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Saints Row: The Third review
Meh
by bgsmith3

The parody genre, when done properly can be an amazing theme or premise for a film or story. Classic films like Airplane (1975) are an example of what can be accomplished with humor and parody. Saints Row: The Third is what happens when that is attempted in a video game and it continues into its sequel. I have never played a Saints Row game before this game, but I am familiar with its frequent comparison either fairly or unfairly to the Grand Theft Auto series. But to me that is like comparing a Robert Rodriguez film to a Quentin Tarantino film. Saints Row: The Third is nothing more than bizarre, absurd, insane, fun. This is a positive and negative factor of this game. GTA tries to take itself serious and perhaps contains informative and satirical appraisals of our current society. Where GTA depicts some of these things with a guttural hyper realism, Saints Row seems to abandon this approach and tackles crime and taboo subjects with a cartoonish maniacal superficiality. I’m not someone who believes that games have to be stoic, austere social commentaries, but it just seems that Rockstar puts more efforts into the GTA series than what THQ and Volition present in the Saints Row series. The game, like most entries of the series, seems to be a standalone title. The Third Street Saints gang arrive in the fictional city of Steelport to combat the Syndicate, a criminal empire comprising of three distinct gangs. That’s the plot, everything that flows from that is sheer absurdity, parody, or a pathetic attempt to be sincere. The graphics are distinct and I actually kind of like them. The customization options are amazing and I was really impressed by them. The gameplay is pretty straightforward. The side missions to control the city got tedious and boring after a while. I like the concept of taking over the islands of Steelport, but it was and still is a very barebones concept that didn’t really provide anything useful or inventive. While I’m not expecting this game to be some innovative Game of the Year, it would be cool to see a game like this put some effort into its story or some of its overall gameplay goals. It was enjoyable to increase and reel in revenue, but again, there’s nothing truly special about the concept or how it is implemented in the game. The voice work is okay. The sound is pretty good for the most part. In conclusion, if you want a giant, immature, insane romp through a cartoonish, caricature of a video game that makes fun of itself, movies, and other video games, then you will enjoy this. But to me, this game isn’t something that I will return to with excitement. It’s okay to throw shade at video games and other art forms. Just do it in an inventive way. That is where Saints Row: The Third fails. It simply cannot stand on its own legs as a video game.

Rating: 3.5/5

Other reviews10

I need a hero
«Time-tested»
«Better with friends»
Peak Saints Row.  if you like other saints games, or any gta games, give this a shot and I bet you'll like it too.
It's not the best open world game, more than a meh but less than a recommended I guess? ...It's just not my type of games but I can't lie I had some fun experimenting with the world and exploring 
«Game over at last!»
Fun game. Entertaining characters. Lots of DLCs and stuff to destroy.

No local co-op and frustrating helicopter missions.
Fun game, not amazing, but it has a silly campaign and some of the vehicles are pretty cool. Enjoyed escaping cops and the military.
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
The Game is very good. It's an Open-world action game that bears a lot of Resemblance to GTA V. Characteristic Is its trashy plot, so overwrouded that it is arguably somehow good again. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1558214682 The namesake gang, the Saints, now famous, want to bring the City Of Steelport under their Control this time. In doing so, they get into their Hair with a powerful Syndicate of three Gangs and have yet to arrive against STAG, a military Organization to Fight Crime. The Player is a Member of the Saints, few others of whom can be seen, notably Johnny Gat and Shaundy. Over Time, more Individuals are added, taking part in missions in alternating Occupation. The real Work is to be done by the Player. The Kamapgne can also be played in pairs (which I haven't tested). I'm essentially just going into Differences from the GTA V, which was released two Years later. The "special" here is the ("non-existent") Style, which is, of course, a Matter Of taste. Since you can customize your own Character, everything is already possible here, from "normal" to extravagant to absurd (Bishop, Alien, ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ etc.). In the Third-person perspective of the Game, you always have your Eyes in mind. In addition to the usual weapons that look like Toys, there is also the Penetrator, a deadly ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ You also help a Pimp At Work or run naked for a "covert" Operation. In the Case of vehicles, the Game is even rather conservative, but varied. The Broom Style is one of the few funny Vehicles. The Driving Behaviour is quite good, it's Fun to explore the Area. Feinmatic Humour occurs, but the rough Humour prevails. Not everything is funny, some things I found really shamed. Still, it was entertaining. Most Tasks are simple, but there are also such (Side Missions) that were just too difficult for me. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1563394721 The Game relies heavily on the Fun Factor. It is not difficult to Get a lot of Money to buy everything Possible, such as Clothing or Ability Improvements. You only need to put vehicles in the Garage to own them. In some Missions, you hardly need to dwell on Enemies, but only have to run towards the Object of Desire. If you have the Main Campaign and a lot of Side Missions, of course, you ask yourself the question of whether and how the Game can still motivate. It's probably similar to most Open-world games: There's a lot of work to be done, but it repeats itself then. GTA-V is probably much more long-term. Technically, the Game is at a high Level, but not without Quirks. The Mission sections are strangely considered settled from time to time. Vehicles that were supposed to end up in my Garage were also gone. Most annoying, I think the Game crashed so violently several Times that it needed a Reboot of the PC. For this, the loading Time Is relatively short. The Graphics are suitably good for 2011 I think. But nothing special either. There are, of course, a lot of Clones running around and the Textures are a bit slurred. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1563383874 The Music, similar to GTA, is very important and always heard when driving a Vehicle. The Music Style is predominantly not so the one, predominantly Hip hop, gangster rap, aggresive Music. There is also, but rarely, classical or moderately rocking music. The Speakers are in English and quite OK. The Control is possible with keyboard kit mouse or controller. I used both, the former mostly for Shoot-outs, the latter mostly for Driving. There are a great Many Achievements. You have to do a lot of them. Pro & Contra: + Part over-grotesque Plot and Atmosphere + GritA-like tasks + Funny elements or events + Great Game world-Crashes-A few Glitches and Bugs (nothing bad) Rating: 9/10 The Game splays with its Vulgarity, but also offers a lot " Pretty "Gameplay. The Campaign and some around it is certainly Fun. The unpredictable Crashes cloud the Pleasure Somewhat.
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crazy wild stupid but in a good way
«Beaten more than once»