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Firstly, I’m going to compare this game to its rivals, to which, I can think of only really being the GTA series and Saints 1 & 2. I won’t compare to LA noir, as I haven’t played it and probably a completely different gametype what with all the investigations etc. There may be some minor spoilers about the available equipment, vehicles etc, but I will leave anything plot related out of it.
On a personal note, I’ve been hanging out for this game for absolutely ages - avoiding all the adverts and the spiel, to try and not give myself any false expectations. Despite my efforts I couldn’t help give in, watching the last few videos about the game… and got even more sucked into the hype! The Saints Row series has (in my opinion) been on an upward trend for the level of refinement and my own personal enjoyment. I am glad to say that this hasn’t changed with the most recent installment to the series.
However, I can’t help but feel that there have been some cutbacks in SR3 with the amount of content included on release. Because from launch day, if you explore the “Extras” on the main menu, you can see for 1600MSP you can subscribe to all future DLC’s -which are all listed by name and detail. Sad that it appears that games seem to be going down the line of ‘include the basic, charge for extras’ rather than have it all in the original game. But as it’s the way of the future for most games, I’m probably not going to mark it down because of following the trend. Anyway, ignoring the slight feeling of incompleteness of the Saints Experience, there is plenty to keep you occupied for 30+ hours.
Starting off with the basics:
The graphics are probably not the greatest increase in difference over its closest rival (GTA4), but much better than SR2. In fact it was mistaken for GTA4 by someone who stopped by and saw me playing it. The graphics style is a mix of grainy grey/brown textured cityscape with ordinary cars, pedestrians and traffic (like GTA4) contrasted against bright colourful gangs, special vehicles, etc, giving it a feel of a normal neighborhood with ‘excitement’ mixed in. Occasionally my Xbox would chug down, and I mean REALLY chug down. Fortunately it doesn’t happen very often, maybe once in a 4hour session. But when you’re in the middle of a crazy gun fight, the last thing you want is for it to freeze for half a second, then go for a second, then freeze again for 4-5 solid chugs! This is potentially an issue maker, but fortunately I was luckily never caught in a situation that could cause a problem. The draw distance is good, with the occasional ‘pop-in’ of traffic (where cars appear from thin air like Doc Brown’s DeLorean), but this doesn’t occur often. Despite these occasional slow down’s the gameplay is smooth & fluent with the only loading screens either side of cut-scenes and missions.
The sounds are good; nothing special, but definitely not bad. The music on the radio stations is enjoyable, but not a lot of variety and not a lot on each station. You tend to hear the same music over and over. You can make your own play list, selecting music from each station and putting it to your ‘mix tape’. It would have been nice to have an in-game option to listen to any music stored on your 360 etc (although you could do that through the music player on your dash anyway, so that’s no big deal if you want that sort of thing).
The gameplay I feel (as with previous SR games) is where it stands out. As with almost all the 3rd Person Sandbox Games I have played, I initially tend to get lost in the ‘run, jump, leap, splat-people-into-the-ground-as-you-ride-their-body-like-a-surfboard-over-the-concrete-pavement’ before doing anything remotely story related. I spent absolutely hours doing objectives that I set for myself and my own enjoyment. Having no regions locked out at the start of the game means you can fully explore the map, find cool things, get in trouble with the army etc, with the knowledge that familiarizing yourself with the map is going to help you later on with the storyline’s rapid escapes/driving/flying and so forth - all the while having fun. GTA lacked this element: it felt a chore to drive around the map, in jalopy cars at realistic speeds, doing the same escort missions and giving the game a more sober, dull tone. In contrast most Vehicles in SR3 are faster with more arcade-ish controls. Some are even more so, with almost instant turning with the slightest touch, which can be annoying and hard to steer. But once you get used to it (either by turn the sensitivity down a smidge or not driving those particular cars) it is no longer a down point. In total I think I spent a total of almost 12hours (if not more) dicking around with various aspects of SR3 before starting on the story.
While SR3 does have escort missions and various other types that you repeat, you never do it enough to feel like you’re doing the same mission over and over. While some might see this as a lack of content, I think they’ve judged the amount of ‘similar missions’ perfectly, at no point did I feel like I was going over the same thing. The main reasons for not having that ‘Groundhog day’ feeling with missions would be due to the large amount of unique scripted dialogue for almost EVERY side quest/challenge, the promptness that most Side-quests/activities can be completed and the variation in mission types.
