After becoming President of the United States, The Boss and the rest of the 3rd Street Saints have to band together to take down a marauding band of alien invaders and their extremely intelligent leader. Chaotic Good will once again reign supreme!
1. Gameplay
If you don’t know about the downfall of THQ and the struggle that Volition went through during that time, most of what went “wrong” with Saints Row 4 won’t make much sense. It’s a miracle that this game even saw the light of day. While Saints Row: The Third made plenty of money, which would entice another company to come in and buy the development team (Volition), that whole process is extremely disruptive to a game’s development. That being said, this game had its bright spots but was clearly redesigned from a previous story that would have made much more sense if it had been completed. In this game The Boss (now President of the United States) is kidnapped by aliens. He/she (the player chooses the main character’s gender and can change it at almost any time) must save his crew and somehow defeat the alien menace. This is all done in a very comical, over-the-top ridiculous manner with tons of bright neon lights and insane weapons that have no place in real life. Where Grand Theft Auto always tries to keep one foot firmly planted in reality, Saints Row has chosen to go with the “why not?” approach. Dubstep gun? Check. Energy-based superpowers that allow you to create a chain reaction of exploding enemies, civilians, and vehicles? Check. Giant can of killer Saints Flow energy drink that terrorizes a virtual version of Steelport? But the odd thing is that at times this game felt like the developers were trying to force the over-the-top comedy and at others they didn’t go nearly far enough. The few times where something happened that I was definitely not expecting were some of the most entertaining times in the game. Otherwise, the meat of this game was in completing the multitude of minigames and side missions. I ended up completing almost all of them before the game would have required me to do so. Which brings up the other, more serious miss of this game. Most of the main campaign was simply in “do these side missions” quests rather than in actual story-based missions. The funny parts of the game were in the times when the characters were actually talking to each other, but that rarely happened in the side missions. It clearly showed when I played two of the DLCs, which were significantly funnier than the main game. I wish that they had given me more missions like “How the Saints Saved Christmas” or “Enter the Dominatrix” rather than “Super Platforming Minigame” (or whatever it was called). Still, this game was very amusing and a lot of fun to mess around in. It’s a funnier and, sadly, more “wholesome” environment than Grand Theft Auto. If it came down to letting a kid play Grand Theft Auto or letting a kid play Saints Row 4, the decision would easily go to Saints Row.
I completed the entire campaign, every side activity, and most of the DLCs in around 23 hours. In that time I managed to do every loyalty quest, complete a decent portion of the challenges, and find every collectible in the worldspace. Unfortunately this game has very little replay value. If the player can find a cooperative friend, the potential playtime for this game increases significantly, but I really wanted something that allowed me to keep going and complete more activities and more missions. Despite the healthy amount of content present in this game, I felt like it was far too short. I really wanted more. And while I have no doubt that this game will get a sequel, I don’t want to wait that long!
There is very little in this game that is frustrating. It’s designed to be a simple experience where players can explore with little to no significant consequences. The player will easily overwhelm almost all of the enemies that he fights against no matter what powers he uses. While some powers are more advantageous than others, there was no point where I felt the game was entirely unfair. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in this game has become almost as schizophrenic as the color palette. On the one hand the game still includes the traditional bullet-based gunplay. The player can use pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, submachine guns, missiles, and a ton of other “conventional” weapons to kill targets (enemies and civilians). Hits from these weapons will almost always create a small splash of blood. Even explosions simply send enemies flying in all directions. The only exception came in one mission where the player had to shoot some can mascots. When this happened, the mascots would explode into blood and bits. This was extremely rare though and I never got it to happen on purpose. But now there are also a variety of alien and other random weapons that will have a variety of odd effects. Some weapons, such as the alien pulse rifle, will simply fire a line of bright light directly at enemies. But other, less traditional weapons, such as the dubstep gun, will have illogical effects. For example, the dubstep gun will fire a pulse of energy on beat with a dubstep song. When enemies are killed by it, they will “dance” to the beat of the song, falling and reversing for a while until they actually hit the ground. It’s a difficult effect to describe without some sort of video. The player can also perform some ridiculous wrestling moves to take down enemies. These are usually fueled by the player's super powers to make them even more ridiculous. There are two specific times when the violence becomes more obvious. In the first, the player rescues Shaundi from her nightmare. During the nightmare, Shaundi stabs zombified Johnny Gatt repeatedly. There is blood all over the walls as well. In the second, the player defeats the boss alien named Zinyak. As Zinyak is shouting how his kin will have their revenge, The Boss cracks Zinyak’s neck and rips off his head and spine just like Predator. It’s violent, but not quite as impactful as it should be because of its comical nature (and the comical nature of the rest of the game). Keep in mind though that with very few exceptions the game makes it clear that the player is working within a computer simulation. The game makes it noticeable, both on a story level and on a visual level, that the player is attacking holograms, not actual people or creatures.
