Saints Row: The Third (2011)

This is a good game, lot of fun to play and plenty to do to keep you entertained for hours, more likely days (I've just hit about 35 hours & still plenty to do). I played Saints Row 2 up until a couple of weeks ago and I will probably go back to it every now and then.

I won't bother explaining the story, new town to take over, new gangs to destroy and all that. It is sufficient. Not quite as gripping as Saints Row 2 I felt (Johnny Gat – graveyard – rain & Carlos, lets not forget Carlos R.I.P. my friend), but then a game with this kind of humour is not really trying to be the next Spielbergian masterpiece.

There are a few things I was unhappy to see removed since SR2, things such as a layer of clothing (Undershirts, Socks & Belts) I know it's only a minor detail, but still. So what if I want my character to have a bright pink studded belt & matching fishnets – I should be able to do that if I want. You would think with new games and advances in technology they wouldn't be removing things but adding them instead. It also seems as if you can't customise your crib anymore, but I'm sure it claims you can somewhere in the game, maybe I haven't unlocked it yet. Plus why aren't there like 20 different voices to choose from in the character customisation? & why no multi-player? or 4-way co-op at least.

Also, the removing of certain Activities such as Fight Club, I was so disappointed when I realised this wasn't in the game. They use the same symbol for Gang Operations like they were trying to trick me. "Oh look there's a Fight Club…. No wait, it's just a Gang Operation, darn it!" I wasn't a fan of the Activities being part of the story line missions as well, I can understand why they did it – for the noobs out there who hadn't played the other Saints Rows, kind of an introduction to the Activities I think.

Anyway, enough with the negative – things can always be added with DLC surely!? As I said in my opening line this game is fun! Lots and lots of fun! The cars now handle much better than SR2 & there are plenty of them, including the Genki Manapult – LOL. The weapons are awesome! Just fully upgraded the Sheppard .44, which now has explosive bullets – duel wielding of course. I am unstoppable! The air-strike thing is excellent & very useful on those Gang Operations, not that they can handle me running in guns blazing anyway. Sometimes its good to be challenged, for that we just use the Penetrator – yep, a big ol' dildo bat.

The whole upgrade section of the clever phone interface menu thing is good; I am practically a god now. I look like one too, with mercury skin. You can pick & choose what upgrades to purchase, providing you have the necessary rank & cash. The upgrades include all the things that would unlock in SR2 after completing Activities, such as more sprint time until you can run like Forest Gump & more health & more homies & the ability to carry more bullets & much, much more. There's even a collectibles upgrade that shows their locations on the map, so no more searching the Internet for a posted pic of the locations & annoyingly searching for hours just to find that final crate of blow-up dolls. Huzzah!

All in all this game is awesome! The positives most definitely outweigh the negatives, but then I was never going to not like this game as Saints Row 2 blew GTA out of the water for me. I'd always tell my friends (most of whom never played Saints Row 1 or 2) that Saints Row is like GTA San Andreas, with all those fun things to do, which were taken out of GTA4. It's too late for the GTA franchise now, I will most likely get GTA5, but Saints Row is now BOSS in my eyes.

"I'm in Saints Row B!tch!"