Given the amount of unique dialogue for those side missions, idle chat, and other situations, the amount of dialogue recorded for the game must have been a fairly large undertaking. Upon setting up your character - 7 voice types are available for you to choose from: 3 Male, 3 Female and 1 Zombie. While the zombie is a laugh, if you’re playing with it on your first play through, you may have difficulties following the plot. I thought I’d be smart and put the subtitles on. But no, your subtitles for Zombie voice are moans and groans and burbling noises etc. While you can generally follow where the conversation going, it’s probably best for a 2nd play-through or at least playing through the opening few missions to see the variation in dialogue responses & get the punch lines to jokes being made.
I would probably rate the dialogue as one of the best features of the game. With smart-arsed comments aplenty, featuring puns, double entendre, movie or game references and much more. If a cut-scene didn’t make me smile, laugh or a combination of the two, it was few and far between. As mentioned before, while you might be doing the 4th Helicopter Escort mission: that extra mission-specific dialogue in each side quest, helps keep it fresh and less of a grind than SR2 felt at times.
After an exciting introduction where you’re thrown into the middle of a gun-blazing bank robbery (‘Saints’ style), the Storyline initially after that felt a little, re-used. Thinking back, the gist is very much the same as SR 1 & 2, ie: get dropped in a new city and build up your empire. But as you play, the details of how you get there is much, much more bizarre and crazy than previous games. An interesting addition is the option of choices in the storyline. At the end of each Act (and at some points in between) you are called upon to make a choice that can affect your situation. For example (and this is the LEAST plot ruining spoiler I could think of), you can choose to keep a recently stolen sea-container full of freshly imported “ho’s” (giving you a slightly higher rate of income per hour) or sell them to the gang that you stole them from (for a larger, instant deposit of funds to your account with some technology to boot). The technology could be handy, or the increase in funds could help you buy extra abilities/skills/stat perks etc. With more plot oriented choices being given at each Act.
By the end of the game, or even starting about halfway through, it will be clear that any similarity to GTA4 and Saints 1 & 2 has gone the way of the crazy fairy that flew away on her (oops, spoiler!) jet powered military bike.
Co-op Multiplayer is a bit of a disappointment in my books, due to the lack of more than 2 people and essentially being just the host’s game with a friend tagging along. I had read they were concentrating on the single player campaign and while I’m thankful for that, some more Co-op features (such as co-op specific missions or the ability to have more than 2 people) would have been nice.
To summarize IF it isn’t obvious (or you skipped straight to the Summary), I really, REALLY enjoyed this game. It kept me entertained, even when a bug had me have to repeat the first half dozen missions to get the achievements at the end of each one (they just didn’t pop for some reason?) - I was happy to do so.
If you liked Saints Row 1 and 2, I suspect you will like this. If you’re more into realistic Sandbox games like GTA4, you *might* like this.
The amount of missions & side quests are less than SR2, but I think makes the game feel less grind’y because of it. I won’t list it as a positive or a negative. With DLC scheduled, there is more chaotic fun coming so I can’t complain.
Positives:
• Fun Gameplay,
• Unique vehicles & weapons, most of both can be upgraded/skills increased,
• Co-op campaign (although you are playing the hosts game technically),
• Crazy plot
• Fun, fun, FUN!
Negatives:
• Similar Gang/hideout development to previous SR games, less customizability
• less modifications to vehicles at Garages,
• less clothing options (that might be a positive for some!) But I’ve listed it as negative as several outfits and styles are located to purchase from the ‘extras’ menu for MSP.. (booo at micro transactions for content that should be in the game you purchased!)
• Plot similar to previous games – although this is probably similar to any GTA game.
• Lack of a Multiplayer free-roam option. Although I haven’t checked out the Multiplayer menus, I’m fairly certain there isn’t one. One of the funnest part of GTA 4 was running around with friends, even in the ‘lobby’ (which had no restrictions on location/weapons etc) you could run around with a group, blowing things up, shooting each other, flying at 1m above the ground through the busy streets of downtown, cleaning each other up etc etc..
Rating
Tough one.. I’m not one to give high ratings when there are flaws (unlike some web reviewers that list off half a dozen negatives and then give a game 100% rating). But I did enjoy this game heaps.
9/10
(ps - I suck at writing, sorry if it is a bit jumbled, I tend to write how my brain works - jumping from topic to topic!)
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