Saints Row: The Third - Review
Since 2006, “Saints Row” has been gang-banging its way out of the shadow of its fellow third-person shooting, open world, gun-toting, car-stealing extravaganza, “Grand Theft Auto”. With this third installment to the series, Saints is looking to expand that gap far beyond what many would have ever believed. Though gigantic purple dildos played a major role in the advertising campaign of the game, that isn’t the only ‘gap enlargement’ tool at play here.
Saints Row: The ThirdXbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Single Player, Co-Op
Developer: Volition, inc.
Publisher: THQ
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
Price: $59.99
Right off the bat, Saints Row: The Third’s over-the-top action hits the stage with an epic bank-breaking and mid-air battle prologue, setting the tone for much more extreme gameplay elements to take place down the line. You return as whatever (unnamed) custom boss of the 3rd Street Saints you decided to craft or download from the game’s in-depth initiation station, male or female.
The game’s story is fun. It is your duty as the boss of the Saints to recapture your gang’s clout in the city of Steelport by buying up property and beating out other gangs through violence or challenges, which wind up being violent, anyway. The Saint’s gang members’ working relationships come off as believable and genuine, greatly in part due to the quality voice performances of the game’s cast. The plot is full of twists and turns, with hard-hitting ‘holy shit’ moments aplenty. An aspect that makes the game’s narrative work so well is the dialogue and voice acting of each individual character as you progress through the game. There are also ‘choose your own adventure’ elements that provide a tinge of welcomed replay value. That factor plays a major and minor role when it comes to the game’s ending. Major because the choice you make forever changes the face of aspects of the city; minor because you have the choice to go back and get the alternate ending. One is indeed more satisfying than the other.
Saints Row: The Third plays near to the style of an arcade adventure. The default shooting configuration may be a bit sluggish for those more experienced, quick-to-react gamers. Head shots and nut shots being the key to stopping an assailant cold is very gratifying. The driving is fairly far from a simulation experience. Things like power-sliding can be pulled off without a hitch once you understand the simple control of the driving mechanics. Yes, some vehicles do feel heavier than others, but you will only have to adjust slightly to get used to each particular set of wheels. The game’s assorted flying contraptions control much closer in style within their vehicular grouping. There are also boats in the game…but they don’t matter when it comes to the grand scheme of things.
Rounding off the SR3’s base story are an assortment of mini-games that must be played in order to obtain 100% of sections of Steelport. These, and the three tiers of difficulty of each challenge, keeps things from becoming too repetitive when it comes to progressing through the campaign.
Combat, health, weapon, and car upgrades will make your adventure in Steelport easier as you go. The gun pickings have their typical pistol, SMG, and rifle selections; however, it is the other special gun options that make SR3 outstanding as a third person action game. Car modification is possibly the most gratifying and addictive hobby in SR3. With the customization options of each individual ride, you may want 2 or 3 of a kind in your garage, as if you are preparing for your own personal ‘tricked-out-whip’ convention.
There is nothing graphically groundbreaking about SR3. That’s not saying it isn’t a pretty game, though. The colorful Steelport environment holds up fairly well, considering there is no apparent loading time during travel from one section of the city to another. The loading doesn’t really come into play until you change instances or die. With the graphics engine does come a load of glitches that may be encountered during your exploration sessions; mostly getting stuck in walls.
All in all, Saints Row: The Third is a fun game, once you get past the fact that most of the NPC’s in the game drive as if they have Tourette’s syndrome. The level of customization is notable. Custom fashion, custom gang, custom cars, and low speed rickshaw chases make SR3 more of a unique experience than a mindless slaughter fest GTA clone. It’s over the top action will excite most crowds, causing a lot of “Oohs” and “Oh Damn’s!”. Despite all the story has to offer, SR3 is short, if you choose to go simply from one in-game mission to another. If you do choose to go for 100% completion, you could easily squeeze 40 hours of gameplay out of this one, not including Whored mode. THQ has yet to announce what the DLC content will be, but after playing through the game’s story completely, there is a chance a good portion of it will be story based.
