Look, let’s be real. Ranking the Saints Row series is basically an exercise in nostalgia and disappointment. It’s a franchise that spent its entire life cycle trying to figure out what it wanted to be when it grew up, only to realize that growing up was the worst thing that could possibly happen to it. Everyone remembers the purple. They remember the Dubstep Gun. They remember jumping out of a plane while Kanye West’s "Power" blared in the background. But finding a consensus on Saints Row games ranked is actually a nightmare because the fan base is split down the middle. One half wants a gritty crime drama that rivals Grand Theft Auto, and the other half wants to play as a super-powered President of the United States fighting aliens in a computer simulation.
It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s frequently vulgar.
The history of Volition—the now-defunct studio behind the series—is a tragic arc of creative ambition meeting the harsh reality of market shifts. When the first Saints Row dropped in 2006, it was easy to dismiss it as a clone. But by the time we got to the fourth entry, the game had more in common with The Matrix than it did with The Godfather. This massive tonal shift is why every list you see online looks different.
The Top Tier: When the Saints Truly Ran the Row
If you ask any die-hard fan where the peak of the series lies, they’ll point to the middle. This was the era where the series found its soul by leaning into the absurdity without losing its grip on the "gangster" roots that started it all.
Saints Row 2 (2008)
This is the gold standard. Period. Honestly, Saints Row 2 is the only game in the franchise that successfully balanced a genuinely dark, high-stakes story with the absolute insanity of spraying sewage on suburban houses to lower property values. It had a soul. You felt for the Boss. When Carlos died—and if you’ve played it, you know exactly how brutal that was—it actually mattered. It wasn't just a joke.
The customization here was lightyears ahead of its time. You could mix and match clothes, styles, and even your character's walking animation. Stilwater felt alive in a way that the later city of Steelport never quite managed. It had distinct neighborhoods, secret underground malls, and a sense of verticality that encouraged exploration. It’s the favorite for a reason. It didn't need superpowers to be interesting; it just needed a good script and a world that reacted to your chaos.
Saints Row: The Third (2011)
This is where the "zany" factor got cranked to eleven. A lot of old-school fans felt betrayed by the shift, but you can’t deny the cultural impact of The Third. It was a massive commercial success. It leaned into the "Purple Marketing" harder than any other entry. This is the game that gave us the Professor Genki missions and the infamous "The Penetrator" weapon.
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The opening mission—a bank heist where you’re wearing oversized masks of your own face while hanging from a vault being lifted by a heavy-duty helicopter—is arguably one of the best openings in action gaming history. However, the cracks started to show here. Steelport felt a bit repetitive. The activities were great, but the actual city lacked the personality of Stilwater. Still, if you want pure, unadulterated fun without thinking too hard, this is the peak.
The Middle Ground: Superpowers and Strange Decisions
When we look at Saints Row games ranked, the middle of the pack is usually defined by the "Escalation Problem." How do you top a game where you're a global celebrity? Apparently, by making you the President and giving you flight.
Saints Row IV (2013)
Let’s be honest: this was originally supposed to be DLC for the third game. You can tell. It uses the exact same map, just with some alien towers added. But man, the movement felt good. If you treat this as a superhero game rather than a crime game, it’s incredible. Running up the side of a skyscraper at 100 mph while listening to 80s pop is a vibe that no other game has captured.
The problem? It rendered vehicles completely useless. Why drive a tricked-out car when you can fly? It also completely abandoned the "gang" aesthetic. You weren't a street thug anymore; you were a god in a simulation. It’s a fantastic game, but a questionable Saints Row game. The writing remained sharp, though, with some of the best meta-commentary on video game tropes you’ll find anywhere.
Saints Row (2006)
The original. It’s dated now, sure. The controls are clunky, and it feels very much like a product of the mid-2000s "urban" trend. But it deserves respect. It introduced the world to Johnny Gat, the coolest character in the series. It gave us a focused, albeit somewhat derivative, look at gang warfare in the fictional city of Stilwater. It wasn't trying to be a comedy yet; it was trying to be a competitor. Without the success of this Xbox 360 exclusive, we wouldn't have the rest of the list.
The Bottom of the Barrel: Why Modern Saints Row Failed
It’s hard to talk about this without being a little sad. The downfall of the franchise didn't happen overnight, but it was definitive.
