Saints Row is famous for its reckless, chaotic fun as you and your gang create general mayhem. Fans of Grant Theft Auto and similar sandbox games will find a lot to love here. With its emphasis on making things crazy (stick with the series to escape hell itself), it’s not surprising that Saints Row also embraces cheat codes. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
Saints Row Summary
Saints Row is a fun-filled sandbox game that puts you in charge of the 3rd Street Saints gang and lets you do pretty much whatever you want. You can fill the city with as much mayhem as you want, and explore a variety of mechanics. It’s become a fan-favorite game series for blowing stuff up in creative ways, and the games fully embrace this.
At first, gamers thought of Saints Row as a Grand Theft Auto clone, but as the series went on it quickly embraced a more unique identity. There’s still a focus on crime, but the games embrace the absurd and give players a lot of tools to play with.
For this guide, we’re focusing on the original Saints Row game, which was released back in 2006 on platforms like the Xbox 360. However, there’s a twist. The game was rebooted with a new release in 2022 for those who want to experience it again with updated graphics, etc. That means there are two different versions that people may be playing. Below, we’re covering how cheats work for both of them and everything you should know about playing.
Saints Row Premise
In Saints Row, you create your character to take part in the story that begins in the fictional city of Stillwater. Stillwater is more or less owned by three big gangs. The Vice Kings control the strip clubs and music business. The Los Carnales control narcotics and guns, and the Westside Rollerz controls underground racing. Between the three of them, the city’s a very dangerous place. That’s how the main character the player creates gets started: They’re caught in a gang gunfight, and saved by chance by a fourth gang — the 3rd Street Saints.
The Saints don’t have much to their name compared to the main three, but they’re dreaming of making it big. Those plans involve a whole lot of murder, mayhem, and general skullduggery. The Saints want the main character’s help in return for saving their life, and the main character agrees.
From here, the game is a very open-world experience that players can take in all sorts of directions. There are three primary story missions to do, one mission for taking down each of the big three gangs, but there’s no hurry. Plus, the character needs to build “Respect” to earn enough street cred to start all the big missions, so there are lots of side missions and mini-games to do. As respect is built, players can choose which story missions to tackle first:
- Deal with the Vice Kings: The Saints want to take down key moneymaker Aisha and turn the gang’s leaders against each other. The boss may be open to the idea, but only if the Saints help him clean house once and for all.
- Deal with the Carnales: The Saints want to take over all the Carnales’ drug operations, but that’s going to take some work. First, they need to take out the current leadership. Second, they need to make a new deal with dangerous Colombian suppliers.
- Deal with the Rollerz: The Saints want to track down the real wealthy owners of the Rollerz, but it’s going to take some tricky undercover work to do it.
With all three main quests completed, the Saints have control of basically the entire city, and you’ll get a little cutscene. But, once you’ve “beaten” the game, stick around until after the credits. Then the play unlocks several epilogue missions, which will allow the Saints to cement their power and take care of a few big problems.
The biggest problem is that the police chief has been a corrupt monster with allies inside the Saints all this time. Now he’s collecting his due, and that includes some serious leverage against the player’s character. If the Saints want to survive, they’ll have to play along and clear the path for a new businessman to take power. But if things go wrong, there’s plenty of room for vengeance.
Saints Row Main Characters
Saints Row has a few main characters you should know about in addition to the brand new character that players create (who eventually becomes the Boss in future games). Those include:
- Julius Little: The leader of the Saints, he has big dreams of taking down the other gangs for good. But he needs a lot of help to do it. Fortunately, his man Troy just rescued a bystander who’s willing to join the gang and get things done…
- Dex Jackson: Dex has a big plan to rip away business from the Carnales gang, but it’s going to require some light…murder.
- Johnny Gat: Gat wants to play a major trick on the Vice Kings, but it will take some careful operations. He’s looking for someone to trust.
- Lin: Lin’s tracking down the secrets of the Rollerz from the inside. It’s a dangerous job, and she could use a hand to learn more.
