Saint's Row 4 First Impressions

[DeimosMasque]

So I'm about 8 hours into Saint's Row 4 and wanted to share some of my initial impressions since I didn't see one about it yet. I purchased the Wub-Wub edition and am a Huge Fan of both Saint's Row 2 and 3 (I actually purchased Saint's Row 1 while I waiting around at the midnight release schedule and will be playing it after I beat 4.)

Right now I've not gotten too far in to the story as I've been easily distracted by the sandbox with super powers.

That being said so far I can say:

1. You get Super Powers WAY to early into the game to the point that it makes the vehicles practically useless in the game afterwards. I wouldn't have made it so early in the game, and if I did, I wouldn't have made the data clusters that are used to upgrade be so easy to get. After two hours of playing I had grabbed over 100 upgrade points, easy.

2. The story is more engaging to me than the story in Saints Row the Third was, about on the level of Saints Row 2 but definitely in a different genre. I think what's interesting is that it's not entirely about revenge like SRTT was. Yes revenge is an issue but it isn't the only thing driving the narrative.

3. The 'Merica gun is extremely overpowered... granted it was a preorder bonus so I suppose it's alright but man is that gun make a lot of the "hard" parts of the game way too easy.

4. It's funny as hell, it makes fun of itself and how it was considered a rip off of GTA when it started and then got crazier as time went on. A lot of the jokes about gun culture, violence and even what a regular person (okay sociopath) would do with Super powers. One of my favorite parts so far was the alien emperor pointing out that he was going uplift the best and brightest of humanity while you were the person who didn't care who they hurt if it meant saving a few seconds by driving on the sidewalk.

5. The customization is still rather lacking compared to Saint's Row 2 and that is a sad thing. Seriously how hard is it to make a jacket layer, a shirt layer then a bra/nude layer. You did it for two games! It comes off as lazy and that's unfortunate for this rather good game series.

6. I really hate the hacking minigame for stores. I get it from an ingame story perspective but I do have better things to do than play pipe dreams. Honestly we changed Cash to Cache, why can't we just say "By using the stored Cache we can take over stores" And also I thought it would be cool if Planet Zin would turn into Planet Saints after you hacked it... alas.

So there are my thoughts so far.

Any other "playas" out there who have their own opinions? Any "non-playas" who want to know more?

 

[DeimosMasque]

Oh two things I forgot to mention:

7. Replacing safe houses with a golden sphere you have to chase is pretty bullshit especially if you don't do Keith David's missions.

8. I miss grenades, I get replacing them with the super power attacks but man I miss walking out of Friendly Fire with a set of grenades. But I guess that's right up there with missing 40s from Brown Bag and The Fist from Freckle *****'s.

 

[Frozengale]

1. You get Super Powers WAY to early into the game to the point that it makes the vehicles practically useless in the game afterwards. I wouldn't have made it so early in the game, and if I did, I wouldn't have made the data clusters that are used to upgrade be so easy to get. After two hours of playing I had grabbed over 100 upgrade points, easy.

Considering that Super Powers are the main stay of this game I say this is a good thing. You will be using them throughout the entire game, you need to learn them early. In all honesty I was kinda pissed the moment they dropped me back in Steelport, but then they gave me Super Powers and suddenly I was having fun again. Not to mention that driving around Steelport in SRTT was BORING! It took forever to get anywhere until you got a VTOL. Taking 5 minutes to drive to the next mission is something that will not be missed. The key to a good sandbox is making it fun to get around. And it is very fun to get around. Considering there are thousands of data cluster points in the game collecting 100 isn't exactly that amazing. I'm sure you've seen how expensive some of the upgrades can get. Also I like how it isn't like most games where it's a pain to collect the good stuff. I like being able to see several goals nearby, it give me incentive to explore the city. I know Steelport 10x better then I ever did in Saints Row The Third because of these things.

2. The story is more engaging to me than the story in Saints Row the Third was, about on the level of Saints Row 2 but definitely in a different genre. I think what's interesting is that it's not entirely about revenge like SRTT was. Yes revenge is an issue but it isn't the only thing driving the narrative.

