With bouts of insomnia and time on my hands, I gave Saints Row: The Third some more play time and I've got some extras to review about that are new since last time.
I started a brand new character, new game, and tried to see it with fresh eyes.
As always, I enjoyed the fresh crisp graphics, the high-action beginning and the new character creation system. This being my third time in, though (since I originally created a male and then female character) I noticed that it can get frustrating to need to do the bank heist before creating the character at all. While this ensures you get immediate game play, which I still think is a good thing, it can also get annoying if you create many characters in a row (which, I did).
The music didn't get a great review last time, especially since they had the Reggaeton channel added in there which I understood but still disliked. As they're appealing to as many audiences as possible, I know it was a necessary addition. I do think that, for Saints Row 4 (already in production), they might want to re-instate the music stores for extra music, make music pack DLC, or maybe even let the user import music somehow, if that's possible. That being said, I did find a few more songs I liked, and a couple I didn't think I'd like which I did, so I'm a bit happier with the music they included. For those who know me, be very afraid that I liked Power by Kanye West.
This time through, I played a female character, and I played it with the russian accent. I was happy to learn that the dialogue also changes with the accent and personality. The russian female personality is into Pierce, which I found pretty funny and refreshing. I already plan on going back in and making one character for each personality (that's right. more characters.).
I also made sure to take my time, do every challenge, every brawl, every... well, everything. I have 100% of everything done (except for the random phone calls of homies asking for help. I'm just waiting on the phone to ring.). The achievements were especially fun to unlock, not only because of the skill involved, but the names almost always made me laugh or smile. (My favorite is Hack The Planet!, a reference to the movie Hackers)
All in all, I continue to give this game a 9/10.
*****Details/Spoilers below*****
After making my first cool million, I made sure I bought and unlocked every weapon in the game, and upgraded everything to the maximum limit. (PS - this unlocks an achievement) The weapons are as follows, and are most useful for:
Original Handguns: Fully Upgraded, they have exploding rounds and a fast trigger. If you've got fast fingers, this can down a Brute on Casual in no time, in Normal without too much trouble. In Hardcore... I'll get back to you. They're especially useful to keep people away from you (aka Zombies), and making things blow up (aka Vehicles).
9mm Handguns: Fully Upgraded, they are armor piercing and do extra damage. While they are very good and the default handgun of the Genki missions (Super Ethical Reality Climax), the explosive nature of the others when fully upgraded made them my favorite. These are still extremely effective for most of the game, until you can upgrade other things to be better.
Tech Z-TEN: Fully Upgraded, they have incendiary rounds, reload faster and pretty much rock against Zombies. The down side is, if you have homies with you who get in the line of fire, they'll burn too. They're extremely Zombie friendly, as well as a good vehicle explosion device.
D4th Blossom: Fully Upgraded, they have the Armor Piercing bullets that, again, are great for extra damage but weren't ultimately my favorite. Good for pretty much stopping any normal group of thugs in rapid succession.
Cyber SMG: Once you rid the streets of the Deckers 100%, this interesting weapon is unlocked to buy. It is a physical manifestation of the cyber SMGs used against you in the decker.net environment. It literally shoots neon blue 8-bit bullets. It can't be upgraded, and the damage from it is similar to any of the other SMG's, but it looks kinda awesome.
Gravedigger: A nice little sawed off shotgun look. Fully upgraded, though, she packs a wallop with incendiary rounds. Good if you have a really BIG zombie to kill and you're out of rockets. Or if you're just in it for the glory...
AS3 Ultimax: Still my favorite shotgun, fully upgraded gives you a bigger clip, better accuracy and faster firing. When it absolutely must be killed quickly by a shotgun...
S3X Hammer: The shotgun of the enemy, Stag's shotgun can be upgraded for a faster rate of fire and extra damage. Not bad at all.
K-8 Kruzcov: Probably still my favorite, when fully upgraded, this lovely riffle has an attached grenade launcher, which is also upgraded to shoot faster and farther, as well as holding more ammo, increased fire rate, and bigger clips. Who wouldn't love this?
AR-55: The rifle I love to hate. While its a perfectly nice rifle, I like to control the bursts of fire myself, while this one fires in a set burst, which upon being upgraded, is increased. It also is upgraded with a sniper scope for better zoom distance, increased damage and reduced recoil. As always, bigger clips help to kill more people faster.
