Review - Saints Row The Third
Sunday, 27 November 2011 18:14
Saints Row has always, and probably always will be GTA’s little brother. The one that always gets in your way when you least want it too, pull your hair, throw smart remarks and run away from anything. The annoying sibling that you hate but deep down can’t live without and truly love, Saints Row The Third has grown since its first Saints Row release but it hasn’t matured much, it has simply become a teen instead of a kid, without the pimples but with more attitude than ever, and this time it aren’t running away, its coming straight for you.
If you have played a Saints Row game before you know the deal, it’s an open world where anything and almost everything is a go, also everything is bigger, badder and more tongue in cheek than any other game. Either you love it or you hate it, but truth be told, Saints Row the Third shows that you can have madness and over the top stupidity but also keep a story going without it getting too weird.
The thing with Saints Row The Third is just that, it has always been the stupid little game that tried so hard but never really got that right feeling about it, it was more a time killer than anything else, but with the release of Saints Row The Third we actually get a storyline that you can get behind, and truth is that it’s actually pretty damn good.
Short story is, The Saints is everything, they are the talk of the town, celebrities and got everything they need and are everything everyone wants to be. A bank robbery goes wrong, when some Saints try to rob a bank that belongs to Steelport Syndicate which isn’t something you should try to do, and before you know it the story revolves around The Saints trying to take down the big bad wolf, The Syndicate. I’m not saying this is the most clever story or the most interesting aspect of a storyline ever written and produced within the gaming world, all I’m saying is that the story gives you enough reasons to keep coming back just so you can shut down The Syndicate once and for all and still have a load of fun doing it!
The characters you meet up with through The Third is incredible and remarkable to say the least, one scene there’s an car chase, but instead of cars you use a wagon and instead of a horse pulling the wagon you have gimps, that’s just one but a good way of showing you how little the game takes itself serious. And the wagons don’t just crumble and break if you shoot them down, they are made out of wood, but in best cartoony fashion, they still explode, also did I add that the gimp pulling your wagon is one of your recruit members, ex-pimp who talks with in auto-tune… You see Saints Row the Third isn’t “laugh out loud” funny; it’s more “I see what you did there” funny.
Also the game doesn’t keep a steady pace it throws you into the most bizarre loops I’ve ever seen in a game before. Add a lot of movie and gaming rephrences and I’m sure there’s anything for everyone to enjoy in here. With and incredible load of side missions, houses and shops to both buy and explore, items to buy, cars to pimp, gangs to pimp out, clothes to wear, tattoos to get… I could go on for pages about the amount of things you can do to kill time in this game but I’m sure I would forget a lot and still I’m sure there is a lot I haven’t discovered yet as I’m writing this review, with already too many hours of gameplay in the game. Did I mention there’s Tanks to control, Jets to fly or Helicopters to play around with?? How about a multiplayer which is a lot better than the previous game was, throw this game in the mix with your friends and there is no telling what the hell could happen!
Saints Row the Third isn’t the unserious, funny version of GTA IV, not by any measures, what it is however is a good way to pick up a game to just have straight up fun with. It’s a game you can play with friends and create your own insanity, and better yet, you can go back to the game from time to time and find things you didn’t even know was in there in the first place. Saints Row the Third isn’t anything magical, spiritual or revolutionary; it is simply the basics of videogames, pure fun.
We got our review copy from the nice people over at GamersGate,
