In all my time as a gamer I have never played a game that put me in the shoes of a President of the United States that had super powers. Saints Row 4 fully embraces its shift towards insanity, and it is a blast to play. The first task I encountered involved saving the United States from a missile strike. Upon dismantling the missile as it spiraled into the atmosphere, I was awarded presidency. The intro sequence to Saints Row 4 sets the stage for its ridiculous tone.
Following my choice to cure cancer rather than world hunger, aliens invaded, abducted humans left and right, and took me to a virtual Steelport with no means of escape. Steelport has been the setting for all Saints Row games to date, always receiving a face-lift each time around. Initially, it seemed as though much had remained the same in Steelport this time around. This preview build showed me otherwise when it turned things up a notch and added superpowers to the mix. During my play through I was given three superpowers to mess around with – the Super Jump, Super Sprint and Ice Blast – all incredibly fun to play with.
My personal favorite, the Super jump, allowed me to leap from rooftop to rooftop with ease, and can be charged up in order to launch a particularly high jump. This power meshed perfectly with the Super Sprint. Each power has room for upgrades too, which can alter the ability by adding little perks, such as gliding through the air following a Super jump. Upgrading these abilities involved locating Data Clusters; these acted as currency when selecting my desired upgrade. Data clusters can be found all over Steelport, glowing with a bright blue light (think of the orbs from Microsoft’s Crackdown). Finally, the Ice Blast allowed me to freeze my enemies and shatter them with a quick blast from my shotgun. Combining these powers together was loads of fun, especially when destroying aliens.
As mentioned earlier, Volition has included Aliens in the mix of enemies this time around. The typical grunt units pose little threat; however some larger enemies I faced forced me to reevaluate how I was playing the game. It began to feel a bit more like Infamous, using my superpowers in clever ways to survive and retaliate.
Just like its predecessor, Saints Row 4 offers a slew of side missions and activities to take part of.  Taking over zones controlled by aliens is always action packed, while the activity titled Blazin’ requires you to utilize your sprinting superpower reaching check points as fast as you can. Loads of collectibles lay hidden around Steelport, and many more activities are available. Being that this is only a preview build I was blown away at the amount of content readily available.
August 20th can’t come soon enough. Saints Row 4 exceeds expectations when it comes to customization, and the addition of superpowers and presidential status makes for a very fun experience. What choices will you make as the super powered President When Saints Row 4 is released?