- Aisha: Aisha is a famous singer and key to the Vice King’s success. If something happened to her, the gang might splinter apart. But don’t worry, the Saints only want to fake her death — they’re fans.
- Benjamin King: The current leader of the Vice Kings, King is dating Aisha and thinks everything is going fine. But within his ranks, traitors wait.
- Tanya Winters: Tanya’s a long-term madam with an eye on King’s throne, waiting for the right opportunity.
- Hector and Angelo Lopez: These two brothers manage the Carnales. For the gang to go away, the brothers have to go first.
- Manual Orejuela: A key Colombian contact, the Saints need to win his trust if they want access to a reliable drug supply.
- Joseph Price: This famous street racer is the frontman for the Westside Rollerz. Link needs to get close to him to find out how to bring the gang down.
- William Sharp: Price’s uncle, and the money behind the Rollerz. The player will have to take care of him to take down the Rollerz.
- Richard Monroe: The city’s police chief, who’s just as corrupt as the gangs themselves. Once the Saints are in full control, he moves quickly to seize their power and coerce them into a plot.
- Richard Hughes: Hughes is an alderman with an agenda and an ally in Monroe. He wants to become the next mayor, and he needs the Saints to take out the current mayor first.
Saints Row Games in the Series
Because of the reboot and similar issues, we know that keeping the Saints Row games straight can be a challenge. Here are the games, in order and ready to go.
- Saints Row (2006)
- Saints Row 2 (2008)
- Saints Row: The Third (2011)
- Saints Row IV (2013)
- Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell (2015)
- Saints Row Reboot (2022)
Please note, our cheats and codes below only apply to the first Saints Row, and the latest Saints Row game, or the reboot. You can certainly try them with other games in the series, but we can’t guarantee that they’re going to work.
Saints Row Cheats and Codes
Saints Row cheats depend entirely on which version of the game you’re playing, which makes things a little complicated. If you are playing a version of the original release, the 2006 Saints Row, then you have access to a range of cheat codes in the game. They’re relatively easy to input, and we’ll go over our favorites below.
However, the 2022 version of the game changed all of that. It removed these cheat options completely. This is a trend with many modern games, especially reboots, and no — we’re not sure why they do this. Fortunately, the developers eventually added another cheat option in 2023, which is very convenient to use. We’ll go into detail about both below and how to use them.
Saint’s Row 2006 Cell Phone Inputs
In the original Saints Row, you have access to a phone you can dial. For example, you can call 911 and an ambulance to head toward your location to heal you. You can look up controls on your specific platform to see how to access the phone. On Xbox 360, for example, you paused the game and then selected the L or R trigger. Once you bring the phone up, you can either select a number code or select numbers that spell out a certain code to do something. We suggest starting with these cheat codes for the best results (in addition to the 911 trick):
- #nocops: Removes nearby cop activity.
- #nogangs: Removes nearby gang activity.
- #rocket: This gives you a rocket launcher. Technically, there are codes for a variety of weapons, but the rocket launcher is our favorite and offers the most explosive fun.
- #molotov: Add a Molotov cocktail to your arsenal.
- #sprint: Enables constant sprinting for faster movement speed.
- #money: Adds money to your inventory.
- #ammo: Give you infinite ammo for your equipped weapon.
- #fullhealth: Immediately get full health.
- #infinitemass: This turns your current vehicle into a wrecking ball ready to destroy anything you run into.
- #beermuscles: Your melee attacks hit for much more damage.
As with many cheat codes, inputting these cheats does come with some serious caveats. Once you have enabled cheats, they will automatically disable the ability to get any achievements in the game. If the cheats stay on after you’ve saved (which they usually do), then you won’t be able to get achievements anymore during that playthrough. Your best bet is to create a separate save of the game before you enable cheats, and then go back to that save if you want to pursue achievements.
