New to Hell? Get A Lay of the Land
Saints Row: Gat out of hell is the latest expansion to 2013’s Saints Row IV. This time instead of dealing with an alien invasion you are tasked with delving into the bowels of hell in order to save your beloved boss. Take control of Johnny Gat and Kenzie Kensington as you fly through New Hades and bring the fight to Satan himself. You will of course need to learn your way around first.
Chances are that you’ve played a Saints Row game before, but if you haven’t you may have realized that the world pretty much opens itself up from the very beginning. Use this to your advantage and do some reconnaissance. Fly around and explore the highs and lows that New Hades has to offer in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell. Take the time to locate gun shops to get your armory stocked as well. This will give you the advantage later on when you’re trying to gather collectibles, or just have some fun practicing your new flight powers.
While you’re at it be sure to watch out for dangers to handsome, winged devils like yourself. Stripped power lines, lava geysers, and flaming waterfalls are just a few threats you will need to keep watch for in the sky. Learn them so they don’t impede a much needed escape further down the line.
While the new world crafted in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell isn’t the largest open world out there, all of the nooks and crannies add a level of depth that some games just don’t have. It’s better to know them now than to run into them later.
While Exploring Gather Some Souls
So you’re getting a hang of flight and have memorized the city of New Hades like the back of your demon killing hands, right? You must have undoubtedly noticed all of the glowing blue and red orbs floating around the entire city. These are soul clusters, these are all that stand between you and powerful upgrades to your not yet received powers. You probably want to start picking up a few of the things.
Soul clusters in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell come in two distinct varieties. First you have the blue ones which are easily obtained just by touching them, simple as that. The second variety, the red ones, require you to put a bit of extra work in. You will notice that these orbs have a sort of arrow attached to them. Once triggered, a path of four smaller red clusters will create a path going in the direction of the arrow. Move quickly to gather all four before they disappear and you will have nabbed yourself a shiny new soul cluster.
Some of the red clusters can prove to require a bit of finesse and speed in order to collect them. Since you’ll have plenty of time to explore the world of Saints Row: Gat out of Hell it’s best to just focus on the blue ones in the beginning. Once you get some much needed upgrades you can always return to get their red counterparts.
Traversal Upgrades Are a Priority
After some time you will see your repertoire of moves grow from “okay” to “OMG you’re now stronger than the lord of hell”. But, you must first learn to crawl before you can ever truly fly. Of course before you can fly as free as a bird you will probably want to invest in your two traversal powers intensively. Time to put some of those soul clusters to good use.
Your only two traversal abilities are Sprint and Flight and many of the skill upgrades each one has benefits the abilities of the other. It’s a very good idea to put some of those clusters into the two to make getting around Saints Row: Gat out of Hell much easier. The game makes it very clear from the very beginning that vehicles will not be your primary mode of travel so invest in speed and stamina and you should be all set. Should a situation go south you will be more than prepared to get the hell out of there.
Once you’re comfortable with your movement you can now move on to more pressing matters.
Resistance, Blast, and Stomp
Combat is as important in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell, as it was in every other Saints Row game. This time you’ll be locking horns with none other than the king of hell and you will have to rely on some super abilities if you’re to have any hope of victory. You’ll have many methods of mayhem at your disposal shortly after beginning the game, but there are a few you should focus on – especially if you’re new to either the series or the gameplay of Saints Row IV.
Stomp and Blast will most likely be your most used abilities since they are easiest to use in a pinch and focus on either completely stopping, or distancing enemies from yourself. The first form of Blast you unlock will turn any unlucky demons into stone and can instantly kill flying enemies (since they become falling statues, it’s basic science). Blast will knock away any fool silly enough to engage you in close combat. When used in conjunction with blast you can shatter groups of enemies with ease.
Invest some clusters in upgrading the range and cooldowns of these abilities in order to keep you in the action and allow for a quick getaway. Also save up some of that hard earned hell currency in order to invest in some damage resistances. Fire will be an early annoyance so make sure that it doesn’t have the ability to get the best of you. Once you figure out how you want to play, choosing early abilities will come with ease.
Avoid Grenades At All Costs
Although the demons of Saints Row: Gat out of Hell have many means to stop you dead in your tracks the only one you really need to look out for is the dreaded grenade. You may be thinking to yourself “well I’ll just invest in the explosion resistance and I’ll be fine”,  and you would be right if the grenades worked as you’d expect them to. Unfortunately these grenades have a much more devastating effect than your average run-of-the-mill explosive.
The grenades in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell have the ability to block the usage of every single one of your abilities. That means no super sprinting, no high jumping, and none of your combat powers. You’ll be reduced to a normal (well, normal is relative) human being with nothing to rely on but your guns. Since this is a beginner’s guide you probably don’t have many powerful weapons at your disposal leaving you a sitting duck.
Whenever you see the grenade icon on your screen stop whatever it is that you’re doing and get away as quickly as possible. It is better to take a bit of gun damage as you evade the grenade than it is to lose every viable course of action that could enable your survival. You are strong, but everyone has a weakness.
Last, But Certainly Not Least, Have Fun
It’s easy to get caught up with everything you have to do in Saints Row: Gat out of Hell and forget why you got the game in the first place. Chances are you picked up this gem to have some fun, and you should be doing just that. No need to try and collect over the 1000 collectibles right away. Get out there and kick some demon ass, steal some cars, spread your wings (literally), and just enjoy your time in Hell. Chances are that there are no other coming opportunities to actually have a good time i hell anyway.
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell is jam-packed with many things to do and enjoy. It would be a disservice to the developers if you let it all go to waste so have fun. Are there any things that you enjoy above others in the game? Do you have any other tips that might help out new explorers of hell’s lively city? Feel free to share.
For more info on Saints Row: Gat out of Hell check out the game’s site. Also, feel free to check out our review.
Published: Jan 21, 2015 12:32 pm