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This article is about the 2006 video game. For the series, see Saints Row (series).


Saints Row

Saints Row Box Art.jpg

Developer(s) Volition, Inc.
Publisher(s) THQ
Producer(s) Jacques Hennequet
Designer(s) Christopher A. Stockman, Alvan Monje, Sandeep Shekar, Anoop Shekar, Doug Nelson
Programmer(s) Alan Lawrance
Artist(s) Matt Flegel
Writer(s) Steve Jaros
Series Saints Row
Engine Havok
Platform(s) Xbox 360
Release date(s) NA August 29, 2006

AU August 31, 2006
EU September 1, 2006
JP June 21, 2007


Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution Optical disc

Saints Row is a 2006 open world action-adventure video game for the Xbox 360. Developed by
Volition, Inc. and published by THQ, Saints Row initially released in North America on August 29,
2006, followed by an Australian release two days later and a European release on September 1, 2006.
It met with generally positive critical reception; reviewers noted its similarities with the Grand Theft
Auto series, with some feeling that Saints Row improved Grand Theft Auto's open world formula. A
PlayStation 3 port of the game was cancelled in 2007, with Volition moving on to full development of
the sequel Saints Row 2, which released in 2008. The success of Saints Row and its sequel have since
seen the development of Saints Row as a series, including a third and fourth entry.

Like other open world games, Saints Row allows players to freely roam the play space and engage in
missions at their leisure. Missions are unlocked by trading in "Respect" points, currency earned by
completing mini-games, and are played through three story arcs each with the objective of
overthrowing a rival gang. Saints Row is set in the fictional city Stilwater, modeled on Chicago and
Detroit. The player character becomes inadvertently involved in a gunfight between the three gangs
fighting for control of Stilwater; Los Carnales, the Vice Kings, and the Westside Rollerz. He joins
forces with the 3rd Street Saints gang, based out of the Saint's Row district, and works with the
Saints to free Stilwater from gang control.



Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Plot 2.1 Voice cast

3 Development
4 Soundtrack
5 Downloadable content
6 Reception
7 Film adaptation
8 References
9 External links


Gameplay[edit]

At the beginning of the game, players create their character through a system that allows them to
customize his ethnicity, fitness, face and hairstyle.[1] After completing the first mission, players are
then given free roam over the game's open world,[2] the fictional city of Stilwater, which is modeled
after Detroit and Chicago. The game makes use of third-person view, which allows players to freely
rotate the camera around their character. Players can run, jump, swim or utilize cars to navigate the
world. They may also access the character customization system again at a plastic surgeon, apply
cosmetic changes to their character at clothes stores, tattoo parlors, barbers and jewelers, and tune
vehicles at chop shops.[3] A personal garage can be used to store customized vehicles, and vehicles
that have been destroyed or lost can be redeemed for a cash fee.[4]

Bar the introductory and epilogue mission sequences, missions in Saints Row are divided between
three linear story arcs which can be progressed through simultaneously or one by one, each with the
objective of extinguishing a rival gang. Players engage in these missions at their leisure, but a
prerequisite to instigate a mission is that they have filled up a bar on their Respect meter to allow
them to unlock and play it. Respect is a currency earned by completing activities, which are mini-
games that are scattered across the world and have increasing levels of difficulty. Missions and
activities also accrue players cash income, which can be spent on goods and services such as
weapons and clothes. Should players fail a mission, they may instantly reattempt it without incurring
a loss of their Respect points. Cinemas scattered throughout the game world allow players to replay
missions an unlimited number of times.[3]





A player fires at traffic with the rocket launcher
Players use hand-to-hand combat, melee weapons, firearms and explosives to fight rival gangs and
the police. A free aiming reticule appears on the screen while players have weapons equipped.
Weapons are accessed by a "weapon wheel" inventory system which appears on the screen as
players hold down a button. Each of the eight slots on the wheel correspond to different types of
weapons, such as submachine guns and pistols. Players may only carry one of each type of weapon
at a time.[5] Saints Row makes use of regenerative health, but this process can be accelerated by
eating fast food items.[3]

A "wanted level" system governs the response by opposing forces to players' aggressive actions. In
the head-up display, surrounding the minimap, are two bars; the topmost bar represents rival gangs
and the bottommost bar represents the police. As players incite opposing forces, the corresponding
bar fills up. Each bar filled is represented by the provoked enemy's logo, be it a star to represent the
police or a "gang sign" to represent an enemy gang. One bar of notoriety will result in non-lethal
retalliation however two, three, four or five bars of notoriety will result in a gradually increased
lethal response. Notoriety depletes over time, but enemies will continue to be aggressive towards
players until the meter recedes. Players may remove their notoriety instantly by utilizing drive-
through confessional booths, visiting plastic surgeons,[6] or inputting cheat codes.[3] If arrested by
the police, players will reappear outside a police station with a small bounty collected from their
earnings.[3]

