The Saints Row series always had a special place in my heart. I grew up on games like Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and Grand Theft Auto. Such games like the Godfather, Saints Row, and Sleeping Dogs always make my heart jump a little. Saints Row the Third is among one of my most played games on Steam, and when IV landed, I was excited. Due to life happening, I never got around to experience the Presidental Package fully, so when Deep Silver announced the release for the Nintendo Switch, I doubled dibbed and went back into the crazy world of the Saints. One that’s better then nowadays Grand Theft Auto if you ask me.
Saints Theft Auto?
So, still here after making that bold statement about GTA? Good. To give you a summary, Saints Row IV is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver. It is the fourth title in the Saints Row series. As usual, the playable character is the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, a street gang that has become the world’s most influential and popular organization. Similar to previous Saints Row series games, Saints Row IV is an open-world action game with third-person shooter elements wherein the player is free to explore the environment and, at their leisure, play story or side missions. As an added addition, you became the President of the United States of America, and you must save all of us on Earth.
The story so far…
The game takes place a few months after the events of Saints Row: The Third, The Boss, Shaundi and Pierce Washington are called upon to assist MI-6 agent Asha Odekar and former Deckers leader Matt Miller in infiltrating a Middle Eastern compound to assassinate former STAG leader Cyrus Temple and prevent a nuclear missile strike against Washington D.C. The Boss kills Cyrus but is unable to stop him from launching the missile. The Boss climbs aboard the nuke and disarms it before it reaches Washington, earning the adoration of America. Five years later, the Boss has been elected President of the United States, with the other members of the Saints, Keith David and former Vice Kings leader Benjamin King acting as their cabinet. While preparing for a press conference, the Boss is told that Asha and Matt have arrived at the White House to warn them of what they suspect is an impending alien invasion. Just as the Boss is informed, the attack begins spearheaded by the alien warlord Zinyak, who captures the entire cabinet, including the Boss.
After this catastrophic alien invasion of Earth, led by the evil Overlord Zinyak, the Saints have been transported to a bizarro-Steelport simulation (basically the map from Saints Row III with some additions). With homies new and old at their side and an arsenal of superpowers and strange weapons, they must fight to free humanity from alien granddaddy Zinyak’s mental grasp. The Saints have gone from the crackhouse to the Penthouse, to The White House – but now it’s up to us to free the world from Zinyak and his alien empire.
Gameplay:
Let’s talk gameplay since the game initially launched in 2013, did it withstand the test of time? It does, and better than most of its coworkers in the field. Since the Saints genre is a lowball on the whole Grand Theft Auto series, they don’t have to take themselves too seriously. In this edition, you’ll gain a lot of superpowers, ranging from super sprints, super jump, elemental blasts, and some other strange… weaponry? This gives the whole story they are trying to tell a different layer. Since the game plays for 95% in the simulation, it’s oke if you fly over the skyscrapers of Steelport with a Dubstepgun in hand.
Meanwhile, you are being chased by alien cops on flyings hovercraft-type planes. All were running smoothly in both handheld and docked mode. I had fun with it, since the game does not take itself seriously, but adds a lot of pop-cultural elements (Tron, Vampire shows, Fanfiction..) and trends we see nowadays happening (digitalization, V.R.). So the underlying layer is serious and relevant.
If we compare this to our GTA stories, they were fun up till Vice City. It was rampaging with a slap on the wrist. After the addition of GTA IV and onwards, the tone of the series changed. It became a story-driven by emotional baggage or heartbreaking immigration stories; each layered in social issues that are relevant nowadays. It became less of an escape in which you could wreak havoc and have fun. GTA became a life-simulator with a deep personal layering, something I was not used to in videogames but was a constant shift (Life is Strange, Death Stranding, The Last of Us). Meanwhile, Saints Row turned a hit classic into an even absurdism scenario, in which you become President in a simulated version of the Third Game (talking about Forth wall breaking).
Previous games?
Is it a must to have played the previous entry? Yes, since a lot of missions, character references, and other in-game jokes are referring to SR3. If we look at the characters making a return – both members of the Third Street Saints and former adversaries – many of whom take up the protagonist’s Presidential administration, we count a lot. One of my favorites was Kinzie Kensington, the socially awkward FBI hacker from Saints Row: The Third. But other additions are Benjamin King & Pierce Washington. Even Matt Miller returns, having abandoned the Deckers and, according to news broadcasts in Saints Row: The Third, announced abstinence from the use of technology. He presumably returned to the United Kingdom, and became employed by MI-6 alongside new character Asha Odekar.
“It became less of an escape in which you could wreak havoc and have fun. GTA became a life-simulator with a deep personal layering”
Another beautiful element of gameplay is that the game pushes you to complete some of the sidequests and collectibles through regular quests. Since completing challenges and sidequests power up your newly discovered powers (or give you access to new ones), it’s advisable to achieve them. I played the right amount of the story and did my fair share of side challenges, which led too unlimited stamina, higher jumping power, and additional elemental blasts. But the game does not stimulate you to upgrade the rest of your weaponry and cars, so I was a little underpowered for a big part of the game. So, take note! Upgrade yourself, your guns, and your vehicle (if you use one) to stay on point in the progress.
DLC & Switch Performance
Saints Row IV Re-Elected contains an impressive 25 DLC Packs, including the Dubstep Gun (Remix) Pack, the Presidential Pack, the Commander-In-Chief Pack, and two celebrated episodic story expansions: Enter The Dominatrix and How The Saints Save Christmas. Adding a lot for the 40€ the game is currently priced at and probably something that will be overlooked in the carnage that’s Animal Crossing and Doom, but it’s worth it. After playing a total of 10 hours, I was a total completion rate of 35% (currently, I’m a 50%+, with rounding up some sidequests as we read, to rack up the total). But you did not open this review to learn about how far I was in-game, you wanted to know if it’s worth to play this game on the Nintendo Switch. We don’t have many GTA-like games at the moment (next to L.A. Noire), so yes, it’s a must-have. For the sake of the review, I played a whole lot in handheld, to test the Switch capacity. Learning to shoot was a bit getting used too, and worked better in Docked mode. Also, battery draining is an issue. In handheld mode, you’ll drain your switch a few hours (old version), so bring some extra juice if you want to pop in this title on the go.
Saint-Clusion
For a game that launched seven years ago, the Saints aged well. It’s a well-deserved port on the Nintendo Switch, which brings an original story in which you can kick alien-butt and become more powerful than Trump. It’s a little bit flawed, with some glitching in graphics (getting stuck in places not supposed too). But offers ethical dilemmas in an ever-relevant setting, combined with some relaxing and simulated havoc. Overall, it’s an excellent game! If you have the same itch, I’m having with Grand Theft Auto and need some comic relief during the Corona Crisis, that’s NOT Animal Crossing or Doom? Maybe Saints Row is a good fit for that hole in your heart. If we can keep getting more ports like this on the Nintendo Switch, I’m all ears.
