Alongside the usual gamut of pistols and rifles, you’ll have access to laser shotguns, the head-popping “inflato-ray” and the ever enjoyable Dubstep gun – which can be upgraded to have very explosive wubs. In the event you do want a break from setting people on fire, Saints Row IV provides you with an impressive armory of classic and weird alien gizmos. Thankfully these moments are rare and brief. There are also times where the display has difficulty keeping up with the action when you’re dashing everywhere while a dozen different aliens all shooting everywhere at once, so be prepared to deal with the occasional dizzying fight where it’s hard to tell what’s going on. That said, you’ll probably stick to one or two favorite super powers, as some are much easier to get a grasp on than others, like the ever useful freeze blast that’s a straightforward attack. That’s probably the only real downside Saint’s Row IV‘s super powers you might not feel much incentive to customize a sweet ride when you can jump around, nut-punching enemies into high orbit. Sure, you’re still able to hijack cars and shoot enemies with a gun, but doing so isn’t as fun as leaping and gliding across the cityscape. The addition of super powers allows you to experience the game in a different way that you’d expect from a sandbox shooter – Saints Row has fully abandoned its roots as a GTA knockoff. You’ll start off with simple abilities like being able to sprint at high speed and vault your way up buildings, but your superhuman arsenal will grow to include freezing enemies and smashing the ground with earth shattering stomps.
Saints Row IV‘s eccentric premise has given Volition the chance to introduce the most interesting new aspect for the series – crazy super powers for the Saints. And despite some of the ludicrous situations you may find yourself in, such as battling a gargantuan soda can monster or button mashing through a pixilated homage to Streets of Rage, the outlandish parts of Saints Row IV doesn’t ever feel like it gets in the way of The Saints’ quest to save humanity. From Zinyak’s melodramatic speeches to Keith David’s deadpan commentary, there’s very few moments that won’t elicit a chuckle while you play. Its action-comedy narrative does an excellent job of balancing humor, over the top combat and even bits of character-focused drama very well and you’ll quickly grow to love the interactions between each of the characters. Instead of a crime drama like its predecessors, Saints Row IV‘s story feels in many ways like a love-letter to cheesy action/sci-fi movies mixed with clever parodies of popular games like Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty.
Shoved into a digital representation of your home city of Steelport, it’s up to you to break free of the system, rescue your crew, and take out Zinyak. Your presidency is short-lived, as the world is attacked by an alien overlord named Zinyak, who seeks to conquer humanity for some diabolical purpose. One successfully disarmed nuclear missile later (done to the tune of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”), your character, as leader of the Saints, manages to get elected President of the United States.
The Epic Games Store is also currently offering two other freebies: Yooka-Laylee and Void Bastards.Īnd in more sombre news, tributes have been paid to Saints Row modder and former community manager Mike "IdolNinja" Watson, who passed away this week.Saints Row IV starts off with the titular gang seeking to do more than just be a popular group of puckish rogues who rob banks for fun and party all the time. If you prefer seeing Saints Row in its more outlandish guise, the remastered third game is worth a look. "Even though we loved the mechanics we came up with, the superpowers and everything, it didn't leave us a lot of runway to figure out where we would go past that - so it was a pretty easy decision to go back to our roots with something contemporary."
"Where would we take it from there? In Gat Out of Hell, well we went to hell - but there truly isn't anywhere to go past there! "By the time you were done in Saints Row 4 - and spoilers here - you were the ruler of the galaxy," Volition's Jim Boone told Eurogamer, explaining the change in approach.
It's simply titled Saints Row, and is a cross-gen and PC game coming in February next year. The Saints Row reboot "dials back the excesses of Saints Row 4", Martin wrote after seeing the game.