Saints Row: The Third proved that when the core essence of a game is built upon having fun doing some pretty goofy things, people will love it. When Deep Silver took over Volition when THQ went bankrupt, everyone worried that the Saints Row franchise would never be the same. Saints Row IV will silence those doubts with nothing more than a smile.
Saints Row IV has a story premise that can be considered a throwaway when you first see it. War Vet running for and eventually winning the role of President of the United States only to deal with an alien invasion. Trapped inside a simulated world on the alien mothership, you and the rest of The Saints must fight their way from the inside to save the world. What Volition does within this premise is nothing short of awe-inspiring goodness. There are so many little things scattered throughout that keep the momentum going. It’s hard to talk about anything without spoiling everything but one thing’s for sure, there are a lot references and call backs. If you didn’t play Saints Row: The Third, most of the call backs to previous story elements will be easily overlooked.
The sheer amount of references are astounding. From Harry Potter to Metal Gear, it’s like there is a holy grail of references that was lost to the ages that Deep Silver Volition finally uncovered. The biggest surprise is made for the fans of a cult classic movie in the late 80’s. I had to pause the game from my sheer excitement after the reveal late in the campaign. It made me wish I still had a pair of Ray-Bans.
Saints Row IV has also mashed up bits and pieces from other franchises in its gameplay mechanics. Using the core of Saints Row: The Third, adding abilities such as super speed, super jump, air dashing, gliding and even a dive move that when executed from a certain height, the impact will cause a nuclear explosion. How can you not use that all the time, every time?
When it’s time to stand your ground and fight, you’ll have a set of other powers to utilize. At first, it seems like just four different powers at your disposal. Once you level up more, you’ll see these powers expand into a multitude of uses. Freeze Blast now adds fire and mind control augmentations. Telekinesis with lightning or life steal is now possible. Ground Stomp aliens to shrink them down to nothing? Got that too. For the guns blazing fans, Buff is there to augment your bullets with fire, lightning and frost.
I found myself using Freeze Blast the most. The rhythm of freezing a group of enemies, switching to a rocket launcher and watching them explode in an icy death was too effective not to use all the time. Using special weapons such as the dubstep gun were fun to use a couple of times but never felt effective enough to get the job done. Most of the weapons will feel weak in the beginning so you’re going to spend some time earning enough cache to purchase upgrades at the Friendly Fire before you feel like your weapons are worthy enough for a Saint to hold.
Saints Row IV included my weakness for collecting glowing objects. With Crackdown being influential to adding these luminescent collectibles, I couldn’t help but move towards their direction whenever a glimpse of one was in sight. The more of these you nab, the more upgrades you can unlock for your powers. Fully upgraded jump, run speed, air dash and glide make exploring simulated Steelport a joyous venture.
All this leads into how pointless vehicles may seem. Even with the ease of adding vehicles to your virtual garage and simply placing a phone call to instantly retrieve said vehicles can’t compare to zipping around town on your feet. Who wants to be tied down to a slow ass tank when you are the tank?
Probably the most loveable thing about Saints Row IV for me is the audio. Whether it’s the stellar voice acting or the bevy of musical choices with the in-game radio, you’re auditory senses will revel in glee. Every line spoken in the game may not be a winner. That is easily overshadowed by the delivery of all the lines by every voice actor. Nolan North as a voice option for character creation just screams, “PICK ME! PICK ME!” I was hoping for a little more Nolan North making self references. At least he sounds like he is having fun with the lines, like everyone else seemed to be.
The music choices this time around on the radio stations are an eclectic mix of new and old, timeless classics. I found myself drawn to two stations for my radio needs; Mad Decent and Mix 107.7. Mad Decent has features a strange mix of artists I’d never heard of but also, Riff Raff. Having him as the DJ is pretty brilliant. Not as witty as previous DJs in Saints Row: The Third, but the ridiculousness of his persona is engaging in a way it shouldn’t be. Mix 107.7 is all the great songs the past that make you go, “I remember that song!” as you start to sing along with the track immediately after.
Biggest addition to the music in the game is that you can take it with you wherever you are, regardless if you are in a vehicle or not. This new addition brings so much value when doing anything in Saints Row IV. Moments such as blowing up a city block with “B.O.B.” by Outkast as your theme makes causing mayhem that much more fun in Steelport.
Volition continues the incredible usage of licensed music at key moments in their games with Saints Row IV. From Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” playing in the first ten minutes of the game to the end credits, you’ll be remissed if you don’t give the dev team that worked on the placement of these songs big praise. Even when they go back to the well from previous ideas in Saints Row: The Third, it still works to put a smile on my face.
Smiles across the board is what you’ll get when playing Saints Row IV. With the exception of a bland boss fight near the end of the game and some repetitiveness in the side quests, I couldn’t stop smiling. I imagine the team at Deep Silver Volition will be smiling as well knowing that their main goal was achieved; an insane amount of fun.
Score: 5/5