Saints Row: The Third is a game we’ve been itching to get our hands on since we had the chance to check it out at E3 this summer. Volition hooked us up with a sweet theatre screening of the opening scene of the game, showcasing the amazing assortment of awesomeness the game will feature. Saints Row: The Third is easily one of the most interesting and most fun games of the year.

Volition told us that their biggest goal when developing Saints Row: The Third was to blow our minds. In my humble opinion, my mind was certainly blown.

We wanted to create a white-knuckle summer action movie that never takes itself too seriously or tries to be “realistic.”

Story

You’re at the top of a mass media empire, a globally recognized celebrity, advertising deals and brands out the wazoo; you’re the leader of the Third Street Saints. The city is yours, and it’s up to you to fight so it stays that way. This is the premise of Saints Row: The Third.

From the minute you play the opening scene of the game you get a rush of adrenaline and a sense of genuine fun, I mean the opening scene has you dressed up as a bighead Johnny Gat, spraying your opposition with assault rifles and interesting melee combinations (just a heads up, you get a bonus for aiming where the sun don’t shine). As the game progresses you’ll meet familiar faces, new acquaintances, and surprise celebrity appearances, and if you play your cards right, all will aid you in assuming direct control of the city. The story of the game takes a turn, for the interesting, after the government decides they’re tired of you running over civilians and moonwalking on their heads, thus calling in the big guns: STAG, the Special Tactical Anti  Gang unit. These guys are a no-nonsense army that invade the city and have one goal in mind: neutralize all gang activity. With STAG breathing down your neck and rival gangs opposing your power, you most certainly have your work cut out for you, so strap it on!

Gameplay

The immense amount of awesome stuff you can do in this game is utterly mind-numbing. From playing as a toilet in an online virtual reality world, to being the commander of a futuristic army of super soldiers, or even fending off zombies, this game has it all!

Saints Row: The Third features a revamped mission system, which like the other games, creates the backbone of the story of the game. However, the missions offer an eclectic array of scenarios, which trumps the notion of generic “point A to point B” mission system many gamers have in their minds. The missions act as a mini tutorial for several of the new features and modes in the game such as Escort services or Guardian services. In my opinion, these secondary missions alone add double digit numbers to the play time and they’re fun and different each time.

With most missions you can usually call for backup if you get in over your head, but you’d have to be careful to revive your partners in crime in the rare occurrence that they are too injured to continue the fight.

We created big, over-the-top, memorable set pieces, like skydiving without a parachute, robbing a bank with a helicopter, hacking into virtual reality, or competing in Murderbrawl wrestling match. Every mission is designed with what we call a “Holy S***” moment.

The world of Steelport is truly as open as it can get, and with your cellphone, everything is right in the palm of your hands: a handy map, contacts to call for backups or vehicle deliveries, missions, and more.

The actual game mechanics in Saints Row: The Third add an extra heaping of fun to the game. From the “Awesome Button” which allows you do leap into vehicles or perform truly awesome melee attacks to the entire gang system as a whole, which is something to be talked about. You see, in Steelport, you have to know who has your back, and with the “Homies” feature, you do. You can call for backup from a number of friends you’ve made in the city, or from members of your gang. There’s always a lot of witty banter, and a lot of bloodshed when you get your allies involved. Speaking of allies, everyone wants to be a part of the in-crowd right? So after proving yourself throughout the city you’ll find Saints fans wanting to join your hang and you have the freedom to recruit who you please.

Why open a car door when you can drop kick the driver through the windshield? Why punch a pedestrian when you can surf on his back? Hold down the left bumper to make all your standard moves… awesome.

Tell me this isn't badass!?

The vehicles in the game can be summed up in one word: BADASS! Everything from an incredibly fast, obviously Tron-inspired superbike to the assortment of hover vehicles that transform. Most vehicles can be customized intricately with nitrous, kneecappers, neon lights, colors, rims, paint, and tire modifications. Vehicles stored in your garage will always be available to you, a huge plus as you’ll come to see. The different vehicles include bikes, cars, trucks, jets, and helicopters (and a few I won’t spoil for you).

Speaking of customization, a variety of things can also be customized. According to Volition, “no feature was more requested from SR2 fans than weapon upgrades.”