I agree the story is much more interesting

3. The 'Merica gun is extremely overpowered... granted it was a preorder bonus so I suppose it's alright but man is that gun make a lot of the "hard" parts of the game way too easy.

Then don't use it. There's a reason I limited my use of the Cyber Buster in SRTT. If you think something is Over Powered, you don't have to use it.

4. It's funny as hell, it makes fun of itself and how it was considered a rip off of GTA when it started and then got crazier as time went on. A lot of the jokes about gun culture, violence and even what a regular person (okay sociopath) would do with Super powers. One of my favorite parts so far was the alien emperor pointing out that he was going uplift the best and brightest of humanity while you were the person who didn't care who they hurt if it meant saving a few seconds by driving on the sidewalk.

I think the funniest part in the game so far is when you "romance" Kinzie.

You - "Hey Kinzie, you wanna fuck?"
Kinzie - "Let's go" *punches you, then jumps you for sexy times*

5. The customization is still rather lacking compared to Saint's Row 2 and that is a sad thing. Seriously how hard is it to make a jacket layer, a shirt layer then a bra/nude layer. You did it for two games! It comes off as lazy and that's unfortunate for this rather good game series.

Meh, still lots of variety.

6. I really hate the hacking minigame for stores. I get it from an ingame story perspective but I do have better things to do than play pipe dreams. Honestly we changed Cash to Cache, why can't we just say "By using the stored Cache we can take over stores" And also I thought it would be cool if Planet Zin would turn into Planet Saints after you hacked it... alas.

I like the minigame. Adds variety. It was boring just buying everything up in SRTT.

7. Replacing safe houses with a golden sphere you have to chase is pretty bullshit especially if you don't do Keith David's missions.

Makes about as much sense as "Go into this building and suddenly the cops stop chasing you". In fact given the simulation it makes more sense. I haven't had any kind of issue with it. And there is nothing stopping you from using the gates as safe houses to just port back to the ship and clear notoriety that way.

8. I miss grenades, I get replacing them with the super power attacks but man I miss walking out of Friendly Fire with a set of grenades. But I guess that's right up there with missing 40s from Brown Bag and The Fist from Freckle *****'s.

I used grenades about 10 times in SRTT. I use my Blast Power at least once a fight. Powers are so much better then Grenades.

Saints Row The Third was easily one of my all time favorite games. This game is fast surpassing that one though. It's just so much fun, so ridiculous, so much awesome.

 

[Smooth Operator]

In short I'd say SR3 + DLC + cheats, for fans of the previous game it's a "sure why not", but for anyone who wanted higher quality content this does none of that.

The alien big daddy is a cool character at least.

 

[-Dragmire-]

There's some weird lag spikes that many people experience on PC and one bug that seems to be unique to me. Geometry was stretched across my screen to the point where it looked like I had a trippy full screen effect. Didn't affect menu's and it cleared with a restart of the program. Thankfully this only happened once.

EDIT: Seems my issue pops up from time to time, several hours between problems so still not bad overall.

Overall, it's a very good game and I have only one nontechnical major issue with it, the QTEs.

I don't mind QTEs overall but I want it to be clear if I'm doing a single press or rapid press(holds are usually indicated but you won't know that till you get to the first use of one). SR4 will have instances of rapid press but there's no feedback to when you're pressing the button meaning the static image will remain on screen until you've pressed the button enough times. It just feels like it's not registering key presses until some arbitrary time. They could have done that much better.

 

[Johnny Wishbone]

I'm about 6 hours into it; I've killed the first warden and completed act 1. My thoughts:

Basically, it's SR3 with superpowers. That is not a bad thing. I loved SR2. I enjoyed SR3. I'm enjoying this one so far.

I like the superpowers I've unlocked to this point, but they definitely make cars useless. It's my understanding that the devs knew this would happen and added in new vehicles (like the mech suit) to make up for it, but I haven't reached the point in the game where I get to use them, so I can't say if it's worth it.

