The huge success of games like the Grand Theft Auto series and Minecraft shows exactly how much players can enjoy titles where freedom plays an important part in the gameplay process, something that will undoubtedly be a key selling point of the new Saints Row game. Rustler, from developer Jutsu Games, takes a look at an earlier iteration of free roaming in gaming through a historic lens.
Rustler is an open world sandbox game that is heavily inspired by the early Grand Theft Auto titles. Set in the medieval period, the player takes on the role of The Guy, a peasant looking to move up in the world and make it into the higher echelons of society by whatever means necessary. Along the way, they'll cause all sorts of chaos, meet the Spanish Inquisition, and catapult a cow or two.
As expected, Rustler does manage to feel an awful lot like the first two GTA games. Whether it's the muffled dialogue of characters, the basic map markers, or the ability to repaint your ride at the logistically mysterious Pimp A Horse respray shops, it genuinely feels like it could have been a continuation of the old GTA model. There are some slight tweaks to make it more playable for a modern audience, such as being able to block melee attacks and a bit more of a lenient approach to aiming, but fans of those nineties entries will feel at home.
It's therefore a simplistic title when it comes to gameplay, and Jutsu Games has aimed to keep players engaged with an irreverent style of humor. Overall it's a mixed bag, but in some instances Rustler's humor does work well. The blend of modern road planning in a medieval setting creates some good visual gags like pedestrian crossings and parking spots for horses, while more surreal moments like beatboxing bards are good for a laugh.
However, Rustler does struggle with other elements of its comedy. It's extremely reliant on referential humor, with countless unimpressive Monty Python references alongside nods to Terry Pratchett and The Office as just two other examples, meaning that it feels closer to the Scary Movie series than to Airplane! Meanwhile, its toilet humor could grate depending on the threshold of the individual player; Those who blush at Conker's Bad Fur Day might have a bad time.
This isn't the only area where Rustler comes up a little short. Its main plot isn't exactly compelling, although it trots along nicely with some fun moments along the way as The Guy tries to progress from his humble beginnings, but the majority of its side quests are pretty basic. There are also some other things to do such as collecting musical notes and horseshoes for skill upgrades, but much like similar elements in old GTA games these aren't compelling to complete.
Where Rustler truly has issues is with a wide variety of technical problems. Glitches are common, and as varied as Pimp A Horse glitching out enough to cause a mission restart through to sudden black screens. There are other structural problems too, like extremely suspect AI pathfinding, at one point being so poor as to effectively make one side mission incompletable.
Beyond these bigger problems there are also some smaller sloppy moments that could likely have been resolved with a little more time in development. Mounts sometimes not respawning if loading from a checkpoint is a bugbear, particularly given that there seems to be a lack of civilian horses on the roads in comparison to those used by guards, while the camera shifting between isometric and top-down to help give the player a clearer view isn't as fluid as it could be.
As such Rustler is not quite the retro callback to early sandbox games that players may have hoped for. It's an enjoyable fun diversion for a little sharp burst of low brow humor, but in the long term it's unlikely to keep players engaged. Combined with a wide variety of technical issues, Rustler feels like something of a missed opportunity.
Rustler is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided with a PS5 download code for the purposes of this review.