You can also customize your gang’s strongholds which you’ll earn by taking down the Syndicate, essentially taking their bases and making it yours. These sleek pads come with basic amenities such as garages and helipads, and upgrading them generates more revenue and more bonuses. There are plastic surgeons located around the city which allows you to change your look, which gives you the character creation abilities you had at the start of the game, enabling you to change every aspect of your player.

The character creator functionality will be a key component of the Initiation Station coming later this October, allowing you to create and share your monstrous and wondrous character creations with your friends online, and eventually download and play as them in SRTT.

With all these customizations you’ll be purchasing, you’ll need a lot of cash at your disposal, which is where the City Takeover initiative comes into play. You can purchase local apartments and stores to generate revenue, and via a series of upgrades and takeovers you can double or triple your revenue and maximize your hourly income. In addition to cash, Respect is the other form of currency in Steelport. With it you can unlock new upgrades in a variety of categories including abilities (unlimited sprint), health (faster regen), damage (no fall damage), combat (instant reloads), vehicles (nitrous for every vehicle), gang abilities (recruit up to three followers), bonuses (increased hourly income), customization (blow up doll outfit), strongholds (increased district cash per hour), and activities (Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax).

Balancing cash and respect for upgrade weapons, vehicles, and abilities is crucial as you progress through the game and enemies become more difficult, demanding you get a little more difficult yourself.

There are a lot of things to do in the city of Steelport, and here are a few: 

• Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax: Steelport’s most popular, and deadly, reality TV show. A cross between a twisted Japanese game show and The Running Man, PGSERC is not to be missed.

• Mayhem: A fan-favorite of SR2, Mayhem is back. Cause as much monetary destruction as possible in a set time limit, and progress through the activity to master the hard difficulty setting, earning respect, cash, and taking over a portion of the city.

• Tiger Escort: To truly find inner peace, you must be calm in the face of adversity… especially if that face belongs to an angry tiger in your car that can only be calmed by extremely fast, yet safe driving. Buckle up.

• Trailblazing:Race across the city, earning bonus time for blowing up vehicles in your path. It’s a blast.

• Guardian Angel: Protect your crew from on high… with a sniper rifle, or perhaps a rocket launcher on board an attack chopper.

• Insurance Fraud: Fan favorite returns. Throw yourself into traffic to rack up those medical bills.

Co-Op

The co-op mode in Saints Row: The Third is damn near flawless. Players are able to switch from single-player to co-op mode seamlessly without disrupting their game; the entire world and its activities are available in co-op mode.

In addition to working together to taking down the Syndicate, you can engage in some co-op specific fun, such as Cat and Mouse (take to the skies in an aerial vehicle and hunt down your friend on the ground).

Whored Mode

When whores attack, the Saints will rise… and, you know, kill all those whores. Whored Mode is our very own take on horde mode. Three maps, 30 ridiculous and increasingly difficult waves of enemies, fully playable in co-op.

Taking on 24 sex slaves who are armed with giant purple dildo bats, armed with nothing more than a giant purple dildo bat? Welcome to Whored Mode.

Graphics/Sound

The graphics in Saints Row: The Third are exceptional, especially considering the fact that is more of an arcadey title. The characters, cars, and environment all complement each other and the motion blur is pretty slick. Punches, gunshots, and other sounds are well mastered, and my only complaint is the fact that the cars sound a bit weak, and are constantly shifting gears, even after the 5th gear, but those are minor qualms.

Saints Row: The Third has a similar radio station system as previous installments, though the number of stations are quite small in comparison; 8 stations in the game, while Saints Row and Saints Row 2 had 12 and 10 respectively. The game has over 130 music tracks with artists ranging from Beethoven and Mozart to Styles of Beyond, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Fall Out Boy, Aesop Rock, Biz Markie, Clipse, Twista, and more. Saints Row: The Third features 9 exclusive tracks; 1 from Xzibit, Ghostface Killa and Trife Da God, Rhymefest, David Banner, Daz Dillinger, Biz Markie, and 3 from American Emmy nominated singer-songwriter, Sy Smith, who plays Aisha in the game.

Overall

Overall Saints Row: The Third is a great game that is tons of fun. There are a lot of interesting and unique elements about the game and a mixture of scenarios and missions sure to keep everyone entertained. A solid piece of work from Volition, Saints Row: The Third gets an undeniable and unquestionable 5 out of 5 from this reviewer.

Saints Row: The Third is nominated for a few awards in this year’s Game Fanatics Awards, head here to place your vote.