Publisher: THQ and CyberFront (Japan: PC)
Developer: Volition, Inc.
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Saints Row: The Third is the, well, third installment of the Saints Row series. With each iteration it’s been difficult to really tell this game apart from its counterpart Grand Theft Auto. But with this new title Volition has finally made it stand apart. You will find yourself thrust back in laughter as you play this non-stop ridiculous adventure that can only be described as epic in the max degree!
You play as the leader of the Third Street Saints aiming to retake control of Steelport and end the every growing conspiracy growing throughout the city.
So grab your favorite gun and get ready to deal out some justice, SAINTS STYLE!
Functionality:
The controls for this game operate the same way as most open world sandbox games. Shoot and aim with triggers and change weapons with a radial mechanic accessed through the (B) or (O) button, pending on which console you are using.
It should be noted that you will be required to stop or not run to change weapons. While this never seems to be too big of an issue it is still a big inconvenience when you are trying to run away from an army of cops and gangs.
The only real issue I have noticed with the game is the concept of hand to hand combat. While this looks, and for all intensive purposes feels, to be fluid while running it doesn’t quite match up in a straight battle. To do hand to hand move you will either need to access this through the radial weapon swap mechanic or by pressing down the right joystick. I mention this because you need to have your fists out or melee weapon. If you have a gun you will use that with your right trigger move.
Now, what is the issue you are probably wondering? Well the issue is that if you are fighting a bunch of people at the same time you can’t really aim or focus on anyone. You are better off running out of the mob and turning on them with grenades or guns. This is unfortunate because you do get some pretty awesome melee weapons and they never seem to be used to their full potential.
The main reason is that an enemy can instantly throw your characters animation off by a simple tap or grab, something you don’t really have the ability to counter.
In all reality you won’t be doing too much full on fist fighting, which is something that should have been better thought through. A great idea would have been to include a fighting mechanic similar to Arkham City, that way you can get into brawls as well as gun fights. Having a game this big that can only really be enjoyed with guns just seems too prone to boredom.
But like I mentioned, when running the fighting mechanic works well. Mainly because you can instantly go into a nut shot or tackle in full sprint, on anyone you are aimed or near. This is something the game advertised and did very at, it is just unfortunate that that is the only time fighting works the best.
Also I should mention some random glitch issues that are reoccurring throughout the game. These issues are not always around but seem to occur if you play it for long periods of time. The glitches can range from not showing where you need to go to simple killing you when your car-jacking someone.
I have had several instances throughout my time with the game that I car-jacked an NPC and all of a sudden the car freaked out and launched me sideways into a wall. Normally would laugh but seeing as this kept happening at the end of a mission, it got a little frustrating.
Other than that issue there also seems to be a problem with the game allowing you to play for more than 3 hours without a freeze or it encounters a loading issue. These could just be segments of code that are not fully working properly but still something that should be investigated to insure they no longer happen.
Presentation:
The graphics are solid, especially since the game allows you to fully customize your character and this never seems to cause a big issue throughout the game.
Along with that it provides a lot of unique vehicles, many that just push the point of epic. Especially once you get them into a garage and begin the customization process.
Speaking to that, if you do not know this, there is an area in the game that is broken. If you find yourself in a tank or specialty vehicle and want to do some modifications to it, like boost its torque or whatnot, you will find out that “Rim Jobs” doesn’t allow it. Well there is a way past it. First put the vehicle in your garage, that way you can access it. Next grab a normal vehicle, customizable, and take it a “Rim Jobs” . From there you will go into you customization screen, now select garage and pick the non-customizable vehicle. But don’t fully select it, select it once and it will bring up the pop-up window asking if you want to “retrieve it”. From there you simply back up out of the garage menu area and the new vehicle will be in the customization area, boom have fun!
Besides that the game allows you to change your characters attire as well. This was done rather well but I later found it to be a little too narrow and at times disappointing. You can fully change the way you look but at the end of the day there are only so many outfits and more often than not you will just find the one you like and never change again. To me this is something that could have been fixed by providing more layer opportunities.
If they enabled a system to allow you to choose a coat, shirt, tie/neck, gloves, pants, shoes, hat, eyes, ears, etc. It would allow you to actually fully fit your character. Granted this would involve more coding and work to establish that many layers, but at the end of the day it would allow you to actually control the way you looked.
Either that or provide more than one Superhero outfit!
Atmosphere:
The soundtrack is great. You have the in game music, which sets the tone for every scene perfectly, and you have the radio. This has always been the case for Saints Row and well almost every sandbox game. They provide a radio system in every car that allows you to choose from several very different playlists. Usually you get your oldies, hip-hop, modern, and some other random specialty.
Well this was done very well with Saints Row and at times I kind of wish they would allow you to listen to music normally, instead of having to be in a car. That is just a personal choice, but I would have loved to rock some jams as I ran around with my trusty Shark Gun.
Along with the soundtrack they really did well with the sound effects. Especially with the novelty weapons and vehicles. Everything provides that right niche sound to keep you entertained.
Plot:
Well, what can I say about the plot… It is… entertaining. The story of the Saints Row: The Third is a very random assortment of bad days and weird situations. This does work very well for what the game is trying to be, nothing but funny.
Along with that Saints Row has marketed itself as a game that is over top with its story and violence, it does this extremely well. I mean the beginning of the game has you fall out of a plane that is apparently flying up in the stratosphere because you are able to shoot a bunch of guys for 10 minutes than fly back through the plane to shoot more guys for another ten minutes. Just pure ridiculous.
The game also allows you to choose your voice, so in that case all voice actors did a rather awesome job with this game. The only thing I will mention is that while the zombie voice sounds awesome at first you can be very sure that it will become the most annoying thing on the planet in just a few minutes of the game. So ya, you have been warned. Say no to the Zombie Voice!
All in all I will say this game takes the cake on the just out there feeling. And if you are worried about cheats and their effect for the overall experience, don’t be. It truly is one of those games that stays fun, even if you give yourself a bunch of cash, code “cheese”.
Legacy Rating:
Will this game last through time? This is a very interesting concept and will be able to stand apart from its predecessors. But I feel the main issue with this title is replay ability. I went through the entire game and found out that there really is no reason to ever start it over. I mean I barely had it in me to go around and do the side missions, especially when I reached lvl 50. It just doesn’t have enough in it to really make it a long lasting game. It would last through time if it kept providing great DLC, but otherwise probably not.
How does it compare with other games? The only real game to compare it to is its predecessors or maybe the Grand Theft Auto games. It truly is a unique game and able to stand on its own for what it offers.
Buy or rent? I would say it depends on what kind of game you want. If you want a great sandbox than it is a buy for sure! But again it suffers from the sandbox no-replay able curse. So if you don’t want to shell the money for that kind of one time experience you’re better off playing a different game.
Definitely my next buy!