A new rumor about the long-in-development Saints Row 5 casts the player in opposition to the titular gang in a direct sequel to Saints Row: The Third. After emerging as a fan-favorite series in the Xbox 360 generation, Volition's Saints Row took a backseat for the current set of consoles. While Agents of Mayhem had some connections to the franchise, that game's dismal performance ensures that it likely won't be a factor going forward. Instead, publisher Deep Silver announced last year that a new Saints Row is already well into development, and new rumors about its story seem to indicate that it could be arriving to ring in the first year of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
It's not that there haven't been any Saints Row releases on current hardware. Recently, Deep Silver released Saints Row: The Third Remastered, a surprisingly competent remake of the most popular game in the franchise. When looking into that release, Digital Foundry called it one of the best remasters they've ever seen and wondered why all this effort was put into an Xbox 360 release that was readily available on modern hardware. In the context of an impending Saints Row 5 that reportedly uses similar tech, all the pieces seem to be falling into place.
As first spotted by ResetEra member vestan, the leaked rumor for Saints Row 5 proposes a new storyline that follows Saints Row: The Third where the player will be taking on The Saints, who have become corporate bullies lording over the streets of Stillwater. Following the death of Johnny Gat, the former street gang obnoxiously leans further into the celebrity they gained in the previous games, serving as the final bosses after the player takes out several other street gangs. The tone of the game is said to be a middle ground between the first two games and The Third, returning to some of the serious character work that hardcore fans of the series love.
For those wondering about how Saints Row IV and Gat out of Hell fit into the equation, the rumor states that those stories will be retconned into a crazy in-universe TV show. This means that the game won't feature the superpowers of IV, instead focusing on the driving and gunplay that drove the original series. Players will have better control over weapon and player customization, alongside online-co-op for a part of four and open-world multiplayer deathmatches that pop up during the campaign.
The question on everyone's mind after the last few Saints Row games has been, "How does Volition top themselves this time?" It seems the answer in the next generation is not to go in another crazy direction but to instead go sideways. A new sequel could deliver a quieter sequel that gets back to the franchise's roots while also retaining the wacky fun that drove the series to popularity. It will be a tricky needle to thread, especially if the rumors about the cast of the past game becoming the villains comes to pass. Fans may not want to take down the characters they've grown to love in the past, but if the story can get the job done, it will continue Volition's unlikely open-world success story.
Source: ResetEra
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