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Since I was limited to 500 characters in my review response I was unable to share my entire opinion of the game. So here we go.
I've been with the Saints Row series since Day 0. I remember that I wanted an HD Grand Theft Auto game with the multiplayer like I had played on the PSP GTA games. Those were some fun times. So when the game was announced I was intrigued. I must a played the 30 minute demo hundreds of times. I even pulled off a glitch to get past the invisible barrier to get a secret AK-47. Once the game was released I played the hell out of it and I'm pretty sure I almost 100% completed it (save an escort activity or two) and the online achievements since not many people where playing when I got to that. Saints Row's story had me hooked. I like the idea of the underdog coming up in the ranks to prove himself and then leading them to victory.
In 2008 Saints Row 2 was released shortly after Grand Theft Auto IV. Where Grand Theft Auto IV decided to deviate from what the series was in San Andreas and ground itself in reality, Saints Row 2 decided to go the opposite route. It decided to become more over the top. Saints Row 2 added crazier activities (like septic avenger where you spray liquid feces on things), aircraft, the ability to use almost anything as a weapon (you could rip fire hydrants and parking meters out of the ground), a large map with plenty of secrets to discover, and they advertised the game with the help of Gary Busey and Penthouse Pets. Most importantly they also added story co-op. It was a crazy mix of realistic and ridiculous. But, I think it was a perfect mix. I also completed everything including the DLC. Once again, I didn't really get back into the online portion until it was too late (thank Grand Theft AUto IV for that). Multiplayer was a little lacking because of the limited maps and no free roam like in Grand Theft Auto IV. But the story was great and even more fucked up as the BOSS enacted his revenge against the new gangs of Stilwater.
Then in 2011 we got our first glimpse of Saints Row: The Third. The game looked promising. A brand new city, new graphics engine, the Awesome button, and lots of over the top weapons. Volition decided to take the game further into the "over-the-top" direction with the Saints now celebrities and a household. I think that was a bit of a mistake. Saints Row: The Third was marred by a myriad of problems. A lot of the activities were recycled from previous game, which in itself isn't such a big deal, but in the earlier games they gave you context into why you were doing them, and they were for the most part optional. In Saints Row: The Third a lot of them were forced upon you as part of "story missions". While I don't have a count of them, the actual story missions were pretty few in The Third. However, the few missions they had were pretty good, and I liked some of the moments in the game. But the story wasn't without it's flaws.
***SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD SPOILERS***
In The Third, they killed off Johnny Gat during the second mission. Johnny Gat, one of the most iconic characters in the series, killed off for "dramatic purposes". It was supposed to drive the player to get revenge, I guess. Funny, that was never really needed in the previous games, although other characters did die in those. Also, big baddie Philip Loren, killed off first, and in a pretty anti-climatic way I might add. Killbane was a pretty weak villain overall and the Matt Miller cyberspace battle made no fucking sense.
***END SPOILERS***
There's a fine line you can walk while keeping the game edgy, and ridiculous without it looking like a blatant parody or ripoff. Also, even though there was 3 years of development in between 2 and The Third, it seemed rushed. All the unique stores from Stilwater are gone, and in there place are cookie-cutter versions with Rim-Jobs and Planet Saints. Sure Friendly Fire, Rim Jobs, Rusty's Needle, and even a Let's Pretend but they all look the same as each other. Saints Row 2 had unique stores with different items in each, in Steelport, there are only 4 unique clothing stores. And don't get me started on the DLC. If you thought there wasn't a ton of content in Saints Row: The Third, you'll hate the DLC. Each $7 DLC pack added about 30 minutes of content, none of which was that great. Unfortunately, Volition disagreed, because The Trouble With Clones started the framework for which Saints Row IV is based.
Which brings us to the actual Saints Row IV review. Saints Row IV started it's life as stand alone expansion for Saints Row: The Third call Enter The Dominatrix. Even though Volition claims that there's a lot more added beyond the content that was originally designed for that expansion, I have a hard time believing that. Although after a lot of great gameplay videos and trailers, going into Saints Row IV, I was still really hyped about it. The super powers looked more interesting than I had remembered from The Trouble With Clones, and there were lots of returning characters. I wasn't too hot on the storyline, an alien kidnaps you and put you into a knockoff of the Matrix which is a simulation of the same city as the last game. But the weapons looked cool and the game seemed like it would be pretty fun. I was sort of right.
