It hasn't quite been two years since Saints Row: The Third breathed new life into a quickly stagnating franchise, introducing thousands of new fans to the Third Street Saints along the way, though we very nearly didn't get a Saints Row 4 at all after THQ was forced to file bankruptcy last year.
Thankfully, after all of the dust had settled, the fine folks at Volition found a new home in time to make Saints Row 4 a reality before the beginning of the next hardware cycle this November. More importantly, the Saints Row 4 dev team ended up with Deep Silver, the formerly indie publisher that's become the second-largest game publisher in Europe.
Despite getting some hands-on time with the game at E3 2013 earlier this summer, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I sat down with the final build of Saints Row 4, the first Saints Row project to ship under the franchise's new publisher. There's just so much going on.
Alien invasions. Matrix-inspired virtual cities. Tentacle bats.
And that's just the first couple of minutes.
Admittedly, there are certain things that Saints Row fans know to expect from any Saints adventure: sophomoric humor, less-than-work-friendly language, absurd/impossible weaponry, a few furries and all the rest of the insanity seen in the Saints Row franchise over the last seven years. Thankfully, just about everything that made Saints Row: The Third such a memorable game has been brought back in Saints Row 4, with a few tweaks added to keep the game feeling fresh.
Of course, before the game ever saw the light of day, dozens of fans criticized Deep Silver and DS Volition for seemingly stretching the previously canceled Saints Row: The Third "Enter The Dominatrix" DLC into something the studio and publisher considered worthy of a full retail release. Instead, the Saints Row dev team has delivered what feels like their most complete offering to-date, despite a few lingering shortcomings in Saints Row 4, with promises of a retooled Enter The Dominatrix DLC add-on coming to Steam, PSN and Xbox Live 45 days after the Saints Row 4 release date.
As you may or may not already know, Saints Row 4 sees players resume their position as head of the Third Street Saints...sort of. You see, the Saints have apparently continued to move up in the world, and the man/woman responsible for running the former street gang has been elected President of the United States. Just wait until you see/hear how it all happens.
Thankfully, the game does include a brief prologue, which explains the boss' transition from gang leader to Leader of the Free World. It doesn't take long for the action to really get going though. As soon as you've completed the introductory mission, which shouldn't take long, Saints Row 4 flashes forward to the middle of your first term in the White House.
Just minutes after being introduced to your cabinet, you'll find yourself knee deep in foot soldiers from the Zin Empire, an army of aliens invading Earth under the direction of Emperor Zinyak. From there, it's off to virtual Steelport, where you'll soon find yourself capable of wielding a variety of superpowers and outlandish weaponry - terrestrial and otherwise.
To be honest, I've been a bit worried in recent weeks, largely out of concern that DS Volition wouldn't be able to pull off such an insane story in Saints Row 4. Today, I'm happy to say that I was worried for nothing. It's not going to win any awards, but the plot of Saints Row 4 has proven to be every bit as entertaining as the campaign from its predecessor. The latest entry in the Saints Row franchise also arrives sporting a brand new Quest system which aims to give a bit more narrative direction to the various Activities available throughout Steelport. It's not a perfect solution, but it's great to see the DS Volition team willing to take a chance on new(ish) ideas.
Speaking of new ideas, the introduction of superpowers works far better than I could have ever imagined in Saints Row 4. In many ways, the travel powers in Saints Row 4 reminded me of using super speed and super jump to cross the sprawling metropolis which served as the setting for cult classic MMORPG City of Heroes.
Granted, darting through the winding streets of Steelport feels quite a bit more natural than it did in City of Heroes, largely as a result of the fact that roads actually have traffic and semi-free-roaming pedestrians in Saints Row 4. Unfortunately, your new found super speed makes the game's vehicles little more than set pieces fairly early in the game, leaving me to wonder why DS Volition wasted so much disc space on a vehicle customization system that is unlikely to be fully utilized by players.
Longtime fans of the Saints Row franchise will recognize most of the activities scattered around Steelport, from previous entries in the satirical open-world series, though a few new options have been included in an attempt to keep the non-story missions feeling fresh. Instead, it seems much of the development work from the last two years went to creating one of the greatest scripts in video game history. Sadly, Volition decided to replace my favorite Activities from Saints Row: The Third - Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax and GenkiBowl VII game shows - with much less entertaining new missions inspired by everybody's favorite man-cat. WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam makes his return in Saints Row 4 though, reprising his role as Genki show ring announcer Bobby, so I guess I can let some of the other changes slide.
Saints Row 4 also does an outstanding job of providing back stories for many of the series' most iconic characters, including a few favorites who've been a part of Saints Row since the franchise debuted on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2006. Most impressively, Saints Row 4 manages to pull off everything I mentioned already, without giving up any of the toilet jokes and other juvenile humor that made the Saints Row franchise so memorable in the first place.
In fact, Saints Row 4 is full of pop culture references that you probably wouldn't even expect. Want the President of the United States to do the Bluth family chicken dance if/when he's taunting his enemies? No problem. Think Saints Row 4 would be better off if Han Solo was running the Third Street Saints? There's a costume (and blaster pistol) for that. Prefer to fight crime/aliens in the nude? Don't worry, the Saints Row 4 dev team has you (un)covered.
Unfortunately, the Activity list remains the most obvious weakness in Saints Row 4's nearly flawless armor, and few of the game's optional side missions are entertaining enough to justify their presence in the game. Combat can feel a bit repetitive at some points too, though the game typically does an adequate job of providing you with a wide range of possible tasks at any given time, theoretically guaranteeing that players who've grown a bit bored of fighting can quickly find a non-combative challenge to undertake in Saints Row 4.
Many people have also noted frame rate issues with console builds of the game, though I can't say I encountered any such issues during my time with the PC version of Saints Row 4. Targeting can also be a bit unpleasant, even with a mouse and keyboard, and the driving mechanics in Saints Row 4 are still a bit loose for my taste. I don't have many complaints, but certainly don't want to give anyone the impression they're about to purchase a perfect video game.
Saints Row 4 Review - The Final Verdict
If you weren't a fan of Saints Row: The Third, or grew bored of the game before actually completing the Saints Row: The Third campaign, you might want to hold off on a purchase of Saints Row 4 for the time being. While it features a number of new and extra-polished game mechanics, not to mention some amazing comedy from start to finish, I can't imagine Saints Row 4 making any converts out of gamers who didn't enjoy previous entries in the franchise. It's a blast, but you're unlikely to agree if you haven't had similar feelings about open-world titles in the past.
That said, Saints Row 4 is an absolute must-buy for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the (Third Street) Saints, or the open-world genre as a whole, and is likely to appeal to a few gamers who typically don't enjoy the sandbox nature of games like Saints Row 4. As always, DS Volition paid attention to the little things, and that fact shows through in the best ways while playing Saints Row 4. Whether it be an occasional chuckle at your Cache supply, or the blink-and-you'll-miss-them pop culture references, its not often that you'll find yourself playing Saints Row 4 with anything but a smile on your face.
It's not perfect, but the things that Saints Row 4 does right easily overshadow the relatively short list of things that DS Volition got wrong, ultimately creating one of the most engaging and entertaining game play experiences of the year.
Score - 4/5
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Have you already had a chance to play through the entire Saints Row 4 campaign? Completely disagree with our assessment of the game's merits? Already counting down the days until the Saints Row 4: Enter The Dominatrix DLC debuts this October?
Let us know in the comments section!