Saints Row 2022 Cheats App
Now let’s turn to the 2022 reboot of Saints Row. The dialing option doesn’t work anymore, but fans clamored for a way to enable cheats. After all, a big part of the game is having zany fun! So, in a 2023 update, the developers added a cheat app. This is not an app you have to download to your phone. Rather, it’s an app that shows up on your updated in-game phone when you get it. It’s labeled Cheats with a bandit mask icon.
Before you use these cheats, make sure you have the Boot Hill upgrade, and run Saints Row with all the latest updates in place. Once you get the app, the cheats are handily divided into clean and dirty versions. The clean cheats don’t have a huge impact on gameplay, and you can still get achievements with them enabled. We’ll start with them. Select any of these to enable them in-game:
- First Aid: Heals your character to full health. It’s one of the most powerful clean cheats available, and you can use it as many times as you want.
- Roadside Assistance: Restores your vehicle’s health to full (although it won’t fix the appearance).
- Anger Management: Everybody gets aggressive. Basically, the whole city starts fighting each other.
- Ascension: When an NPC in the game dies, their body starts floating.
- Screen Effects: These cheats render Saints Row in a variety of hues. Nothing else changes.
- Weather: You can also change the weather to be clear or stormy at will.
Now let’s look at the dirty cheats. These cheats are a lot more fun, but they will disable your achievements, so you need to be careful using them. Plus, some of them could break your game. Create a separate save if you want to start messing with these:
- Lottery Ticket: Gets you $10,000 in cash automatically.
- Lethal Weapon: Every gun becomes an instant kill weapon.
- Exotic imports: As you explore, the vehicles that spawn around you are increasingly high-end sports cars.
- Big Wheels: Start spawning monster trucks and similar vehicles.
- Mass Effect: Gives vehicles infinite mass for complete mayhem when driving.
- Super Saints: All Saints do more damage.
- Low Gravity: Vehicles weigh a lot less, which can be pretty funny at higher speeds.
- Bottomless Tank: Your vehicles have unlimited boosting.
- Amnesty: These cheats can clear all your threat levels from different groups you may have offended. That includes police and other gangs.
- Most Wanted: This adds threat level to various groups.
- Moving Violations: Everyone in the game ignores traffic lights. You can guess how that ends up.
Saints Row Cheats FAQs
Below, we’ll tackle some very common FAQs about Saints Row cheats, how you input them, compatibility, and more.
Why Can’t I Find the Cheats in Saints Row?
Remember, cheats work in different ways depending on which version of the game you have. If you have the original version, you’ll need to take out your phone on the menu screen and dial the right numbers. As with real-world phones, each number has several corresponding letters. Press the numbers in order to spell out the code. If you need to press a number multiple times in a row for different letters, that’s fine — just press once per letter, no matter where they’re located.
If you have the reboot of Saints Row, things are a lot easier. Just make sure you have all the latest updates for the game, as cheats were added in 2023. Then access your in-game smartphone and look for the Cheats app. Here you’ll find the various cheats you can enable or disable to change the way your game plays.
Can I Enable Multiple Cheats at the Same Time in Saints Row?
Yes, you can turn on multiple cheats at the same time. However, the more you enable, the more likely that you’ll break the game, and not necessarily in a fun way. Multiple cheat modes happening at once can make the game unplayable. If you’re just getting money and health, you probably don’t have much to worry about. But if you’re enabling multiple permanent cheats that change the way the game behaves, you may be in trouble.
Can Cheats in Saints Row Break My Game?
Yes. Especially cheats like changing the mass of vehicles or making everyone in the game aggressive. Don’t expect to get much done after you enable these cheats. And for some cheats, there’s a possibility that they’ll crash your game, even if they’re in-game, fully authorized cheats.
Is There a Price for Using Cheats in Saints Row?
In addition to what we mentioned above, keep in mind that cheats, particularly the “dirty” cheats in reboot and any cheats in the original, do change your playthrough. At minimum, they’ll disable achievements so you won’t be able to win these anymore. If that’s a problem, we suggest creating a separate save that you can return to after you have had your fund with cheat codes.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Steam.