There should be a new rating system for sandbox games. No words, just one figure that tells us how long it takes before you get to drive a helicopter. In this case of Saints Row: The Third, it's about half an hour. And the short minutes before that were hardly an introduction to road safety and using your indicators. The game kicks off with a bank heist that'd be a chapter finale for competitors.
After leaping from a crate hanging from a helicopter through the window of a skyscraper, we end up in an aircraft for the second mission, leaping from the back and having a firefight in freefall in the middle of an infinite stream of cars and crates. It's safe to say that Saints Row favours an unsubtle path. If Niko Bellic walked in and tried that navel-gazing crap, he'd get slapped about with a purple dildo and fired out of a man-cannon.
The casual misogyny can be off-putting - in a world that's taken so many steps away from reality, all the "bitches and hos" chat feels like an unnecessary reminder of the game's less ambitious roots. But then you go on a mission where you're defending a crate full of prostitutes on a helicopter as it's attacked by speedboats. It's so absurd that being offended feels redundant. Saints Row's heart might be upside down and pumping sick mauve blood, but it's in the right place.
The script can be gloriously deadpan, and the physical slapstick moments are brilliant - your escape from a bondage club on a rickshaw pulled by a gimp is a great glimpse into what a Saints Row sitcom might be like. Madness aside, the game's still a driver-shooter. And the driving is great. While GTAIV took delight in making you oversteer, Saints Row's handbraking slings you perfectly into a corner, and while different cars handle distinctly, all but the slowest and the most absurdly fast are a pleasure to drive. If you steal a car you like, get it upgraded and it'll always be available in your garage - later on it can be delivered to you wherever you are.
The shooting starts off basic, and develops in intensity rather than style. But that's fine, as the varied mission types chop up the action so regularly you barely have a chance to breathe, let alone get bored. One of the last upgrades leads to you being bulletproof, but to be honest, you can already mop up the damage like Juan Sheet. It's only when you're hopelessly outnumbered with a mutant Brute on your case that you need to take care. Saints Row isn't perfect. The look of the game reminds you how much things have moved on, and Saints Row hasn't quite kept up. It's a game that deserves to be prettier.
For a second opinion, check out CVG's Saints Row: The Third review.
11 comments so far...
J Meiser on 14 Nov '11 said:
Works for me; roll on Friday
freefallX on 14 Nov '11 said:
why is the link at the top of the page for rayman origins?
Im sure this game will be tremendous fun, i enjoyed the last 2.
its just a shame that it will be over looked for Skyrims single player or MW/BF Multiplayer.
This one my have to be picked up in april / may once the autumn lul kicks in.
buckleboff94 on 15 Nov '11 said:
counting down the days until i can let my bathrobe- wearing superhero onto to the unsuspecting steets of steelport. Why do the US and japan get it earlier than us seriously...
Rorx on 21 Nov '11 said:
Does this game have split screen coop?
andy24king on 24 Nov '11 said:
Ok you've read the reviews, play Saints Row and Saints Row 2, now its the third outing. Firstly you don't have to have played the previous two, thats pretty good to know hey.
Secondly and this is the good stuff. BUY THIS GAME. THIS IS A MUST OWN. Its so mad its just not true but in a really really funny and good way. And the shark o matic, well buy the game and you'll see what I mean. Grand Theft 4, well that was awesome, this is insanely awesome!!!
JUST GO AND BUY IT AND SEE WHAT THE FUSS IS ALL ABOUT. OH AND BUY THE SPECIAL EDITION TOO (NOT TWO GAMES, JUST THE SPECIAL EDITION lmao)!!!
SidTheSloth on 28 Nov '11 said:
Wow, after nearly 130 hours of skyrim i thought i'd peel myself away and play something else. The (unfortunate) game up next was Saints Row 3 but i'm starting to wish it had been something else
It certainly isn't a bad game, but for everything they've improved/made prettier/tidied up they seem to have left something out of the game that was in Saints Row 2 & i can't for the life of me figure out why;
1.) Socks - sounds ridiculous but wtf? Some stinky feet in steelport?!
2.) Outfits in general - no layes? No belts? The creation mode looks shinier but has loads less depth. (I smell a dlc rat)
3.) Customise your crib?
4.) Replay missions
5.) Using objects as weapons? I want to throw bins at old ladies
6.) Stores? Number of them has decreased, they're all very similar, there's no bling/music stores anymore?
7.) FIGHT CLUB!!?
8.) The sewage mode (has gone but i hated that anyway, but know some liked it)
9.) Day and night?
10.) Fighting/melee/walking styles
Disappointing to say the least
On the positive, the game feels much more polished than 2, car handling is better, guns feel punchier, and yeah, im in no doubt it's a great game which im enjoying. The things above not being there don't ruin it, some i can understand why they're gone but a game of this type, taking things away and not at least trying to replace them is always asking for trouble!
The only thing i really reallydon't like in the game is the brutes. Stupidly fast, overpowered, cheap, irritating QTE's that require speed-of-light reflexes to avoid their attacks, they're just lame, but having seen no mention of them in a review maybe i just suck. EDIT: Sorry, how could i forget - broken lamposts on the floor - STEP OVER IT MORON IT'S NOT A GODDAM WALL!! More irritating than the cars/kerbs problem in SR2!!
I need to get further into the game to answer my last worry, but at the moment, even though the missions are very different in terms of whats happening, it's all very linear in the sense i drive/am driven somewhere and then walk to objective shooting enemy - expect (hope) this'll open up as the game goes on.
SidTheSloth on 28 Nov '11 said:
Sorry, double post but i've edited once and forgot to mention the AI drivers... I always liked in SR1/2 that they didn't feel too cheap - like they moved/changed lanes/turned corners just to hit you. 3 seems to be like some of the older GTA's however where they move last minute (and pretty quickly when they do so) just to catch you out. I expect there to be accidents (that's half the fun?!) but i was travelling on the wrong side of the road a minute ago and a (non-gang) car from the right side came across the line for whatever reason and barged me (on a bike) for whatever reason which threw me miles. Weird things like this happening far too much in the game.
Only moaning because i care!
SidTheSloth on 30 Nov '11 said:
Wow, no love for SR3 on here - now a triple (and my last) response!
Completed it now, not 100% but i've done the story and a lot of the side missions. It's undoubted good fun, and the ending mission(s) are brilliant, i don't think i've ever felt as flat out 'awesome' playing a game!!
But there's still a bad taste left by a number of omissions and a sense that despite being technically inferior, number 2 was a better game...
The inclusion of 'decisions' on missions was also a great idea, if they make a sequel they should definitely focus on this part and make the cause/effects far greater!
grampawithrabies on 26 Dec '11 said:
Best game ever brill live play and good story line but not as good as saints row 2 for messing around
KernowDevil23 on 26 Dec '11 said:
Mmmmmm........is that intentional irony?
scjh on 28 Dec '11 said:
What is Saints row in a sentance:
Mad, mad, very mad, yet equally fun to play.
Never going to have the seriousness of GTA, however it did pick up the one aspect of gameplay GTA misses out on, enjoyability. It may just be me but a lot of GTA seemed a chore, irritating characters (e.g. Brucie, need i say more...), frustrating lack of a checkpoint system on missions, especially if you have to drive half way across the map every time you fail a rather hard mission. This is why I have always been a fan of Saints row sure some characters are a bit of a pain (e.g. Zimo's very irritating pop synth voice) but the gameplay is well simply put very enjoyable and its a relaxing game to play, well most of the time, if you ignore the odd glitch or silly AI buddy.