The free Steam weekend continues with me playing more Saints Row IV. I finished 8 hours in a single day, which sounds like my schedule. I have stuck to the main quests to rescue my “homies.” The game continues to be pretty dang funny and I’m not into comedy in games. Comedy usually comes off being awful, forced or full of in your face attitude. I didn’t like the comedy in Shadow Warrior 2013 or even Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon until the final mission.
These main missions manage to really look back in time from previous Saints Row games. The games that I haven’t played. I got to play name the voice as I took on Mila Kunis in a flash back from the first Saints Row game. At least I think that it was the first.The boss battle against a hummer before Mila was pretty funny. The vehicle drove up a staircase and got hung up on a couch. Unable to move, it was just a sitting duck. I really think a next gen game needs to have a couch that crumbles under the weight of a vehicle. Speaking of vehicles, they’re useless in this game. That’s why I really feel like its a superhero game. You run faster than any vehicle.
Then there was a mission to rescue Shawnee in the plane scene from Saints Row: The Third that ended up going to Saints Row 2. Neil Patrick Harris was the guest voice in this mission. A white Rastafarian holding a white deadlocked Shawnee hostage. Oddly enough it made me want to play the previous games. It was also interesting to see young normal Shawnee vs what she is in the past two Saints Row games.
The parodies were pretty strong in some of the missions. A giant energy drink taking on a giant statue was reminiscent of Ghostbusters 2. The game really manages to mix up the action to keep it feeling fresh. You never do the same thing for too long. Normal battles turn into turret sections, turn into boss battles, that go into getting a new gun to finish the battle.
After that, it was on to the parody of a Metal Gear Solid game. Wow this was spectacularly hilarious. I haven’t played any of the Metal Gear Solid games, but I understood everything. It just makes no sense at all and they’re well aware of how non sensacle it is, yet its what Metal Gear Solid is. Boxes, stealth kills. Taking out lights when its easier to take out the guards. Each of the bosses for these missions felt completely different too.
Some of the bosses are long horrible battles that take way too long. These longer battles usually happen in the virtual world and not their own world. It has gotten to the point that these battles feel very super heroic and spawn a few city blocks as I dodge cars and kill civilians for health. The bosses have super powers and no real patterns. They stomp the ground, making me jump, throw cars, projectiles and need to have shields broken. It is a long process that is a true test of survival.
The game also managed to throw gangs from the first game at me. Including the default player characters from the first game. Luckily the characters are quick to point out what they’re from, because I’d never know. That boss fight took quite a while too. First one boss, followed by two more at the same time and then finished off with a boss battle against the usual boss. A jumping menace with a shield that is just a bullet sponge.
Rescuing each character puts them back in your space base hub lair. At this lair, there’s nothing to do but talk and romance. I’ve gotta say these are pretty funny in general. The characters aren’t as over the top or gimmicky as Rock Star games, so it makes the dialog stand out even more. Like a drunk Santa Claus doesn’t need to say anything for it to be funny while Saints Row IV characters need to have that good dialog to make it funny. Although there are still some over the top gimmicky characters like the geeky Nyteblade.
Games That I Play 