Saints Row gameplay video includes the painful return of Insurance Fraud
Also heists and toxic waste disposal
Saints Row criminal ventures are the focus of a new gameplay video from Volition, laying out all kinds of under-the-table business you can engage in.
The Saints Row series has always been defined by its side missions and activities at least as much as its main story missions, and it looks like that's set to continue with this new gang. The trailer, narrated by Volition chief creative officer Jim Boone, lays out how criminal ventures became the studio's "spin on organized crime operations in Santo Ileso."
Players will be able to decide which businesses they build and where, and each of the enterprises will bring in their own characters to meet and special gameplay challenges. For instance, the Bright Future Disposal facility lets you get paid to dump toxic waste, though it looks like you'll have to drive carefully to make sure barrels full of glowing green goo don't end up flying out of your truck bed. Costume shop Let's Pretend lets you kick off heists where you'll serve as both scout and getaway driver.
The last - but extremely not least - venture showcased in this video is the Shady Oaks Medical Center, which lets you start Insurance Fraud missions. Saints be praised, the minigame that's all about hurling yourself into traffic so you can rack up as much bodily injury and property damage as possible will return, and with the same absurd ragdoll physics as before plus even more explosions.
This video is just the second part in an ongoing developer mini-series, so we ought to find out more soon. The wait for the game itself won't be too much longer, as Saints Row is set to be released on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S on February 25.
Find new places to be in our guide to the best open world games.
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
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.