Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row: The Third, also known as Saints Row 3, SRTT or SR3, is an action-adventure open world video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It was released on November 15, 2011 in Australia and North America, and was released on November 18, 2011 in Europe for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the third title in the Saints Row series, after the release of Saints Row 2 in 2008. As in Saints Row 2, the player controls the leader of the Third Street Saints. The game world is the fictional city of Steelport, and the story focuses on the urban gang war between the Saints and the three gangs, the Morningstar, Deckers and Luchadores.

Gameplay

Saints Row: The Third retains the blend of an action-adventure in an open world, urban warfare format that is traditional in the Saints Row series. The player, as the leader of the Third Street Saints, can explore the new city of Steelport, performing main missions that progress the game's story, and side missions. These side missions include Activities, minigames, Strongholds, rival gang bases that can be taken over to control a section of Steelport and Flashpoints, on-the-spot gang warfare. Successful completion of missions can earn the player in-game money, weapons, cars, and gang respect. The Third uses respect as experience points which grant levels, the highest level being 50, which in turn enable the player to spend money on improving specific attributes of their character, such as melee combat or firearms skills. The levelling system allows the player to purchase these attributes, or 'perks', each time the player character is leveled-up, with the various attributes requiring a certain level before purchase is possible. Money can also be used to purchase clothing items, weapons and cars, or may be used to upgrade weapons and cars, such as adding scopes or extra barrels to a weapon, which are then stored in the player's arsenal. Finally, money can be used to upgrade the Saints gang, customizing their appearance, outfits, and headquarters.
The "Initiation Station" system allows players to upload their character creations to The Third's online community, and download other players' creations to use with their save game. Within The Third, the player can set up to four different appearances for their gang.Finally, money is also used to purchase shops and other properties within Steelport, which will provide a steady stream of hourly income, in game, for the gang over time.
While completing some missions, the player may be given a choice of options to finalize the mission. For example, the player has the option of using a gigantic bomb to demolish one of the enemy skyscrapers in the city; though they will gain a great deal of respect for the action, it will alter the city's skyline for the rest of the game and cause non-player characters to react differently to the player, while leaving the building standing allows it to be used as a headquarters for the Saints. New Activities have been introduced alongside many from previous Saints Row games, while others, such as Fight Club, are absent.
The player's arsenal is presented as a pop-up compass through which weapons are equipped with the analog stick. Novelty weapons are introduced alongside the traditional arsenal of handguns and automatic weapons. Players will gain the ability to call down airstrikes on encamped enemies, or to use a remote control electric bug to control vehicles remotely. Unlike the first two games, there are no health recovery items in favor of improving the grenade throwing system; in exchange, the player's health will regenerate at a faster rate as long as they stay out of the line of fire. Nearly all actions in the game can be sped up by holding down a second controller button, dubbed by Volition as the "awesome button"; for example, when carjacking, holding down this button will cause the player character to missile-kick the driver out of the seat in short order.
In addition to the single-player mode, the game can be played co-operatively with another player. As in Saints Row 2, the second player can participate in all missions and activities, earning credit for their completion. Certain activities provide different rules when a second player is present; for example, in the Tiger Escort activity, the second player will have to control the tiger in the backseat while the first player drives. Because of their focus on the single player and co-operative experience, Volition has removed the unpopular competitive multiplayer from the title.Co-op features require an online pass.

