The gamer gave it a 9.1 out of 10
Prior to the retail version of Saints Row being released, the demo set an Xbox Live Marketplace then-record for being downloaded more than 350,000 times in the first week of its release.[4]
The game has received generally positive ratings. Although most critics have noted the striking similarities in gameplay that Saints Row shares with releases from the Grand Theft Auto series, they have also praised the game for the inclusion of new features and its improvement of existing ones from GTA. Saints Row has received ratings of 95/100 from GamePro,[5] 8.75/10 from Game Informer,[5] 80/100 from Official Xbox Magazine,[5] 8.5/10 from IGN,[2] 8.4/10 from GamerNode,[5] and 8.3/10 from GameSpot.[5] GamePro called it "the best reason to own an Xbox 360 this side of Oblivion",[6] while IGN noted, "Hate it if you want to, snicker at its obvious me-too qualities, but don't forget to recognize impressive, kick-ass gameplay as you walk out the door."[2] Saints Row has received an average critic score of 82% on Game Rankings and 81% on Metacritic.[5] The Australian video game talk show Good Game's two reviewers gave the game a 7/10 and 8/10.[7]