"Saints Row" the open world third person video game franchise that debuted as a cheap knockoff of Grand Theft Auto series has always been unapologetically imitating but also unique in a silly way. The newest in the series Saints Row IV doesn't deviate from that pre-established goofiness. In fact, it drives right through it, off a cliff and straight into outer space into the alien world.
In Saints Row IV, the intergalactic story makes nearly everything that's come before this edition seem tame by comparison. If you played the similarly phenomenal Saints Row the Third, you'll remember that the Saints are no longer just a street gang, they're international stars, complete with their own energy drink and fashion line. Here, they go a step even further and have gone judicial; the leader of the Saints is now the President of the United States.
But that is just the tip of iceberg of irrationality and derision the game has to offer.
It's an interesting twist that the developers have fun playing with, especially early in the game (you're given the time to make one major discovery - do you cure cancer with a bang or end world hunger?), but it also seems like it's an idea that isn't given proper time to build since the game rushes to the major event that sparks most of the game's story so quickly. Not too long into your term, the world is attacked by a hostile alien race and imprisons you into a virtual world meant to signify your doom. The world looks an awful lot like a place in heaven, the draw distances and world are so vivid and lifelike, making the city a ton of fun to explore.
The game does tend to get boring after the repetitive tasks in the middle of the game and you might be asking yourself why did you end up playing this game. Graphically, the game is annoyingly glitchy, an issue offset by the fact the game is set within an unstable computer simulation. Saints Row IV won't be very friendly to newcomers of the franchise because the bulk of the adventure is spent on reuniting the gang - and some other characters - from the previous three installments.
A positive thing about the Saints Row IV is its friendliness to modding, along with the game's own customization, the third party user mods and tool make the game a lot more interesting. For example you can modify your character speed and stamina, which makes it fun to play the game (see http://deviatedhacking.com for a modding tool.). The customization of the game is also very unreal. Want a polka-dot skin on your assault riffle? Go for it. Want your station wagon to have rims? It's your choice. The most impressive customization feature is with your character as all features are gender-free, so if you want a 300 LB guy with a mullet wearing a bikini you can, or a woman with facial hair and a man's voice. There's even a voice option for Nolan North, the voice of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and just about half of all of the other male roles in gaming.
In the end, to summarize, while the game is plagued with problems, Saints Row IV continues down its predecessors' path of being an outrageously stupid, goofy and unique game that invites players to do these mindless acts.
Remember this year's Saints Row(opens in new tab)? Volition would probably prefer that you didn't, which might go some way to explaining why the studio recently decided to upgrade everyone's copy of Saints Row 4(opens in new tab) to its full-fat Re-elected Edition, containing all the game's story and cosmetic DLC and even introducing cross-play between Steam, Epic, and GOG versions of the game.
Unfortunately, that upgrade seems to have backfired, and players now report a myriad of bugs with their new version of SR4. Both the Saints Row Steam forums(opens in new tab) and subreddit(opens in new tab) are filled with players complaining of broken saves, crashes, and mods failing to function. It's also received a few hundred negative Steam reviews(opens in new tab) since the update. If it's succeeded in washing the taste of Saints Row (2022) out of players' mouths, it's only because it tastes even worse.
I wonder if Volition's getting reorged under Gearbox impacted the quality of their release.
When it comes ranking the Saints Row games, there are a couple of weird ones you have to consider, though this is Saints Row after all.
Player 2 looks at the current classification system in Australia and how it needs to improve with the help of gamers across the country.
Great article it was informative.
“Without American style protection of speech, I cannot see those sorts of games ever being approved to be released in Australia unmodified. I am OK with that.”
You undermine your efforts from start with that attitude. Free speech helped with lawsuits but our ratings board has nothing to do with our government. The industry is self regulated. Your classifications are terrible and you should try to change it. Adopt the American industry standard. There is no law involved. That’s why I don’t understand why Americans demand government intervention on things like micro transactions. They are ok with what you have now too I guess.