Plot

Since the events of Saints Row 2, the 3rd Street Saints have turned their street gang into a media empire after merging with the Ultor Corporation, becoming icons and household names across the world, with their own energy drink, Japanese commercials, toys, a large fanbase, and a movie deal in the works. But when they attempt to rob a bank with actor Josh Birk in tow, their everyday routine takes an unlikely turn when the bank tellers unexpectedly fight back with military grade weapons. The Saints attempt to airlift the vault out of the building, but when Birk foolishly sets off the alarm, it alerts the Stilwater P.D. and, after a large-scale firefight with police and S.W.A.T, the Saints are incarcerated.
In prison, Saints second-in-command Johnny Gat berates what the Saints have become, expressing disappointment at having strayed from their roots. At that point, an international crime organization called the Syndicate bribes the police to release Protagonist, Gat, and Shaundi. The three are forcibly taken to the Syndicate's leader Phillipe Loren to try and negotiate a business plan with them aboard Loren's private jet. While in-flight, Loren tells them they will be allowed to live if they turn over two-thirds of their revenue made in Stilwater. The Boss and Gat immediately reject this offer, and are able to fight their way out. The Boss and Shaundi parachute their way out, whilst Gat is killed.
Upon landing, the two find themselves in the Syndicate controlled city of Steelport. The Saints invade Steelport in an attempt to profit off the city and also take control of organized crime away from the Syndicate as revenge for killing Gat. The game's main plot revolves around removing the three gangs that the Syndicate is composed of. These gangs consist of the Morningstar, personally led by Loren and twin sisters Viola and Kiki Dewynter, a group of European businessmen that control Steelport's sex and weapons trades, the Deckers, a group of elite hackers that launder money for the Syndicate and the Luchadores, a group of heavily-armed Mexican wrestlers who control gambling and steroid trades.
After calling Pierce Washington, the Boss' new second-in-command, into Steelport, the Saints seize a Morning Star penthouse for their new headquarters, hijack a bomb from a military base, and begin attacking Morning Star's businesses, culminating with an attack on Loren's headquarters, in which the Saints rescue Oleg Kirlov, an apparent superhuman and template for the Syndicate's Brute clones, and Loren is killed. When the Saints try to transport Gat's body for his funeral, Killbane, the leader of the Luchadores and new leader of the Syndicate, leads an attack on them. The fight destroys Stilwater's Hughes Memorial Bridge in the process.
To retaliate, the player seeks out anti-Syndicate talent, recruiting Oleg as an enforcer, ex-FBI hacker Kinzie Kensington as an informant; Zimos, the oldest pimp in Steelport; and Angel de la Muerte, Killbane's vengeful former tag-team partner. They are later joined by Viola after Killbane kills her twin sister Kiki out of rage due to a failed assassination attempt on the Boss by hookers. Her defection, however, coincides with the arrival of the paramilitary S.T.A.G. (Special Tactical Anti-Gang)unit forces in Steelport, created by senator Monica Hughes after the destruction of the bridge to end gang violence once and for all. The Saints take on STAG regardless, resulting in Steelport going under martial law, whilst also dealing with the Syndicate.
After providing Kinzie with the appropriate technology, the player enters the Deckers' mainframe, defeating Deckers leader Matt Miller's avatar in a virtual reality fight and driving him and most of the Deckers out of town. At Angel's insistence, the player opts to take on Killbane by killing the other contestants in his Murderbrawl XXXI pay-per-view to gain entrance, and then, with Angel's help, defeating Killbane and his Luchadores. As a result, an enraged Killbane responds by instigating several attacks on the Saints and STAG throughout Steelport to cause chaos.
Whilst quelling the fighting between the Luchadores and STAG, the Boss is simultaneously informed that Killbane is escaping the city while STAG second-in-command Kia is holding Shaundi, Viola, and Mayor Burt Reynolds at a Steelport monument rigged to blow to frame the Saints. If the Boss opts to eliminate Killbane, the destruction of the monument is used as a pretext by STAG to attack Steelport with the airborne aircraft carrier Daedalus; the final mission consequently sees the Boss destroying the Daedalus, killing STAG leader Cyrus Temple in the process, and declaring Steelport an independent city-state under the Saints' control. If the Boss kills Kia and saves Shaundi and the others, the Saints are hailed as heroes for saving the monument and STAG pulls out of Steelport with the threat that they will be back. The final mission instead has the Boss track Killbane down to Mars and kill him in what is ultimately revealed to be a scene from the Saints sci-fi film Gangstas in Space, based on Gat's comic books, seen in a mission earlier.

Mission structure

In previous Saints Row games, the player would be able to approach each of the three rival gangs along separate storylines that ultimately culminated into a final conclusion for each gang. In The Third, the storylines between the three gangs are interconnected, and are played sequentially. In addition, some missions allow the player to make decisions which affect the availability of weapons and ally characters that can be called to assist the player in combat.