Saints Row IV is more bonkers, outrageous and awesome than ever and whilst it isn’t perfect it is most definitely worth a shout, read on to find out why.
The latest Saints offering from Volition and publisher Deep Silver is a direct sequel to Saints: The Third, and sees a massive leap for the street gang turned global power, from gang banging to running the White House. But just as you’re about to give your first address as El Presidente the planet is attacked by a mysterious alien force called The Zin and the world is overrun.
It’s a sacrifice we wish Volition hadn’t made.”
In the madness that follows, your staff are abducted by aliens and as you fight to save your planet, you wind up trapped in a bizarre and twisted virtual reality world, created by the alien leader Zinyak, brilliantly voiced by J.B. Blanc. He’s determined to “break the President of the United States” but unfortunately for him he underestimates your psychopathic nature and soon discovers just how skilled you are a F*cking Sh#t Up!!!
But aliens aren’t the only special addition to the franchise, aliens mean alien technology and in Saints Row IV that means super powers, so you can outrun cars, shoot fireballs and leap buildings and smash into the ground Incredible Hulk style!
So naturally it would be unfair for you to simply be tackling ordinary gang bangers, so this time round there are some specially designed missions and foes to test your supercharged character, including sprint races that would leave Usain Bolt in the starting blocks and co-op superhero death matches.
As you progress through the game there is a bunch of great unlockable moves and powers, as well as a host of ridiculous and awesome weapons to look forward to getting to grips with such as the famed “Dubstep Gun” and the Alien anal probe weapon, the “Rectifier”. Unlocking new skills and buying upgrades is easy enough as you can earn money and XP in a number of fun ways – my favourite is running around and beating it out of innocent passers-by, but you could also get involved in the side missions.
…you can outrun cars, shoot fireballs and leap buildings and smash into the ground Incredible Hulk style!”
The main thing that lets Saints IV down is the main campaign mode, other than the thinking-man’s alien overlord Zinyak, the enemies lack the character of foes in Saints games of old. Whilst playing through the story at times feels a little lacklustre compared to the fun you can generate by just causing random havoc, and in some cases the need to visit the “mission hub” to sign off and start new missions, breaks up the gameplay a little too much. On that same vein, the continuous tongue-in-cheek references to other games whilst funny, dilute the Saints experience. It’s a sacrifice we wish Volition hadn’t made.
But with all that said, Saints Row IV features some fantastic gameplay environments and equips gamers with boundless opportunities to tackle them, whilst it may have lost some of it’s gangland essence it doubles as one of the best super-powered open-world experiences we’ve seen on any console. It has a killer soundtrack, hundreds of weapons and player customization options – we made Dr. Manhattan and ran around naked – so if you appreciate mayhem and have a sense of humour, there really is nothing that can compare to Saints Row IV.
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There is also a host of incredible DLC support – like The Rectifier – coming to Saints Row IV over the next few months so a season pass would be highly recommended.