Player progression through the game directly affects the presence of their friendly gang, the 3rd
Street Saints. The game world is subdivided between districts, such as the Red Light or Downtown
districts, each comprising several neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is controlled by a rival gang,
but as players complete missions the 3rd Street Saints will take over neighborhoods, causing street
members of the gang to spawn there. The pause menu displays a large map of the game world,
which allows players to view a graphical representation of the streetscape, and a color filter over
each of the neighborhoods represents the gang whom control that neighborhood. Saints Row
features an in-game GPS navigation device, which allows players to set waypoints with a directional
line indicating the quickest route to the marked destination.[6] Players may enlist allied forces,
referred to as homies, to aid in combat. Street members of the 3rd Street Saints may be summoned,
or players may call up unique homies on their in-game mobile phones. Players can further utilize
their mobile phone to contact services such as taxicabs,[6] or to input cheat codes.

Plot[edit]

Stilwater is a huge, crime-filled city that is controlled by 4 major gangs; Vice Kings, an African-
American gang that controls most of Stilwater's various forms of entertainment of night clubs,
bordels and casinos, Los Carnales, a Mexican gang that deals with weapons and drug trafficking, and
the Westside Rollerz, which specialize within the underground racing scene in Stilwater. The smallest
gang is the 3rd Street Saints, which seeks peace on the streets clear of drugs or weapons.

At the start, the player is walking down the street when he notices a shootout. Though he attempts
to maintain distance, he witnesses a fight amongst the Kings, Los Carnales and the Rollerz. Members
from Vice Kings attempt to gun him down, but the Saints, led by Julius Little, step in and save him.
Julius informs the player that he formed the Saints to bring down the other three gangs with the
goal of returning peace to the streets. After proving himself to the Saints, the player is initiated into
the gang and asked to assist them in taking over the city. The player, over the course of the game,
assists in several missions and stronghold takeovers directed against each rival gang in turn, slowly
bringing the entire city under the control of the Saints.

The player joins Johnny Gat, and his girlfriend, popular R&B singer Aisha, in their mission to bring
down the Vice Kings, who control most of Stilwater's entertainment. They successfully target several
of their interests, but eventually Johnny is captured by the VKs' enforcer Anthony Green. The player
then kills Green and saves Johnny. However, Johnny is injured in the process and needs to use a leg
brace afterwards. Later, Vice Kings second-in-command Warren Williams stages a mutiny and leads a
coup against the leader Benjamin King, and King is forced to flee. On Julius' orders, the player saves
King and attacks Williams, who is later killed by the Kings' prostitution manager Tanya Winters. The
player and Gat, with King as their ally, attack the gang's headquarters where King kills Winters. King
then departs from Stilwater since the Vice Kings are destroyed, on good terms.

The player and Saints member Dexter Jackson begin working against Los Carnales gang, who deal in
arms and drugs. Several LC drug labs are hit and the player eventually assassinates their leader,
Hector Lopez. Hector's younger brother Angelo takes charge and orders an attack on the Saints
hideout, but they are unsuccessful, and the player kills the Carnales' enforcer Victor Rodriguez.
Eventually, the Saints work out a deal with the Carnales liaison Manuel Orijuela, who gives up
Angelo's location. The player and Dex attack it and Angelo is forced to flee by plane, which the player
destroys, killing Angelo and terminating Los Carnales for good.

Saints member Lin disguises herself as a member of the street racing gang Westside Rollerz, and
gives the player tips from within the gang. The two of them sabotage several of the Rollerz interests,
but eventually Lin is found out and ratted by Donnie, Lin's love interest and Rollerz's enforcer. She is
shot and stuffed into her car trunk with the player by Rollerz financer William Sharp, who then
pushes the car into the water. Lin sacrifices herself so that the player can escape and kill Sharp in a
car chase. Eventually, Sharp's nephew and Rollerz leader Joseph Price attempt an attack on the
Saints hideout but fail, resulting in the player killing Price in a car chase.

The player receives a call from Julius, who tells the player that he is the new second-in-command.
However, he implies that he is about to be arrested by corrupt cops, who were waiting for the gang
wars to end before they made their move against the Saints. At this point, other members of the
Saints turn to the player for their orders.

To avenge Julius, the Saints begin attacking Stilwater's mayor and chief of police in order to free
Julius from prison. Once this is complete, the player is invited to the private yacht of Alderman
Richard Hughes, the only other candidate for mayor in the upcoming election. Hughes thanks the
player for eradicating his political rival for him, and states that he is