The release of the Saints Row reboot is imminent, and it will have a chance to fix all the mistakes that Saints Row 4 made. The series has been dormant for years aside from a couple of spin-offs, leaving 4 as the most recent memory of the series. Saints Row can learn from those mistakes and bring back the soul of the series.
Saints Row 4 took the bombastic nature of the Saints Row games and stretched it to the maximum. In 4, the Boss has gone from a gang leader to the President of the United States, and they fight against an alien invasion in a virtual simulation of Steelport in order to break out and save the Earth. Several aspects of the series are reworked with this new plot in mind, while also adding new weapons such as Saints Row 4's Energy Sword. In addition, the Boss was also given superpowers that upgrade over the course of the game, and this was used as a major selling point.
Although 4 is not specifically a bad game, it still suffers from a fair amount of flaws that can be hard to overlook. It was a massive change for the series, and one that some people understandably found difficult to connect to past games. The reboot can address almost all of these concerns, and hopefully it will.
Saints Row 4's Superpowers Overshadow The Rest Of The Gameplay
As previously mentioned, the Boss's superpowers in Saints Row 4 were a big selling point for the game. They were the biggest mechanical change added to the title, and are admittedly very flashy and powerful. However, that ends up feeding into one of the game's main problems. While the superpowers are useful to the point that Saints Row 4's cheat codes feel unnecessary, they end up being too powerful, specifically the Super Dash and Super Jump.
The Super Dash and Super Jump are the first two powers that the player unlocks, and they are used to help the player traverse the city. While they are useful in that regard, the fact that both of these powers and the infinite sprint upgrade are available extremely early in the story renders vehicles virtually pointless. All the fun of customizing a car for the Boss in past games feels pointless when the Super Sprint and Jump completely outclass any vehicle and are always available. This even affects combat, as the super powered takedowns that are available by dashing into enemies are more efficient than almost any weapon aside from only affecting one enemy at a time.
Saints Row 4's superpowers are simply too powerful for their own good. Saints Row has plenty of customization already, and it doesn't need superpowers as well. While they may not have been a terrible idea in theory, the fact that they render vehicles and most weapons obsolete is a design problem. At the very least, the Saints Row reboot shows no sign of bringing any sort of superpowers back into the series.
Saints Row 4 Went Too Far With Its Zany Nature
The Saints Row games are at their best when they are wild and chaotic, and the developers know that. However, Saints Row 4 took this idea and ran much too far with it. The end result is a game that is more interested in trying to be funny than anything else, which makes it harder to take seriously even when serious story developments are going on.
While being less reliant on the crude humor than past games, the game overloads itself with attempts at humor. Saints Row is naturally absurd, but 4 took it too far. The game is loaded with memes and shout-outs to other forms of media, to the point that it becomes rather excessive. The game's use of music is similar as well. While past titles featured decently-sized collections of music and the ability to make one's own playlists, 4's use of music in the story can feel self-indulgent at times. For example, the game blasting Aerosmith during the Boss' apparent sacrifice in the epilogue, or "What is Love?" playing during an intense UFO chase are funny at first, but the songs start to feel overused the more they show up, like a movie padding its soundtrack.
Saints Row 4 is easily the wackiest game in the series, but that is not to its benefit. Too much of the game is focused on trying to be ridiculous rather than simply being a good game. The Saints Row reboot looks promising in previews so far, looking to keep the series' chaotic nature without diving too deep into absurdity.
Saints Row 4 Lost Sight Of The Series' Roots
A little innovation is a good thing in many cases. However, Saints Row 4 strayed too far from the rest of the series, and it ends up looking like something completely different as a result. Even though the game is not fundamentally broken, it does not feel very much like a Saints Row game, and this is clear even from the start.
Even though The Third featured the saints as media figures as well as gangs, it at least featured the series' usual gang warfare. 4 starts with the Saints on a military mission for some reason, and immediately afterward segues into the Boss becoming president and the alien invasion. While the Saints Row reboot risks leaving fans behind, some could argue that 4 already did that. Were it not for the presence of the Saints, it would be barely recognizable as a Saints Row game. While there is something to be said for being ambitious, taking the hardened gangster protagonist and turning them into the super powered President of the United States is a step too far to be taken seriously.
Saints Row 4's plot feels like it was created for a different IP, then had the Saints Row label and characters added on during development. Turning the Boss into the President and having them fight aliens instead of rival gangs is just too strange even for Saints Row. With all things considered, it's probably good that Saints Row is a reboot, not a sequel.
Although not a bad game, Saints Row 4 failed to capture the spirit of the series. It took a lot of risks, but not all of them panned out, and the end result was a game that failed to earn the approval of many fans. The Saints Row reboot needs to bring back what fans love about the series without losing its way, and it is hopefully set to do exactly that.