My Review: SR4 is stupidly gloriously FUN.

[Ryan]

Saints Row 4 is the fourth installment in the Saints Row series, and is a direct sequel to Saints Row: The Third which was released in 2011. As in previous titles in the series, the player controls the leader of the Third Street Saints, who has now become the president of the United States.

Graphics wise, SR4 uses the same graphics engine as its predecessor and while this may make it feel like a glorified DLC (which it originally was, until it was made into a standalone game), the gameplay in SR4 is just pure fun.

The most important addition is the use of Super-Powers where you can sprint faster then any cars, leap to unimaginable heights with just a single jump, and basically obliterate any and everything that stands in your way. Its abit like giving you God-Mode and letting you go crazy in the open world sandbox city of Steelport. It is an absolute joy just to fly around and wreck havoc everywhere.

Music selection is very good with artistes like Haddaway, Stan Bush and many other pop culture favourites. Listening to Stan Bush's "The Touch" while gliding around the city is definitely something that everyone should try at least once. Excellent selection of tunes, and fantastic voice-work with some great talents. You can feel the enthusiasm and can definitely tell that the voice actors really enjoyed themselves.

Downsides, i felt that the superpowers were way over-powered and while they are extremely fun to use, they trivialize alot of the open world mechanics. Why would anyone still drive a car and take the time to upgrade them, when you can run faster then even the fastest car? It would have been better I think, if super-powers were introduced a little later in the game, so you can at least appreciate driving around in the open world more.

Also, while the main campaign story is meaty and full of laughs, the side missions are time wasting filler repeats of each other, and can be rather tedious to play through them. They have to be played thru though, if you want to unlock some of the special weapons and powerups available.

Graphical and co-op glitches are abundant, and there was a part at the final mission where me and my co-op partner simply got stuck at a loading screen, and unable to proceed further. Turns out that I had to load my game and play thru my progression before we both can co-op together to finish up the last mission.

Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10
While SR4 is definitely a fun and crazy game, I felt SR3 had a funnier story. Nevertheless, whether you are a fan of the Saints Row series or not, definitely pick this up if you like wrecking havoc on an open world city with super powers. This game is stupidly gloriously fun.