Take The Red Pill
On top of all those hijinks, there are now alien spires sprinkled throughout the city which must be converted. They’ll be well-guarded and some will have shields that need to be powered off from their sub-stations. You’ll even get to deal with local Wardens, which are huge alien dogs. As you conquer each spire, it’ll transform from an evil red to a more tranquil blue; a healthy reminder of your progress. There are also plenty of co-op challenges, marking the return of one of gaming’s most interesting co-op modes. I was tempted to run around the map and complete every available side quest, but many of the powers these would allow me to access were locked away by the story, something I’d begrudgingly have to accomplish in order to get all the super cool upgrades and extra events I wanted.
As the demo’s campaign concluded, Kinzie directs you out of the virtual Steelport to the real world, in which you emerge naked in a pod of pink goo. Sound familiar? You battle your way out until Kinzie and your Vice President, the leather-toned Keith David, can pick you up, leading you through a Return of the Jedi-style escape through the bowels of the Zinn ship.
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From everything I’ve been able to see, Saints Row IV is very much a pickup on The Third. In fact, virtually all of its bones are lifted directly from its predecessor as the game was converted from a mere batch of DLC for that game and into a standalone game in 18 months. The character customization is lifted directly from previous games (Nolan North is brought in as a potential character voice selection), as is all of the car customization. The tweaks in how you play may be enough to sell this game to a new crowd, but if you weren’t in the Row before, this isn’t going to change your mind. Those looking for something dramatically different are going to have to wait until V or beyond.
In the meantime, I plan on putting every waking hour I can into Saints Row IV when it arrives on my doorstep.
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