Placing players in a virtual Steelport has given Volition the excuse to truly push the boat out this time, leaning on the Matrix references to turn the Boss from hardy sociopath to full-on superhero. Without that crucial sense of chaotic organization, the sheer level of ridiculousness in IV would risk running out of control. It is aberration tempered with intelligence, something the series needed to return to. Unlike The Third, there’s a sense of pacing, structure, and conclusion that offsets the overall wackiness. Full of constant surprises, gameplay switches that subvert expectations, and some cracking one-liners, Saints Row IV brings back the kind of satisfyingly deranged narrative that made Saints Row II so wonderful. The Boss must break free of the simulation, rescue his or her crew from their own virtual Hells, and eventually strike back at the Zin. Though much has been made of The Saints taking the American Presidency, there’s no actual time to enjoy running the country, as the Zin Empire kidnaps most of the cabinet and places our antihero - the puckish rogue known predominantly as The Boss - into a virtual reality designed and ruled by the deliciously affable Emperor Zinyak. In a plot that proudly steals from The Matrix, They Live, and a bevy of other pop culture fixtures, Earth finds itself under attack by aliens, because of course it does. Not only that, it tells an engrossing and surprisingly coherent story on top of all the silliness. Comedy in videogames is a tough nut to crack, but the loving parody, hyper-violent slapstick, and sheer audacity of Volition’s latest makes it look effortless. I was laughing out loud with actual noises emanating from my mouth within the first ten minutes of Saints Row IV, and the laughter rarely eased up for the rest of the adventure. Saints Row IV (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) Is that an exaggerated, hyperbolic, perhaps even pompous statement? Maybe so … but does a series like Saints Row deserve anything less? It is with a bittersweet heart, then, that I declare Saints Row IV perhaps one of the best open world sandbox games you could ever hope to play, and practically a culmination of everything the genre’s worked toward this generation. I was genuinely depressed to see the credits roll, because Saints Row IV, in contrast to its predecessor, had given me so much to fall in love with, reaching its conclusion could only ever end in disappointment. This time, however, it was for very different reasons. When I finished Saints Row IV in 2013, I left the experience feeling incredibly sad. It was a good game, but it felt shallow, held back, and ultimately a little disappointing. When I finished Saints Row: The Third in 2011, I left the experience feeling somewhat sad.
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