Ulimate Dressup IV

[Havok]

I have to admit I really liked Saints Row III, but after talking to Stark about the options I missed out on in #2 (CHOOSING THE TILT OF YOUR LID ERRRMYGAWD!!!) I am hoping that they put more dress up options in instead of losing some. (Why do games take away options as series continue?)

Also is this going to be a 360 game or a One game? I saw the sign in Gamestop yesterday but didn't look at it other than the name.

And yes I could google it, but I prefer to see what the idiots highly informed and thoughtful people here have to say.

[Stark]

A lot of games being announced now will probably be both.

And dude SR3 not having a 'how much of your undies stick out' slider or the ability to choose which button on your silk shirt should be buttoned to reveal your dragon tattoo was a fucking crime.

[Ford Prefect]

Honestly I expect that the dress-ups in SRIV will be about what they were in SRIII. Given that SRIV started as just an expansion for SRIII, and the fact that so many assets are clearly reused, that's just my gut feeling.

[Starglider]

(Why do games take away options as series continue?)

Because unless you are using the exact same engine and assets they cost money to reimplement (design, dev, unit test, impact on full playtest), money that could be spent on new features (that keep the series fresh and are more useful for marketing). Also there is turnover in producers and designers that means the idea of what should and shouldn't be in the game changes over time too.

[fordlltwm]

It's due for release on PC in August according to the future release's folder in my local Game (the retailer), so unless the One is out by then I'm guessing it's going to be a 360 release.

[Stark]

Because unless you are using the exact same engine and assets they cost money to reimplement (design, dev, unit test, impact on full playtest), money that could be spent on new features (that keep the series fresh and are more useful for marketing). Also there is turnover in producers and designers that means the idea of what should and shouldn't be in the game changes over time too.

This also explains why the third game was boring and had no tail. It's quite rare even a sequel in the same engine doesn't drop or gain features, simply because of change in goals/staff/market.

[Crazedwraith]

Wasn't quite feeling the need for an undie slider for 3. But the upper body wear being lumped to into 'upper body' rather than mixing and match shirt, jumpers and coats was annoying.

What I hope for is a better storyline (maybe having choices, y'know mattter aside from the last one) and no entire act of missions that are just 'go do the side activity'

[Enigma]

What's 4 going to be about. I enjoyed 2 & 3 (got them both) but I have not idea what 4 will be about. I'd love it if they can somehow bring back Johnny Gat.

[Enigma]

Surprisingly I found the SR games to be more entertaining that the GTA franchise so far.

[SilverWingedSeraph]

There's nothing really surprising about that. Saints Row 4 looks like it's going to be... interesting. You are the President of the USA, you have super powers, and the main antagonists are evil alien invaders.



So uh... it could be fantastic or it could be utterly stupid. Depending. I too hope they bring Johnny Gat back. But it seems unlikely.

[Enigma]

The video means nothing to me as I am hard of hearing.

But from what you've said, it seems to be a big jump from controlling two cities to running the country.

Wouldn't it have been better to have the main character start off as a Governor and gets into hilarious hijinks on the road to becoming president?

[Stark]

Since they killed their only narratively interesting character off in a cutscene he wasn't even in for no reason at the start of the last game, I wouldn't hold your breath for a 'story'. Lets just hope that as the President the game isn't piss easy and you aren't quickly left with literally nothing to do. They could learn a lot from games that have good longevity; but then they have a lot to learn from games that are good.

[Starglider]

But from what you've said, it seems to be a big jump from controlling two cities to running the country.

That's just irrelevant fluff. The game is set in the same city as SR3, with aliens replacing STAG. Which is a shame because the boring city/terrain design was IMHO the worst part of SR3; the rapid release cycle has clearly caused a lot more asset reuse versus SR2 to 3.

Wouldn't it have been better to have the main character start off as a Governor and gets into hilarious hijinks on the road to becoming president?

The design goal of the game seems to be to take player wish fulfilment / empowerment to the absolute max while still being somewhat challenging (seemingly taking inspiration from Metal Wolf Chaos). So no, I'm sure political stuff will be making a token appearance, because it doesn't really fit in with the 'comic book action' theme the devs have in mind.

[Ford Prefect]

The whole superpowers in Steelport thing comes from their Matrix parody standalone expansion, which was rolled together with this 'become president offscreen' business to create SRIV.

[Jub]

SR2 was better than any any GTA game, but SR3 was almost as much of a step back for the series as GTA:4 was from GTA:SA. It's like both dev teams failed to realize balance was important. GTA:4 was boring as hell and didn't want you doing all the things that made older GTA games so much fun. SR3 took away any challenge and put you on rails in a boring city that lost all sense of charm very quickly.

What I think most of us want is something with the dress up and mission freedom of SR2 mixed with the story and world scope that the GTA team can bring. If you go too far one way your game falls off very quickly, but when this genre gets it right it's amazing.

[Starglider]

SR3 took away any challenge and put you on rails in a boring city that lost all sense of charm very quickly.

I thought the difficultly was ok through the first half of SR3, as long as you played on hard and didn't powerlevel. Even on hard though the second half got less and less challenging as the powers piled up, and the DLC was quite easy as long as you'd completed the main game.

Certainly the city is unappealling. For SR3 I felt that the player was being given the over-the-top vehicles and weapons from an outright military game like Mercenaries 2 or JC2, but without the space to enjoy them properly or the fully militarised enemies that could challenge you.

What I think most of us want is something with the dress up and mission freedom of SR2 mixed with the story and world scope that the GTA team can bring.

Expensive. Looks like SR4 is based on the idea that players will buy SR3 again if it has with more 'cool' powers and gadgets, which are relatively cheap and quick to develop. A compelling argument for the board, and to be honest I don't blame them. SR4 is coming at the end of a console generation with the scope for technical improvement exhausted. If the devs are going to sink a lot of effort into a new city, engine and story (i.e. reboot), best to do it for an Xbox One / PS4 title. Pushing out a glorified expansion pack can pull in some more revenue in the mean time to fund that development.