I put in almost 40 hours into the game, and I've had my fill. I'm kind of dissapointed by that statement, but here's why:
Most of the activities are based off or straight repeats of those from Saints Row: The Third. For example: Tank Mayhem from Saints Row: The Third is now Alien Tank Mayhem, or Mech Mayhem. It's not that interesting. Cyber-Blazing is back from Saints Row: The Third (the weakest activity, I thought from that game) and has morphed into Rift races and Super Powered Races. Insurance Fraud is back but the super powers actually make it more frustrating to complete them, as your always overshooting your targets. Plus all of the explanations for these activities are something to the effect of, you're hacking the simulation, this will distract the Zin while I hack the simulation, I need you to defend something while I insert a virus to hack the simulation...you get the point. It's like they're not even trying.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of activities, I hope you like playing them, because to get the "good ending" you have to do them all as part of "missions" given to you by your crewmates for umm, reasons.
Like Saints Row: The Third, there are some actual missions in the game that were well written. Some standout moments are the Pierce and Asha loyalty/rescue missions. With Asha, you get a parody of stealth action games, mainly Metal Gear Solid. It was pretty funny and I enjoyed it. Pierce, joins you in a couple duets, and highlights some of the great characters that have come out of this game. Also another one worth mentioning are the Shaundi(s) loyalty missions. That was pretty fun. One thing though that got to me with these rescue missions is that I kept running into these old characters and locations from Saints Row and Saints Row 2 and they kept driving home "wasn't it so cool back in those older games"? That's what bothers me, you call this game a love letter to the fans by showing us what was so great about these older games, yet you don't try to improve upon it for Saints Row IV. Maybe I should go back and play #2 again?
Missions and Activities aside, there's not a whole lot to spend your time on in simulated Steelport. The map is basically the same as in The Third, except there's some alien shit strewn about, and all of your cool safe houses are gone. There's 5 towers to climb which all look the same (even though they're each slightly different). There are blue orbs like Crackdown to collect which power your super powers. The Collectible finder comes in handy when you've unlocked that. The store hacking is a dumb waste of time. The weapon power up system is nice, although I wish there was more customization in the skins (like the car paint customization, but for guns). The audio fragments are nice to flesh out some of the character back stories. Some of the challenges were annoying as well. Driving a car for X amount of miles was a chore since with super speed you're never in cars outside of missions that require it.
Oh, and it wouldn't be a Saints Row game if it wasn't glitchy as hell. While some of the glitches are intentional, because...the simulation, there are plenty that are not. For example, I had an issue where after defeating a few of the wardens (which are an annoying addition into this game by the way), all of the peds and cars would stop spawning until I saved and restarted. This has happened at least on 5 different occasions. One story mission cut scene my character rushed towards the closing door on my ship only to have it close on them locking them outside, thankfully the mission was still counted as complete. A random audio log plays every time I load a game. I have two dubstep guns (some may call this an advantage) in my inventory thanks to a broken patch they pushed on the PC version. Do note that having dug through the files of Saints Row IV, they will be selling a second, different dubstep gun. If I had to guess, I'd say it's part of the 2nd unannounced DLC expansion which is Christmas themed (according to the files included in the recent patch), and I'll be willing to bet it's Christmas dubstep music. Occasionally, I get the GEN-X DJ transitions on K12 radio. The last example is the Commander Cid spawning into the interior of walls, I've had this happen a few times now it the park.
So overall, what did I think?
I think they tried too hard to outdo the ridiculous and push the limits, if you will. What you get is a bunch of silly moments that don't really mesh well together but that they've tried to stitch together into a game. To quote Robert Downey Jr. "You never go full retard", Saints Row IV went full retard. It's hard to see where they go from here. Unfortunately, it will be hard to strike a nice balance like in 2 with a reboot of the franchise, now that the public is expecting this zaniness. In the end, Saints Row IV is an average sandbox game with moments of brilliance that are sadly marred by lazy game design and a lot of gameplay time expanding fluff that seems to exist merely to not have the game completed in a few hours. It's fun for awhile, but you'll run out of things to do quickly. Considering, my past experience with DLC, my recommendation would be to wait and see what the reviews say before you purchase the DLC. I have a feeling it will be rushed as well.
As I mentioned, I finished this game, 100% completion, with all offline achievements except for playing for 40 hours (I'm only 35 hours in, although Steam says I've played for 42 hours, so who knows if it's keeping accurate time). I've played the game, modded the game, even been outside of the map. I've explored the map, even if it's basically the same as the last game, and found all the hidden weapons and vehicles. Unfortunately, there's not much left to bring me back to this game. With the lack of competitive online multiplayer, and even whored-mode (which I played in The Third). I could probably play this co-op to finish my achievement, but I really don't want to since a lot of the game felt like a chore to me.
To end on a high note, I must applaud what Volition is doing with the modding community. This is where the potential replayability will come in. But alas, that's still some time away.
OVERALL: C+
The Good:
GAT is back
Keith David
Loyalty missions and Rescue mission were fun and well written.
Zinyak was an interesting villain, I guess
Great soundtrack
The Bad:
Repetitive activities and activities disguised as missions
Not a lot of new stuff to see in simulated Steelport, reused locations, vehicles, and some activities.
Challenges feel like a chore.
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