Saints Row IV Review (PS3)

Saints Row IV is all about having as much fun as humanly possible. This is the final chapter in the story of the Third Street Saints as we've seen them develop over four three previous titles and this chapter delivers. Laughter, love, revenge, and closure are all present in Saints Row IV.

Graphically speaking, Saints Row IV looks dated to me. There is a brownish fog that covers the world, though draw distance is still pretty great, the fog is always present. Once I completed the main story the fog seemed to lift a bit and there was some sunlight and color to the world of Steelport. There is also a reddish-brown tint to the world and I never noticed a sunny or rainy day while spending my time in Steelport until I beat the main story. There was just an overcast brownish colored sky. Character models moved well, though also looked a tad on the dated side. One final note, the digitizing effect placed on the simulated version of Steelport can be incredibly distracting. This is very true when your character is just standing and admiring the scenery.

I did not have any issues with any of the sound design and was pleasantly surprised to see how many voice actors returned for the final chapter of the Saints story. The characters sounded great and there was some fun banter back and forth between the cast. There were numerous callbacks to past events and characters. Also scattered about Steelport are 39 audio logs from past and present characters to add more story to the Saints Row universe which was nice to listen to.

Saints Row IV played fairly well, though I did have a number of glitches. The super power mechanic replaces grenades and not being able to use your powers outside of the simulated world without having grenades to back myself up with was kind of a downer. That said, the super powers are a lot of fun to play around with. Combining them brought some pretty great outcomes and offered some creative ways to eliminate my enemies. Combat has been adjusted slightly as well. Health no longer regenerates quickly, it takes a while for it to start coming back. To offset this, there are now health drops that fall from dead enemies. This does make combat a bit more tough and I noticed myself dying a bit more than I did in Saints Row: The Third. Shooting feels relatively tight and control-wise the game is fairly responsive. I did have a few glitches pop up while playing. Framerate drops happened several times, usually while using the UFO or in heavy combat. I had several freezes during missions where I had to reboot my PS3 completely so I have two saves and usually save every 20ish minutes. I also ran into some issues while trying to jump and get in vehicles. Occasionally, and I'm not sure if this was by design or by glitch, character models in the environment would stretch out, or have some weird sort of ultra long legs or huge eyes. This happened a few times while I was wandering the streets not doing anything.

The same customization options that were available to your character and gang in Saints Row: The Third are available here. There are a few more options for clothing and outfits but it's largely the same character editor that we've seen and used before. The city of Steelport is pretty much unchanged from the last game as well. Minus removing any influences of the Saints gang from Saints Row: The Third. Many of the vehicles are the same from the previous game as well. There are still many customization options for your cars, but with the super sprint and flight super powers there really isn't a point in driving unless it's forced. Weapons are still fully upgradeable and now have customizable skins to add some fun touches to them. While outside of Steelport players can run around in the spaceship. There are no customization options for the ship. However there are options to talk to and romance every member of the crew, minus romancing Keith David because to quote him "I'm not into that sort of thing".

Going through the story of Saints Row IV is a decent experience. It was fairly predictable sci-fi story but it was a lot of fun and meshed with the game well. There were several times while playing that I was laughing to the point that it effected my playing ability. The story itself feels fairly short and including all side missions, finding a majority of the collectables, completing all of the activities, and a couple hours of random running around causing chaos I had the game beat in around 21 hours. I'm still hunting for a few collectables (There's close to 1300 total) and I'm considering a second playthrough with the "Nolan North" voice, but all in all, I was a little disappointed in the length of the game. There are some co-op only activities I have yet to play through, but 21 hours feels kinda short for an open world game like this.

Overall, I enjoyed Saints Row IV. I can overlook some of its flaws, and find the diamond shining beneath. The game is far from perfect, but if you'd prefer an alternative to Grand Theft Auto, and are looking for something that is just dumb fun, I suggest picking this one up. We're awarding Saints Row IV a 7/10.

Xbox One and PS4 Release Dates!

So, at Gamescom Sony announced that the PlayStation 4 will be available in North America (minus Mexico) on November 15th. Europe, Central and South America, and Australia/New Zealand will get the PS4 on November 29th. Today Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will be available on November 22nd to it's thirteen territories that are being launched in including USA, Western Europe, and Australia. I've still not preordered an Xbox One, but I will watch it cautiously as most of the policies that I was against are now reversed. I have my PlayStation 4 preordered with Killzone Shadow Fall and an extra controller coming. I am also saving some cash back to upgrade my PC to handle more advanced graphics and games.

Also, we'll have a review up for Saints Row IV in the near future. I'm almost done with the game.