Saints Row Games In Order

Known for its action-driven gameplay and over-the-top comedic storytelling, Saints Row is an open-world crime game that delivers the same power fantasy as games like Grand Theft Auto.

Created by Volition, the series has been around since 2006 and consists of several mainline games, DLC expansions, and shared universe titles that make up the Saints Row game timeline.

In this list, we’ll explore all of the Saints Row games in order of release to help you decide which order to play through the series in preparation for the upcoming Saints Row reboot.

We’ll be updating this list following any new announcements of new Saints Row games from Volition, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed anything!

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Main Series

The franchise kicks off in the mid-2000s with the release of the original Saints Row, an Xbox 360 exclusive about a young man named ‘Playa’ who lives a life of crime.

In it, players customize and assume control of ‘Playa’ as he explores the crime-ridden city of Stilwater and joins up with the Third Street Saints to take control from rival crews.

The gameplay makes use of a third-person POV where players are free to roam through an open-world stealing and driving cars, fighting rival gangs and the police, and taking control of each district.

At release, Saints Row was met with favorable reviews and is fondly remembered for parodying the GTA formula while being more absurd and outlandish than Rockstar’s series.

Two years later, Volition and THQ would release Saints Row 2 as a continuation of the story from the original set five years in the future.

This time around, players are given the option to create ‘Playa’ as either a male or female before returning to Stilwater to fulfill their duty as ‘The Boss’ of the now-revived Third Street Saints crew.

Joined by new and returning allies, the player spends the game rebuilding the Saints’ reputation and taking back the city from rival gangs.

Upon release, Saints Row 2 was favorably received by critics praising its action-packed gameplay and ridiculous storyline.

Released three years later, Saints Row: The Third takes place in 2014 and sees the Third Street Saints gang leveraging their power and influence to become pop culture icons.

However, after a bank heist goes wrong, the crew ends up robbed and captured by rivals Phillipe Loren and the crime collective known as ‘The Syndicate.’

Similar to previous entries, the majority of the game is spent battling rival gangs in a turf war over the city, this time the fictional city of Steelport.

Saints Row: The Third was generally well-received for its overall zaniness and extensive customization options, with many fans claiming it perfected the Saints Row formula.

Saints Row IV is the fourth game in the series and sees ‘The Boss’ player character elected President of the United States in 2019, with the Saints gang lieutenants acting as their cabinet of senior staff.

After saving America from a nuclear missile attack, the player is forced to combat a new threat when Earth is invaded by an alien species known as the Zin Empire.

To save the world, players must team up with the remaining Saints and use their newfound superpowers to rescue captured friends, escape a VR simulation, and defeat the Zin.

Following its release, Saints Row IV was met with positive reviews praising its over-the-top humor and robust character customization while criticizing its lack of challenge.

Marketed and sold as a standalone expansion to Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell serves as an epilogue to Saints Row IV and follows Third Street Saints members Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington.

In it, the pair must try and rescue ‘The Boss’ player character from Hell after Satan kidnaps them for the purpose of marrying off his daughter Jezebel.

The superhuman powers from Saints Row IV return alongside a new “angelic flight” ability that grants the player wings to fly.

Reception-wise, Gat Out of Hell is the most divisive entry in the series and was met with mixed reviews praising its unique premise and setting but also criticized for its short length and dated graphics.

Sharing the same name as the original, Saints Row is an upcoming remake of the first game in the series with notable differences regarding its story, setting, and characters.

In it, players navigate the crime-ridden streets of Santo Ileso, a city under the control of three criminal gangs: Los Panteros, the Idols, and Marshall Defense Industries.

Taking on the role of ‘The Boss’ yet again, players will set out to recruit a team of dissatisfied for-hire criminals to take on each gang and seize control as the Third Street Saints.

The remake is anticipated to steer away from the traditionally wacky tone of the Saints Row series to strike a better balance between comedy and seriousness.

Shared Universe

The events of each Saints Row game take place in a much larger, shared universe alongside other Volition franchises, including the Red Faction series of shooters.

In this series, players fight enemies using either first-person or third-person combat and navigate vast open worlds with unique environmental destruction features that make for action-packed gameplay.

The connections between the two franchises are most evident in Saints Row 2, which heavily focuses on the Ultor Corporation that appears in the original Red Faction.

Due to licensing conflicts, both franchises were separated until 2018 when Embracer Group (formerly Nordic Games) acquired the license holder, in turn reuniting the Red Faction and Saints Row IPs.

Agents of Mayhem is another open-world action-adventure game that shares its universe with Saints Row, albeit in an alternate timeline of sorts.

The game is set after the events of Gat Out of Hell’s “Recreate Earth” ending, wherein the Saints Row continuity was retconned, resulting in Johnny Gat becoming a Police lieutenant in Seoul, South Korea.

Johnny is joined by a roster of 12 playable characters, many of which appear throughout the Saints Row series in some capacity.

While intended to be its own spin-off, Agents of Mayhem follows many of the same story beats as Gat Out of Hell and prominently features both the Ultor Corporation and the Saints’ iconic purple symbol.

DLC Expansions

Ultor Exposed – Adds a host of character customization/vehicle options, Red Faction: Guerrilla-themed content, online multiplayer maps, and story content in which the Saints attempt to expose the Ultor Corporation with help from a whistleblower.

Corporate Warfare – Continues the ongoing struggle between the Third Street Saints and Ultor Corporation while including new character/vehicle customization options, online multiplayer maps, and cooperative mode.

Genkibowl VII – Sees players participating in a series of over-the-top challenges hosted by Genki, a “homicidal man-cat” best known throughout Steelport for his Super Ethical Reality Climax competitions.

Gangstas in Space – Spanning three missions, this expansion sees players continuing the Saints Row: The Third story in a new arc about the Gangstas in Space film referenced in the main story.

The Trouble with Clones – After Johnny Gat dies, Saints fanboy Jimmy Torbitson creates a super-powered clone that begins wreaking havoc; the player is tasked with capturing the clone across three missions.

Enter the Dominatrix – Tells an alternate version of the Zin alien invasion where a simulated Steelport is hijacked by a rogue artificial intelligence called the Dominatrix.

How the Saints Save Christmas – Tells a story about the Saints’ efforts to rescue Santa Claus from the Steelport simulation, with ‘The Boss’ player character discovering the true meaning of Christmas along the way.