Volition launch the Saints Row saga on 360 with an unabashed GTA-like delivering its own brand of crew chaos in Stilwater. Gameplay feels rougher than its inspirations, but the Saints writing and the crew system lay the groundwork for a parody that turns cult across later entries.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player16+
Description
Open-world action by Volition and THQ, August 2006. A new Saints of Stilwater gang member must reclaim territory from rival gangs in a GTA-style city. Gang missions to control territories, cover combat and online co-op. First Saints Row establishing the criminal sandbox franchise.
Saints Row review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
Stilwater is built as an ordinary American city, docks, suburban blocks, a business district, and gang membership rests entirely on color: purple for the Saints, yellow, red or blue for the rivals, applied to clothes, cars and the tags that cover the walls of a captured sector. The map thus reads as a checkerboard of hues that flips as territory changes hands.
The radio stations cover the exact spectrum of a 2006 gang city: West Coast rap, club R'n'B, alternative rock and a classical channel played tongue in cheek. The hosts stay sober, with no heavy satire, and that restraint distinguishes this first entry from the sequels that would push the parody into caricature.
Running a gang that becomes a commercial brand and then frankly presidential lets you get away with just about anything: heists, deranged urban destruction and weapons each more absurd than the last. The tongue-in-cheek tone is so heavy that you quickly forget the lengthening rap sheet, savoring this grand criminal playground as an avowed parody rather than a thug's handbook.
Is Saints Row still worth playing in 2026?
The first entry in Volition's urban sandbox, Saints Row embraces its lineage with Grand Theft Auto by offering a gang's rise in the city of Stilwater, between missions, deep customisation and urban chaos. The character customisation, the lighter tone than its model and the multiplayer make it a credible alternative at launch. The presentation and the driving have aged, and the content stays classic. A criminal open world for fans of urban sandboxes and the curious about the origins of the Saints Row series.
