Saints Row: The Third:
For many, GTA 5 is the benchmark of open world crime adventure games and with such heritage it is hard to disagree, but to bridge the gap between now and then, Saints Row 3 is well worth a play through.
Imagine a crazier, funnier and more outrageous Grand Theft Auto and you pretty much have the idea behind the Saints Row series.
You play as the boss of the Third Street Saints, the primary protagonists of the series, who since the events of Saints Row 2 have turned their gang into a media empire. To the extent that in the first mission an actor accompanies you on a bank robbery to prepare for an upcoming Saints movie.
After a few mishaps, you find yourselves in the city of Steelport, described as ‘Bangkok’s abusive father’ and have to fight your way to take control of the city from a rival gang, The Syndicate.
Gameplay is your typical GTA style game, driving around the city, causing mayhem, stunt jumping and every now and then doing missions. You get respect, which is the levelling up system, for completing missions, jumps, kills and many other things which in turn allows you to buy upgrades.
In the previous Saints Row games, having a certain level of respect was necessary to progress in the game, but for Saints Row the third this has been removed.
Graphically the game looks decent, but nothing outstanding. I also had a few problems when driving in a fast car, that I’d end up going faster than the game would load the next area, which caused the game to freeze momentarily on a few occasions, which is not helpful when trying to escape from rival gangs or the law.
The controls are responsive, easy to use and learn. There are also quick time events, which I usually cannot stand but I found them to be no problem at all in this game.
Whilst Saints Row is not perfect by any means and it has a few flaws, it is definitely the most amusing and outrageous game I have played this year. Whilst in a way they are totally different, GTA5 will have to be pretty good to knock the Saints off the top.
