At PAX Australia we got our first hands on with the ‘Australian Edition’ of Saints Row IV. While we don’t know how the unaltered version of the game plays I can say that the version I played was awesome.
Saints Row IV drastically changes the way you make your way around the city. Sprint (using the left bumper) surrounds you in a blue aura and before you know it your bowling over cars, pedestrians and covering ground faster than in any other open world game, it is important to note however that this is not an infinite sprint but is on a cooldown. Another great new future is the ability to ‘fly,’ in the instalment we played the fly feature is more of a glide. By holding down the ‘A’ button you can charge up a super jump and from there you can tap the left bumper and glide, you can then combo the glide with a ground pound attack causing splash damage to the immediate vicinity.
The driving mechanics are pretty stock-standard, but with the ability for gliding and overpowered sprint I was kind of left wondering how often you’re actually going to be making use of the vehicles in the game. The game also has a lot of dynamic events which occur from what I saw there were race objectives and strongholds held down by aliens. The latter contained a miniature ‘boss’ battle after all the other aliens were wiped out.
The weapons I also got my hands on were pretty sweet; the Dubstep gun was my personal favourite and certainly made the whole experience much more enjoyable whilst also doubling as a very effective weapon.
Ultimately I really enjoyed the time I spent with Saints Row IV, its random, crazy and in your face and I don’t think Australian customers will be too disappointed with what’s coming this August.