Reviews// Saints Row IV: Gat Out of Hell

As with all Saints games the real joy comes from how off-the-wall and unattached the characters are from any sort of consistency or sense of place. In most games, that’s unwelcome, in these it’s a charm that nails home the idea of gaming becoming too serious.

A particular highlight comes in the form of a cutscene which sees both the protagonists and antagonists burst into song for no reason other than ‘why not?’. Again, this is something that could have and probably should have fallen flat on its face. If it was undercooked it wouldn’t have hit home, but it’s done so well and drags on for so long that it hits home and convinces you that this series still has whatever it has about it to entertain.

It’s a shame then that the actual playing of the game wasn’t a little more fun. If you’ve played a Saints game before then you’ve played this one. It’s filled with activities that force you to cause as much havoc as you can or rag doll a character around to try and gain insurance money. Nothing feels fresh and in a setting as interesting as Hell I’d have rather they spent more time to flesh it out and turn it into a true sequel.

As you would expect, the further you get into the game the more fun traversing the world becomes. Unlocking and upgrading abilities is the norm in pretty much every game at the moment and the format never gets old.

Gat Out Of Hell does play with this a little bit. Just when you’ve levelled up enough to make flying more fun, it takes it away from you with homing missiles that can shoot you out of the air, offering a new challenge in finding the missile launchers and ripping the heart out of them. Literally.

This is where the game shines. Distracting you enough to influence how you play. Not just ticking activities off a list because you have to, but genuinely presenting a goal for you to achieve and giving you a reason to do it. It’s simple, kill the things that shoot you down to make flying more fun. The more you do it the more you’ll enjoy the game.

So you set your own objectives and work towards achieving them. Unfortunately there’s not enough of this and it’s a little lazy in what it asks you to do especially when most of the side missions are again incorporated into the main thread of the game.

Gat Out Of Hell is a worthwhile expansion if you truly loved the previous games, are buying it alongside the next-gen version of Saints Row 4 or have a friend to blast through co-op with. Although it starts poorly it blossoms into an entertaining, if a little rough-around-the-edges, way to pass a few hours.

It’s just a shame that it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity.

Pros:
Made me laugh more than a few times
Powers are fun to use

Cons:
All too familiar despite the setting
Looks dated
No Character Customisation

SPOnG Score: 6/10