I am a rather big Saints Row fan. Strangely though, I’ve never played the first or second game. I started at Saints Row: The Third, played Saints Row IV, and fell in love with both games. For someone who has never played a Saints Row game, it looks like Grand Theft Auto at first glance but it isn’t really. I would say that Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is what you would get if GTA gained a sense of humor and the ability to not take itself so seriously.

In Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, you must break out of a matrix-esque virtual prison created by aliens who have taken over the Earth. You will explore the virtual city of Steelport, undergoing missions and utilizing new superpowers to take down the evil Zin. Missions tend to range from causing large amounts of mayhem and damage to property in virtual Steelport, all the way to doing story-based levels with special mechanics and designs.

You can roam around Steelport however you wish, doing missions, collecting Data Clusters, and doing all sorts of other things like purchasing new weapons, outfits, and more. The Saints Row IV: Re-Elected release comes with all the DLC from the original game, other than the standalone expansion Saints Row: Gat out of Hell, which is its own thing that has not yet been released on Switch.

The big thing that sets Saints Row IV apart from other entries in the Saints Row franchise is the superpower mechanics. As you progress through the story, you’ll unlock abilities like increased speed, jump height, and elemental control abilities. These abilities can be upgraded using the aforementioned Data Clusters via a complete skill tree that is available as you progress.

Separate from the main story are side missions, which allow you to liberate districts of Steelport from the Alien menace. These districts will then generate income for you, that you can spend on all manner of useful things like perks and weapons. You can also buy and customize various vehicles, and even play in a cooperative multiplayer with a friend. Overall the story is great, the characters are funny, the gameplay is fantastic, and there is a lot to do.

If you’ve played Saints Row: The Third, or if you played Saints Row IV on another platform, you know what you’re in for. There is a major problem though that I noticed with the Switch port. The loading screens have a tendency to freeze up, especially in the early hours of the game. Once the game gives you a little freedom in terms of the open world, it does improve, but there were multiple times that I had to entirely restart the game and redo sections because it hadn’t autosaved before the freeze.

Because of that, I have a hard time entirely recommending this port without any stipulations. It crashed on me 4 times in a single play session, and the only reason I pushed through was that I hoped it would even out when they gave me more control and freedom. A lot of other people wouldn’t do that and it makes me wonder why the Switch port was so poorly-optimized for that. I didn’t even try the multiplayer option, because I can’t imagine playing it with another person would be less taxing on an already freezing and crashing game.

Granted, the game is fantastic and the problems with loading screens become less of an issue once you get into the open-world section. However, the first few hours are incredibly poorly-optimized and I can’t help but wonder why that hasn’t been patched or fixed yet. If you want to take Saints Row IV: Re-Elected on the go, I would suggest waiting to get it on sale. The PS4 version is probably well done and I’ve played Saints Row IV on PC enough times to know that it works like a dream. If the bugs don’t bother you and you’re willing to push through, you can’t go wrong with this one.

So to summarize this, if you love Saints Row IV and want to play it on the go, you could give Saints Row IV: Re-Elected a try but you may have to deal with some technical issues. If you just want to give a Saints Row game a try, this is an option but the technical issues may sour your experience. If you think that might be an issue, perhaps play it on PC or PS4 if you can. It isn’t a bad game and if the technical issues weren’t present, I could see it being a fantastic deal for your money. As it stands though, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected probably could have done more work on the campaign trail.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Saints Row IV: Re-Elected was provided by Deep Silver for this review.

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Saints Row IV: Re-Elected

$39.99 USD

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Fun Gameplay
• Lots of Things to Do
• Hilarious Jokes and Sci-Fi References
• Awesome Superpower Mechanics
• Tons of Customization Options

Cons

• Load Screens Freeze a Lot Early On
• Freezes and Crashes Cause a Loss of Progress