THE GOOD:
Actually a promising concept for a game...
THE BAD:
...if it was a new franchise, not Saints Row!
Saints Row IV marks the return of the Saints in a downright ridiculously crazy setting. The premise is that you, the Leader of the Saints, has become President of the United States, and while you get yourself acclimated to life in the White House, a race of aliens invades Earth and traps you in a Virtual Reality world. This world is virtually exactly the same as the real-life version of Steelport, except, for whatever reason, you have superpowers, and you can fly through the city, run at super speed, and even throw cars.
While the idea of having superpowers is a cool idea, it is almost like Volition is handing us free cheats to the game, as it makes combat and gameplay in general much easier. Why take a car when I can just run super fast to where I need to go? Why use a gun when I can just freeze my enemy solid and throw a car at them? The superpowers just defeat the purpose of some of the core gameplay features: driving and guns.
However, that does not excuse Volition from putting this stuff into Saints Row. The Saints Row I know and love is about gangs and crime and city warfare, not aliens and superpowers and Dubstep guns. That being said, I am not against over the top humor, Saints Row 2 had plenty of over the top humor, but when you sacrifice realism and an engaging story for almost nothing but humor, then it's a problem.
Also, characters from previous games have returned. Ben King from Saints Row 1, Johnny Gat, and even the Saints Row 2 version of Shaundi all return. However, this seems more like fan service than anything else. It is Volition's way of trying to lure old school Saints Row fans into buying Saints Row IV.
In addition, it would have been nice to see a change in scenery, or at least a more updated version of Steelport, which was the most boring and lifeless city. I was hoping that Virtual Steelport would have more life to it, but nope, we're stuck in the same old bland city.
What happened to Saints Row? Saints Row 1 and 2 were great games, with fun and interesting stories to play, and a lively city to explore. Then Saints Row 3 came along, and took away the engaging story, and replaced Stilwater with a boring, lifeless Steelport. I was hoping Saints Row IV would be a return to the series roots, maybe the Boss wakes up from a really weird dream (that dream being the events of Saints Row 3), and he/she is still in Stilwater with Gat and the crew. Instead, we get this cheap sci-fi knockoff that was originally supposed to be DLC for Saints Row 3 with aliens and superpowers.
Saints Row is supposed to be about fighting gangs, not aliens. It is supposed to be about doing drive-bys, not using superpowers to easily kill enemies. It is supposed to have an engaging story with plenty of humor, not a humor-filled game devoid of an interesting story. It is supposed to take place in a lively, fun city, not a city lacking life or anything fun to do.
If this was a new franchise, instead of Saints Row IV, it would be a fun new open world game that could compete with not only GTA, but Saints Row as well. However, this entry in the Saints Row franchise drags the series down, and the franchise has lost its way. I hate to say it, but Saints Row is now dead to me.