About the game
Saints Row: The Third is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by THQ. It is the sequel to 2008's Saints Row 2 and the third game in the Saints Row series. It was released on November 15, 2011 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A remastered version followed in 2020 for PS4, Windows and Xbox One.
It is an open world action-adventure played from a third-person view. The player leads the 3rd Street Saints in a turf war across the new city of Steelport, against three gangs that together form the Syndicate: the Morningstar, the Luchadores and the Deckers. Weapons run from pistols and rocket launchers to a fart-in-a-jar stun grenade and a purple bat, and the vehicles include a hover jet and a pixelated retro tank. Story missions can be played alone or in co-op, online or over System Link. There is no competitive multiplayer, but a wave-based survival mode called Whored Mode supports two players.
Years after Saints Row 2, the Saints have become a media and consumer empire. A bank robbery in Stilwater goes wrong and ends with the leader and the top lieutenants held on a jet by Phillipe Loren, head of the Syndicate. After escaping, the Boss and Shaundi land in Steelport and rebuild their forces to take the city from the Syndicate and from S.T.A.G., a paramilitary group sent to restore order. Near the end the player picks between two outcomes, and one of them is the canon ending.
Development began in late 2008, soon after Saints Row 2. Only about a fifth of the final 100 person team had worked on a previous game in the series. The team wanted a clear tone and settled on the idea that everything had to be over the top, with a signature oversized purple bat as the face of it. Features such as free running and a cover system were cut, and competitive multiplayer was dropped. Malcolm Kirby Jr. wrote the original score, with a theme for each gang, and the game has a licensed radio soundtrack. Sasha Grey, Hulk Hogan and Daniel Dae Kim are among the voices.
It came out in the United States and Australia on November 15, 2011, in Japan on November 17 and in the UK three days after the US. The Japanese version had the veins removed from the bat because of rules on depicting genitalia. Pre-orders got Professor Genki's Hyper Ordinary Preorder Pack, and a North American Platinum Pack added the soundtrack and a headset. Early PS3 buyers in North America and Europe got a download code for Saints Row 2 in place of content that did not ship. The Full Package, with all the DLC on the disc, came out in November 2012.
Reviews were generally favorable. Critics praised the customization and the sheer zaniness, with Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax picked as a high point, while the new setting and some of the humour drew criticism. It was an IGN Editor's Choice, got perfect scores from GamesRadar and G4, and was nominated for Best Narrative at the 2012 Game Developers Conference. It shipped 3.8 million copies by January 2012 and reached 5.5 million by the end of the year. Its planned expansion, Enter the Dominatrix, became the sequel Saints Row IV.
The text above is adapted from Wikipedia and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What critics said
Metacritic 82 out of 100 (PS3). Individual reviews: IGN 8.5/10, Eurogamer 7/10, Edge 6/10, Official Xbox Magazine 9.5/10.
Extra content
Three short mission packs of about an hour each came out in early 2012, along with smaller costume, vehicle and weapon packs. The Full Package puts all of it on disc.
- Genkibowl VII: Four new Professor Genki themed activities. Carries 10 trophies
- Gangstas in Space: A three mission story about a Saints film shoot against aliens. Carries 10 trophies
- The Trouble with Clones: A three mission story about a cloned Johnny Gat. Carries 10 trophies
Good to know
- The Japanese release had the veins removed from the purple bat because of rules on depicting genitalia.
- Early North American and European PS3 buyers got a download code for Saints Row 2, in place of PS3 exclusive content that did not ship with the game.
- The Full Package has its own disc IDs, BLES01747 and BLES01748 in Europe and BLUS31062 in North America, separate from the standard BLUS30666 and BLES01342.
- The Jumped In trophy needs a character created and shared online.
- Competitive multiplayer was cut during development. The only multiplayer is co-op and a two player survival mode.
Made by
Director Scott Phillips, Producer Greg Donovan, Designer Bryan Dillow, Programmer Nick Lee, Artist Frank Marquart, Writer Steve Jaros, Composer Malcolm Kirby Jr..
