by Ben Mapp
No-one expected Volition to announce another story-driven DLC for Saints Row IV after How the Saints Save Christmas was said to be the final adventure for these characters. However, being prompted to upgrade Saints Row IV for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One might have played a part in changing their minds. Let's take a look at the latest (and this time 'last') DLC for Saints Row IV, which actually stars Johnny Gat (voiced by Daniel Dae Kim) and Kinzie Kensington (voiced by Natalie Lander) in playable roles. Gat Out of Hell introduces a sizable new sandbox setting, along with a whole new story for veteran Saints to play around in.
No-one expected Volition to announce another story-driven DLC for Saints Row IV after How the Saints Save Christmas was said to be the final adventure for these characters. However, being prompted to upgrade Saints Row IV for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One might have played a part in changing their minds. Let's take a look at the latest (and this time 'last') DLC for Saints Row IV, which actually stars Johnny Gat (voiced by Daniel Dae Kim) and Kinzie Kensington (voiced by Natalie Lander) in playable roles. Gat Out of Hell introduces a sizable new sandbox setting, along with a whole new story for veteran Saints to play around in.
'Kinzie Kensington and Johnny Gat driving together on a birthday adventure!'
Satan forces his daughter to wed the leader of the Saints. The game was considered so large in fact that the developers themselves decided it could be standalone, meaning that (just like with Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry or Infamous: First Light) players don't have to buy Saints Row IV in order to play.
Story-wise, the events of the game are as quirky and OTT as you can expect from the guys over at Volition (and High Voltage Software this time round too!). After the explosive events of Saints Row IV, Kinzie's birthday celebrations go awry when the Saints decide to play with Zinyak's ouija board. The Boss is suddenly whisked away to Hell via a inter-dimensional rift and it's up to Johnny (and Kinzie, obviously, because it's her birthday) to go in after him. When they arrive in New Hades, an industrial city centre where Satan maintains a base of operations (and family retreat), Johnny and Kinzie meet up with one Dane Vogel (last seen falling out of a highrise window in Saints Row 2), who introduces them to this bold new setting and tasks them with their primary objectives. Find Satan. Shoot him in the face. Save the Boss. The three also learn over the course of the adventure that Satan plans to wed his only daughter, (who is a young, impressionable, satanic heiress) called Jezebel to the Boss, and Jezebel likewise forms a romantic attraction to Johnny Gat (rejecting the notion of marrying the Boss upon Satan's first suggestion). The dramatic conflicts created from this, as well as Johnny Gat's actions in simply raising 'hell' and gathering allies (and making enemies) across the seven circles, is what drives the action and plot forward.
Still following?
The story campaign is more than a few hours long, and feels like it should be longer considering the ambition of the chosen setting. However, the city is packed to the brim with events and activities to keep any Saint busy for hours and hours. Also, there are a number of different endings to choose from, giving you reason to replay the missions. The sense of humour of this title remains completely true to the Saints Row universe, showing as ever how fond of and proud the developers are of this world and its characters. Whilst the demographic of the series may have shifted around somewhat in the many years it has spanned, Volition has shown that they understand and are on the same level as their audience. Graphically the game retains the charming, simplistic style consistent with its most recent predecessors (everything post-Saints Row the Third) and makes a most welcome change from the gritty, semi-realistic graphical styles prevalent in the majority of modern AAA games.
Story-wise, the events of the game are as quirky and OTT as you can expect from the guys over at Volition (and High Voltage Software this time round too!). After the explosive events of Saints Row IV, Kinzie's birthday celebrations go awry when the Saints decide to play with Zinyak's ouija board. The Boss is suddenly whisked away to Hell via a inter-dimensional rift and it's up to Johnny (and Kinzie, obviously, because it's her birthday) to go in after him. When they arrive in New Hades, an industrial city centre where Satan maintains a base of operations (and family retreat), Johnny and Kinzie meet up with one Dane Vogel (last seen falling out of a highrise window in Saints Row 2), who introduces them to this bold new setting and tasks them with their primary objectives. Find Satan. Shoot him in the face. Save the Boss. The three also learn over the course of the adventure that Satan plans to wed his only daughter, (who is a young, impressionable, satanic heiress) called Jezebel to the Boss, and Jezebel likewise forms a romantic attraction to Johnny Gat (rejecting the notion of marrying the Boss upon Satan's first suggestion). The dramatic conflicts created from this, as well as Johnny Gat's actions in simply raising 'hell' and gathering allies (and making enemies) across the seven circles, is what drives the action and plot forward.
Still following?
The story campaign is more than a few hours long, and feels like it should be longer considering the ambition of the chosen setting. However, the city is packed to the brim with events and activities to keep any Saint busy for hours and hours. Also, there are a number of different endings to choose from, giving you reason to replay the missions. The sense of humour of this title remains completely true to the Saints Row universe, showing as ever how fond of and proud the developers are of this world and its characters. Whilst the demographic of the series may have shifted around somewhat in the many years it has spanned, Volition has shown that they understand and are on the same level as their audience. Graphically the game retains the charming, simplistic style consistent with its most recent predecessors (everything post-Saints Row the Third) and makes a most welcome change from the gritty, semi-realistic graphical styles prevalent in the majority of modern AAA games.
