Saints Row IV

Saints Row IV REVIEW

By Tyler Pederson

The sandbox genre has attempted many things over the years, and this generation in particular seems to have hit a high note in really exploring it's possibilities. Grand Theft Auto let us live on the wild side while telling a well penned story, Crackdown took the opposite route, letting us run in the shoes of the super-powered police while enjoying constant distractions in the form of potential upgrades as reward for exploration. When you try to figure out which approach is “better” it's understandably debatable. Some prefer a true to life experience while others long to dive into a world that could never exist any other place. I'm not here to say that either way is the right way of making a sandbox game. Saints Row IV however is here to do just that for me.

Saints Row is often criticized for attempting to do things that better established franchises do, and those critics with usually be quick to point out that it fails to measure up. While that seems to be the opinion of the very vocal minority even to this day, Saints Row IV goes beyond it's predecessors attempts to prove them wrong with simple execution, and ensures that you're well aware which parody, or even self parody you're enjoying, and believe me you will enjoy each and every nod to video games past and present. The number of “Jokes” isn't even something that can be documented because it seems to constantly outdo itself in one way or another, usually resulting in that fantastic feeling of “just one more mission” before you realize you've missed a meal or two.

The games story is surprisingly well executed, with the basic setup the alien invasion established right away, they could have almost been forgiven if they left it at that until the end game, but the one element the series seemed to loose in it's previous outing, that of proper pacing, is back in full force. I had no problem with The Thirds balls out from the beginning approach myself, but to do the same again would have absolutely done the series a disservice. Instead, slowly feeding you new upgrades and abilities through mission progression and letting you choose just what path you take to Super-Sainthood. While some of the weapons and powers are a little less practical than others, they all operate perfectly well and many of them, namely the much touted “Dubstep Gun” is an absolutely blast to use, even after seeing it in countless previews.

The addition of Super Powers does wondrous things for the level of genuine fun you have when doing otherwise mundane tasks, however it doesn't come without compromise. On rare occasions, usually when the game is saving or loading a particular instance, the frame-rate will drop to, well, the game sort of hangs for a second and comes right back. Nothing game breaking, but it happened enough times that it's worth mentioning so you need not experience the same momentary panic I did. The variety and sheer number of additions in the way of power ups in incredible, and not one of them went unused in my own run through, although I will say I had surprisingly little fun with the more simple fire and telekinetic abilities than I would ever have guessed, and found immense joy in the freeze blasts and power stomps. Going back to what I said before however, it really does turn every occasion of “the way-point is on the other end of the map” into a game of it's own, taunting you with a million other potential options for fun on your way there. The are occasional missions that offer vehicles, and these instances are where it really sticks, as you get in and begin playing like you would have before, before leaping out and running to your destination, leaping over the nearby buildings instead,

Customization returns, and while deeper than that of The Third, it simply doesn't live up to the rest of the experience. I was able to recreate myself surprisingly well this time around, but the more I see my character the more I realize that I sort of look like existing game archetypes to begin with. For a game that, in every other respect went all out this time, the customization simply isn't as deep as it could have been. Luckily, this is somewhat made up for with character writing for your fellow Saints that makes them come off less as fools just having a grand old time, and more as actual characters with emotions that fit them, and the main antagonist, Zinyak need be particularly praised for his ability to steal the show nearly every scene in which he appears.

While offering much in the way of mission variety, it really does come back to the point I made about pacing. The issue many had with the third was that it simply blew its load at the beginning and demanded you have fun with what was admittedly a fantastic playground, but lacked any true reason to desire to progress, because nobody really understood what you were progressing towards to begin with. The way that Saints Row IV hits you time and again with moments that truly out perform the previous one that you swore was you're favorite part of the game so far is outstanding, and while Saints Row has never been all that much about a true challenge, the difficulty here sees a much needed upward curve, namely building to the end-game when it is most desired.

There are as always a number of little things that got to me after a while, but none of which make the game any worse. The skies and general look of the world of Steelport is shrouded in a dark red hue until you've completed the main story, and due to this, much of the games vibrancy is muted for the majority of the experience. While it's hard to argue that it's worth complaining about because you'll spend most times in the game running or leaping at speeds too fast to focus on what it is you're running or leaping past, it got to me after a while, namely because even the spaceship used as a mission hub for the majority of the game is even more brightly lit than the majority of the darkness draped simulation you spend much more time in. The AI is occasionally a little bit off, but hardly anything frustrating or that leaving and coming back to later can't fix right up. While I was able to work around it, I did encounter what could have appeared to be a game breaking bug in one particular level, but because the level itself is without a doubt one of my favorites in the entire game, I refuse to let it stand against it.

No game is without faults, but for a game to attempt so many different things and manage to not only execute each one well, but also do a fantastic job of allowing you to feel truly included and remain unoffensive is an effort well worth noting. It's been said time and again already, but the fact the game doesn't differentiate between male/female sexual encounters is a fantastic step toward gender equalization in video games. All in all, the game feels both effortless and yet you can tell with each and every mission that it was made with the player in mind, and not only focused on giving you a solid game to play, but a great script to listen to while doing it. Honestly, this is some of the best writing in a game I've ever enjoyed both from a creative standpoint and a comedic standpoint, and neither ever gets in way of the other.

Saints Row has long since been trying to live up to expectations that others placed on it because it was trying to do things that other games had already done, and arguably done better. Saints Row IV succeeds in not only dropping the idea that they're playing catch-up, but solidified the idea of a sandbox built for fun for the sake of fun. Never ceasing to impress as it progresses, this adventure is one everyone should experience, and sets a new standard for games built for the sake of fun.

Saints Row IV gets a 9/10.