Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell gameplay first impressions

By Chris Burns/Jan. 19, 2015 11:50 am EST

Review time is nearly upon us, but we got the game a bit later than expected. Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is a game we're going to give a little bit more time to than the less-than-a-day we've had with it thus far – but for now, here's some gameplay to skewer your eyeballs with. This game takes what we knew about the game it jumps off from: Saints Row IV, and drops it all into a pit of despair. You had super powers in Saints Row IV, now you've got what amounts to magic. This game is decidedly more metal.

You can be Johnny Gat – that should be enough for you Saints Row addicts to want to jam on this game from the start. You can also be Kinzie – surprise! The game series that's been rolling with female characters for years continues that tradition here. It's almost as if they KNOW that not just males play their games – huh!

This game is lovely – it's not meant to destroy your retinas like some massively expansive games like Assassin's Creed: Unity – but then, this game works without major bugs before it's even on the market. So that's a plus.

Here's what this game is all about – the President – the character you played as in the previous game – has been sucked into Hell. Here's how it happens:

While you'll really need to play Saints Row IV to make any sense of this plot, the game is more than entertaining enough to make up for any lack of knowledge you might have on the storyline.

Below you'll see the process with which you'll learn to fly with your newfound fallen angel wings. Note the extreme similarities between this and learning to jump and fly in Saints Row IV.

Volition isn't making any secret of the fact that this game is very, very similar to the game it jumps off of.

Controls are exactly the same, gameplay is very similar.

The environment is revitalized, obviously, and moving forward on the gameboard is different from previous Saints Row games in that you're gaining experience slightly different.