Aww Shucks Volition, You Shouldn't Have! (Or: How I know Saints Row 4 was made especially for me)

Never get tired of looking at that

There are a few times in my life when I've watched a film or TV show or read a book that felt like it was made especially for me. Labyrinth is a key example of this: A film that contains David Bowie, a female protagonist, and the "if you ever need us, we're always here" ending I wanted in all fantasy films but had never been given up until that point. Spaced is a TV show that may as well have been a documentary of my early twenties, only with more laughs and less nights drinking triple vodkas in unsavoury bars. Bookwise, things like Invisible Monsters and The Knife of Never Letting Go, not so much because of their content (although crazed road trips and talking animals will always pique my interest) but because of the style in which they were written. It felt like Patrick Ness and Chuck Palahniuk were saying to me; "It doesn't have to all be beginning, middle, end, 3rd person narration. You can do some crazy shit if you want to and IT CAN WORK."

And even though I've probably now immersed myself in an almost comparable number of games to films, I had still yet to find that feeling with a game. True there were things that were generally aimed at the type of gamer I am - Mass Effect and Dragon Age appealing to the narrative-loving side of me, LBP and AC covering the unbridled, mindless fun. But so far there was nothing that felt like it was made for me. With the exception of Dragon Age 2, the female characters in all these games somewhat feel like an afterthought, even when they're the player character. Lady Shepherd is dubbed 'FemShep' for goodness sake, indicating that she's really a supporting character, while the male Shephard is the 'true' Shep.

Often in a game where the player character's gender is initially undetermined, it's obvious that there's an expectation you'll play as male. If the character's face is hidden, they'll probably look pretty masculine in their body shape and mannerisms. If other characters react to them, it's likely to be in ways that subtly indicate maleness. But the opening tutorial of SR4 does a great job of keeping the player character's gender totally ambiguous. By the time it came to customise my character, I didn't feel as I often do that I was gender swapping them (Skate 2 even specifically references this if you opt to play as female), I just felt I was giving form to the character I'd already been playing.

Homage within Homage ad infinitum

One of the key aspects of Spaced that succeeds in drawing in its audience is the use of pop culture references. The assumption of a shared background and interest base that its viewers will all appreciate. And this is where Saints Row 4 truly comes into its own. It at once celebrates and gently mocks an enormous number of games, movies, songs and books all of which are dear to my heart in one way or another. This has all basically been a massive preamble to get to those, so, in the style of Spaced's Homage-O-Meter, I'll attempt to cover as many as possible:

1) Mass Effect

"Wanna f- Oh, you do."

SR4 borrows a lot from Mass Effect, largely the mechanics surrounding building your team and performing loyalty missions with and for them in order to unlock their full potential. However, it also points out some of the more ridiculous aspects. Here, attempting to 'romance' your shipmates results in your character cheerfully asking some variation of "Wanna fuck?" and then getting down to business, because isn't that REALLY the end goal of Mass Effect relationships?! In an even more obvious dig at the space epic, you're presented with an option midway through the game where you're told sacrificing yourself will save mankind. Go through with it, however, and the game points out you're a fucking idiot for believing that shit.

2) Infamous (and to a lesser extent The Force Unleashed)

You have lightning hands, Cole, crack a smile

One of the things that irritated me most about Infamous (stupid shitty ending aside) was how absolutely po faced Cole is throughout the acquisition of his powers. True you can play AS IF he takes great glee in blowing shit up and zooming around, but there's nothing in his voice acting to suggest that's the case. SR4's President expresses such obvious joy in experimenting with her powers, and her eagerness to try out new ones matches your own.

3) Metal Gear Solid

 

I've never played a MGS game, because stealth irritates the shit out of me, and Pres's annoyance at having to shoot out light bulbs, crawl through vents and wear cardboard boxes again mapped so well onto my own experiences, I had a huge smile on my face throughout the entire mission



4) The Matrix

You escape the simulation in a Matrix-esque spaceship to the tune of What Is Love by Haddaway. I don't feel the need to explain why this is awesome.

5) Futurama

I've always maintained that beards are evil

As I said, I've never played MGS, so this may be a reference to that, but I like to think it's about the Futurama episode where all the evil alternate characters have beards. Because you run into an evil alternate you who has... yes, a beard. (Another point where they could have made this something different for a female player, but they didn't and the game was stronger and funnier for it)

6) Streets of Rage

The tinny sound, ridiculous dialogue and difficulty of not falling down random holes in the street is perfectly captured in the rescue mission to obtain Jonny Gat.

7) They Live

 

Holy crap, this was so cool, I almost cried. They Live is one of my all time favourite films. There are lots of small references to the film throughout the game, such as the posters telling you to give up and the fact that Keith David is your vice president. But when Keith loses the plot and Roddy fucking Piper turns up to recreate their epic fight before heading into a TV station and helping you take out the transmission? Genius. Sheer genius.

