Saints Row IV is an action-adventure video game set in an open world environment. It is developed by Volition, Inc. and published by Deep Silver. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the fourth installment in the
Saints Row series, after the release of
Saints Row: The Third
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. The game returns to the fictional city of Steelport from
The Third and takes place five years after the events of
The Third, focusing on the Saints fighting an alien invasion as well as simulations of the gangs and enemies from their past.
Gameplay
The game's plot sees invading aliens place the player into a computer-simulated version of Steelport (the
Saints Row: The Third
setting) early on, and the bulk of the game takes place within this
simulation. The simulation has Steelport constantly cloaked in the
darkness of night, with largely computer-themed twists on classic
Saints Row elements. Objectives are often based around hacking the simulation in order to work towards escaping it.
Saints Row IV still shares most of its gameplay aspects with the previous installment,
Saints Row: The Third, being primarily played from a third person perspective in an open world
map scattered with campaign quests, secondary objectives, and various
collectibles. The player can steal, drive, and customize vehicles, and
purchase weapons and clothing.
In an element new to the series, the player can now purchase and
upgrade "powers" that offer superhuman abilities akin to those seen in
the
Prototype video game series,
[1]
which allow the player to leap up the sides of buildings, glide through
the air, and fire several different paranormal projectiles, as
examples.
Synopsis
Plot
Shortly after the events of
Saints Row: The Third,
Pierce, Shaundi and the Boss are called upon to assist MI-6 agent Asha
Odekar and her contact, former Deckers leader Matt Miller, in
infiltrating a Middle Eastern compound to assassinate Cyrus Temple, the
former leader of STAG who has since gone insane and obsessed with
killing the Saints, and plans on destroying Washington D.C. using a
nuclear missile. The Boss manages to kill Cyrus, but is unable to stop
him from launching the missile. Climbing aboard the missile, the Boss disarms the nuke in midair before it reaches Washington, earning the adoration of America.
Five years later, the Boss has been elected President of the United
States, with several members of the Saints acting as cabinet. While
preparing for a press conference, the Boss is told that Asha and Matt
have arrived at the White House, which the Saints have renamed the White
Crib, to warn them of what they suspect is an impending alien invasion.
Just as the Boss is informed, the invasion begins, spearheaded by the
alien warlord Zinyak, who captures all of the cabinet members as well as
the Boss.
The Boss wakes in what appears to be a 50s sitcom set in the city of
Steelport, devoid of violence or foul language. The Saints' computer
specialist, Kinzie Kensington, contacts the Boss and informs them that
they are trapped inside a simulation, and that each of the Zin's
prisoners are trapped in personal simulations of their own fears in
order to break their will. With Kinzie's help, the Boss breaks free of
the simulation and joins Kinzie and Vice President Keith David
in a stolen Zin ship. While the trio attempt to contact reinforcements
from Earth, Zinyak atomizes the planet, killing everyone not already
captured by the Zin. Determined to get revenge for Earth, the Boss
returns to the Steelport simulation, hoping to use it to find the
remaining Saints and somehow reach Zinyak. The Boss begins to go into
the other Saint's simulations in order to rescue them, revealing each of
their own fears including Shaundi's fear of her former calm and
fun-loving self, Pierce's fear of the Saint's image turning on him, and
Benjamin King's fear of his former gang the Vice Kings.
As the simulation begins to weaken under the Saints' influence,
Zinyak floods virtual Steelport with copies of gang members the Boss has
faced in the past. Kinzie determines that the copies are being made
from someone's memory, leading the Boss to conclude that Saints
lieutenant Johnny Gat, who was thought dead, is still alive and trapped
within the simulation. Despite protests from Kinzie and Matt that
rescuing Johnny will reveal their location to Zinyak, the Saints make
their way to where Johnny is being held, while taking note of how many
people are being held on Zinyak's ship implying that there may still be
hope for humanity. The Boss eventually frees Johnny's mind from his
nightmare of Aisha's death that he had been trapped in and gets him back
to the ship. Johnny explains that during the fight in which he was
presumed killed, he was actually abducted by Zinyak years in advance of
their invasion, as Zinyak had concluded that Johnny could have
single-handedly stopped him if left on Earth.
The Saints rally inside the simulation in order to prepare to
confront Zinyak, but they are ambushed by an enormous Zin force. As they
escape, Kinzie is captured by Zinyak, and the Boss emerges from the
simulation to find that Keith has knocked the other Saints out and fled,
showing that he betrayed the Saints. Returning to Steelport, the Boss
finds Keith has been declared president of the simulation. When
confronted, Keith claims that Zinyak has the means to restore Earth, and
has agreed to do so in exchange for the Boss' life. The Boss, believing
that Zinyak is lying, pursues Keith into his nightmare with the help of Roddy Piper, who is ultimately unable to bring himself to kill his friend and rejoins the Saints, telling them where Kinzie has been taken.
After the Boss rescues Kinzie from her nightmare, she devises a plan
to crash the simulation, which will force the Zin to draw power from
their ship to keep it running, thus weakening the ship itself and
creating an opening for the Saints to enter. Working together, the
remaining Saints manage to take control of the simulation and overload
it, shutting it down just as the Boss escapes. The Boss leads an assault
on Zinyak's ship, confronting him in his throne room. While the entire
Zin Empire watches, Zinyak and the Boss battle each other, and with help
from the Saints, the Boss kills Zinyak and emerges victorious.
Impressed, the Zin forces surrender to the Boss, who becomes the new
head of the Zin Empire.
The Boss asks Zinjai, one of Zinyak's servants if they truly have the
technology to bring Earth back. Zinjai answers saying that they can not
simply bring back Earth because of it being atomized, but mentions that
the Zin have time-travel technology, which would allow the Saints to go
back in time before Earth was destroyed. With this in mind, the Boss
looks at the Saints and says, "Let's go on a field trip." As the credits
roll, there is a curtain call set to Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It".
In a post-credits scene, Zinjai shows the Boss the many humans in
stasis that Zinyak had collected from across history, one of them being
the nineteenth century writer, Jane Austen. Being a fan of Austen, the Boss wakes her out of stasis, revealing that she had been the narrator throughout the game.
There is also a non-canonical
"bad ending" that plays out should the player not complete all of the
loyalty missions. In this ending after the Zin forces surrender to the
Boss, the Saints make their plans to take over more planets, unaware of
their ability to meet Austen or return to Earth.
Characters
A number of characters from earlier games in the franchise - both
members of the Third Street Saints and former adversaries - make a
return in
Saints Row IV, many of whom take up the protagonist's Presidential administration. Kinzie Kensington, the socially awkward FBI hacker from
Saints Row: The Third
becomes the White House's press secretary, often tasked with clearing
up the mess left behind by the President's verbal missteps. Benjamin
King, former leader of the Vice Kings gang from the original Saints Row,
becomes the President's Chief of Staff, while Pierce Washington has
been appointed the Communications Director and Shaundi as the Director
of the Secret Service.
Matt Miller, having abandoned the Deckers and, according to news broadcasts in
Saints Row: The Third,
announced an abstinence from the use of technology, presumably returned
to the United Kingdom and became employed by MI-6. Johnny Gat also
returns after being thought dead in
Saints Row: The Third.
Stillwater, the location of the first two games, makes an appearance for
one mission with most of the street gangs from the first three games
making appearances as well.