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Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (2015)
This standalone expansion was... fine. It was short. It took place in literal Hell. You played as Johnny Gat or Kinzie, which was a nice change of pace. But it felt empty. The "missions" were basically just activities you’d find in the open world, stitched together with some musical numbers. Yes, musical numbers. It was a weird experiment that didn't quite land, serving as a reminder that the series was running out of gas and ideas.
Saints Row (2022 Reboot)
The elephant in the room. The 2022 reboot is widely considered the death knell of the franchise, and for good reason. It tried to capture a "modern" vibe but ended up feeling like a boardroom's idea of what "the kids" like. The new cast lacked the edge and charisma of the original Saints. They weren't criminals; they were roommates trying to pay off student loans who just happened to commit mass murder on the side.
The gameplay felt ten years behind the times. Bugs plagued the launch, and the world of Santo Ileso, while visually pretty in the desert sun, felt hollow. It lacked the grit of SR2 and the inspired madness of SR3. It was a game stuck in the middle, pleasing nobody. It’s the lowest point on the list because it stripped away the identity of the brand without replacing it with anything compelling.
Breaking Down the Evolution (or Devolution)
When you look at the trajectory, the series followed a weird "Bell Curve" of quality.
- The Rise: Saints Row (2006) to Saints Row 2 (2008). This was the period of refinement. They took a formula and perfected it.
- The Plateau: Saints Row: The Third (2011). A shift in identity that paid off financially but fractured the fan base.
- The Descent: Saints Row IV (2013) onwards. The jump to sci-fi was fun but unsustainable.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Saints Row was always "the wacky one." That’s not true. The first two games had genuinely emotional moments. They had stakes. When you lost a member of your crew in the early games, it hurt. By the time the reboot rolled around, the violence felt weightless because the characters didn't seem to care, so why should the player?
Customization: The Series' Secret Weapon
One thing that remained a constant through almost every game (until the end) was the industry-leading customization. Even in the 2022 reboot, the character creator was phenomenal. You could spend three hours just making a character that looked exactly like a specific celebrity or a blue-skinned monster. This "be whoever you want" philosophy was the true heart of the Saints, even more than the purple clothes or the fleur-de-lis.
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What Really Happened with the Reboot?
Many people blame "wokeness" or "cringe writing" for the 2022 failure, but the truth is more technical and structural. Volition was under immense pressure to modernize a brand that was inherently a product of the early 2000s. The "Saints" were originally a parody of hyper-masculine gang culture. When that culture shifted, the writers didn't know how to pivot.
The result was a game that felt terrified to offend, which is the worst possible trait for a Saints Row title. You can’t have a franchise built on being an "anti-hero" if your heroes are fundamentally polite and corporate-friendly. The mechanics also didn't evolve. While other open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Elden Ring were pushing the boundaries of immersion and discovery, the Saints Row reboot was still using the "drive here, shoot 20 guys, watch a cutscene" loop from 2011.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Players
If you’re looking to dive into this series for the first time or revisit the glory days, don't just pick up the newest one because it has the best graphics.
- Start with Saints Row 2: If you can handle the slightly dated graphics, this is the essential experience. On PC, you’ll need the "Gentlemen of the Row" mod to make it run properly, as the port is notoriously broken.
- Play The Third for Co-op: If you have a friend, Saints Row: The Third Remastered is one of the best co-op experiences you can have. It’s built for two people to cause absolute mayhem.
- Skip the Reboot unless it’s on a deep sale: It’s worth a look for the character creator alone, but don't expect a deep narrative or groundbreaking gameplay.
- Embrace the DLC: The DLC for SR3 and SR4 is actually quite good. "Enter the Dominatrix" for SR4 is a hilarious look at what the game could have been.
The tragedy of the Saints Row games ranked is that the series ended on a whimper. Volition is gone, and the IP is sitting in a vault at Embracer Group. Will we ever see another Saints Row? Maybe. But it would need a complete ground-up reimagining—not a reboot that tries to play it safe, but a game that remembers what it was like to actually rule the streets of Stilwater.
The lesson here is simple: you can't be everything to everyone. By trying to appease the new crowd while winking at the old one, the series lost the very thing that made it a legend in the first place. For now, the Saints are retired, and we're left with the memories of a time when gaming was a little more purple and a lot more reckless.
Next Steps for Your Playthrough:
If you're on a modern console, download the Saints Row: The Third Remastered—it’s the most stable version of the "classic" feel currently available. For the hardcore experience, track down a copy of Saints Row 2 for the Xbox 360 (which is backwards compatible) to see the series at its narrative peak without the technical headaches of the PC port.