Video Game Review - Saint's Row: The Third

No one I know has been more excited about the third installment of Saint's Row than me. I literally counted the days, saved up my pennies, and just when I thought I wasn't going to be able to afford it, got it as an early Christmas present. (Thanks again to my roommates for that!)

I will have two sections to this review: the Basics, and the Spoilers. Obviously, I'm leaving the spoilers for last.

****Basics****
The first thing I noticed was the improvement in the graphics, and the smoothness of the game-play. I absolutely adored the intro-scenes and thought that it was the most intense and entertaining beginning to a game I've seen in what feels like forever. There will be a play-by-play of my thoughts on this in the spoilers section below. The in-game videos were great and the transition between movie and game-play was seamless.

The customization options for the player character were also improved, making it pretty simple to get pretty much any body type as long as you find the right combination between the three sections in the triangle-shaped GUI. The hairstyles were fun, though I did miss a few of the original styles.

I went through the game, sticking only to the main story line on my first run through, and got through it in about two days. (This is two days of at least 2-3 hours of play each day, but no more than that since I was studying). While this may seem like it is short, I have unfortunately done the same with many games so I don't fault the story. The story itself was good, the characters from SR2 that rejoined were both true to themselves and also showed their growth after the time that had passed. The biggest change was Shaundi, who went from irresponsible and high to just plain bad-ass.

I love this game and I'm currently going through my second run through, which I was delighted to find had slightly different dialogue because of the difference in gender when I first played. While I do love it, I did find some major issues with one or two things, though they may seem like minor things to some: The music. I can't stress it enough. The Music.

In Saints Row and SR2, not only were you given music to start with, and radio stations to tune into depending on the genre you wanted, you could also go to record stores and purchase additional music for your character to play on his 'mp3 player' or radio station in their car. And while it wasn't all fantastic music, the selection was diverse enough so that most people found at least 10 songs or so that they liked enough to listen to, from one or several genres. The first thing that I was sad to see was the entire section dedicated to Reggaeton, as well as its own station on the radio. It saddened me because, well, I'm hispanic and its supposed to be what I like except I'm a rocker and I hate it. With a fiery passion. "But," I told myself "I can block that out and never listen to it and there will be other music..." I was mostly wrong.

The rock station was filled with songs I'd barely heard of, which I blamed myself for. God knows I'm not watching  MTV or VH1 all day and keeping up with the latest music. So I went to the Oldies/80's station section of music. And there I found six songs that I liked enough to listen to. Again, I told myself to just hang on, surely the record stores would have more. No record stores. They strayed from a working formula, where additional music would be available. Straying from what works is usually a bad idea, but again it is, to most, a minor thing. In the end, where my SR2 playlist had been closer to twenty, my new soundtrack was a paltry six songs, and it almost always was playing the same one over and over again.

All in all, even with the music selection being what it was, I cannot in good conscience give Saint's Row: The Third anything lower than a 9/10 overall.





**********SPOILERS*************




Okay, now that we're in the Spoiler section, I can rant a bit more. First of all, the intro-sequence of events was absolutely intense and fantastic. Starting mid-mission and having the story develop from there was a great idea and whoever thought of it, kudos! The game starts you off mid-bank heist, where you go from a simple stick up, arming a bomb, stealing the entire safe, and dangling from the cabling holding the safe to the helicopter all in short order. I thought being arrested and having mug-shots taken was a good way to have the character creation come up.

Like all who have already played it, or those reading all the spoilers first (shame on you), Johnny is lost to us early on. While I don't want to give details, it was pretty much the way Johnny Gatt would be expected to go out, except I'd rather he lived. He was a good friend to my character, and he will be sorely missed. And the hacker guy you fight later on poking fun at his death ticked me off to no end, which only helped me defeat him faster and more easily. *laugh*

My only other gripe other than the music (though I now know all the words to Funky Cold Medina much better) was the clothing. A male character has much less selection than a female character, unless you want him to cross-dress. I did enjoy the huge amount of wardrobe provided for the female character, everything from bad-ass biker or DJ to vampirella-esque goth clothing. The clothes for males were also good, just not nearly as plentiful.