I find the store hacking mini-game to be a neat idea now, while they are simple, but I'm sure they will become frustrating and irritating as they get more difficult. I've also done a number of the diversions/side jobs (mayhem, blazing, fraud, etc) and it seems to me that they are a little more difficult this time than in SR3. I guess the devs decided to make them more "challenging" by making them more difficult, but that just irritates me. I don't find any challenge in having to repeat a task half a dozen times just to find the right pattern/moves/choices/luck in order to get the gold medal. I'd rather repeat them because they are fun to do, like the septic truck in SR2.

I like that you can listen to the radio or mixtape without being in a car now. The music in this game is a step above SR3, but still not as good as SR2. Listening to Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" while I'm shoving an anal probe up someone's backside is quite entertaining.

As for the story...well, I'm not sold on this one yet. I have a feeling its going to end with the whole thing being a "dream sequence" or something like that. I can't see this story being canon for the SR universe the way its going so far. I guess I'll find out when I finish the game.

 

[Xarathox]

I hear you lose your powers later on the game that kinda throws you off the curve. I have no idea how much of the game is set in the 'virtual' world and how much is set in the real world. WHAT IS GOING ON!

The reviews I've read say exactly that. You get powers early, then have them taken away mid way through the game. You do get a mech suit to supposedly counter it. But I can't see it making up for the ability to be Superman first, then a Gundamn wing character last. <.<

 

[Username Redacted]

Q: For those who played around with the 'Inauguration Station' and now own the game how representative of the latter options is the former? i.e. is every piece of clothing included in the station or is there stuff in the game that wasn't in the station?

 

[LordLundar]

Q: For those who played around with the 'Inauguration Station' and now own the game how representative of the latter options is the former? i.e. is every piece of clothing included in the station or is there stuff in the game that wasn't in the station?

Not sure. A lot of my avatar's stuff was from L&L and I haven't hit that store up yet.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

The Co-Op missions peppering my map screen are kinda bugging me but so far that's my only real gripe.

I like the fact that upgrading my weapons and powers isn't quite the "instant win" that it was in SR3 where I could upgrade my pistols within the first hour or so and then never really deviate from them.

I also have to point out that the powers have made a lot of the previously irritating side missions a hell of a lot more fun. I used to hate the trail blazing and insurance fraud quests but find that completing them with my travel powers is a blast. (Seriously, the Speed + Jump + Ragdoll combo makes insurance fraud WAY too much fun.)

As for the hacking, it's not the greatest but I'll take it over just having it be another cash dump.

Lastly, the golden snitch rep clearing...I haven't actually used it much. When I can run and rump halfway across the map I don't find that outrunning the cops is that hard.

 

[johntheescapist]

Game sucks if you had to buy it...not that bad just for a rental though. Main story sucks balls just like the last Saints Row...ahh well does it matter when you can jump over a skyscraper in a single bound? Nope. Not at all....Still don't get why we can't shoot while in mid jump though.

 

[nogitsune]

I'm really loving the game so far, I do find the super powers really fun to use and heck I still drive if I want a retro feel. So far the customization is decent (I never really got the love for saints row 2, the costume options were all hideous, sure there was a lot but they didn't work for me, I rather have quality than quantity.) The plot is hilarious, though I'm not too far, just got the spaceship. The villain is great and the references are very clever.

For the bad, I did get one game killing bug where I had to reload because I get stuck in a superjump and couldn't land, but It only sent me to where I last picked up a data cluster so it wasn't bad.

 

[The Madman]

I hear you lose your powers later on the game that kinda throws you off the curve. I have no idea how much of the game is set in the 'virtual' world and how much is set in the real world. WHAT IS GOING ON!

The reviews I've read say exactly that. You get powers early, then have them taken away mid way through the game. You do get a mech suit to supposedly counter it. But I can't see it making up for the ability to be Superman first, then a Gundamn wing character last. <.<

You never lose your powers in Steelport, but then not every mission takes place in Steelport. Some missions take place in other 'simulations', others in the real world. In some you'll have powers and in others you wont, although with the real life missions the devs do a good job of mixing things up by giving you mech suits and the like.

Great diversity all around really. Some enemies will also have powers, and later in the game other enemies have a way to neutralize your abilities temporarily if you're not careful.