We’re not too far off from the August 20 North American release of Saints Row IV, and developer Volition is starting to roll out more promotional material to get fans hyped. Besides the recent “Meet the President” trailer, those who attended the recent PAX East expo in Boston got the chance to see a new gameplay demonstration with narration from senior producer Jim Boone. And now, everyone else gets the chance to see more of the crazy new features that the fourth entry in the popular sandbox series will offer.
Boone starts the video showing the super-customizable playable leader of the Third Street Saints, who will start the game as President of the United States, decked out in overly patriotic, Uncle Sam-esque clothing. The character starts out by pulling off some of the crazy takedown moves introduced in Saints Row: The Third on random pedestrians, then proceeds to show off some of the insane new weapons the game will offer. These include the Inflato Ray, which will inflate a person’s head and eyes to cartoonish proportions before making them messily explode, and the hilarious Dubstep Gun, which shoots rays of energy to the beat of a techno tune.
This is followed up by the player finding a monster truck and making their way to a weapons store, and showing off the improved weapon customization and upgrade system. While the individual upgrades for each level in Saints Row: The Third were preset, now, individual components can be focused on, such as damage and the reloading speed. New, purely cosmetic options will also be available, as Boone demonstrates by changing a rocket launcher to look like a guitar case.
After this, Boone briefly takes on some of the new main enemy players can expect to encounter, that being an alien army known as the Zin. He follows this up with a wild new take on the series’ trademark Mayhem side activity – Mech Suit Mayhem. In it, players take control of a huge robotic suit and lay waste to the city around them to make extra cash. Finally, new superpower abilities for the player are shown, including super-fast running speed, freezing projectiles, telekinesis, jumps several stories high, gliding, and the ability to create shockwaves upon landing and take out enemies like cops and Zin soldiers.
Saints Row IV looks to make good on its premise of being the most outrageous entry in the series yet, and we will post new info and media as it becomes available. The demo can be viewed below if you want to see any of these new features in motion.