Gat out of Hell is the new standalone DLC of Saints Row IV and takes you straight to hell. You won’t like your first steps in hell, but the more time you’ll spend there, the more it will grow on you. The Gat out of Hell DLC isn’t what you expect but is a lot of fun to play!
Welcome in hell.
The story of Gat out of Hell starts where Saints Row IV ended. Without spoiling the ending, a main character will be sucked into hell to marry Satan’s daughter. Johnny Gat and Kinzie are the rescue squad and enter hell in order to save their friend.
Your first steps in hell aren’t that great at all. Everything looks the same and hell looks like a boring place thanks to the brown and dark colors. The only variation you’ll see in the environment are the large pools of lava… Nothing special really. This feeling only gets stronger when you need to steal your car to drive to the city. Hell looks a lot like a smaller version of Steelport. You’ll see cars everywhere, boring buildings and zombie pedestrians as you move around the city. It looks like a place you’ve been before.
It gets better.
So your first minutes in hell aren’t that memorable at all. The fun starts when Johnny gets his wings. Since you’re in hell, you’re able to do things you’ve never did before. Flying around using your epic wings is one of those new things. Soon after the introduction, you’ll get access to the wings. At first, the wings feel like an upgrade of the high jumps of Saints Row IV. The more you upgrade your wings however, the longer you’ll be able to stay airborne. This upgrading system is very rewarding and addictive.
You can only upgrade your skills if you collect Soul Clusters. These are bright blue orbs that are hidden in the world. The more you collect, the better your abilities become. Finding all orbs is easy the first hour but after that, you’ll really need to start looking everywhere possible. Collecting the Soul Clusters is one of the more fun things to do in hell. You’ll want to have them all because they give you a lot of new power.
Spread your wings and fly!
A lot of missions.
Aside of flying around and collecting Soul Clusters, there’s a lot more to do in hell. The main mission is to get Satan’ attention to be able to personally hit him in the face. In order to get his attention, you need to succeed in several mini-games. Those mini-games aren’t that new but are recreated for the hell setting. Think about killing as many enemies in a set time, saving as many fallen souls before they hit the floor or destroy as much things as you can. The mini-games are separated in games you play on the ground or games you’ll play in the air using your wings.
Succeeding in the mini-games results in unlocking some of the main missions. Those main missions are different from the mini-games and are really fun to play. During those you’ll meet famous characters such as Shakespeare, Dracula and more. Each of those characters has its own role in hell and own goal to reach. Completing these missions is necessary to reach the end of the game. Since this a DLC game, you’ll reach the end a little faster than you would expect. In four hours, you’ll be able to complete the storyline for sure.
Classic Saints Row jokes.
During the missions, the narrative is filed with classic Saints Row humor. Most of the jokes are rather cheesy but some of them are brilliant. Meeting Satan for example isn’t just told in some boring scene; no it’s a musical. Seeing your main characters sing their way around Satan is truly genius. Without spoiling too much, the game features more of those unexpected but fun moments.
Not all is good in hell.
Aside of this classic Sainst Row humor, Gat out of Hell really is a different type of games. Saints Row fans won’t appreciate everything that this game has to offer. Flying around or running around using your super sprint can become a little too chaotic for some for example. The same goes for the missions. Although they’re fun to play, the game wants you to replay the same scenario a little too much. There isn’t much variation in the gameplay and that’s a shame to be honest.
The graphics aren’t that good either. Hell looks rather boring, even with the different locations. The creators tried to create a thrilling version of hell but they didn’t succeed completely. There are some really good locations such as the neon-district but most of the other locations lack identity. The map itself isn’t that big, so Saints Row fan might be disappointed by that as well.
Is it worth getting?
With all those negative points, you might think that Gat out of Hell isn’t a good game, that’s not true. The game is fun to play and offers a different look at the Saints Row universe. The gameplay feels good thanks to the wings and the high need to collect every Soul Cluster. Collecting those is big part of the game. Also note that almost every weapon you use is completely new, you’ll get your hands on some of the better weapons in the franchise. All in all, it’s safe to say that Gat out of Hell isn’t a perfect game but it’s a fun game to kill some of your time. Don’t expect too much of it but let it take you to an unforgettable journey in hell.