Viper Laser Rifle: STAG's rifle, also upgrade-able, has increased rate of fire, improved aim, less recoil, and a tech-sight to improve accuracy.
Annihilator: Fully upgraded, this rocket launcher has laser guided rockets that follow where you aim, as well as a locking targeting system. Add increased damage and you've got a party...
Satchel Charges: I confess, I never used the satched charges. They can be upgraded to carry more of them at a time, but I while I did get the upgrade, I never felt the need.
McManus 2015: The Sniper Scope. Fully upgraded it has increased ammo, increased damage and less recoil. What else could you want in a sniper rifle?
SA-3 Airstrike: Given mid-mission as a present from Pierce, this lovely lets you laser target an airstrike. Each upgrade lets you target faster, and call more airstrikes. Well worth it, and so much fun...
Reaper Drone: The reaper drones upgrades are just for additional ammo, but really... what else would you need other than more of them?
Cyber Buster: Almost my favorite weapon in the game, this working model Kinzie makes of the Decker Use-net weapon is the closest you'll get to playing Mega Man while stealing someone's car, blowing up a helicopter and making a group of thugs fly with an explosion all in one piece of hardware. No upgrades, but still a favorite.
Sonic Boom: Again, mid-mission gift from the Powers That Be, it sends focused sound waves, either pushing people/objects, or just obliterating them. Caution, maybe require practice to push things correctly and its slow to charge up.
RC Possessor: Another of Kinzie's inventions, this one fully upgraded lets you control military vehicles, detonate whatever vehicle you're controlling, and have increased ammo. All the fun of blowing up in a car without the messy death attached!
Finally, the last category: Hand-held weapons.
Baseball Bat: The only upgrade is to fill it full of nails to gore people, which is effective, but not really necessary in life.
Chain Saw: Yep. Chain Saw. No upgrades but... Duh. Chain Saw. See: Fun With Zombies.
Stun Gun: A Saint's Row classic, no upgrades but still as fun as ever. A bit expensive in this SR incarnation but...
Apoca-Fist: Deadly Gloves that pretty much do 1-hit kills with your punches. Unfortunately the only way to unlock them is to let Killbane walk without ripping off his mask during the Murder Brawl tournament. ... I did it just to unlock it. I probably never will again. I love ripping off his mask too much.
The Penetrator: The absolutely scariest dildo you'll ever see in your life. It has a baseball bat handle, is slightly longer than the baseball bat, and its Saints Purple. It can, however, kill a motorcycle in about 3-4 hits, so while its a bit funny to carry, its no joke.
Nocturne: The gods heard my earlier plea and gave us a Sword! Only unlocked when you completely get rid of the Deckers, this is their signature sword which you couldn't just steal from their dead bodies and always frustrated me. It can kill a motorcycle in 3 swings, and most normal people die in one single slice. Very nice. In fact, I want one in real life.
Vehicles:
While most of the vehicles are our old favorites from SR and SR2, there are a few new additions, which is what I'm focusing on.
Planes: Yes, planes were in SR2, but they made the controls a bit nicer and they're easier to land without exploding too, so I thought it was relevant to mention. So the new slogan in your mind should be "Planes: Not just for when I want a quick death anymore."
They kept the (Wesley Snipes/Passenger 57 *wink-wink-nod-nod-nudge*) Snipes 57 model, as well as the smaller model. They added a bomber with machine guns on the front which was fun to fly, but accuracy is difficult to achieve. For deadlier flight, see lower down.
Helicopters: Our old favorites are back, with some nice new features. The usual News Chopper style is back, along with a Vulture model that has missiles and a machine gun. The Vulture, which is the default chopper for Guardian Angel missions, has rapid fire missiles, but they don't lock on target so you're usually better off with the machine gun for rapid deployment of death. There's a second deadly helicopter, the Tornado, that has missile-lock capabilities with slower rockets. Of the two, the Tornado is usually my favorite.
VTOL: The crowning achievement of aircraft for Saints Row: The Third, in my opinion, the VTOL series of aircraft make raining death down on your enemies simple, deadly and just plain fun. The F-69 is a plane with both normal flight and hover mode, making it perfect for swooping in, getting close, stopping on a pin and blowing stuff up. I also liked the fact that having the F-69 meant that some dog-fighting skills while in the air became more necessary, since some of your enemies are in the same model aircraft.
