When THQ held their auction two months ago the future of IP’s such as Saints Row were in question. We knew another Saints Row game was in the works because Volition had planned it to be a DLC for Saints Row: The Third, changing their minds later on in favor of a full game. But we didn’t know when it would arrive and under which publisher.
Now Saints Row IV has been officially revealed, and though they delivered a wonderful trailer inducing IQ dropping amounts of excitement, we’re still unsure whether we’ll actually get what we want from Saints Row IV. Many fans are split down the middle after seeing the trailer, with some people believing it’s not worthy of being a full on edition to the series and others believing it’s the best thing since sliced bread.
Me personally? There’s only four things I want from Saints Row IV and here they are.
1. Better Music Selection
If you know me then you know I’m a big Hip Hop head. Regardless of this there have been a few games that have dramatically swayed the music I listen too, such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. With Saints Row games I usually find that there are only a couple standout songs and the rest are pretty bland. Maybe it’s just that their choice of music doesn’t actually fit the theme of the game as well as they tend to in GTA games. It feels like they just Google random music in each genre and throw them into a radio format. Either way I would love for Volition to really nail the music selection in Saints Row IV, or better yet put the custom radio station feature back in.
2. More Customization
Speaking of custom radio stations…how about giving us more customization period? Saints Row: The Third did have the best looking clothing ever in a Saints Row game, but they clearly had to sacrifice giving us so much control to pull it off. The clothing in Saints Row: The Third seemed to have its own physics, which would explain why they took away the layering system. Still, I think they could at least give us a lot more to work with. Let us experiment with colors and patterns in more detail. Considering this game looks to be the most outrageous of the bunch, we need to be able to create the most striking freak of nature possible.
Don’t stop with clothes either, because with this new alternate reality direction there’s new lengths they can go to with how much control we have. How about being able to mod our weapons? We’ve seen weapon upgrades previously, but since they’re introducing crazy overpowered energy based weapons why not go all the way and let us customize them? How about letting us mod any vehicle with flying wheels?
Basically Volition should only be limited by their own imagination.
3. A Story Worth Telling
The first two Saints Row games featured an honorable storyline that gamers became accustomed to. Saints Row: The Third changed everything by adding face-palming humor to everything, steering the series away from its roots. Now its to the point of no return, and it’s safe to assume Saints Row wont return to its origin plot anytime soon.
All I ask is that they at least present us with a story worth telling. In the previous game it got to the point where I just blocked out all elements of the plot from my mind because it lacked any logic. As somebody who has a passion for storytelling, I believe there are correct ways to tie over-the-top silliness into an engrossing plot. If Volition can make this perfect balance then Saints Row IV could be very satisfying.
4. Push the limits of stupidity
This may be seen as contradicting the previous statements, but as I specified there are ways to mix stupidity with exciting storytelling. It’s clear that Volition are already very creative people, given the fact they’ve taken a formula that was already successful in gaming and put their own personal spin on it.
In the last generation the Grand Theft Auto series was known for both it’s stupidity and its realness. When Saints Row came along GTA started to be more recognized for it’s realism, simply because Saints Row excelled at the silliness. This is a strength that Volition can use to offer gamers a new layer of excitement never seen in gaming.
By watching the trailer above I can already see that Volition are pushing the limits, but how far will they go? This is a mature game, so all I ask is that Volition don’t hold back a single step. We live in an era where a gaming journalist can urge a video game publisher to change the name of a trophy formally named “Bros before Hoes” – Maybe God of War can’t get away with that stuff, but Saints Row definitely can. With that being said I want to see Volition go all out, and in effect send a sub-conscious message to the over-sensitive nimwits in the media.
This is what’s on my wishlist, but what’s on yours? Be sure to let us know below.
Special thanks to: JakeJames Lugo, Ilesha Knight and James Kennedy for their ideas.
