Saints Row IV

UPC: 816819011003

Platform: Xbox 360

Publisher: Deep Silver

Developer: Deep Silver Volition, LLC

Category: Action

Style(s): Action Adventure

Synopsis: Volition's over-the-top action-adventure series takes a sharp turn by adding aliens, super powers, and presidential politics to its mix of gang-banging, car theft, and general criminal mischief. Set five years after the events of Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row IV once again puts players in charge of the leader of the Third Street Saints Gang, who has now been elected president of the United States. Unfortunately, the planet is then invaded by the Zin race and their supreme overlord Zinyak, who abducts the cabinet and places them into a virtual version of the city Steelport.


The simulated version of Steelport is designed to break the will of the captive cabinet, which includes several members of rival gangs and even actor Keith David as vice president, but the virtual nature of the city also allows players to operate outside the bounds of physics. As gamers explore the city and collect hidden object "clusters" they can begin unlocking and upgrading a variety of super powers, such as telekinesis, super speed, concussive blasts, and force fields. Players can also make use of outlandish new weapons like a mechanized robot suit, the Black Hole Launcher, and the Dubstep Gun, which makes enemies dance while they are being shot.


Causing chaos in the virtual version of Steelport attracts attention, just as it did in the real version of the city in Saints Row: The Third. But instead of fending off gangs and police, players do battle with a variety of different aliens, robots, and spaceships. And instead of wresting control of the city away from rival factions, gamers perform missions to take control of portions of the simulation. The franchise's signature customization returns, giving players hundreds of different ways to individualize their characters, weapons, and vehicles, and multiplayer fans can once again join a friend for drop-in, drop-out co-op adventures. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Package Contents: 6-page Instruction Manual

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

"Subtley is not our thing," your character will say early in the game, which is as much a declaration of the franchise as it is the characters in Saints Row IV. What began as a crude, unrefined Grand Theft Auto clone has now evolved into one of the funniest, entertaining franchises available on any platform. Sure, it still has its crude moments, but it embraces its crudeness with open arms and a pat on the backside. Saints Row IV moves further away from GTA comparisons with a storyline that's out there, literally, as aliens invade the city of Steelport and players work to overthrow a computer simulation à la the Matrix. If you enjoyed Saints Row 3, you might not like the direction the sequel takes, as it sets many familiar elements aside for some zanier ideas.

Once again you'll custom-create your female or male protagonist from a wide choice of options, including voice types (there's even a "Nolan North" option, acknowledging the actor's ubiquitous role in games). You'll then begin your career as the President of the United States, whose first order of business is kicking some alien tail. From that point on, the situations get crazier and crazier, with you hitching a ride on a rocket, playing through a sequence set in the '50s, and even blasting aliens in the nude (with the appropriate parts pixelated). Yet the biggest change in the game is not the city, which is now dark and gloomy, but your character's ability to perform super powers.

These super powers aren't exactly original, borrowing some of the iconic moves of comic book heroes, but they are a heck of a lot of fun to use. You'll sprint through the city faster than a speeding bullet, leap tall buildings in a single bound, shoot blasts of ice from your fingertips, and even move things (only certain things, unfortunately) with your mind. Taking a cue from the Crackdown series, your character can enhance his/her abilities by collecting glowing orbs spread across the city, the majority of which are perched atop trees, houses, and buildings, making you leap and glide in the air to snag them. It's exhilarating.

Many of the lesser mini-games and side activities from Saints Row 3 have been jettisoned, replaced, or refined. You can still hop into a vehicle to create massive amounts of damage in a limited amount of time, for example, but you might be inside a UFO instead of tank. There are new challenges based on your superpowers, including leaping across suspended platforms in a simulation and trying to reach the top of some gigantic towers. Each activity you do awards you a medal ranking, and completing certain challenges unlocks new weapons and special power enhancements, so the activities are better integrated into the main game. No matter what you are doing at any given moment, you can't help but smile thanks to the snappy dialogue and running quips by your character and her crew, which includes actor Keith David as your Vice President.

You might be wondering how the usual Saints Row stuff fits in -- the guns, the cars, the hideouts, the gangs -- with the addition of the new super powers. Alas, weapons and vehicles are mostly superfluous, although there are times when your character is stripped of his/her powers and has to rely on the basics. This won't be a problem for those looking for some steak instead of hamburger. Rather than use cover and pick off enemies one by one, you are sprinting into them, doing massive uppercuts, and yes, getting bonus experience points for hitting aliens in the crotch. Subtlety, after all, is not their thing. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.