rating: ★★★1/2

Hostage-taking is a hallmark of this fine series.

When the first Saints Row title arrived in 2006, it was dismissed by many as a shallow Grand Theft Auto clone. However, in subsequent years, the series has developed a significant fanbase and carved out a unique identity in the urban sandbox genre. The latest entry, Saints Row: The Third, takes a spectacular plunge off the deep end.

You play as a character called the Boss (whose appearance and voice is thoroughly customizable), leader of the infamous gang the 3rd Street Saints, sitting high after taking over their hometown of Stillwater in the previous game. In a pointed satire of America’s glorification of gang culture, the Saints have evolved into an international brand, marketing an energy drink and producing a feature film based on their exploits.

At the beginning of the game, you travel to the city of Steelport to tackle the major crime organization, the Syndicate, which comprises three gangs: the Luchadores, heavily-armed badasses dressed like Mexican wrestlers; the Deckers, high-tech computer-nerd techno-samurai; and the Morningstar, who can best be described as sexy French Mafia. As you play missions and purchase property, you gradually take over more territory in the city, funnelling more money toward yourself and your gang.

Most promotional material gave little indication of the game’s substance except that it apparently contained enough over-the-top zaniness to make the average Jason Statham movie look like an episode of Mad Men. The storyline is jacked with craziness; you blow the roof off a bank, dive out of an airplane and have a mid-air gunfight, and storm a military base and blow up tanks with reaper drones — and that’s just what happens in the first 20 minutes. Whereas in the last game your character was a cold-blooded killer, this time around you are more of an action hero.

In evaluating this title, I considered two things: what makes a good game, and what makes a good sequel. The Third makes several improvements over Saints Row 2. Graphics are much better, there is a sophisticated upgrade system, the weapon system is cleaner and the missions are generally more unique and exciting. It has also been built using a brand new engine, but it seems the developers had more interest in ramping up the insanity with things like hoverbikes and mind-controlling squid cannons than fixing some of the simpler things.

Customization is a cornerstone of the Saints Row franchise. Someone new to the series would probably be impressed by the character-building in this game, but those coming from SR2 are bound to be a little disappointed. Facial customization is very in-depth (there are over 20 properties to adjust on your character’s nose), but body customisation is limited — males look like body builders no matter what you do and women will always have unusually broad shoulders. Clothing is less individually customizable, but have more complete ensembles; the result is the clothes look much better than in previous games, but certain very basic dress options are impossible. And graphical improvements do not extend to accessories. Jewellery and facial hair are painted on the skin.

In addition to regular missions, you may take part in “activities,” which earn you money, respect and territory outside the main storyline. These include raising mayhem on the streets in a tank, chauffeuring a Bengal tiger around the city and battling gun-toting mascots in a Japanese game show. The game partially collapses activities into the main story, which I suppose is meant to give them narrative context, but it doesn’t really work. In the past, you were a low-level thug working as chauffeur, bodyguard and random jobber to work your way up, but now you’re in charge and working as chauffeur, bodyguard and random jobber just because.

The final problem is that there is little in Steelport with which to interact. There are very few buildings you can enter, and for those you can, you often find yourself in a cavernous space with almost no one inside. The city provides nice scenery, but there isn’t too much that’s interesting or unique that encourages you to poke around.

Despite its drawbacks, Saints Row: The Third is still a very solid game. The missions are exciting and cinematic in a “craziest fucking action movie you ever saw” kind of way. It takes a solid 30 to 40 hours to complete the game at a reasonable pace and while the city can be somewhat bland, actual gameplay never gets boring. It is combat heavy, but rather than going the way of other games this generation, Saints does not include a dedicated cover button and encourages more of a classic run-and-gun approach that makes the action fast-paced and intense.

As a successor to Saints Row 2, it has flaws, but with the mixture of missions, activities, customization options and a plethora of stunts and challenges to tackle in the most dangerous city in the world, Saints Row: The Third has plenty to keep you entertained.

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Photo: Supplied