Destructoid - 9.5/10
Saints Row IV is, from start to finish, a pleasure. It's a pure pleasure to play. I was cynical, given my feeling let down by The Third, but Volition has worked hard to address almost everything wrong with its last outing, and provide something that delivers over and above expectations. What I love most about IV is how it puts the player first -- absolutely every new feature and ability gifted to the player seems designed purely to make the game more convenient to enjoy, and more fun to play.
Polygon - 9/10
In almost every moment, Saints Row 4 feels like playing a cheesy superhero movie. Tied together by parody and pastiche, the whole world is just an excuse to throw gameplay variety at the player, and I felt like an over-powered badass throughout. It's not sophisticated or subtle, nor does it want to be. And the game's open stance on character customization and gender let me play the way I wanted to. Saints Row IV made me feel superhuman and that's what this kind of game is all about.
Giant Bomb - 4/5 Stars
The game is packed with some great moments that subvert the open-world crime genre even further than SR3 did, it's funny, and its references aren't just lazily tossed off, they're earned. You'll feel like you've played some of this before, but if you're at all interested in Saints Row's brand of weird, it's absolutely vital.
RPS - POSITIVE
Thats what makes Saints Row IV so absolutely wonderful. Its not the ghosts of controversy that the series once had, and the promotional materials so desperately wish was still there. Its not dildo bats, or poorly pixelated winkies. Its fun. Its sheer, unbridled, unrestricted fun. Its a game that boldly lets you do everything you could ever want to, and can survive such freedoms. Its a game that realises its own potential that this is a form in which no limitations are necessary, in which conforming to expectations is pointless. Games have the ability to let us live out such mad, explosive, eccentric nonsense, and yet they almost never do. Saints Row IV does, and that makes it incredibly special. That it does it with such panache, such ease, and such ceaselessly entertaining humour, makes it simply one of the most fun games Ive ever played.
PC Gamer - 90/100
Saints Row was born of Grand Theft Auto, but although both feature open cities and freeform violence, theyve diverged. Grand Theft Auto is desperate to be a film, to be satire, to be an experience. Saints Row IV wants to be a game, and by showing its heartfelt love for the medium, its become something wonderful.
EDGE - 8/10
With this game Volition has at last cast off the dumb puerility and blithe misogyny that have long blighted this series, and as we let loose a fully charged super-jump from Steelports highest point, gliding to an objective thats almost three kilometres away, the whistling wind jostling with Montell Jordans This Is How We Do It for prominence in our ears, we cant help but feel this is the game Volition has always wanted to make. One things for sure: its the one weve been waiting to play.
Joystiq - 5/5
I was worried that Saints Row 4 would never be able to live up to Saints Row: The Third, that its status as an expansion-turned-full-game would translate to a sloppy experience built on filler and same-y gameplay. Thankfully, Volition's skill for building a living world, lovable characters and ingenious gameplay is as sharply honed as ever. Be it in Steelport, a computer-generated simulation thereof or the very depths of outer space, the Saints rule everywhere.
EGM - 9.0/10
Volition did something it seems few developers are brave enough to do at this point: They were willing to reinvent the Saints Row series instead of just reiterating on it. The result is a game that I had an absolute blast with from beginning to end, but also one thatdue to the escalation it exhibitsleft me dumbfounded on what theyll offer as a follow-up. So, I have absolutely no clue what Volition is going to do with Saints Row V. And, you know, Im glad I dont.
Game Informer - 8.5/10
Despite a few frustrations, glitches, and questionable design decisions, Saints Row IV is still a ton of fun to play through whether solo or in the series returning co-op mode. Vehicles may not be as exciting this time around, but the thrill of soaring through the skies and navigating with ease makes up for it. With tons of upgrades and weapon customization, making your President more and more powerful is an addictive and rewarding affair, and you can become virtually unstoppable by the end. Saving Steelport may not be quite as novel of an experience this time around, but an arsenal of new abilities and weapons ensures that you are doing it with more style and spectacle than ever before.
Eurogamer - 8/10
Saints Row 4 may lack refinement - nothing thwarts a superhero quite so frequently as an overhanging roof or your homies standing in a doorway - but it compensates with sheer exuberance. It's a heartfelt love letter to the superhero genre and to a medium that makes such madness possible. There's a fine art to being this gloriously dumb, it seems, which pretty much makes Saints Row 4 the Sistine Chapel ceiling of stupidity.
IGN - 7.3/10
With its recycled map and wildly overpowered abilities, playing Saints Row IV feels like a lot like enabling god-like cheat codes in Saints Row The Third and going nuts. Its ridiculous story, goofy characters, self-aware humor, and amazing character editor make it all work, especially for those of us whove played the previous games and can appreciate its in-jokes. But its appeal is shortened by the ludicrous speed at which we can zip across it and grow tired of its lack of challenge.
OXM/OXM UK - 9/10
t's all worth it, however, for the unbridled fun of wreaking havoc at high speeds and experiencing the laughs and unexpected emotional highs of Saints Row IV's storyline. Simultaneously more and less impressive than SR3, it's not quite the highest point the series has reached, but it's nonetheless a satisfyingly explosive send-off for the Saints.
GameTrailers - 7.1/10
Kotaku - YES
I can forgive SRIV its grievances because, ultimately, I dont care what the game has me doingracing, destroying, hijacking, hacking for the thousandth time. As long as I can customize my character to my hearts desire, shoot my overpowered guns to infinity, and make things explode with my superpowers while bonding with my eclectic crew of badass friends in worlds that could only exist in a Saints Row-branded Matrix, Ill take your bugs and your repetition. I just want to fly and make things explode. And thats what I did. Over and over again.
Rev3 Games - 4/5
Likes: Extremely enjoyable traversal, There's a goddamn robot in the game, unabashedly silly sandbox fun. Dislikes: Customization feels recycled, underwhelming visuals.
CVG - 8/10
From game-changing superpowers to genre-bending setting, Saints Row IV is the only logical answer to the last game's excess, even if, like The Third, it too often feels like a comedy without a straight man. This is a game in reckless pursuit of crazy, yet for all its blinding slapdashery, it never loses sight of its prime directive: riotous, outrageous, indecent fun.
GameFront - 93/100
Midway through the game, one characters asks The Boss youre easily bored, arent you?, to which the boss says I dont know, Im too busy being awesome to notice. Saints Row IV is all at once puerile, profane and touching, but mainly, its too busy being awesome for you to ever get bored. Seriously, buy this f*cking game.
PS Nation - 9.5/10
Theres no way you can look at this franchise and consider it a knockoff of Grand Theft Auto anymore. The two have become as different as Gran Turismo and Twisted Metal and Saints Row shines because of it. When Im not playing, Im thinking about it and wanting to get back to it as soon as I can. This game is pure blissful, laugh out loud, fun which we just dont get enough of anymore.
VideoGamer - 8/10
Even a heinous final boss encounter cant dampen the mood. Saints Row 4 is a comedy gem; built by creators that are clearly on our side, and totally in love with what they do. Its pretty easy to love them back.
PSU - 8.5/10
I wasn't able to test cooperative gameplay pre-release, but I don't want to wait until launch to dive back into the manic, memorable world of Saints Row IV. There's a disappointing lack of technical polish, and the game's foundation is copy-pasted from its predecessor, but this roller coaster ride is one I'll eagerly take again. For every game concept and trope it lampoons, Saints Row IV respectfully asks, "What makes games fun?" And then it throws you off a tower and hands you a black hole gun on the way down, because it can't be bothered to waste time answering the question. Neither should you. Saints Row IV is the answer.