Parent's Basement Gaming: August 2013

Title: Saint's Row IV
Developer: Volition, Inc.
Release: August 20, 2013
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Playing Saint's Row is like watching a porno. Theoretically, you could be in it for the story, but chances are you are in it for the action and to shoot things in the face. With Saint's Row IV, Volition, Inc. has created a world where action abounds and set a new precedent for the amount of blissful mayhem possible in an open world game. Known for it's ludicrousness, Saint's Row 4 sets a new water mark for the series with its over-the-top action and humor. It is this over-the-top action and mayhem that bring the greatest joy to the game as well as its greatest hindrance.

After the events that transpired in Saint's Row: The Third, the Third Street Saints, once lowly street thugs turned international celebutantes, have risen to presidential status, appropriately re-naming the White House the “White Crib” and your nameless character, which is only referred to as “boss,” residing as president with members of the Saints on the cabinet. Not long after the beginning of the game, the “White Crib” is attacked by a race of hyper-intelligent aliens known as the Zin who have taken over the Earth, as ordered by their, British for some reason, leader, Zinyak. Upon confronting Zinyak you are thrown into a virtual simulation, a la The Matrix, of Steelport, the City from Saint's Row: The Third. It is now up to you to free your fellow saints from the simulation to ultimately band together and take down Zinyak. Like I said, theoretically, you could be in this for the story, but not likely.

While to some, and I believe you are right in thinking so, the narrative story will seem all over the place and goofy-for-the-sake-of-goofy, but Saint's Row IV's humor and writing is delivered with great wit and timing. The game is nothing if not tongue-in-cheek, sliding quick jokes and double entendres all over its script. Nothing and no one is safe from this game, including video games themselves. The game features many satirical levels of other video games, including Metal Gear Solid, Streets Of Rage, and even the romance sections of Mass Effect, that somehow work almost seamlessly with the story of the game showing a level of maturity in the humor that I felt was absent from Saint's Row: The Third. Sure, there is still plenty of toilet humor in this game, but instead of always falling back on slapstick comedy, which I felt Saint's Row: The Third did and relished in, Saint's Row IV opts to break up the monotony of immature humor with more subtle satire and intelligence, even sneaking in references to Jane Austen's, Pride & Prejudice, and Shakespeare's, Macbeth. It's a welcome advancement in video game humor after games like Deadpool and Saint's Row: The Third, that I felt loss their charm after a few hours of nothing but slapstick humor.

Saint's Row IV's missions are primarily broken up into two categories, story missions and side missions. Story missions for the most part are very diverse and keep gameplay fresh and interesting. While one mission may have you defending against the Zin alongside your fellow saints, another mission will have you in a power suit, not to be confused with a robot, blowing through waves of enemies on Zinyak's ship. It is the side quests where I feel gameplay falls short and gets into a very repetitive and annoying loop. Side quests include partaking in races, destroying Zin flashpoints, hacking into stores to gain access to them for shopping, amongst other things, and at first they are fun to partake in, but it soon becomes apparent that most of the side missions are just the same thing over and over again, which quickly leads to fatigue. It is only through a handful of side missions that the monotony is broken up and you are able to aid a fellow Saint with a certain objective they need completed, which in turn makes them, “Super Homies,” equipped with super powers and ready to take on the Zin empire. These, “Super Homies” side quests are extremely interesting and have you doing everything from fighting Nyte Blayde, a fictional super hero from the third Saint's Row, to joining alongside an MI6 agent to escort a local news reporter around town. Saint's Row IV is a big game and it would have been nice to have more diversity in the side quests to feel more of a desire to go back and play through them after the credits have rolled on the story. After completing all the “Super Homies” side quests and the story as a whole though, I don't see myself really having much of a desire to ever put the disc back in, for fear that I would just be bored with the remaining missions.

Everything you have come to expect from an open world game is here, cars to drive and customize at will, stores to shop in, and guns; lots and lots of guns to blow holes into anyone your little heart heart desires. Everything from the standard pistols and machine guns are accounted for, but what is a Saint's Row with out a few quirky weapons? Anyone remember the purple dildo? This time you are equipped with guns that disintegrate people with one shot, a gun that causes people to blow-up like a balloon until they explode, and a Dubstep gun that shoots Dubstep, causing people to dance until their heart stops, literally.

Since Steelport is a simulation in this go-around, alterations are able to be made to the simulation through hacks, including the ability to give characters super powers. These super powers are where Saint's Row IV's gameplay really shines, and ironically really hinders it from being ultimately satisfying. Within around the first hour or two you are given the ability to do both a super sprint and super jump. After playing around with both of these and learning how they worked, I stopped using cars all together in the game. With the press of a couple buttons I was able to run far faster than any car in the game could drive and jump over almost any building in the game. It's one of the most fun experiences I have ever had exploring and traversing in a game and the controls work almost flawlessly creating hours of entertainment, just running and jumping around Steelport. Aside from running and jumping, you are given a slew of other powers, like the power to freeze enemies, use telekinesis, and the ability to shoot fire, amongst several others. After acquiring these powers, it's like you become a simulated presidential god, ravaging the city with your powers of mass destruction, letting no foe stand in the way of your ultimate victory! Oh, and it also destroys almost all challenge and satisfaction from the game. While, yes, the super powers in the game are extremely fun to use and play with, at a point, not even far into the game, you almost become too powerful. There becomes less of a need to use any type of weapon in the game aside from powers, because with just a click of a couple buttons you are able to kill waves of enemies with one hit. I soon became jaded with how powerful I had become and while the missions are certainly interesting, I relished in the handful that took place outside of the simulation where my powers were not available, so I could feel at least some sort of challenge from the game.

Saint's Row IV is a good game. It has an intelligent wit about it and creates hours of fun just ravaging the virtual city of Steelport. Unfortunately, the greatest draw to the gameplay, the powers, are what hinders the game from being satisfying in the end, and it's disappointing that a game with so much potential falls short by its own creations.

3 out of 5

Blake Hester

Editor-In-Chief

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