Rather, it exists at the midpoint between the slightly more straight-laced Saints Row 2 and the left-field slapstick turn of Saints Row: The Third. In terms of scale, this new incarnation of the series isn’t quite as bonkers as its immediate predecessors - after all, in the first couple hours of Saints Row 4, they blow up the Earth. The Boss of the newly formed Saints solves every problem that comes their way in a straight-line fashion: There’s you, there’s the goal, and in most cases, all that’s left of anything in between those two points is a trail of smoking, bleeding, or radioactively green glowing debris.

There are probably reasonable human solutions to these problems, but the reboot of Saints Row is a game about telling reasonable to go fuck itself. If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch. When we award the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the recipient is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun - and worth fitting into your schedule. Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games, movies, TV shows, comics, tabletop books, and entertainment experiences.