Look, let’s be real. Nobody expected the Saints Row franchise to end up in actual, literal Hell. But there we were in 2015, playing Saints Row Gat out of Hell, a standalone expansion that felt like Volition took every leftover fever dream from the Fourth Street Saints’ cutting room floor and threw them into a blender with some Disney-style musical numbers. It was chaotic. It was technically messy. Honestly? It was exactly what the series needed before it eventually took that long, divisive nap.
Most people look back at this as a glorified DLC. They aren't entirely wrong, but they're missing the point. This wasn't just more of the same. It was a mechanical playground that refined the superhero movement from the fourth game while leaning into the sheer, unadulterated absurdity that defined the mid-2010s gaming era. You play as Johnny Gat or Kinzie Kensington. You have wings. You're trying to punch Satan in the face because he wants to marry his daughter off to the Boss.
If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is.
The Hell Nobody Expected
When you think of the underworld in video games, you usually picture the grim, oppressive hallways of DOOM or the intricate circles of Dante’s Inferno. Volition had a different idea. Their version of New Hades is a jagged, sulfurous city-scape built out of recycled assets and pure spite. It’s smaller than Steelport. A lot smaller. But the verticality is what changed the game.
In Saints Row IV, we had super-speed and high jumps. In Saints Row Gat out of Hell, we got flight. Actual, feathered-wing flight.
The flight mechanics are arguably the best thing Volition ever programmed. It wasn't just a "press button to fly" mechanic. It was momentum-based. You had to dive to gain speed, flap to maintain altitude, and manage a stamina bar that made every cross-map journey feel like a mini-game. It turned the environment into a racetrack. Collecting those glowing blue Soul Clusters became an addiction because each one meant you could stay in the air just a little bit longer.
The city of New Hades itself is split into five islands. It’s ugly. Purposefully so, maybe? It’s a pit of lava and rusted metal. But because you’re moving so fast, the lack of aesthetic polish on the buildings doesn't matter as much as the layout. You’re dodging floating spires and weaving through traffic that consists of "husks"—the depressed, shuffling souls of the damned driving beat-up cars.
Musical Numbers and Satanic Boredom
Can we talk about the musical? Because we have to talk about the musical.
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There is a moment early in the game where Satan, Jezebel, Johnny, and Kinzie break into a full-blown Broadway-style song. It’s called "Satan’s Christmas," and it is genuinely well-composed. It’s the kind of high-effort, low-stakes joke that characterized peak Saints Row. It didn't need to be there. It doesn't help the gameplay. But it gives the world a flavor that most "AAA" games are too scared to touch today.
Satan isn't even really a villain in the traditional sense. He's a stressed-out dad. He’s a guy who just wants his daughter to settle down with a "winner," and apparently, the Boss—who conquered Earth and defeated an alien empire—is the only worthy candidate. It’s a domestic comedy wrapped in a cape of fire.
The Seven Deadly Sins Weapons
The heart of the game’s combat revolves around the Seven Deadly Sins weapons. These aren't just reskinned guns. They are weird, specific, and often hilarious tools of destruction.
- Armchair-A-Geddon (Sloth): You literally sit in a motorized recliner equipped with dual miniguns and heat-seeking missiles. It is the peak of the Saints Row ethos. Why walk when you can kill while napping?
- Gallows Dodger (Lust): A talking pistol that gets... excited... the more you kill. It’s uncomfortable. It’s loud. It’s effective.
- Diamond Sting (Greed): This gun shoots diamonds. It causes enemies to drop more "Wages" (the game's currency). It turns the economy of Hell into a literal bloodbath for profit.
- Ark of the Covenant (Wrath): A vacuum that sucks in souls and then spits them out like explosive projectiles.
Most players stick to the Sloth chair because, honestly, it’s broken. But the variety here shows a level of creativity that’s been missing from the open-world genre lately. Each weapon had its own mini-questline to unlock, replacing the standard "buy it at the shop" progression. It forced you to engage with the world's activities, even if those activities were just variations of the ones we’d been doing since 2011.
Why the Critics Were Wrong (And Why They Were Right)
At the time, reviews were middling. People complained about the "Empty World" and the "Lack of Missions."
Here is the truth: Saints Row Gat out of Hell does not have a traditional mission structure. There are almost no "cinematic" missions between the intro and the finale. Instead, the game uses a "Satan’s Wrath" meter. You fill the meter by doing side activities—Mayhem, Hellblazing (the flight races), and Torment Fraud.
