PAX Prime 2014: Saints Row 4 Gat Out Of Hell Preview

Hell: the final frontier. In the newly announced stand-alone expansion to Saints Row 4, Kinzie Kensington and Johnny Gat are headed to Hades to rescue the Boss and confront history's biggest assholes.

There's probably no better place on Earth than Hell to set an open world sandbox game. Whereas Saints Row 4 takes place in a Matrix-like computer program and featured aliens and space travel, Gat Out Of Hell is all Underworld, with emaciated demons roaming the streets and weapons that release deadly Biblical plagues. Everything in the game has been restructured to fit the theme; players can still use superpowers and race up the side of buildings but are now aided by giant angel's wings. Vivid streaks of red hot fire and lava punch up the previously-dull horizon.

I got about ten minutes with the gameplay demo and had time to cycle through some of the new weapons. I am especially fond of the reclining chair that sends off rockets and machine gun fire, and a gun that shoots swarms of locusts. Among my superpowers was the ability to cast a group of imps that will attack enemies on the player's behalf, and an area-based effect that causes nearby demons to fall to their knees in worship. I was pleased to discover I could still speed up the side of skyscrapers and flit from building to building, now aided by giant wings. The fire and lava are gorgeous additions to the scenery and dramatically punch up the previously dull atmosphere.

Unlike Saints Row 4, which was based on the map of Steelport from Saints Row 3,  this expansion was designed from scratch with verticality in mind, so as to better accomodate the many special abilities now available in the series. It was also created to be more of a sandbox title than the base game, allowing you to level up, unlock cut scenes, and eventually beat the game simply by wandering around the city and causing chaos and destruction. Several mini-games still dot the landscape, and I was thrilled to see the Fraud mission make a reappearance in a new fiendish form.

Go to Hell with Gat and the gang when the stand alone expansion debuts on January 27, 2015. It comes out on the PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.