Imagine GTA on crack, and you're on the way to Saints Row: The Third...

There used to be a lot of games that were just about fun, and, for a long time, it was how a game was judged. Your game could be technically brilliant, but if it wasn’t fun people wouldn’t buy it. Of course, things didn’t stay that way. Games today are judged by their realism, with every new game seeming more like a hard-working simulation than a pleasant escape from reality. The problem here is that it’s more fun to be less realistic. Waiting hours for a single shot to make a kill is realistic, but not exactly fun; whereas flying around a city in a hover-jet that fires air-to-surface lasers - while seemingly unrealistic - is about as much fun as you can have on through a game.

Here we go...

That’s where Saints Row: The Third comes in. It’s a lot of fun, and it knows it. It’s also totally unrealistic, and it knows that too, yet its ballsy attitude just doesn't care. Right from the very beginning, Saints 3 pulls no punches in its delivery. Heck, the open mission features: comic disguises, SWAT teams, assault rifles, helicopter shoot-outs, explosions, a bank heist and being suspended from a helicopter while mowing down scores of enemies. And yes, the physics can be interesting; and the A.I can be stupid; and you are going to have to try pretty hard to actually die, but you don’t care, because the game doesn’t care...it just wants you to have fun.

The setting for all this shameless nonsense is the city of Steelport, a city ruled over by a dastardly crime syndicate called... ‘The Syndicate’ - how beautifully original, hey? Anyhow, 'The Syndicate' controls Steelport, and, between themselves, the city's corrupt police force and the three gangs controlling the districts, The Saints have their work cut out when they arrive.

In a change from the traditional ‘Rags to Riches’ story of its genre, The Saints have arrived at the height of their fame, carrying on their success from Saints Row: 2. When they arrive in Steelport they are like movie-stars, with their own billboards, fashion lines and energy drink. But this success is, of course, short lived, and before long you are penniless and fighting for your life in the streets.

Graphics

The look and feel of the streets of Steelport are a huge improvement from Saints 2, the textures and lighting in particular has been given that glossy finish that makes games seem much more vibrant and alive. While the graphics are still behind platform leaders such as Uncharted 3 and MW3, they are more than good enough, and overall the game looks polished and appealing. At night - in particular - the neon-soaked buildings and busy streets really show off the advances the game has made.

But Saints Row has never been about the graphics. Sure they help, but ultimately fans come back for the surreal gameplay rather than the rendered realism. That said, SR:TT has extended its offering, bringing you an almost endless supply of distractions, activities, shops or just cool little additions. Almost every street you drive down has something you can do, buy or break, helping to keep the game - and city - fresh and alive. Furthermore, you are constantly discovering new areas and things to see as you drive around the map. There are some slight problems at this point though - cars pop into view pretty close to your vehicle, and some places on the map feel pretty empty. It’s not too noticeable when the place is taken as a whole, but spend to long in one area and it can begin to seem pretty hollow and empty.

Structure

The structure of Saints Row: The Third is very loose. Missions are accessible from your phone, but the main story is barely distinguished from the side quests, and you are totally free to do them all, or none of them in whatever order you please. You don’t even need to do any missions at all to progress - SR:TT has a levelling system where almost everything you do earns you money or respect. Going streaking, doing power slides, killing gang members, blowing up tanks - it's your immoral currency with which to unlock a range of new perks and bonuses.

In SR:TT the power is in your hands. The level of customisation has always been a strong-suit of the series, and this instalment doesn’t disappoint. The character customisation is about as in-depth as any good RPG, but with much more freedom. Instead of giving you four or five flesh colours to choose from, you are given the entire spectrum; you can be whatever colour you want. This theme continues throughout the game, customising your gang, vehicles, safe houses and character stats, no two players are going to have the same experience. The fun and stupidity levels are kept high all the way through, a good example being altering your characters ‘sex appeal’. In women, this is obviously their breast size; while in men it is the size of their ‘bulge’.

The actual gameplay of SR:TT is as fun and silly as the rest of it. The enemy A.I is pretty darn poor, and they get stuck on scenery quite a bit; and even when they don’t they’re either standing still or running directly towards you. When they’re behind the wheel it gets worse - nobody in Steelport seems to care if they live or die, driving full tilt at you, your car, or seemingly random pieces of scenery. The public share this cavalier attitude to life and death, running into the road, screaming, joining the fight or just filming it on their phones. While these may seem like criticisms, in a way they are actually positives. You really need to play the game to experience it, but the recklessness of everyone makes every fight exciting and epic, with cars flying through the air, trucks exploding and helicopters crashing to the ground.

As you progress through the game, you’ll grow in power and influence, gradually amassing a vast fortune and owning tonnes of real estate. The end of the story is a little anti-climactic, but there is still a lot to do after it is over, and owning a lot of Steelport sure does feel good.

Overall

Saints Row: The Third is, simply put, a fun game. It’s a game that knows what it is and what's expected of it, and instead of just aiming to meet expectations it has given itself free reign to explore the depths of stupidity, bad taste and fun. While it may not have very much in the way of innovation or progression, it certainly has a lot of variety, and if you like open-world games with as much fun as there is freedom, you really can’t do much better. Just don’t expect any realism.

See also:

Saints Row: The Third review

Saints Row: The Third - bigger, badder and more insane

Batman: Arkham City review

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 review

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus review

Next generation Xbox in 2013?

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