Torment Fraud is just Insurance Fraud from the previous games, but instead of faking an injury for money, you’re controlling a soul in Hell trying to hit as many cars as possible to reduce your "sentence." It’s morbid. It’s funny. But if you hate checklists, you’re going to hate this game.
The lack of a traditional campaign is the game's biggest flaw. It feels like a collection of mini-games held together by duct tape and Johnny Gat’s charisma. If you’re looking for a deep narrative, you’re in the wrong pit of fire. But if you want a game that respects your time and lets you feel like a god-tier demon hunter within twenty minutes, this is it.
The Kinzie Factor
For a long time, Johnny Gat was the face of the franchise. But Gat out of Hell let Kinzie Kensington take the spotlight as a co-protagonist. Her interactions with the world are different. Her dry, tech-obsessed cynicism balances out Gat’s "punch first, don't bother asking questions" attitude.
The game allows for full drop-in, drop-out co-op. Playing through the hellscape with a friend, both of you flying in formation while raining fire down on demonic police, is the definitive way to experience it. The synergy between the "Summon" powers—where you can call up tiny imps to explode on your enemies—and the flight mechanics creates a flow state that most open-world games fail to achieve.
Technical Realities in 2026
If you're booting this up on modern hardware, it’s a mixed bag. On a high-end PC or a modern console, the frame rate is buttery smooth, which is vital for the flight mechanics. However, the textures haven't aged gracefully. The "brown and red" color palette of New Hades can feel repetitive after a few hours.
There are bugs. You might get stuck in a building. A husk might T-pose into the sunset. It’s part of the charm, or a sign of the rushed development, depending on how much of a glass-half-full person you are.
Interestingly, the game offers five different endings. Without spoiling them, they serve as a pivot point for the entire Saints Row timeline. One ending leads directly into the Agents of Mayhem universe, while others offer a complete reboot or a literal "Heaven" scenario. It was Volition’s way of saying, "We don't know where to go next, so here are all the options."
How to Actually Enjoy Gat out of Hell Today
Don't try to "complete" it. Not at first. If you treat it like a 100% completion checklist, you'll burn out in three hours because the activities are repetitive.
Instead, focus on the movement. Use the game as a meditation on 3D flight. There is a specific rhythm to flapping and diving that feels more like a flight simulator than an action game. Once you master the maneuvers, the rest of the game becomes a background for your aerial acrobatics.
Also, find the Seven Deadly Sins weapons early. Don't wait. The game is much more fun when you’re sitting in a recliner shooting missiles than when you’re using the default SMG. The "Uriel’s Edge" sword (found in the Satanic version of a hidden chamber) is also a must-have for anyone who prefers melee.
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Specific Tips for New Players:
- Upgrade Flight First: Don't waste your Soul Clusters on health or ammo early on. Max out your wing flaps and flight efficiency. Being able to cross the map without touching the ground changes the entire feel of the game.
- Ignore the Cars: Driving in this game is useless. The cars are slow and the handling is terrible compared to your wings.
- Look for the Altars: Each neighborhood has an altar that grants a specific power (Aura, Blast, Summons, Stomp). Get the "Coldfire" upgrade for the Aura power as soon as possible; it freezes enemies and makes the flying demons much easier to handle.
- Check the Dex: Since there aren't traditional cutscenes, a lot of the story is hidden in the audio logs and the "Dex" entries. If you care about the lore of why Shakespeare is in Hell (yes, William Shakespeare is a DJ in Hell), you need to find these.
The Legacy of the Saints
Looking back, Saints Row Gat out of Hell was the end of an era. It was the last time the series felt like it was truly leaning into its own identity without trying to be "grounded" or "modern." It was loud, ugly, offensive, and incredibly fun.
It’s a reminder that games don't always need to be 80-hour epics with photorealistic sweat pores. Sometimes, you just want to fly over a lake of fire and hit a demon with a talking gun.
To get the most out of your time in New Hades, focus on the "Hellblazing" trials first. They act as a masterclass in the game's flight physics. Once you can gold-medal those, you’ll find that the combat encounters become much more dynamic as you learn to fight mid-air rather than staying grounded. Also, keep an eye out for the historical figures scattered around; interacting with Blackbeard and Vlad the Impaler provides some of the best dialogue in the game. It’s a short experience—you can see almost everything in 10 hours—but it’s a concentrated dose of what made the mid-2000s to 2010s gaming scene so experimental and weird. Grab a friend, pick your wings, and go give Satan the headache he deserves.