Saints Row video shows more gameplay and a character customization tease

A new Saints Row video gives us a fresh look at gameplay and a behind-the-scenes exploration of what it means to reboot the clown prince of open-world action.

The "Welcome to Santo Ileso" trailer from developer Volition takes you on a seven-minute tour of the game, complete with gameplay snippets that show what it looks like in action - while we're still waiting for a more extensive, uninterrupted look at what it really feels like to play the new Saints Row, this is a welcome followup to the CGI trailer which debuted at Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2021.

The trailer shows off the new southwestern American city of Santo Ileso, which proudly bears the motto "Keep it strange, Santo," and introduces the rival gangs you'll chew through in the course of the campaign. It also gives a proper introduction to the three fellow founders of the Saints: entrepreneur Eli, gearhead Neenah, and shirtless influencer Kevin. Just as important, it teases some of the ways you'll be able to create your own custom Boss, including a chrome-skinned cowboy with a neon green mohawk haircut.

"They're the kinds of choices that I can make in the way that I can play the game, and most importantly, leveraging the experience of Volition and the creativity that we have, trying new things out, and then having this open world where we can realize that," Volition chief creative officer Jim Boone says in the video. "I think it has made for a really exciting game with Saints Row."

Take a deeper look at Santo Ileso and the gangs that terrorize it with our Saints Row preview. 

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.