Ever since its release in late August 2022, gamers have been speeding their way through the massive open world featured in the popular Saints Row reboot. The action-adventure game takes place in the sprawling city of Santo Ileso, which is patterned after Las Vegas and is divided into roughly a dozen different districts. However, some of those districts are subdivided into East, West, South, and North designations and should be considered one and the same.
While some districts in Santo Ileso offer plenty of recreational fun to go with a slew of in-game missions, side hustles, discoveries, threats to avoid, and stores to loot, others are tedious and tiresome to tour.
11 Mercado
Home of the Saints gang, Mercado is the starting district in the game that allows players to identify with the main characters Boss, Eli, Kevin, and Neenah, and familiarize themselves with their surroundings. A trendy upstart area for new businesses and entrepreneurs, Mercado is full of open-air markets and pavilions where a slew of fun items can be bought. Alas, the small area and geographic limits of the district hinder the overall experience.
While most districts are divided into directional designations, Mercado is meant to be a smaller introductory district for players to get their bearings and orient themselves with the game. That said, Mercado will keep players busy with 2 side hustles, 3 stores to rob, and 13 discoveries to be made.
10 Rancho Providencia
Land of the Los Panteros gang, Rancho Providencia is a district in east Santo Ileso that is primarily a residential and working-class area that is known for such landmarks as the Scorpion automobile factory (which has since relocated), Panther Rock, and Providencia Cemetery. Unfortunately, beyond sightseeing, there isn't a ton of fun to be had in the district.
Divided in East and West Providencia, the district only offers 2 side hustles and 3 stores to ransack to go with 10 total threats in the area that hardly make the perils worth the effort. With that said, West Providencia offers 16 discoveries versus the East's 6 Discoveries, making it more favorable to explore in the acclaimed 2022 western-themed RPG.
9 Old Town
The territory of The Idols gang, Old Town is a historical district in Santo Ileso that preserves architectural marvels of the past. Loaded with popular tourist attractions like Fort Collins and the Kavanaugh County Fairgrounds where all sorts of recreational activities take place, Old Town is slightly more amusing to tour than Rancho Providencia.
Divided into Old Town East and West, the district tasks players with 3 side hustles and rewards them with 18 discoverable items, ensuring nary a dull moment in the historical tourist trap. With 10 threats to evade and a pair of stores to loot to boot, Old Town may not rival the modern luxury districts in terms of unadulterated fun, but it's slowly developing its way there.
8 Smelterville
The industrial district of Santo Ileso, Smelterville is also the turf of the Los Panteros gang. Beyond the Scorpion Assembly Plant and Boomer's Short Fuse Fireworks shop, Smelterville is nowhere near as attractive to tour as some of the more booming metropolitan districts. That said, Smelterville East has more to do than Smelterville West.
Fortunately, gamers can overcome the lack of tourism and fun-filled activities by engaging in a total of 5 side hustles, 3 stores, and 19 discoveries to go with 10 threats in the area to keep players on their toes. Not to spoil the game, but one of the side hustles includes destroying as many police vans and gang cars as possible, which is infinitely enjoyable.
7 Monte Vista
Controlled by The Idols in the content-rich open-world game, Monte Vista is an exclusive luxury district in Santo Ileso with a slew of fun activities to engage in for the well-connected. It's home of the Woodbush Country Club and its massive golf course, Lemoneedle Tattoo parlor, several roadside food vendors, and more.
However, what really separates Monte Vista from the other districts is its two side hustles, Riding Shotgun and Pony Express, which are two of the most entertaining parts of the game. With photo hunting and drug pallet pickup discoveries as well, Monte Vista may be smaller than most districts, but it still offers plenty of fun things to do.
6 Rojas Desert
While driving through long stretches of desert roads can get boring at times in the popular 2022 open-world game, the Rojas Desert district is much more fun than fans may first suspect. Aside from the iconic Route 66 highway, Rojas Desert features Sky Canyon, Twin Coyote Arcade, and Tacos R' Us, several options to keep players entertained.
Broken into Rojas Desert North and South, the district features a whopping 52 discoverable items, many of which lay hidden beneath the sand and belong to big bad Marshall Defense Industries. With 6 side hustles and 4 stores to boot, Rojas Desert will keep players busy and amused at once.
5 Badlands
The second sprawling desert district in Santo Ileso is called Gehenna Badlands, which is divided into the North and South regions. With zero threats in the district, players need not worry about protection or combat, they can simply tool around and have a ball touring such sites as McQuarry Township, Tower of Love, and Marshall's hidden Frontier prison complex.
However, what really makes Badlands such a pleasant place to play is the 6 side hustles and staggering 54 discoveries that will keep players constantly on the look for buried treasures, weapons, gear, and other valuable items.
4 Sanatorium Flats
Getting into the more modern and developed districts, Sanatorium Flats (East and West) is a more upscale area in Santo Ileso that features the Smelterdome football stadium, Meeker Mall, Crazy Chicken Dance Studio, not to mention luxury condos, a movie theater, bowling alley, and more. The real question is, what isn't there to do to have fun?
Aside from tasking players with 4 side hustles, 4 stores, and 10 threats to go with 15 discoverable rewards, the Flats simply has a wealth of culture and metropolitan activity for players to become immersed and lost in for days on end.
3 Marina Del Lago
One of the most lavish, upscale, and trendiest shopping districts in Santo Ileso, Marina Del Lago (Marina West and East) is also owned by The Idols. Here players can visit Bear Lake, Knot Shore Yacht Club, The School of Architecture and Design, the massive La Galleria shopping center, and more luxurious attractions.
Aside from the endless activities and amusing places to visit, Marina Del Lago will also keep players entertained by providing 4 side hustles, 5 stores, and 19 discoveries to go with 10 threats. Between the headshot kill, sideswiping, and drifting missions, the Marina is one of the coolest places to hang out.
2 Lakeshore
Controlled by the wealthiest and most resourceful gang, Marshall Defense Industries, Lakeshore is the cultural hub of Santo Ileso marked by the intersection of high art and commerce. Players can tour the Santo Ileso Museum, Jasinski Pavilion, and Jasinski Library, not to mention concert venues, recreational parks, and stunning state-of-the-art skyscrapers designed by the famed architect Antoni Jasinski.
Divided into Lakeshore North and South, the district comes with 3 side hustles, 4 stores (including the Friendly Fire armory), 10 threats, and 24 discoveries that will keep players amusingly engaged throughout the game. As a booming area that bridges old and new iconography in Santo Ileso, Lakeshore has endless options to keep players excited.
1 El Dorado
Akin to the Las Vegas strip, El Dorado is by far the most entertaining district to tour in Saints Row 2022. Home of such dazzling gaming parlors as the Bikini Atoll, Poseidon's Palace, Aces High, Lancelot & The Aztec casinos, the bright lights and glitzy pomp and circumstance amount to one big adult playground. It's districts like these that make Santo Ileso one of the best open-world video game cities.
Beyond El Dorado's 4 side hustles, 3 stores, and 16 discoveries, what really makes the district so much fun is the seedy underside of the glamorous casinos, including tattoo parlors, pawn shops, strip clubs, brothels, motels, and other sordid institutions that offer nothing but sinful fantasies become a stark reality.