Flying around New Hades as Johnny Gat. In terms of gameplay, Gat Out of Hell uses the same engine as Saints Row IV and so remains loyal to that format. New Hades contains noticeable elements of Steelport in this regard, having been spliced together from it and newly designed assets to tie in with the Hell theme, but the city is an entirely new setting and as such features an array of new enemies for players to do combat with. The developers have gone on record to say that New Hades is about 'fifty-percent' the size of Steelport, which is quite substantial considering how different it is by comparison. New Hades is comprised of five distinct islands, surrounding a central downtown district. Whilst much of the side-quests from Saints Row IV return, albeit in a redressed manner to accommodate the new setting, it is sad that the choice to customise the protagonist's appearance has been completely done away with. It is surprising considering that in-depth player customisation has long been a staple of this franchise lo since its inception, and interestingly the player is given the option to upgrade their weapons as before. But the lack of clothing options feels justified somehow in that, within the new setting, its all rather unnecessary now. Hell is after all populated by soulless husks and demons, and so fashion (not like gambling or clubbing) is no longer a commodity in the lives (or afterlives) of these people.
The familiar side-missions are disguised accordingly. For instance, the Tax Fraud minigame is now dedicated to knocking years off one's sentence in Hell rather than conning the state out of money. Johnny (or Kinzie) is bestowed with the ability of flight, along with several other familiar but also disguised 'arcane' powers, which drive you through the central story missions.
The familiar side-missions are disguised accordingly. For instance, the Tax Fraud minigame is now dedicated to knocking years off one's sentence in Hell rather than conning the state out of money. Johnny (or Kinzie) is bestowed with the ability of flight, along with several other familiar but also disguised 'arcane' powers, which drive you through the central story missions.
Demons and the damned await on the ruined streets. This is not a bad thing however, and it's also liberating to be able to utilize these powers without the player character becoming surrounded in an annoying blue aura (as happens in Saints Row IV). Whereas all of the powers are simply enhanced versions of the superpowers we grew used to (and fond of) in Saints Row IV, the flight ability allows the player to easily navigate New Hades from the air. It fulfills the role of the gliding skill from before but allows for more freedom - finally giving the player the ability to really take to the air. Flight takes some getting used to at first but once you have tallied up enough collectibles you can upgrade it in order to make it easier to maneuver. A newer addition to the powers is the ability to summon help in the form of monsters (specifically 'imps'), which replaces the power of telekinesis from Saints Row IV - allowing you to equalize the battlefield somewhat as, if you do enough playing around in New Hades before you fight through the story missions (as any good Saint should), you'll be almost fully upgraded in your basic abilities by the end of the first hour. The enemy demons you encounter are similar to the Zin in the fact that the foot soldiers remain on the ground as a first offense, whereas the higher level enemies can fly around and/or surround themselves in shields. But the character models aren't just disguised Zin. A lot of effort has gone into making this latest entry of Saints Row appear as distinct as it can using the Saints Row IV engine, which makes the journey all the more enjoyable. The ambition of creating a city within such a creative setting makes me sad that they decided not to expand it into a full game as they had done with Saints Row IV (which evolved from an earlier project called Enter the Dominatrix). Although, to be fair, Saints Row IV explored the individual personal hells of the major Saint characters. It'll be sad as well to see this level of imagination disappear if Volition do choose to focus on a grittier Saints Row continuation or reboot, as suggested by at least one of the alternate endings (thereby retconning anything that happened post-Saints Row 2).
The only real letdowns I encountered, at least on my PlayStation 4 copy of the game, was that the system froze twice during my playthrough. The first time the game simply threw up an error message and reset to the system home screen, but the second time I had to physically switch the system off and on in order to continue playing, which is annoying since I was already midway through a mission. I also ended up getting stuck within walls on a couple of occasions as a consequence of flying through the city at high speed, having to load my file up again both times. Whether these are just early stability issues or a simple case of bad luck is anyone's guess. But neither events were enough to stop me from playing.
The game is just too much darn fun, and is absolutely worth a look even if you're not a Saints Row fan!
The only real letdowns I encountered, at least on my PlayStation 4 copy of the game, was that the system froze twice during my playthrough. The first time the game simply threw up an error message and reset to the system home screen, but the second time I had to physically switch the system off and on in order to continue playing, which is annoying since I was already midway through a mission. I also ended up getting stuck within walls on a couple of occasions as a consequence of flying through the city at high speed, having to load my file up again both times. Whether these are just early stability issues or a simple case of bad luck is anyone's guess. But neither events were enough to stop me from playing.
The game is just too much darn fun, and is absolutely worth a look even if you're not a Saints Row fan!
'There's evil in the air and there's thunder in the sky...'
Sadly, this looks to be it from this iteration of the Third Street Saints. During a Q & A last week with the developers at Volition they were coy about answering any questions about the future of the franchise as they would 'get into trouble', suggesting that they have a secret project in development. Whether it's Saints Row V, a total reboot or simply just an alternate version of Saints Row III where things didn't go quite so crazy (in order to win back some of the more sober fans), I'll be waiting at my nearest game shop with my wallet at the ready!
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