Lastly, transportation and weapons. The cars and other transports for The Third were just awesome, and some awe inspiring. There's a hover-jet, a hover-bike (if you decide to get it), the usual bevy of beautiful cars and bikes, and the occasional crazy (like the Gat-mobile, which is awesome). The weapons were good, I loved the new ability to upgrade them and improve their abilities as well as their clip size. And the remote drone early on made for a lot of smiles on my part.

Again, the overall score is 9/10.

Detailed Score:
Graphics: 9/10
Cars/Transports: 10/10
Weapons: 10/10
Music: 6/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Replayability: 10/10

"Welcome to Walmart - Get Your S#!T And Get Out"

(Yes, the title is a quote from Jeff Dunham's pal Walter)

        Okay, I love Walmart as much as the next person, I suppose. The Super-Walmart nearest to me gets my groceries and shopping money at least twice a month. Obviously, as Christmas approached and their huge holiday selection came upon us, I made mental notes of what to get and when.

        I've had the same tree (artificial, of course) for two years now, and its pre-lit, so all I need to do is set it up and hang the ornaments. I know some of you are thinking that it isn't the same as a real tree. I know this, but owning an artificial tree is less expensive in the long-run than buying multiple real trees. Besides, I have a new puppy and I wouldn't want her getting confused about what the tree was for.

       So, there I was in Walmart: taking care to choose the outside lights for my porch, and I go to find Ornament Hooks for the ornaments I've already bought. They have four entire rows, on both sides of the row, exclusively for ornaments. Ornaments of every size and shape one could imagine. Some so beautiful you wonder how they can sell them for so cheap. ( Others so hideous, you wonder how they got off the assembly line, or who would ever buy them, but as variety is the spice of life you just hope no one you know buys them and asks your honest opinion. ) For rows of large ornaments, small ornaments, stars, angels, and sock-puppet stockings for the fireplace. Ten rows total of Christmas supplies, from candy-cane outdoor solar spikes to icicle lights for the front awning. From twenty-foot-tall air-inflated dancing snowmen to little glass unicorn ornaments... And not a single ornament hook. Not a single ornament hook display. Not a single ornament hook mini-side-section.

      After looking for about a half-hour through all ten Christmas rows, I spotted a Walmart employee and had my girlfriend go ask if they were out of stock. She comes back with a confused look on her face: They're not out of stock, they just don't carry them. I know what you're thinking: Well, they're not expected to have Everything, right? And I agree whole-heartily, except for one tiny detail: Every single ornament in the Four Rows of ornaments, every single box of ornaments sold by them required Ornament Hooks. Not a single box came with its own.

      For those who are still decorating your tree, or looking for ornament hooks in unusual places, remember what I remembered at a time like this: When I was a kid, we used paper clips.


                         Box of plain silver paper clips: sixty-seven cents, plus tax.

   

   

Technology Dreams and Lemonade Skies

This first post is mostly part of a class assignment, which means I really have nothing to talk about but I find myself wanting to explain why I actually created this blog, and what its purpose will be after this.

While my class is the catalyst for the creation of the blog, I had nevertheless been considering creating a blog to express not just random thoughts, as a journal could, but I also find myself wanting to voice my opinion. I read quite a bit, and try new things when I can, and I find myself wanting to help those who want a heads-up on certain things. So, while this first post is mostly explanation, I will be writing a second post immediately following this one in more of the spirit that the rest of the blog will hopefully have.

I'll be sharing experiences, as well as reviewing books and technological products that I have the opportunity to come across and 'play with' enough to get a sense of how good or bad they are. I'll be serious about critiques, but I always inject quite a bit of humor in there, so don't take my tone too seriously.

 For any and all who read this, welcome and enjoy.