Back in 2013, Volition released a game called Saints Row IV, which we gave an 8.5 in our review. Now its 2015, and Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is more of the same. It’s pure entertainment. It doesn’t even pretend to be anything more than that, because it doesn’t need to. It’s simply a remaster released for Xbox One and PS4, promising updated visuals and a range of add-ons that were released separately for its last incarnation. On paper, this bundle/remaster is a great idea. In practice? Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work out as well as it should.
To start with, it’s more of the same; you control the President of the United States during an invasion of Earth by a race of aliens named the Zin. The majority of the game is spent inside a simulation of Steelport, the setting of Saints Row: The Third, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Saints Row IV was a great game, as were Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row 2. The zany antics of the 3rd Street Saints haves transformed a series that was once a “GTA clone” into something in a league of its own, and Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is evidence of how much this series has changed. The absurd range of wacky costumes and weaponry is further expanded through the DLC packs included in Re-Elected, although a large portion are just cosmetic items, and don’t really add anything in terms of gameplay, but does give the player a larger range of customisation options. Want to dress the President up as Boba Fett? Good, because you can.
Alongside the new clothing options are the new weapons. There’s a quite a few additions (although not as many as I’d expected), but the biggest standout is definitely the mini-gun added by the Enter The Dominatrix add-on. As you would expect, it chews through enemies as if they were paper, but it doesn’t feel quite crazy enough for Saints Row. That’s okay, though; as there’s plenty of other weapons in your arsenal that you can select from.
One of the best things about Saints Row IV was that there wasn’t really a shortage of things to do, with all the activities to be done outside of the main story missions. The addition of the DLC packs How the Saints Saved Christmas and Enter the Dominatrix gives players even more content to play with, but it’s not quite enough. The game contains an achievement/trophy that requires you to play in the simulation for 40 hours. After completing all story and loyalty missions, as well as all the activities and DLC content, I had only managed to rack up around 25 hours. Unless I’m missing something, there really isn’t anything left to do at that point, and that achievement/trophy really draws attention to it. How The Saints Saved Christmas lasts a mere hour or so, and Enter the Dominatrix doesn’t last much longer, which is a shame as Enter the Dominatrix had me laughing throughout its ending mission and cutscene.
Now down to the main attraction; the updated visuals. The Saints Row series has, admittedly, never been able to match the graphics in the GTA series, but great graphics don’t make a great game. That being said, however, I expected more of a difference between last-gen Saints Row IV and Re-Elected, but there really isn’t that much of a difference. Everything is sharper and looks a little more polished, particularly the cutscenes, but in-game looked a little too much like what I was playing the game on my PS3 in August 2013. Okay, I wasn’t expecting to have my mind blown by Re-Elected’s graphical prowess, and the game really didn’t look too bad on last-gen, but it would have been nice for more than a slight upgrade. On another note, some bugs I remember plaguing me on Saints Row IV’s initial release are still doing the rounds in Re-Elected, most annoying of which is my most-recently found audio log playing every time I load up the game. There are also some framerate issues at times, particularly whilst super-sprinting, although these tend to only last a second or so.
In all, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is still the same great game that we know, but with a few new tricks to show off. As much as I’ve loved playing through it again, sadly there’s nothing new here. Saints Row IV wasn’t the greatest game. Don’t get me wrong; I loved it enough to get a Platinum trophy in it, and I’ve enjoyed Re-Elected enough to complete it again. But it just feels as if it had been haphazardly been thrown together at times, and doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessors. Ideally, more should have been done to warrant the repurchase of a game released 18 months ago, especially considering Re-Elected isn’t much of an update on the original. The only real addition, other than the visual upgrade (which is barely noticeable at times), is the DLC content which, unfortunately, doesn’t really add much at all. Is Saints Row IV: Re-Elected worth the purchase to those that owned the original release? Perhaps, but if you’re new to the series and looking for a more tongue-in-cheek wacky alternative to the giant that is GTA V, then Re-Elected could very well be worth your time.