There are few games as hypersexualized as this one. While all of the sexual content in this game is designed to be satirical, there can be no doubt that it is intended for a mature audience. While there are plenty of random NPCs in the game that walk around with normal clothes, there are a huge number that walk around in bikinis, gimp suits, BDSM leather outfits, and other similar articles of “clothing”. A good number of the conversations will involve sexual references, but not as many as I expected. The more obvious sexual content comes in the player’s ability to “romance” characters. These conversations involve the player propositioning different allies with their unique responses. Some will turn him down, some will give him something non-sexual, and some will clearly agree to have sex with him. There are no actual sex scenes, the screen just fades to black after the conversation is done. Many of the buildings and decorations involve sexual elements as well. For example, the “Technically Legal” strip club and the naked woman street lamps. The player can wear any number of outfits that are very sexual. He can also take on the voice and the expressions of either gender. If the player wants a male character who acts extremely feminine (or the opposite), that is completely possible. It's also possible to wear nothing at all. There are also some pornographic pictures that can be found in rare locations in the game. These are extremely easy to miss. There is one side mission where the player will have to perform a strip dance at an amateur strip night. This can get extremely awkward, especially if the player has a male character.
Substances do come into play from time to time. Most aren’t particularly noteworthy, such as the Saints Flow energy drink that plays a greater role as a “marketing” meme than an actual drink or the random radioactive substance that the player will have to pick up with his hands. I saw one character smoke in one cutscene, but it was the only time I saw anyone smoke. There is also a bar in the world that the player uses as an access point to other people’s simulations, but I never noticed anyone drinking. The only very noticeable exception was the Shaundis’ loyalty mission. Fun Shaundi decides that in order to defeat a character called Veteran Child, the two Shaundis and The Boss have to smoke an alien narcotic out of a broken lightbulb. This eventually gives all three characters pretty insane superpowers. It’s supposed to make fun of drug users, but the message I got was that being a crack addict makes you awesome. As an adult I know this is definitely not the case, but it doesn’t effectively communicate how seriously harmful drug addiction and use of this kind can actually be. Then again, it is an alien narcotic that doesn’t actually exist and therefore won’t give you superpowers, so hopefully an impressionable youngster would know better than to think “drugs can make you more powerful than Superman”.
There was one part of a loyalty quest that took place in an abandoned casino with slot machines, but the player can never actually gamble in this game. Gambling can be seen in a few more locations and cutscenes, but it is extremely brief overall. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Some of the structures in the simulation are cathedrals. However, these structures are a holdover from Saints Row: The Third. Since they are never discussed, they end up becoming a fairly innocuous inclusion.
While The Boss’ feelings about Zinyak are entirely justified, the fact is that the player will have to fight the local law enforcement within the simulation. Many of the player’s acts, both deliberate and accidental, will gain the attention of the alien “police” force, who will attempt to shut down The Boss’ fun. If the player continues to harass the aliens and random civilians in the simulation, a warden will come in to quell the disturbance. If the player kills the warden, the aliens will temporarily give up trying to take the player down. One of the early missions involves the player disrupting a “Pleasantville”-esque town. The police force in this town will try to stop the player. The player will have to shoot and kill these cops. Keep in mind, though, that almost everyone, including all of the police officers, are digital recreations of people.
The player can explore the world and play through the campaign cooperatively. While the player does have the ability to find a random player online, it is much more likely that the player will start the game with a friend. If the player decides to try online play, there is a chance that the other person will try to harass the player, but the community in Saints Row is one that enjoys lighthearted mischief with few significant consequences.
The Boss’ abilities allow him to perform impossible feats. Gravity is almost completely irrelevant. The player can unlock the ability to glide hundreds of miles, run straight up the sides of skyscrapers, or dash forward in mid-air. The player will frequently make use of these abilities, since they are a faster and more efficient way to travel throughout the city than using a vehicle. Many of the main and side missions will require use of these powers. However, all of these abilities are completely unrealistic and could not be effectively mimicked in real life. The opening sequence also has the player disarm a nuclear ICBM while it is in the air. He climbs up the side to reach a few panels.
Magic is a bit of a confusing topic in this game. The player definitely has access to magical powers and abilities with a wide range of effects. The player can throw energy balls that can freeze, stomp the ground to stun enemies, telekinetically throw people around like ragdolls, amongst many other crazy effects. However, all of this comes with a huge asterisk. The player can only accomplish these because he’s actually in a computer simulation. He’s essentially playing a video game. So while an argument can be made that he is using magical abilities, an equally strong argument can be made that he isn’t doing anything of the sort.
Language Language is a factor in this game. While most conversations won’t involve explicit language, the fact that the player can “romance” a character by asking “Hey Kinsey, wanna fuck?” should give a clear indication as to how mature language is treated in this game. But seriously, if you read the sexuality section in this review and are still okay with playing this game, then language shouldn’t be a factor either.
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