Before we get into this preview, it should be noted that I am a huge Saints Row fanboy. Saints Row: The Third was one of my favorite games of 2011, providing hours upon hours of unfiltered debauchery. So when I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to play an early build of Saints Row IV, let’s just say I was a little bit excited. The good news is Saints Row IV still feels like a Saints Row game. Even better news is that if Saints Row IV continues down its current path, it will be the best Saints Row yet, and that should excite you to no end.
With the Saints Row series, there is a progression that the main character experiences over the course of the four games. First, you were a gang member, right at the beginning of your career as a criminal. In the second game, you rose to be the leader of the Saints. Saints Row: The Third saw the leader of the Saints become a pop culture icon, with the citizens of Steelport looking up to the entire gang. So the next logical progression for the character is of course being the President of the United States. It is as ridiculous as it sounds, but since Saints Row does not take itself serious, it makes it more enjoyable to be a part of this insane plot.
The game opens with the Saints given the task of stopping a terrorist group in the Middle East. These terrorists have a nuclear weapon, and they are about to launch it towards the United States. The success of this mission propels the leader of the Saints to the presidency, and the entire gang joins him in Washington D.C. There is one awesome addition to the gang, and that is Vice President Keith David. Yes, the famous Hollywood actor. As the president is on his way to a press conference, aliens attack the White Crib (that would be the White House to you and me), and kidnap the President. The aliens put the President in a simulation of Steelport, with some minor changes around the city. With the help of the Saints, you must escape from this simulation and repel the aliens from Earth.
With the game being set inside of a computer simulation, it allows gameplay additions that are brand new to the series, with the most prominent being super powers. Some super powers include incredible sprint speed, the ability to jump over buildings, and freezing enemies. While Saints Row IV is not the first open world game to give the player super powers, it is extremely well done even in this preview build. The player can get across Steelport quicker than ever, and it feels great doing it. I always thought the controls in Crackdown felt a little clunky, but in Saints Row IV, they feel very polished and tight.
Like the previous Saints Row games, there are side missions to complete while not progressing through the main story. Similar to Saints Row: The Third, the side missions are critical to taking over areas of the city to gain control. These side missions involve you installing viruses to disrupt the simulation and take control of Steelport. There is one type of mission that is very well done. As you’re uploading a virus, waves of enemies will try to stop you. But since the virus is messing with the computer, the enemies will start to glitch. At first I thought that the game was actually glitching until I realized it was part of the game.
In addition to these side missions to take back control of the city, there are also activities similar to those found in Saints Row: The Third, like insurance fraud and tank destruction missions. The time trial activity has been replaced with you running on foot, using your super speed to get from checkpoint to checkpoint, even requiring you to scale buildings. It is more of the same with these activities, but they are so much fun to play that they don’t get old.
Although the preview build I received only had a few story missions, I was able to run around the city of Steelport testing out the new super powers and completing side missions, and it is still enjoyable to just roam Steelport. One great addition to the game is that since you are in a simulation, the radio stations are playing regardless if you are in a car or not. It is pretty fun running around with the electronic music station blasting in the background. The build that I played was very stable. Other than a few technical problems, the game ran well on my PC. Those few technical problems can be fixed easily by the time the game ships on August 20 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
Saints Row IV keeps the feeling of the previous Saints Row games while providing new gameplay mechanics that make the game more enjoyable. With so many games on the market that take themselves serious, it is nice to play a game that is incredibly silly, and knows it. I cannot wait to play more of Saints Row IV.
This preview is based on a hands on demo of the single player mode for the PC.
