Saints Row: The Third (PC)

Well, I finally got myself away from my crushing Skyrim addiction to play something else, and it was Saints Row: The Third on my PC. After playing for a while, I have come to two conclusions. First, this game is Awesomely fun. Second, This game is absolutely insane, but in a good way. The developer here decided to go for fun instead of seriousness and it pays off greatly.

From a graphic standpoint, this game is adequate. The city looks great, as do the explosions. The animations are a little stiff at times and the character models could definitely use some touch-ups. There is a bit of pop in while you're playing as well, but that is to be expected from a huge open world experience like this, so I do understand it to a degree and it was really only while I was driving that I noticed a terrible amount of it. The character customization is phenomenal here. I started out playing as a standard white dude dressed in a suit. By the time I made it to the end of the game, I was a seven foot tall, green, Asian transvestite, with an Afro, in a cocktail dress, running around with a three foot dildo club. Yeah, you read that sentence right.

The sound design for the game is fantastic. The soundtrack is awesome and features a very wide mix of songs to listen to while you are destroying the city. The voice work is great for the most part. As always there are sections where the actors make some interesting pitch changes or just speak a line differently than I think it should have been said, but that's my opinion. The customization options for your character are a lot of fun. Cut scenes where you are speaking in zombie gibberish and the other characters don't even react still make me smile.

The gameplay is what really pulls this package together. The controls are good and responsive. The nice thing here is that the missions are like mini action movies. They are many and varied enough that you don't get bored. Side missions, or activities, if you prefer, are still part of the game. You have to do a few activities to earn enough respect to be able to start the next mission. This helps to force you to explore the city and do some of the crazy things that the game wants you to do. Insurance fraud, blowing things up, deliveries, street races, pimping, whoring around. There is a plethora of things for you to do in this game and you should do them. Besides, who doesn't want to rampage around town with a MegaMan arm cannon blowing up whatever you can before time runs out? Oh yeah, did I mention fighting Luchadors? Yeah, that happens too. This game is just pure fun. The story does ramp up to a disappointing conclusion, but I don't recall paying too much attention to the story as I was too busy deciding where to place my next air strike. The game also includes a "Whored" mode where you fight waves of people using only the weapon the game decides you can have that round. It's a lot of fun and another distraction from completing the story.

Honestly, this game is for people who just want to play around in a giant world of insanity. You do what you want to, when you want to, and nobody is going to stop you from going nuts. I do recommend this game, but remember not to take it seriously. I award Saints Row: The Third on my PC a 9/10.

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