646f9e108c Two years after the Ultor Corporation's destruction, the 3rd Street Saints have turned their street gang into a media empire, becoming icons and household names across the world, with their own energy drink, Japanese commercials, toys, a large fanbase, and a movie deal in the works. However, when the Saints' leader (usually referred to simply as "the Boss") and two lieutenants, Shaundi and Johnny Gat, attempt to rob a bank as a publicity stunt, the bank tellers unexpectedly start shooting back. The police, who they had paid off beforehand subsequently intervene and arrest the Saints. The Saints' leaders are shortly released to the man who owned the targeted bank, Phillipe Loren, the leader of a criminal organization known as "the Syndicate;" on his private jet, Loren offers to let the Saints live if they turn over most of their earnings. The Saints' leaders refuse and break out, but Gat is seemingly killed as the Boss and Shaundi escape via parachute. Upon landing, the Boss and Shaundi find themselves in Steelport, the dystopian criminal city controlled by the Syndicate's three gangs: The Morning Star, a gang with advanced technology equipment, controlled by Loren himself, the Luchadores, a Mexican gang led by the killer wrestler Killbane, and the Deckers, a hacker-based gang led by Matt Miller. The Boss quickly calls in another lieutenant from the Saints' hometown of Stilwater, Pierce Washington, and begins attacking the Morning Star's businesses, culminating with an attack on Loren's headquarters. In this raid Loren is killed and the giant superhuman Oleg Kirlov, the basis of the cloned "brutes" the Syndicate uses, is rescued. The Boss briefly returns to Stilwater for Johnny Gat's funeral but while his hearse is held up at the reopening of the Hughes Memorial Bridge, overseen by Senator Monica Hughes, Killbane attacks the Saints and destroys the bridge. To retaliate, the Boss seeks out anti-Syndicate talent, recruiting Oleg as an enforcer, ex-FBI hacker Kinzie Kensington as an informant; Zimos, the oldest pimp in Steelport; and Angel de la Muerte, Killbane's vengeful former tag-team partner. They are later joined by Viola DeWynter, one of Loren's twin lieutenants, after Killbane kills her twin sister Kiki out of rage due to a failed assassination attempt on the Boss. Her defection, however, coincides with the arrival of the paramilitary S.T.A.G. (Special Tactical Anti-Gang) forces in Steelport, created by Senator Hughes to end gang violence once and for all. The Saints take on STAG regardless, resulting in Steelport going under martial law, whilst also dealing with the Syndicate. After providing Kinzie with the appropriate technology, the Boss enters the Deckers mainframe, defeating Deckers leader Matt Miller's avatar in a virtual reality fight and driving him and most of the Deckers out of town. At Angel's insistence, the Boss opts to take on Killbane by killing the other contestants in his Murderbrawl XXXI pay-per-view to gain entrance, and then, with Angel's help, defeating Killbane. Following his humiliating defeat, an enraged Killbane responds by instigating several attacks on the Saints and STAG throughout Steelport to cause chaos. Whilst quelling the fighting between the Luchadores and STAG, the Boss is simultaneously informed that Killbane is escaping the city while STAG second-in-command Kia is holding Shaundi, Viola, and Mayor Burt Reynolds hostage at a Steelport monument rigged to blow to frame the Saints. If the Boss saves Shaundi and kills Kia, the Saints are held as heroes; the ending of the game subsequently shows the boss tracking Killbane down to Mars and killing him in what is ultimately revealed to be a scene from the Saints sci-fi film Gangstas in Space, which the Boss and several members are acting in. Alternately, a non-canonical ending sees the Boss kill Killbane, letting Shaundi die, while the monument's destruction is used as a pretext by STAG to attack Steelport with the airborne aircraft carrier Daedalus. The Boss destroys the Daedalus, killing STAG leader Cyrus Temple in the process, and declares Steelport an independent city-state under the Saints' control.