8) Iron Man

Late but perfectly placed in the game you get to go all Tony Stark with a pumping eighties metal track backing you up.

9) Ghostbusters

It's Paul! Hiiiiiiiii Paul!!!

You have to command a huge statue to fight a gigantic drinks can called Paul. If I have to tell you why that's all kinds of amazing, we can't be friends any more.

10) Mortal Kombat

Well, yes. He would.

I'm not a massive fan of fighting games in general, or Mortal Kombat in particular, but Sub Zero's finishing move was a formative part of my adolescence for reasons I don't fully understand. So ending the big fight by tearing Zinyak's spine through his asshole seemed like a fitting conclusion.

11) Opposites Attract 
 

That cat was hot. Not Brave Starr horse hot, but still hot.

This was the first single I ever bought. The idea of a cartoon cat singing with Paula Abdul just completely blew my tiny mind. So when the sing-a-long with Pierce happened I was singing along IRL AND in the game. I don't think I've ever had such a completely immersive, enjoyable experience in a game.

12) Every 'feelgood' 80s film

Boy can move.

Post completion, Zinyak returns (with head and spine in tact) to have a dance off with all the game's major characters. And he does the caterpillar. Bravo, Volition, bravo.

During the credits, there are shades of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Assassin's Creed. I really hope this gives some small indication as to where the series is going...

Picture Credits

XCOM: Enemy Within (or All Your Favourite XCOM Action with Added Gut-Churning Horror!)

Wow, I think I tired myself out with all the Game City reporting. Had to take a month off blogging. Anyway, as expected I've played a lot of games over the last couple of months, but the one I've deigned to tell you about is XCOM: Enemy Within. When this was first released, I was enraged at the prospect of having to rebuy a whole game in order to obtain what was essentially gratuitous amounts of DLC. But being the ginormous XCOM nut I am, I moaned for about two days and then bought it anyway. And within moments of playing, the only thing I could find to complain about was how goddamn orange all the UI was. And as someone who loves a good moan, that says quite a lot. So, I give you:

5 Way Gross but Way Awesome New Additions in XCOM: Enemy Within

 

1. Chryssalids in Sharks

Something's fishy...

I bloody hate sharks. They're like the Michael Myers of the sea, pursuing their prey at a leisurely pace, confident in their own ability as homicidal bad asses. I also hate chryssalids, zombies and gaming against the clock, so it's like XCOM's designers assembled all my fears into one perfectly constructed nightmare fodder Recon Mission.
This level really is a triumph of minimalist horror storytelling, giving you just enough to make you shit yourself. And just when you think you've endured all the spewing zombies, and racing to beat an impending air strike you can take, a chryssalid bursts out of a shark THAT WAS DISGUISED AS SCENERY. Thanks for that designers. Thanks a lot.

2. Seekers

Sentinel or Seeker?

Okay, so they're easy to kill and quite blatantly ripped off the sentinel squid things in the Matrix, but that first encounter with these new aliens is sure to send a shiver down your spine. Cloaking and biding their time until you've forgotten they're out there, these tentacled beasties will then pop up and try to make your Rookies' eyes bulge. And not in a good way.

3. Exalt

Whaddya got under there, mister?

Now, I'm aware that a lot of the 'horror' I've described above is actually the product of my own fevered imagination rather than any genuine in-game scares. I accept that. And I also accept that what I'm about to say about creepy alien worshippers Exalt doesn't really help my case, but here goes. Exalt are inherently creepy because they're fanatics who shiv themselves in the neck rather than be taken alive, and pump themselves so full of alien parts they no longer know what size shirt they need, but that's not why they freak me out. They freak me out because of the imagined awfulness lurking beneath the perpetual bandana. These guys are identical, so they can't be wearing the bandanas for anonymity's sake. So what's so terrible about their mouths? (I might've thought about this too much.)

4. Augments

"I had regular feet before I joined the XCOM program."

So, on the one hand XCOM:EW asks you to look at the horror wrought by fiddling about with alien DNA via the cookie cutter Aryan extremists of Exalt, but on the other hand, encourages you to give it a go on your own soldiers to gain a military advantage. Your soldiers' eyes, skin, brains, bones and innards are now just extra ways to upgrade. Give them an extra heart, chameleon skin, and super springy leg muscles, but don't think about what happens when the war is over and your uniformed abomination has to go home to its family.

5. Cybernetics

"I'll never wear peeptoe sandals again..."

Perhaps the most horrifying addition is the Cybernetics Lab. When I saw previews of the Mechs, I thought "Cool, my soldiers get to be like Sigourney Weaver, fighting aliens in a mechanised suit." When the reality is: "Oh no, as a reward for her exemplary service I've amputated all my soldier's limbs and condemned her to never again knowing the touch of another human being." I feel better about Patrick Sutherland the Chameleon Kangaroo Freak going home to his kids now. At least he won't accidentally shoot their legs off with his mini-gun arm while telling them in a monotone they are down to 50% functionality.