The Condor is a bit less sexy looking, but packs similar features, including hover mode and weaponry, and is almost as deadly as the F-69. It also has space in back to carry homies in, which can come in handy.
The Specter is my favorite mode of transportation. A hover bike with flight mode (like the other VTOL models), it has a laser cannon mounted on its front end, making it both stylish and deadly. It is also best for things like landing in crowded or cramped spaces, as its definitely much smaller than the other VTOL options.
Of course, mentioning the VTOL series, I can't leave out the lovely tank that STAG is nice enough to let you appropriate several times during the game. The tank is good, the weapons are deadly and... ITS A TANK.
Cars and Motorcycles:
Again, focusing only on the special additions, I was amused to find the Solar, which is a Prius in real life, as well as the Emu, which is the tiny 1-2 person seating electric car that has been surfacing everywhere. I also found it amusing that one of the challenges is to destroy 50 Emus. I think Oleg only gives you this challenge because he doesn't fit inside one, but that's just me.
X-2: While Cyber-Trailblazing for Kinzie against the Deckers, you ride this lovely bike in cyber space. When the Deckers are gone forever (did I mention Hack The Planet! being my favorite achievement?), Kinzie gives you this lovely parting gift, along with one other:
Wraith: A combination of Tron and an old movie with Charlie Sheen (The Wraith), this is a cyber-punk version of the Attrazione. Both are not customizable, which is sad. Fortunately, the one thing you'd probably want to add (nitrus) can be added with the unlockable "Nitrus on all vehicles" on the cellphone. Caution: Riding in cyberspace rides may make one think they are fighting for the User.
Criminal: I'm not sure why the 4-door short-cab truck was named this, but its a nice ride nonetheless. (And Oleg can hop up into the cab instead of having to run behind you, which is always fun.)
Temptress: Aptly named, she is fast, smooth and corners like she's on rails. A fantastic addition to the SR car collection.
Solar: As mentioned, its SR's version of the Prius. And believe it or not, a nice ride. Fully pimped out, she's so aerodynamic in shape that you can actually slide underneath cars blocking your way (of course, they get damaged and you might get scratched up if you're not pimped out, but still kinda cool). It handles well, and is not sluggish. All in all, a well-balanced ride and one of my favorites to start off with.
Blade: The Saints' Row equivalent of a Dodge Magnum, fully upgraded/pimped out, she's my favorite ride. Handles as well as a Solar, but even before the upgrades she's a tank, very hard to mess up even with multiple crashes. This one, with nitrus and all the reinforcement add-ons, is the one to have when you need to get there no matter who stands in your way, or get away no matter how many police roadblocks you need to smash your way through.
Gatmobile: This one, which is a must for any Gat fans, could've been a bit more maneuverable. She handles horribly, sluggish controls and has a very slow top speed. On the other hand, the front end is Gat's face smoking a cigarette and the cigarette is a FLAME THROWER... So sacrifices must be made. Its fun to have, fun to drive, but not your go-to vehicle of choice. Unless you don't mind going slow and burning your way through. Then you might love it.
Asp: In Cyberspace, no one can hear you blow people into 8-bit cubes of death. Luckily, Kinzie and the Deckers have us covered yet again. A prize in taking down the Decker Use-net, the Asp is an 8-bit tank brought into reality. It literally fires 8-bit neon-green cubes which do damage similar to a tank. A weak tank. Splash damage is less than the usual tank, but I have to believe seeing an 8-bit tank in a real world environment has got to be scarier than anything we know. As an annoying bastard once said: "Shock and Awe".
N-Forcer: The STAG vehicle of choice, its loaded with a laser cannon and can hold homies inside similar to the SWAT and Ultor vehicles of SR2. SWAT still has it in SR3 if you'd prefer to go for that one.
Saints Raider: If you decide to save Shaundi and Viola at the end, you end the game with a glimpse into Gangstas In Space. This unlocks the Saints Raider, a dune buggy/lunar lander style vehicle. And its purple. Fun to drive, but you probably won't make it your usual ride.
For those who want more spoilers, more details, or have suggestions on my next review, feel free to comment. For everyone else, I hope you enjoyed the closer look at Saints Row: The Third and hope you enjoy your own runs through it as well.
