Review: Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360)
The Saints Row series wasn’t suppose to have come this far and yet, thanks to Saints Row 2 proving that not only could Volition, Inc make a open world game that was seen as more then just another Grand Theft Auto clone but also somehow make it more fun then Grand Theft Auto IV in the eyes of some gamers and critics.
So here we are, Saints Row: The Third, which has promised us – via trailers showing the use of a purple dildo, the Genki Leisure stunt suit (as part of the Hyper Ordinary Pack if you pre-ordered the game) and the “awesome” button – to be more outrageous, brash, crude, amusing and most importantly more fun then it’s predecessor. But does it live up to that promise?
Things get off to a hectic start as what should be a simple Bank Robbery for the Third Street Saints turns out to go up shit creek, landing the saints in jail and then escaping death from the main gang protagonist – The Syndicate – via a high octane parachute set-piece. This lands you in Steelport, a place where the saints are unwelcome. But the player will make sure that won’t be the case for very long.
It’s very clear in the first minutes of playing that SR3 looks very slick. The graphics are sharper with the colours really coming out, looking more cartoony then realistic, though with the Saints Row series being a parody on gang culture, this is to be expected and even welcomed. Character models look more defined and more animated to, aspects which you can see for yourself during the fun character creation screen. Specific places have also been given a makeover, meaning stores don’t look so generic and now stand out more and cribs feels more distinct.
More surprising though is the sound has also gotten a major upgrade. Weapons have a more impact to them, vehicle crashes have that crunch and Steelport sounds more busy and alive then Stilwater did. In a nifty small touch, shops now have their own background music as well. Friendly Fire – the infamous weapon retailer in the Saints Row series – has country music playing while other stores will have music reflecting on what they sell. Even your crib and garage has it’s own theme, a catchy dance/rave ensemble. While the radio station selection may not be very numerous (there is a total of eight) the song selections – along with mocking adverts and news stories – are very decent. Best is Adult Swim/Cartoon Network’s radio station. While the OST and sound effects of SR3 won’t be remembered after a while, at least Volition have made some effort to make it an important part of the game. This isn’t more evident then with the dialogue as it is fantastic; as in that while again there is nothing memorable or emotionally great, it does give you a few laugh out loud moments and many others that raise a smirk. You’ll find it impossible not to listen to a sing-along early in the game nor not listen to the whole thing.
After the first mission, you’re free to explore Steelport and upon first looking at the map (via the much improved interface) you’ll notice it looks smaller then Stilwater. This however is to SR3′s benefit as though expansive and impressively huge, the sandbox world in SR2 could lead to many dull journeys, as you would sometimes have to travel great distances to activate the next mission, activity or visit a store to purchase necessary items. Yes Steelport feels more compact but it’s still big enough to make travelling and exploring more fun yet not too big to make backtracking a pain in the ass. It’s a perfect compromise. It’s also nice to see roads being less likely to be barren and actually find cars parked on the roadside, something that was peculiarly missing in SR2 and makes carjacking that much easier.
That said, despite a whole lot of polish, there are still some bugs. Nothing game breaking but they can still be really irritating, like being killed by carjacking due to the car suddenly getting stuck in the ground, people disappearing then they leave your sight, seeing vehicles stuck in the ground and spasming like it’s possessed or all of a sudden getting a police star when you’ve done nothing at all. And SR3 inherits the pop-up and sudden graphical glitches that were common in SR2. It does show that SR3 may have seen the series evolve presentation wise, but it still has it’s rough moments.
As stated earlier, the interface is much more improved. By pressing select, you access your phone which now has all the menus (except saving and gameplay options). So you can now access missions, assassination and chop shop activity, receive your income and fiddle around with your playlist with less hassle. This a) eliminates needless travel and b) makes the gameplay much more smoother. The exception that the map screen doesn’t have it’s own button and instead must be access through your phone which is a hassle; would have been great if the save and gameplay options were in the phone screen and the map screen was assigned it’s own button (just like in SR2).
This all helps the gameplay to be that much more brilliant and Volition have made sure that you’ll be constantly having fun.
We’ll start with the heavily hyped feature which is the “Awesome Button” (which also functions as your sprint button). With it you can hijack vehicles faster and do special takedowns that stun the enemy enough to kill off quickly with a well placed headshot. While it’s limited in what you can do with the awesome button, it never gets tiring to use, in fact you’ll become heavily reliant upon it to get things done quicker or get you out of a tight jam quickly. It’s also fun to take out a bunch of gang members with just takedowns.
