Republished on Wednesday, thirteenth July, 2022: We’re bringing this overview again from the archives following the announcement of July’s PS Plus Additional, Premium lineup. The unique textual content follows.
Saints Row IV is the definitive sandbox sport for anybody who’s a bit uninterested in the extra critical makes an attempt like Watch Canines, Grand Theft Auto V, and even inFAMOUS: Second Son. It is always in peril of breaking the fourth wall, its storyline is absurd, and its gameplay is totally over-the-top. You are the president of the US of America, you wield horribly overpowered superhero talents, and also you combat ugly aliens in a digital simulation to be able to get nearer to their chief, who blew the Earth to items together with its human inhabitants of about seven billion. It is honest to say that you just both assume all of this sounds wonderful, otherwise you assume that it simply sounds far too silly to be gratifying.
For those who’re of the previous persuasion, chances are high that you have already performed Saints Row IV on the PlayStation 3, however there’s little doubt that Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is the very best console model of the discharge – principally as a result of it does not run at about 15 frames-per-second half of the time. Certainly, the fourth title in Volition’s wacky franchise actually struggled on Sony’s earlier machine at instances, and it is actually the one issue that we marked the in any other case extremely gratifying launch down for in our overview.
Luckily, as alluded, Re-Elected is much extra secure performance-wise. You’ll be able to fireplace off your superpowers like a madman, and the sport will are inclined to sustain properly. Unsurprisingly, it additionally seems to be extra spectacular, though in all probability to not the extent that you just’d like. The draw distance is a lot better, and the lighting seems to be far smoother, however the title remains to be coated in disappointingly muddy textures. Nonetheless, the sport is but to completely crash on us, so we suppose that reward is owed the place it is due.
Shifting briskly onto the gameplay, we dare say that the re-release is a few of the most enjoyable that you could have on the PS4. The digital rendition of the town of Steelport is ripe for sandbox mayhem, and the sport delivers this in spades. It provides you the whole lot that you may probably need in the case of making your personal enjoyable, after which it helps you to free on the populace and your alien oppressors. It will probably lack a little bit of problem, positive, but it surely’s a title that is much more focused on seeing you bend the foundations, reasonably than throwing tough duties at you.
Talking of duties, the map is peppered in non-obligatory aims so that you can deal with, from easy ‘kill each alien’ assignments to favourites like tremendous powered insurance coverage fraud and tank mayhem. All in all, there is not a single mission sort that outstays its welcome barring the still-dreadful retailer hacking minigame. In a launch that prides itself on the ridiculous, this extremely tame mix-and-match puzzle feels completely misplaced, and albeit, we won’t imagine it made it into the unique sport, not to mention its re-release.
It is the title’s fight, nonetheless, that steals the present. As beforehand talked about, you are virtually submerged in a stream of recent weaponry and superpowers, and the sport’s rewarding nature is what’ll maintain proceedings feeling contemporary. Murderous melee assaults, elemental blasts, telekinetic throws, and devastating aerial bombardments are the order of the day, and mixing all of those methods with a complete host of weapons proves to be a fluid and satisfying expertise – particularly if you come throughout a mixture that actually gels together with your type of play.
If there’s one unfavorable to return out of this, although, it is that some gamers might imagine that they are truly given a couple of too many choices. The sheer quantity of powers and armaments on provide, together with all of their subsequent upgrades, might be overwhelming at instances, however in case you enable your self to take issues at a gentle tempo with out blowing all your digital cash on each development in sight at each alternative, you will discover that there is a good, rewarding character development system at work right here.
Which brings us properly to the matter of customisation. Not solely are you able to chop and alter your talents as you see match, however you can even construct your excellent president with the assistance of a whole lot of customisation choices. Male, feminine, green-skinned, fats, skinny, horny, ugly – it actually does not matter who or what you resolve to create, once more reinforcing the sense that the sport simply needs you to have enjoyable it doesn’t matter what your preferences are. It is value declaring, nonetheless, that we failed to seek out an choice to add our character from the PS3 model on the time of writing. Whether or not that is merely a case of Volition’s character servers not being matched up but, we’re undecided, however in case you had been eager on importing your Boss into the next-gen version, it is perhaps value snooping round for solutions on-line.
Sadly, issues cannot all the time be about participant freedom in the case of being the final remnants of the human race. If you’re making waves in digital Steelport, it is liberating to leap over skyscrapers and glide throughout the map dressed like probably the most nightmarish Batman the world has ever seen, however when it is time to advance the plot, issues aren’t fairly as madcap.
In a Matrix-style twist, your superpowers do not carry over to the true world, the place you are aboard a spaceship stolen out of your evil alien aggressors. Which means that throughout most of the fundamental quests, you will must rely purely upon your intention as you gun down your enemies reasonably than freeze them strong and shatter them with a baseball bat. As such, plot development comes with a little bit of a downer, however fortunately, the story is entertaining regardless of a couple of disappointingly temporary cutscenes, the writing is usually comedic gold, and the missions themselves are assorted and usually very gratifying to play by means of.
After all, we won’t end this overview with out mentioning the soundtrack, which remains to be arguably among the best picks of music to be present in a sandbox title. Stan Bush’s ‘The Contact’ headlines a playlist that features Robert Palmer’s ‘Merely Irresistible’, Skinny Lizzy’s ‘The Boys are Again in City‘, and Haddaway’s ‘What’s Love’. If you’re busy bringing the ache to alien scum to the tune of Optimus Prime’s proudest second, there is no doubt that you just’re actually beginning to recognize the finer aspect of gaming.
Conclusion
Adore it or hate it, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected’s obsession with the ridiculous is what units it aside from the remainder of the market, and the PS4 re-release is one of the best ways to expertise the insanity. Coupled with additional expansions (together with Gat Out of Hell in case you purchase the bundle), there’s loads of worth to the bundle, even when it does not take the chance to construct upon the PS3 authentic. A blast from begin to end, the president’s story of vengeance is the stupidest enjoyable that you could have on Sony’s latest console, and we imply that in the absolute best manner.
