Saints Row: The Third
Score: 82% ESRB: Mature Publisher: THQ Developer: Volition Media: DVD/1 Players: 1; 2 (Online) Genre: Action/ Free-Roaming
Graphics & Sound: Saints Row: The Third takes a massively different approach to the open world genre. While other games like to bring the action closer to "real life," Saints Row: The Third instead targets Michael Bay-styled realism. The game opens with a massive bank robbery by helicopter, only to top it with an action-packed fight through two airplanes. As the game carries on, situations only get bigger. But, in trying to "go big," Volition has lost sight of smaller details that always seem to get you. The one small detail Saints Row: The Third absolutely nails is presentation. Anyone disappointed with the lack of major upgrades between Saints Row and its sequel will love the new visuals. Even your character comments on how much better people look in Steelport than Stillwater. The big things are great, but what really got me were the smaller details that help the city come to life. I vividly remember rolling through the streets in a tank and noticing a pair of shoes hanging from a power line. Even though I had helicopters falling out of the sky around me and other untold carnage happening around me, that one little detail stuck out. I like that. Keeping with series' tradition, Saints Row: The Third offers loads of character customization features. You can make your character look however you want, right down to overly huge body parts. You can also apply items like metal skin or toggle the sliders to create celebrity look-a-likes. Once in game, you can alter your character's appearance whenever you want. Creations can be uploaded and shared via the Saints Row website as well. The other detail that really stuck with me is musical choice. As always, you can flip through numerous radio stations while tooling around Steelport. Certain missions are punctuated by inspired musical choices. In one early mission, you'll parachute into an enemy compound as Kanye West's "Power" plays in the background. Like the shoes, its all about the little details.
Gameplay: For all that Saints Row: The Third lets you do, it can't quite keep up with things on the gameplay side. Missions are fun and entertaining, but compared to past games, Saints Row: The Third can't quite live up in terms of pacing or storytelling. Missions are dolled out via your cell phone, but lack the same coherent flow found in past games. There's a story thread tying them together, but the connections are loose at best. Sometimes you'll enter a mission with the vaguest of ideas about what you're supposed to do, causing them to degenerate into basic, "Kill everyone and follow the yellow arrow," styled gameplay. It's entertaining, especially once your arsenal opens up to include VTOL jets and tanks, but tasks can sometimes feel a bit pointless, or at the very least, misguided. The main mission line can be completed in a matter of hours, leaving you with a host of side missions. All of your favorites from past games are here, including Assassination, Escort and Mayhem. There are a few new variations, such as Tiger Escort, where you're tasked with driving through the city with a tiger riding shotgun. This, along with a TRON-inspired variation of Trailblazer, are standout mission types, but when you get down to it, there really isn't much else here - at least not in the way we've come to expect from the series. Saints Row: The Third's biggest fault is its lack of story. The game gets high marks for giving players a lot of really cool toys, but it completely misses the mark in terms of narrative. Story points are rushed to completion and lack any sort of gravity. It just lacks heart, instead choosing to toss out eye candy and sophomoric humor. Missions feel big, but lack the emotional impact found in some of Saints Row 2's story missions. The rival gangs are pointless and seem like they're around to give you different colored targets. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing holding it together. Even with the extra tasks, Saints Row: The Third can't quite keep pace with previous games. I was able to complete a majority of the game in less than twenty hours. I still have about five hours or so worth of side missions to tackle, but honestly I can't see myself wanting to go back any time soon, which is a shame since I still go back to Saints Row 2 every once in a while just to play around. Call it my gaming palette cleanser. If you want to squeeze out a few more hours of gameplay, you can hook up with a friend for co-op. You can take friends into Steelport and complete missions as a team, though more than likely, you'll end up horsing around with tanks, RPGS and the other toys found in the game. Then there's "Whored Mode," a sort of wave-based survival mode where you (and up to three friends) can fight off various waves of scantily clad women. Each wave has its different obstacles and is fun, but not for long.
Difficulty: Considering the number of high-powered weapons available from the start, Saints Row: The Third is never incredibly difficult. If a mission is giving you problems, the solution is usually sitting in the gun store. That's not to say every mission is a cakewalk once you're packing fully upgraded machine pistols with flaming ammo or have access to a VTOL. Enemies are annoying and will come of out of the woodwork just to make your life miserable. One of the better parts of previous games was taking over territories and watching enemies struggle to keep pace. The more territory you held, the fewer enemies you would face. If a certain mission gave you problems, you could usually alter the difficulty by completing other missions. Not here. Even after taking over 100% of Steelport, enemies will harass you at every turn. It's a big dynamic that is sorely missed. Saints Row: The Third also introduces a handful of hard-to-kill enemies, like brutes or flame-thrower wielding giants. When these guys hit the scene, your odds of survival drop. I didn't mind the super enemies, but they come around with such frequency that combat stops being fun.
Game Mechanics: Much of Saints Row: The Third is based around the concept of Respect. Everything you do in the game earns Respect points, which act like experience points in Call of Duty. Each level gives you access to a tier of perks, which you can purchase with money acquired by doing missions or taking over territories. Most perks are upgrades, such as more ammo or health, though there are a few that can really shift gameplay, such as the option to erase wanted levels or even automatically take over a territory. The new system is cool, but removes the underlying strategy that made past games more than an open world action game. Though it wasn't the deepest of systems, the Risk-like game of territory acquisition was a major part of gameplay. Part of the fun was taking over rival territories and watching their numbers slowly dwindle into nothing. You won't find that same sense of satisfaction here. The shift towards a Respect points-based economy makes some tasks pointless. You only have to complete one mission in each section to take it over. This adds importance to some tasks, but others - like car jacking or assassination - feel like padding. Unlike past games, there isn't much of a unifying structure to hold everything together in a meaningful way. Instead, you hastily jump from one big set piece to another. Driving and combat are largely the same as past games. Jumping into cars and switching weapons are easy, though driving and shooting seem, at least to me, slightly harder than in Saints Row 2. Its not a big deal since driving away is usually the better option considering the number of enemies the game likes to toss your way. At the same time, it is slightly annoying. Saints Row: The Third is great in a big action movie sort of way, which is ultimately why you'll end up enjoying your time with the game, but don't expect much else beyond a string of big time action set pieces. Don't get me wrong - the big action set pieces are fun, but even those start to get a little out of hand. The same goes for the humor. Once the initial shock wears off, most seem like juvenile gags. Big action is great, and when Saints Row: The Third does it right, it is amazing. But, big action it isn't the reason the series won its fanbase, nor is it the reason I gush while telling Saints Row 2 stories. Saints Row: The Third is a great guilty-pleasure, but in taking that route, Volition seems to have lost track of what made the series special.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Related Links: Game Vortex's Review of Saints Row 2 PlayStation Illustrated's Review of Saints Row 2 Game Vortex's Review of Saints Row Buy Saints Row: The Third on Amazon
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