The build I played was missing a chunk of exposition, because after a loading screen I was now playing what appeared to be Crackdown 2, the Xbox 360 game from 2010. You’re eventually beaten in a button-mashing quick time event with the alien king, at which point this section of the game ends. Saints Row 4 never really hits the high comedy note of the “cancer or world hunger” decision again, but that’s okay.

“This one’s for Uncle Sam!” is an example of the kind of thing the president is shouting at this point, the game’s satire reticule now aimed squarely at American mega-patriotism. Once on the White House’s lawn you hop into a giant anti-aircraft gun adorned in stars and stripes to take on the alien mothership, which sends wave after wave of small fighters in your direction. Using these guns you set about shooting at the aliens as they rampage around the presidential conference rooms and corridors, the president cracking wise about the second amendment as he goes. The invasion prompts the president to press a secret switch in the Oval Office, hidden inside a bust of his own head, revealing a range of high-powered weapons.

Shortly after that, The White House (renamed The White Crib, which is less funny) is invaded by aliens with laser guns.