Following the events of Saints Row: The Third, the Saints gang expanded their influence, and the protagonist rose through the ranks to become President of the United States of America. The unfortunate event takes place during a press conference and results in a disaster: aliens assault the White House, capture the Saints, and imprison each of them in their particular nightmare that repeats endlessly. The good news is that Kinzie, the hacker for the group, comes to the protagonist’s rescue, and the two of them immediately escape onto a spaceship to save the rest of the gang. Most of the game occurred in a free-roaming recreation of Steelport, which serves as the setting for Saints Row: The Third. A robust system for creating characters gives players control over every aspect of the protagonist’s appearance and the option to select one of seven different voices (three male, three female, and Nolan North).
Saints Row IV continues similarly to its predecessor by incorporating absurdist comedy and action sequences. The protagonist of this game is granted extraordinary abilities within the simulation context. These abilities, which may include the ability to teleport, super leap, or sprint exceptionally quickly, are designed to assist the player in evading government enforcement and eliminating hostile extraterrestrials. Because of these powers, driving is almost entirely unneeded, but players can still hijack and use cars if they want to. Fights from the third person with melee and ranged weaponry are still essential to the game.
It is typical of the Saints Row series to include a variety of optional side quests that can be accessed at specific locations across the game area. Then, the game will transition to the minigame, and once it is over, the player will be awarded a bronze, silver, or gold medal, depending on how well they did in the minigame. Although some games, such as “Fraud” or “tank mayhem,” are carried over from the previous installments, the vast majority are brand new and are centered on the players’ superpowers. For instance, there is a race in which the player must complete a jogging course in the quickest time possible, and there is another race in which the player must exactly leap on platforms. Those minigames were an integral element of the main objective line in previous Saints Row games. However, in this game, they are only required for the side missions associated with the team members. There are a variety of sequences in the main storyline that spoof other game genres, such as side-scrolling brawlers and top-down shooters. These sequences are interspersed among the many objectives, including traveling to a point and murdering everything in sight. In addition, additional side tasks are available to the player, such as the collection of audio diaries or the destruction of alien infrastructure points.
In the simulation, the crew members have bad dreams and need to be rescued from those nightmares. However, they are physically unable to leave the alien mothership. To save them, the protagonist makes a few trips back to the ship throughout the main plotline, and while he does not always have access to his superpowers, he occasionally uses a mech. Aside from that, the actual world simply plays a supporting role: the simulation can be left to explore the ship and communicate with the other crew members. Other than to start missions, the only aim is to make fun of the Mass Effect series and its various romantic subplots.
Every action in the game awards experience points, which can be used to unlock personal upgrades such as increased damage resistance or increased damage with certain weapons. Cache, which can be used to buy weapons, ammo, and upgrades to existing weapons, is awarded whenever a player completes a mission or activity in the game. Completing tasks and activities is the most profitable way to advance in the game. New superpowers are gained involuntarily as the narrative progresses. At the same time, existing powers can be improved with additions like gliding through the air after performing a super jump or more damage output for blasts. These upgrades require an additional currency consisting of small luminous balls that may be found sprinkled throughout the city and must be gathered. Some abilities can also change their effects; for example, the blast can be altered to fire or ice. The cell phone can view the map, request unlocked cars and homie helpers (the main crew gets superpowers when they fulfill their side missions), play licensed music in the background, and make phone calls.
Multiplayer is accomplished by playing cooperatively during the campaign (when the second player more or less takes the role of the first) or engaging in one of two competitive activities.
