Saints Row: The Third Review (Kevin_and_Other_Drugs)
Saints Row has an interesting history. Starting off as a Grand Theft Auto clone and evolving into a wacky, action packed, controversial series where you can fight aliens, murder people for a game show and take on a country with the strangest weapons ever conceived in just 4 games!
Story & Gameplay:
Somewhere between utter insanity and gritty realism lies Saints Row the Third. A wonderful game continuing the Saints journey. Following the events of SR2, the Saints have reached stardom. They're a hugely popular brand name who end up messing with the wrong people known as "The Syndicate." This conflict ends up separating the Saints from their home turf and taking them to the unknown city of Steelport, where the Syndicate operate within.
From there the story largely revolves around the Saints dealing not only with defeating the Syndicate, but also the agency of "S.T.A.G." deployed in Steelport to deal with the increase of gang operations and violence.
The gameplay is still based around the GTA blueprint. An open-world filled with activities, where you can drive, fly and walk around, flattening pedestrians and assaulting gang members. There's a large array of weapons and vehicles both standard and wacky that can make for fun-filled adventures as well.
Some Pros:
- A harmonious blend of grounded and insane.
- Fun, unrestricted gameplay.
- Decent avatar, clothing, car, weapon and gang customisation.
- Co-op/Multiplayer
Some Cons -
- Challenges are grindy. (Not necessary for 100% or story though.)
- Only a handful of enemy types.
- Game can feel repetitive in combat situations.
Conclusion:
I recommend this game to anyone old enough to play it. It's the Saints Row I, and I feel most of the fan base, prefer. Not too grounded but also not too crazy that you're overpowered and never challenged. The story is a lot of mindless fun that had a lot of thought put into it and the open world is filled with so many enjoyable side quests to take part in. To anybody who might be unaware, try to get "the full package" version of the game which has most of the DLC included. 3 short DLC stories and way, way more vehicles, weapons, cosmetics and activities.
10/10, will Saint again :D