has got to offer?"

Good:

- Crazy weapons, abilities and characters

- Hell is interestingly designed and is frankly kinda cool, despite how awkward it is to say that out loud but it's true

Bad:

- No real missions to speak of, mainly just minigames that are carbon copies from past games

- Character customization and other favored features are left out

- You could almost do none of the "missions" for the game and still reach the end, making you ask "what was the point?"

Scully Rating: 4.5 out of 10