After the success of “Grand Theft Auto III”, game developers saw open-world sandbox adventures as the way to financial & critical acclaim. Many so-called “GTA” clones were released across multiple platforms and even crossed gaming generations – the latter being the original “Saints Row”. Promising to be the next evolution in sandbox offerings with a gritter, more free-form experience compared to “Grand Theft Auto”, “Saints Row” delivered a solid experience eventually outdone by its successor. Then developer Volition decided to switch gears and embrace the absurdity from “Saints Row” and “Saints Row 2” while upping the ante in more ways than one. Nearly a decade after its original release, “Saints Row: The Third” gets the remaster treatment and I was excited about heading back to Steelport to play through another maniacal adventure.
Did I Complete “Saints Row: The Third Remastered”?
Not to be confused with the recent remakes that have flooded the gaming market as of late, the third “Saints Row” is a remaster through & through with better graphics and intended better technical performances. The game plays exactly the same as it did in 2011 when it was originally released with achievements & trophies also retaining a majority of the requirements for completion including attaining all the multiple collectibles, finishing every side quest be it the diversion activities, assassinations & vehicle thefts, and seeing the main story’s finale with its two different endings. After a little over thirty hours I finished a majority of what is associated with the base offering for the platinum trophy before spending a few more hours playing through the relatively easy three pieces of DLC automatically connected to this package.
Did “Saints Row: The Third Remastered” Live Up to the Hype?
Being a remaster of an experience that came out during the tail-end of gaming’s seventh generation, “Saints Row: The Third Remastered’s” initial presentation from a visual aspect is definitely commendable with better, brighter environments to match the more detailed faces of the main protagonists. Vehicles arguably gained the most from an aesthetic perspective by being remodeled to resemble something more realistic than the horribly rectangular & almost cartoon-ish versions of what was presented almost a decade ago. Though the base game and its DLC mostly looks great, there are some definite issues including the developers not redoing the lip synching so it’ll fit the new character models. The audio is a mixed bag. Like the original iteration, guns & and even the aforementioned cars sound pretty uninspired, hollow & downright muted. On a positive note when it comes to sound is the retention of the original soundtrack. So much licensed music including Kanye West’s “Power”, Opeth’s “The Lotus Eater”, Blakroc’s “Done Did It”, and “What I Got” by Sublime all return in grand fashion; making it so easy to just sit around and let the radio stations run through an entire playlist.
What hasn’t changed at all is the gameplay or the mission presentation. Rooted in the core mechanics seen in a majority of open-world, sandbox, third-person shooter offerings, the player will take a created character & leader of the 3rd Street Saints into the town of Steelport after a bank robbery gone wrong. The story plays out just like it did in 2011 where the criminal gang turned mega-stars try to assert themselves in a new town with a few missions featuring choices that may boost a player’s bank account or their much-lauded cred known simply as “Respect”. “Respect” is the basis of upgrading the created character’s passive & active abilities like faster regenerating health, making The Boss fireproof, or forcing the removal of a full notoriety bar so the player isn’t hunted by those The Boss has wronged.
Players shoot nameless grunts & barbaric brutes by utilizing a variety of upgradable weapons including shotguns, pistols, and even a gigantic adult toy. Some guns feature upgrades that greatly change the object’s performance including shooting bullets that set targets on fire. Beyond the weapon upgrade system, there’s very little that differentiates its main gameplay features from other games in the genre including its own predecessors and successors. The only real unique gameplay addition to “The Third” was and still is the “Action Button” – a button, when used, can have the protagonist pull off some abusive maneuvers including a simple punch to the genitals or a Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson style float-over DDT. There aren’t a lot of unique “Action Button” moments to see before the animations begin recycling, but doing something like leap frogging an unsuspecting victim prior to punching said-target in the mouth rarely gets old.
What hasn’t aged poorly are the diversions “Saints Row” games are known for including blowing up everything in front of the character with a rocket launcher full of infinite ammo or jumping in front of speeding cars to get that sweet insurance fraud money. The side mission offerings don’t overstay their welcome and aren’t too difficult to complete including optional assassinations, vehicle theft & finishing the very grind-heavy in-game challenges such as blowing up sixty helicopters and landing 500 headshot kills. All the modes from the original iteration return here including the option of playing through the game’s enemy wave-based survival mode (“Whored Mode”). “Whored Mode” can be completed by oneself or with a partner via online, as can the main campaign. Unfortunately the offline co-op option is not associated with this version. The three DLC packs that were released in 2012 arrive here with all the extra accessories, weapons & vehicles for the player to use less than an hour after starting a new game.
This aged experience, technically, isn’t the strongest even though it came out almost a decade ago on weaker hardware. Beyond the graphical inconsistencies and gameplay functionality still rooted in 2011 including the inability to change the controller layout on consoles to fit the more modern standards of third-person shooters, “SR 3” suffers from framerate drops & bugs such as vehicles suddenly getting stuck in the ground when driving. On the PS4, “The Third” can go from running smoothly, to hiccuping, to the game actually freezing for a second or two. This stuttering framerate problem is more than just an annoyance as it can affect the player succeeding in certain missions including the rather frustrating “Heli Assault” that already suffers from poor driving mechanics in regards to flying vehicles. These framerate problems are apparently more frequent for PS4 and PC owners than Xbox One players, though the latter has inconsistent framerate when driving through the town or being involved in a hectic gun fight. During my entire playthrough there was only one major crash and no corrupted saves.
Beyond the graphics, there’s nothing much here that hasn’t been seen in other “complete” packages of “Saints Row: The Third”. This is made for the dedicated Saints of the world who were around during the franchise’s heyday and maybe not new fans who have played more technically pristine open-world shooters where the game’s humor & plot won’t be enough to distract players from the feeling of “been there, done that” in regards to “The Third’s” gameplay.
Should You Play “Saints Row: The Third Remastered”?
This is truly the optimum “Saints Row: The Third” package when everything works right. The gameplay & mode offerings are still as wild as they were in 2011 with a lot for the player to take part in especially with the addition of all the DLC. But the inconsistent technical issues are the game’s biggest flaws. For every time the game runs smoothly there’s a time when the framerate frustratingly drops to zero – an issue that can hamper a great shoot-out or some timed diversion – not to mention graphical problems and other bugs that can hinder progression. Until these technical issues are fixed it’s hard to fully recommend this package just like not recommending standing in front of a naked guy running around with a phallic object the size of a baseball bat while drugged out of his mind.
