First Impression: The first impression I had when I saw this game being announced was that it was keeping the whacky styling of The Third which somewhat disappointed me, as I had been hoping for a true Saints Row 2 sequel. Fortunately, it did also seem like Volition was trying to fix things that most fans disliked with The Third such as trying to mix in seriousness with some humor again, though the overall plot is about an alien invasion. Needless to say, I was interested. Especially seeing as this started off as a Saints Row The Third: Enter the Dominatrix expansion game before being fully developed into the 4th game in the series.
Gameplay: The gameplay within the game is more or less the well defined controls of Saints Row 3. I consider that very good, as 3's strong point was its controls for me. In fact, it's one of the only things apart from graphics that 3 and 4 do better than SR2. The new addition to the gameplay, however, is Super Powers. That's right. Remember the Saints Flow DLC from SR3? Well, in this, you gain superpowers by hacking the simulated Steelport. The usual cop/gang notoriety level meter is now replaced with a Zin Threat Meter (I named this myself). It rises in the same way the previous meters do, but past 1 red bar, normal cops aren't chasing after you. The ones trying to kill you are, in fact, the Zin army itself. If the meter is completely filled up, then a Warden shows up that you have to defeat. Think of it as a mini boss. There's also an orange orb you can Speed Dash after and once you catch it, you destroy it to reset the notoriety (or wait for it to just, you know, deplete on its own). The weapons within the game are largely similar to SR3 with the exception of new types such as the Tentacle Bat, the Dubstep Gun and Inflate-a-tron. There's also the 'Merica gun from pre-orders. It also introduces side missions actually effecting the game's ending - A, B and C. Unlike SR3, the final mission doesn't have two outcomes. The endings are more or less the same with slight details modified. Completing all, some or none of the Loyalty Missions for your followers will affect this. Finally, the Super Powers can be upgraded collecting Data Clusters all over the simulated Steelport. This turns the game into a hybrid free roaming GTA-like game and a collect-a-thon like Banjo Kazooie.
Graphics: I didn't really notice any improvements from Saints Row 3's graphical overhaul. They still look quite impressive for a game that isn't meant to be entirely realistic. They are definitely not GTA 5 comparable, where that series captures more realism than Saints Row ever did. Even so, SRIV is still graphically stimulating.
Story: The story of the game seems to take place some time after SR3. Specifically, the Prologue mission seems to take place directly after it - and making the Save Shaundi ending canon from SR3 - and one you disarm the nuke Cyrus is launching, you land in the White House and become the president for 5 more years. The game then takes you into a presidential meeting, where you're about to go on stage just as the Zin attack the White House. Pierce, Kenzie, Shaundi and Benjamin King are all captured and beamed up to the ship while you fight your way outside. You soon try to fight Emperor Zinyak only to fail and be forced unconscious. The story then introduces the idea of simulations and you break out of your own 1950's induced one only to be plopped into a simulated Steelport where Zinyak rules over everything and no signs of the Saints exist. Together, with Kenzie, you decide to try and break your friends out of their simulations and taking the fight to Zinyak to stop his reign of terror.
--- Rating System ---
Gameplay: 5/5 - By far, this is the best aspect of the series still for me. Dare I say that the control scheme feels better in my personal opinion than GTA 5's (specifically the shooting-while-driving aspect). The controls are fluid and response, like SR3's. They're also incredibly easy to get used to.
Graphics: 3/5 - I'm only giving this a 3 because I feel like they didn't improve that much (if at all, it was incredibly subtle). Normally that's a bit of a bad thing given they had 2 years to work on the title.
Story: 3/5 - Another 3. I'm glad that Volition is trying to make sure Saints Row doesn't get branded a GTA ripoff (which SR1 is a direct description of that, with SR2 beginning to try and differ from GTA) but I don't like the fact the last "long game" in the series was SR2, even with a completely optional mission that concluded SR1 definitively. I'm tired of the games only having around 30 missions opposed to SR1's and SR2's 50-52 story missions. This makes them incredibly short, especially considering 70% of SR3's missions were minigame introduction missions. SR4 is also a culprit of this, but a little less this time. It's only really in Act 1 where this is a problem. A rough translation of my rambling is that while the story is a decent attempt, it could have been better. They through themselves under the bus with "Earth being atomized" and essentially implying if there was a SR5, there'd be a different planet. Though it was apparently rumored now SR5 would be completely different, like a reboot (they should just call it Saints Row then like Tomb Raider did). The only notable thing for the story is that the recordings throughout the simulated Steelport explain the radical changes and give a "fan service" of connecting SR1 all the way to SR4.
Overall: 3.7/5 - To any SR3 fans, I'd give this a recommendation. To SR2 fans, I'd suggest manning up and playing through SR3 and then starting this up. The amount of fan service is pretty nice as SR3 attempted to be a semi-reboot (despite referencing SR2 events) and due to the negative backlash, SR4 attempts to tie everything up in the series that's happened. The Super Power mechanic is also incredibly fun to just run around in.
--- Where to Buy ---
SRIV can be purchased in any store at the moment that sells PS3 or 360 games. If you prefer the PC version, then you can get it on Steam!
--- Screenshots ---
Here are some juicy screenshots!
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