August 2006 presented gamers with the creation wacky younger half-brother of the Grand Theft Auto series, “Saints Row.” Helplessly compared to GTA, as the series has aged, it’s become less and less that little brother, and grown on its own, separate from the influences of Grand Theft Auto. Now, Saints Row has become like the crazy uncle, a bit more sure of who it is and it’s own personal sense of style, yet growing a bit more insane with each new incarnation in the series.
Though THQ, the former publisher of the Saints Row videogames has been dissolved, the fourth installment of the series has managed to see the light of day after being picked up by publisher Deep Silver.
The boss of the Third Street Saints has taken a huge step up in the world. We’re now no longer playing as a mere gang leader and city icon, now the infamous Saints leader is taking on the role of President of the United States. If the fact that a notorious gang leader becoming a US president doesn’t seem ridiculous enough, it’s worth noting that the first half hour of the game involves Mr. or Mrs. President disabling a nuke as it makes its way to Washington D.C., using only their bare hands. Just a regular day in Saints Row makes no attempt to change its own formula. With solid gameplay, a large open world to explore as well as plenty of missions, character customization items and vehicles, players are still presented with a plethora of things to see and engage in. There has been no letup in the amount of humor and pop-culture references in the game. Some moments of the humor are downright amusing, such as the first moments after being plunged into a old-timey TV sitcom, while other moments will expectedly appeal to the immature child in some people that still find phallic objects and bare bodies hilarious.
Not much has changed from previous games by what the preview has revealed besides the story – most of the early portion of the game takes place in a electronic reality where your character has become trapped by aliens attacking Earth. Your character, with help from other members of his gang, plays through missions in the Matrix-esque system that can allow them to destroy the alien reality he has become locked in, little by little. While doing this, players can earn certain combat and character skills which drastically change the methods by which many players will play. Who needs a plane, helicopter or a car to get around in Saints Row IV when players can now sprint at a pace faster than many vehicles and make huge jumps that allow scaling of buildings. even gliding and running up walls is now an option for those players who are a bit more environmentally conscious than the rest.
Saints Row IV shows promise as an another enjoyable addition to the series, if a bit stale in certain respects, such as combat, character customization and graphical upgrades. Besides a few close combat moves, new alien weapons, and character style choices, there wasn’t much difference between Saints Row : The Third and Saints Row IV. Hopefully the full game will allow players to glean a more respectable amount of new weapons and character styles.
Saints Row IV is scheduled to be released on August 20th in North America and August 23rd in Europe.
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