Activities – which offered some of the most fun in SR2 – make a return with many from the previous game being used in SR3. These include Trafficking, Insurance Fraud, Escort, Snatch, (the dreaded) Heli Assault and Mayhem. There are some new ones as well, though most of them are a spin on old activities, With Tiger Escort seeing you drive with a tiger and build up your courage meter before the tiger mauls you to death, Tank Mayham plays just like mayham but instead you use a tank and Guardian Angel is a on-rails version Heli Assault, with you using a sniper rifle to protect one of your homies from rival gang members. There are two brand new activities. The first one is Prof. Genki, and it is the fantastic. With this activity you become part of a Gameshow (‘Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax‘) that is a mix of Takeshi’s castle and the deadly gameshow found in the Running Man film. It’s a great parody fusion of Japanese and American gameshows with some funny dialogue from the commentators. The second is one you’ll discover across Steelport and that is Gang Operations. These involve taking out rival gangs in a particular area. Once that’s done you gain control of that area, like you would if you completed an activity, mission or brought property. Assassination and Chop Shop return and they are more streamlined to make it a slightly less hassle to start and also find the vehicle. Lastly, there are challenges, a new addition to the Saints Row series. These range from getting a number of head or nut shots to how many miles you’ve driven. They are varied and some take a lot longer to complete then others. But there is a sense of accomplishment in doing all of them and they do increase the longevity of the game.
While some may find it lazy that Volition have recycled many of the activities and seemingly not put much effort into this aspect, at least they are still fun, with an incentive in that they are quite rewarding, tweaked so that the harder difficulties aren’t frustrating, don’t drag on for too long or just feel fun to complete.
The main part of the game, the missions themselves, are varied in their set-ups. While it mostly involves killing whoever is in your way, they are done in such a way that it doesn’t get repetitive and there are some exciting moments. You also get the bizarre happens, such as taking on zombies, participating in a wrestling match were “Your the best” (yes THAT infamous Karate Kid theme) plays in the backgrouind while you butcher luchadores with chainsaws. and going to mars. Yes the planet mars.
Completing missions and activities sees respect being earned. But in respect isn’t just a semi-useless thing, as it’s used to unlock bonuses such as upgrade your character, vheicles, weapons and guns and even your own gang members. This gives you an incentive to not rushing through the game. With some good playing and completing activities, you can gain maximum respect and become a near invulnerable gangsta death machine before your even halfway through the game! That may make SR3 less challenging to some but then that would be missing the point.
Combat is just like it was in SR2; Not great but perfectly acceptable. You get even funkier weapons this time round which does make it a bit more fun to get into firefights and melee combat and speaking of melee, it’s slightly more meaty. Also you can do melee attacks to the private regions to anyone – even females – which is a bonus and as stated, doing takedowns is always good fun when a battle isn’t too serious. Also enemies are more varied as each rival faction has their own special units, alongside the typical grunts. These range from the fast yet fragile Decker Rollergirl to the the pain in the ass Brutes, who require hit and run tactics to take down.
There have also been some nice gameplay tweaks. Your noriety can be gone just by simply going to any building you own, thus not having to rely on the sparse “Forgive and Forget” places in SR2, needless shops have been eliminated, Large neon arrows now also point your way to your chosen destination, which means less time looking at the minimap and taking your eyes off the road. It generally makes the gameplay flow that much more better.
After you’ve finished with the main campaign, there is Whored mode and Co-Op campaign. As you’d imagine Whored mode is a parody of Gears of War’s “Horde mode”, where you can choose from three different levels, each with thirty waves of enemies to get through with pre-selected weapons. It’s fine as a time waster but no more. The game dosen’t provide you any single player bonuses nor unlock anything else, so you won’t be playing it for long. Co-op allows you to blast through the campaign missions (and activities) with another person, similar to SR2. It’s another great way to extend the longevity of the game and even help you complete missions and activities you’re having trouble with.
SR3 isn’t perfect; it’s still rough around the edges and could do with a bit more polish, you wish there were more songs, more weapons… Just more of everything and it lacks a lot of truly memorable parts nor has a story that is important in the grand scheme of things. It’s not that long either if you just rush through the game, clocking in at around eight hours. But it is a very fun game that does have great moments.
Also. Burt F***ing Reynolds.
