I am a big fan of the Saints Row franchise and have been a fan since Saints Row: The Third. Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV. The two aforementioned games had great humor and lots of action. Gat Out of Hell is an expansion of the franchise that is much shorter in content, but has some entertainment value.
Those who played Saints Row IV should feel quite familiar with Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell. The open world design and gameplay mechanics are very similar in Saints Row IV and Gat Out of Hell. All the super jumps and gliding in Saints Row IV turns into flying with wings. You can buy wing flaps as a way of upgrading your flying abilities. Given enough practice, you can gain exciting speeds and it feels quite different than gliding in Saints Row IV. Flying also makes collecting soul clusters exhilarating. The soul clusters are similar to those clusters in Saints Row IV and are necessary for upgrading your arcane powers which are similar to Saints Row IV’s super powers.
The story takes place in the portal of New Hades, a city that is hell, of course. There are activities in the game, but many are like those activities found in Saints Row IV. Some weapons are like those in Saints Row IV, but there are some nice, new additions, including the seven weapons that represent the seven deadly sins. One of the deadly sins weapons is an armchair containing a Gatling gun and missiles. The weapons upgrade system should be familiar to those who have experienced previous games of the Saints Row franchise.
The story is quite short and it is about Johnny Gat going after Satan and there is Jezebel, Satan’s daughter. The Boss, the President of the United States, is kidnapped by Satan and forced to marry Jezebel. There are very few main quests, so it is possible to go through the main story of the game in five hours. The other returning character is Kinzie Kensington, an alternative playable character. If you want to play Kinzie, you can simply go to the Ultor hotel and switch characters. The plan set up by Johnny and Kinzie is to rescue the Boss from Satan. The story presents itself in cutscenes in the form of a book and I think it is done nicely. There are some guys assigning quests to you such as Blackbeard, Dane, and Shakespeare. Once you finish those quests you can simply reach the end of the story to battle Satan.
If you want to enjoy more time in the game you can play all the activities and diversions. You can also complete challenges which would require you to start trouble on the streets of hell by attacking either demons or husks (citizens of hell). Activities such as Torment Fraud are derived from the Insurance Fraud activities. Mayhem makes its return requiring you to cause as much destruction as possible. Survival also makes a return as a diversion. The newest activities are Hellblazer and Salvation. Hellblazer tests your ability to fly through checkpoints and having upgraded flaps for your wings leads to fun flying. Salvation requires to save as many dying souls as possible before they reach the bottom (hell) or the top (heaven). A type of diversion called Pledge Rush requires you to use a paddle to strike demons into the various circles, similar to Genki’s Mind Over Murder activities. I thought that the Hellblazer and Salvation activities are the most entertaining of all activities and diversions.
Simply starting trouble on the streets of New Hades to complete 100 challenges can be fun at the beginning, but it can get a little repetitive over time. You can find armored vehicles to conquer after blasting it enough times to bring the demons out of these vehicles. You can then drive them to a drop off point for a big payday in cash known as Wages, the currency of the game.
Gat Out of Hell is a game that is short on story and substance, but it is fun if you play activities and diversions, complete challenges, and participate in other forms of entertainment. It is probably short because it is an expansion, not a sequel. For a price of $14.99 it is not a bad buy. Just don’t expect to see the greatness of the gameplay and sense of humor Saints Row fans experienced in Saints Row: The Third or Saints Row IV.