Saints Row IV announcement trailer takes leave of its senses

How silly is Saints Row IV going to be. Well, let's look at what's inside its announcement trailer.

A guitar-shaped rocket launcher. This is quite silly.
Superpowers. This is very silly.
A head-expanding laser beam. Positively batshit.
A skyward launching nutshot. Just... ouch.
A giant, mutated, rampaging mascot. I think I'm becoming desensitised.
An announcement date of August 20th for the US, and August 23rd for the UK. More informative than silly, really.

There's a definite pattern emerging.

Frankly, I'm delighted. Saint Row: The Third was one of those games so unapologetically ridiculous that it snapped back on itself and became a uniquely warped kind of genius. It's nice to see Volition and Deep Silver really test how far they can push that.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.