Prerelease:Saints Row IV/Saints Row Part Four

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Saints Row IV.

To do: Retrieve screenshots from Tenth Anniversary stream regarding the features within the tech demo.

Whilst Saints Row: The Third was to receive its DLC Enter The Dominatrix, Volition were also actively developing the next main-line game: Saints Row: Part Four, also internally known as "Saints Row 4 Prime". Not much is known about this proposed entry, despite the story being that Johnny Gat would return with...Hitler?

Development

As Saints Row: The Third was very successful, Volition and THQ decided that in late 2011, they would start active development on the next game in the series. Both those entries were being developed at the same time, albeit with team for Three Point Five being larger.

Story

The story of Saints Row: Part Four was drastically different in comparison. For instance, it would have taken place directly after the events of Saints Row: The Third (though not known which ending), following on from the "death" of fan-favorite Johnny Gat. Ultor would have then made their return, cloning him and creating what was described by the developers as a "seriously evil" version of himself...apparently expanding on, and resolving the cliffhanger of the DLC The Trouble With Clones.

The three-gang scheme would've been present like the previous entries, with Cloned Gat using the same Ultor cloning technique to bring back versions of infamous leaders in world history. These would have included Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, Joseph Stalin and controversially...Hitler, who each would have led their own respective gangs around the new setting. Every gang leader would have their own base of operations, inspired by the famous locations they originated from, much like every other Saints Row game. At the moment, only Khan, Stalin and Cleopatra have concept art to coincide with their bases.

It is presumed that the rest of the story would have revolved around dismantling every base, leader and opposition until reaching Gat. It is currently unknown how the rest of the story would have transpired, or what Activities would have been available.

Part Four Tech Demo

With development for the next entry going swimmingly, Volition put together a rudimentary tech demo of Part Four, sometime between February to March 2012. Made to show off a range of new additions to the series, this was meant to have been showed off to a small amount of press outlets, but never really was, as the game was shelved only a few months later.

Included in this tech demo was a lot of interesting elements, proving that Volition were willing to go above and beyond with developing a more "balls to the wall" story, just as they did with Saints Row: The Third, not limited to a very verging-on-copyright prototype and an all new cover system, akin to what its rivalling franchise Grand Theft Auto V would adapt later on. It's important to note that the only thing that was actually up and running at the time of this tech demo was the city; everything else was solely animations and concept art.

Tech Demo Features

• Dense City

The first thing to be seen in the tech demo is a whole new city. Still using assets from Saints Row: The Third however, Volition promised an all new, larger city this time around, with more buildings, pedestrians and environmental allure. Also being showcased was an all new rendering system, which allowed more detail, some form of raytracing and smoother camera movement. Seeing as this was only around four months into development, most of the original additions to the city were simply just greyboxed at this time.

• Star Fox Prototype

Obviously inspired by Nintendo's beloved Star Fox franchise, Star Fox-inspired gameplay elements were shown in a section aptly named "Star-Fox Proto" - most notably a battle sequence that was heavily inspired by Star Fox and Star Fox 64.

As shown in the prototype, the protagonist would be presumably seated within a V-TOL and would have to traverse through a blocky obstacle course, whilst shooting at enemies. It isn't known what this would have been used for, although it could have possibly been meant for either an Activity and/or part of the storyline. It is worth noting that Saints Row IV features similar missions.

• Side Scroller Prototype

A side scroller prototype was also shown, which was later reused for Johnny Gat's simulation in the release version of Saints Row IV. In comparison to what was eventually seen in Saints Row IV, this version of the side scroller was still using assets from it's previous entry, but was no where near inspired by classic beat-'em-ups like Streets of Rage, as it later came to be. Attacking enemies was still incorporated, character and camera movement being smoother, and also seemed to be revolving around a 3D space rather than the 2D version we ended up getting.

• Gun Customisation

An all-new gun customisation mechanic was shown, allowing the Playa to be able to add attachments to their weapons at a whim.

• Parkour/Cover System

Both a parkour and cover system had been animated at this point. The Playa could traverse the map by performing parkour sequences, whether it be to get from point A to point B, or to roll into cover when fighting enemies. The player could also vault over obstacles, making gun fights a lot more interesting and immersive.

Concept Art

The original title screen for Saints Row: Part Four.

Joseph Stalin's base concept art.

Cleopatra's base concept art.

Genghis Khan's base concept art.

Cancellation

Saints Row: Part Four was scrapped around June 20, 2012, when Volition were advised by then-boss of THQ, Jason Rubin to go ahead with the vastly more developed Enter The Dominatrix, after having been shown a build of said DLC. By that time, developmental teams for Enter The Dominatrix and Part Four were merged into one, and were going to become the basis for the next entry in the series.

The development of Part Four was ill-fated pretty early on, as not only was it much less developed than its DLC counterpart, but Volition were also in the process of being owned by Deep Silver amidst the THQ bankruptcy drama. Eighth-generation consoles were steadily nearing their release dates, whereas if Part Four was due to release after 2013, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One would have already released, leaving the newest entry in the dust. Same cannot be said for larger franchises like Grand Theft Auto V, and LittleBigPlanet.