After the Saints have transformed from a small town street gang to pop culture giants, they decide to take over another city called Steelport.
In an era where video games are all about realism, immersion and emotion, this title is a breath of fresh air.<br/><br/>If GTA: San Andreas, Just Cause and Bootsie Collins had a retarded albino child, his name would be Saints Row: The Third. The game doesn't take itself seriously and it makes it pretty clear from the get-go. It pokes fun at itself, other games, movies and pop culture as a whole.<br/><br/>You are the boss of The Saints. In the last few years, the gang has become something of an international multimedia phenomenon but things go south when The Syndicate, a rival crime ring, appears in the picture. Your job is to lead the Saints into conquering the city of Steelport and take revenge on the Syndicate.<br/><br/>There's not much to tell about the story. For all intents and purposes, the plot in this game is just secondary. It's an excuse to let you blow stuff up and pimp your ride. This, however, doesn't feel like a flaw at all. It works because it's understood that the game is just about having a good time.<br/><br/>The signature feature of the game is the pure wackiness of it. Almost everything in this strange world is extremely exaggerated, quirky and bizarre. You'll be meleeing with dildos, riding gimp-drawn carriages, flying planes, engaging into gunfights while free-falling from said planes and customizing your character to look like an indigo-skinned, psychotic, murderous, pimp-hat-wearing Asian clown with a British accent to boot.<br/><br/>The gameplay itself is very arcade-ish, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Combat and driving are both easy to pick up and not frustrating at all, even if they may feel a bit unchallenging at times. The main mission is not very long and it has two endings that you can see one after the other if you so choose. Like with most sandbox games, most of the content is in the form of numerous side-missions, challenges and free-roaming events. These are plentiful, if a bit repetitive, and involve different mini-games, some more entertaining than others (insurance fraud is the best thing ever!).<br/><br/>Aesthetically, the game has a very distinct style which reflects the whole weirder-than-weird theme. Everything is over-the-top, from clothing to haircuts to weapons. The amount of customization you can mess around with is big. I don't think I've seen another game with so many sliders at character creation screen and that's always a plus in my book. The graphics look just a tiny bit dated, but if you run with everything in high (which doesn't take too much of a rig at all) you get to see some pretty landscapes and details. Worth noting, the voice acting is more than decent. There's a variety of voices for your main character, three female and three male, if I recall, all with fully-scripted acting, which really takes customization to a whole new level. If everything else fails, you can even be a toilet. Yes. A toilet.<br/><br/>The maxim that's written all over Saints Row: The Third is that games are supposed to be fun. That's it. There's no pretense to shock you, make you connect with the characters or come out of it a better person through a meaningful message. This is about shooting hookers in the face and laughing at the pimp that only speaks through auto-tune.<br/><br/>While pure in its premise, a game exclusively focused on self-indulgent fun, ironically enough, might leave some people with a bitter aftertaste.<br/><br/>After a couple of hours, I had a hard time playing through it. A game being 100% about amusement is great. I'm all for it, and, on paper, it sounds delicious. Sadly, I'm so used to games like GTA, L.A. Noire or Monkey Island (!) that it's hard to just forget about the more serious aspects of playing video games and enjoy the ride. It just feels *too* random. I like the compelling plot and the deep characters. I like the challenging and innovative gameplay. I like the unique setting and creative mechanics. Saints Row: The Third doesn't have any of these because it doesn't have to. It's not what the game is about. All of these elements would detract from the simple, mindless joy that tries to sell.<br/><br/>Overall, it's an honest, decent open-world action game. At the very least, it has some pretty fun missions and unique moments that will put a smile on your face and that's enough to warrant a playthrough. If you're able to approach it loosely, you'll have heaps of fun with its action-packed sequences and quirky humor. However, if you're looking for a 'serious' game that's deep in plot or rich in innovation, better keep shopping.
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.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>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!<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>"I'm in Saints Row B!tch!"