Review: Saints Row IV – This is How We Do It

Shortly after I'd finished Saints Row: The Third, the 4^th installment had been announced. After the overload of comical violence, memorable characters, and gang-related mayhem I'd just been exposed to, I was left pondering one thing about the sequel. “How do you get bigger and more bombastic than Saints Row 3? Where do we go from here?”

The Closed Reality of Open World Games

As I was playing Saints Row The Third earlier, I was roaming around, unarmed, looking for collectibles. I walked down a little alley, with no notoriety, towards some sort of factory, and suddenly was taking fire from police. I found it odd, because nothing had been mentioned about restricted areas in the game, and, though I've gotten used to taking fire from rival gang members unprovoked, this was the first time the police had taken the initiative on such an occasion.

State of the Union - United Saints of America

It's that time to go back to Saints Row!
Bringin' the gang back, it's all Saints go!
Boss is the leader, y'all Saints know?
Is they a man or a woman? Do they has a Saints fro?
Next up we got Shaundi, that little Saints ho
Bringin' heat and a big pair of Saints torpedoes
Then we got Pierce, he's the face of Saints Flow
Who's always got your back, he's a real Saints bro
Kinzie Kensington's back, she's the Saints techno
Computer wiz and mad kinkster, Saints whoa!

We got some new peep to add to the Saints show
First up is somebody from the last Saints Row
Matt Miller returns! Complete with Saints glow,
And a NyteBlayde fetish? Saints gross
He brings with him Asha, helpin' the Saints grow
This british chick with formidable wit
Sounds like Chloe from Uncharted so we call her Saints Clo'!
We comin' up on the end, with just a couple Saints mo'
Ben muthafuckin' King makin' all that Saints dough
He wrote a book, I took a look, and I thought Fo' Saints Sho!
Keith David comin' up to steal the Saints show
Vice President gonna take 'em to the Saints flo'

Last and not least, knockin' at the Saints do',
Johnny Gat?  Awe Saints no!
Back from the dead, we got your old Saints bro,
Back on the crew, he's ready to Saints roll
Now that you understand who's in on Saints Row
It's time to get y'all into the Saints know

Boss is the head muthafucka in charge
We moved into the White House - we livin' it large!
All of a sudden, the sky turns red
Chaos and mayhem and a lotta peeps dead
Aliens saucers? This is like Mars Attacks!
'Cept they're bigger and uglier and lead by Zinyak
But when shit goes down, you know the Saints fight back!

Wake up in a daze, can't remember yo name
Shit's like a 50's TV show - is this some fuckin' game?
Digital Steelport - like the Matrix 'n shit
Boss's got a plan, let's blow up this bitch!
Wreckin' shit in this computer sim
This is how we gonna take down the Zin!

That's the cast and crew and stakes ya know?
So gear it up now f' Saints Row Fo!

Coming Soon

The past couple of months have been mostly dead, as they tend to be every year, video game-wise.  Fortunately, all this is about to come to an end, as we begin to move into the holiday season.  For us here at Zero Tolerance, this means adding to the backlog.  However, there are a few things we're really looking forward to in the coming weeks, and you can look forward to our reviews on:

Dragon's Crown - Released earlier this month by Vanillaware (of Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade fame), this fantasy "epic" is set as a 2D, side-scrolling, beat 'em up.  Hey, if you're good at something, why stop?  Vanillaware continues doing what they do best, offering up a beautifully hand-painted world with mechanically sound gameplay.  Accommodating up to 4 players, Dragon's Crown is almost starting to look like the party game that the PS3 really needed.

Saints Row IV - Continuing the legacy of ridiculosity left by Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row IV is looking like it could just live up to its collector's edition title of "Game of the Generation".  The Boss is back, and this time the Third Street Saints are running the country.  When the US gets attacked by aliens, it's up to The Boss and our cast of familiar gangstas to take the extra-terrestrial threat head on.  Saints Row IV ups the ante with all new superpowers and absurd weapons like the "dubstep gun". A ridiculous take on the open-world action genre that this gamer is seriously looking forward to.

Killer is Dead - SUDA51 is back.  Back to doing the things I've loved about his work.  The cel-shading and the completely impossible to follow storyline(s), with the ridiculously awesome character design.  Following in the footsteps of Killer7 and No More Heroes, these are the SUDA51 roots that I really enjoy.  It's hard to know much about this game because so little has been revealed, as per the norm.  Picking it up launch day.

Divekick - The parody fighting game with surprising depth.  2 buttons.  Just 2.  Jump.  And kick.  How can a fighter so simple have so much depth?  Pick it up to find out.

Also worth a mention (and MAYBE a playthrough):
Painkiller: Hell and Damnation (August)
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (August)
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (September)
GTAV (September)
Beyond: Two Souls (October)
Disgaea D2 (October)
Batman: Arkham Origins (October)

And now for something NOT Coming Soon:

Xbox One to these eight countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Microsoft has gone and done it again.  Just when you think things couldn't get much worse for the Xbone, they've once again cut the short list of launch countries for the console.  Their reasoning?  "Ensuring our customers get the best Xbox One experience the first day it is available. To do that, and in order to meet demand, we have adjusted the number of markets that will receive Xbox One in November."

The aforementioned countries that have been cut from the list have been rescheduled to "as soon as possible in 2014".

So, contrary to popular belief, it would appear that Microsoft does NOT want your money.

Source: Xbox.com 

Review: Saints Row: The Third

It's been a while since I last did a review.  This is partially because of E3 and all the "fun" I had covering it, but it's also partially because so many developers seem so concerned with the amount of content that they have to ram down your throat.  Fair enough though, because I'm about to drop the hammer on one of the most enjoyable open-world experiences I've had the pleasure to playthrough.