Saints Row fans think buggy launch means the end of the franchise

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The new Saints Row game (and its bugs) have fans worried about the franchise

Saints Row bugs
(Image credit: Volition)

A plethora of Saints Row bugs have many franchise fans worried this could be the death knell for the series. Our Saints Row review mentions a few of the bugs encountered during 20 hours of gameplay, which included a mission that had to be replayed several times and a bug that temporarily broke all takedown animations - but there are many more circulating the internet. To be honest, things don't look good.

The Saints Row subreddit is currently aflame, with one Redditor wondering if the Grim Reaper has visited Saints Row and another flat-out saying the existence of the subreddit is part of the problem, and that players "should be demanding better from [publisher] Volition". While some of Saints Row's negative or middling reviews can be attributed to the game's overall vibe (which I myself wrote is "dated"), the major issue is the plethora of bugs. 

Skill Up's review calls the technical state of Saints Row "very, very bad." A Twitter user shared a clip from that same review, which shows off a massive character model glitch in the final mission (spoilers) where a character called the Nahualli goes into a T-pose before his entire torso lengthens and spins and twists around like something out of The Thing. The team over at Kinda Funny games experienced the exact same character model glitch.

Another Redditor spotted an in-game pop-up that implies devs were rushed during the development process - because the text isn't filled out at all.

a_review_in_one_image from r/SaintsRow

I myself ran into a glitch during the Insurance Fraud missions where all the cars in Santo Ileso would just disappear. Considering Insurance Fraud requires you get hit by cars in order to rack up some payouts from insurance companies, the lack of viable vehicles renders the mission impossible. 

As mentioned in my review, Deep Silver and Volition have promised a day one performance patch, but there are no details about what that patch entails and when it will be available. Saints Row launched today, August 23, for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. 

If you're playing the new open-world crime game, here are the best Saints Row weapons to use.

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante
Former Features Writer

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.