Saints Row, which reboots the franchise on August 23, remains true to the series’ by providing a chaotic crime and arcadey action sandbox to play in. After spending four hours with the new Saints Row we give you our thoughts on the long-awaited return of the action franchise.

A snippet.

It doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it does thankfully tone down the superhero/sci-fi nature of the latter mainline games to present something more grounded. As much as bouncing off of the heads of pedestrians to get more wingsuit hangtime can be. Plus, it’s been several years since the last outing and enough time has passed that it can make use of modern hardware by adding new features that make sense for both the free-form open-world campaign and playing in co-op.

For example, the physics have been stretched to near breaking point in that smashing into one parked car at full speed will see a pinball effect take place if there are more cars. Which is very cool to witness for the first time. It’s not realistic, it’s over-the-top in the best possible way. There’s also the aforementioned ability to fly around in a wingsuit, assuming you’ve got enough height, where you can surf ala Just Cause. And bust out a rocket launcher if you’ve got one.

Our Full Saints Row Hands-On Preview