Gamer Euphoria » PC

Saints Row The Third Review

TomM — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:33:34 +0000

Saints Row is one of gaming’s little absurdities. It neither takes its subject matter too seriously, nor does it seem to take the industry with anything more than a pinch of salt. This is no bad thing of course, and it would be travesty to pass the Saints Row franchise off as anything other than a Grand Theft Auto clone. Since the first instalment, it’s always had a puerile and over-the-top sense of humour, with little time for subtleties and this, in part, accounts for its current successes.

In this third instalment, The Saints have established their gang as the predominant and controlling force in Stilwater. They’re now a marketable brand and with their own line in clothing and energy drinks, are happy to reap the benefits. Despite success, they’re still caught up in their old criminal ways, and it’s here where we join Saints regulars Johnny Gat and Shaundi.

The game thrusts you straight into a bank robbery that has gone horribly wrong. The tellers are packing guns, and armed goons are pouring out of every corner and crack in the building. After a dramatic showdown, and subsequent capture by the police, they find themselves at the mercy of the head of The Syndicate; a massive multi-national crime syndicate.

Not being ones to lay down and die, a massive shoot-out and one exploding plane later, the survivors find themselves in the city of Steelport; a city dedicated to industry and crime. It’s here that they set up shop for revenge and an extremely hostile takeover.

As is the norm, the story opens its way to you in full after you’ve cleared up the usual humdrum tutorial missions, where you’re taught everything from upgrading to cars to kicking people in the privates, all of which is pretty standard but it has the Saints Row humour to drive it through.

Multiple missions may appear on your phone at any one time, but it’s up to the player to tackle them in the way, and order, they see fit. Completing certain missions will unlock perks, weapons and other bonuses that will help you progress and increase your level of respect, but these come with choices that cannot be undone.

While the story itself may be short, it’s a rollercoaster of insanity and unnecessary violence, but most of all; it’s fun. It has that certain something that differentiates it from its peers and really opens the world up. While it lacks the destructive nature of the likes of Mercenaries and the gritty, dark tones of the GTAIV, it makes its own mark with humour and bold colours.

The weaponry of Saints Row The Third packs a real punch too. While choosing pistols and assault rifles may be your first port of call, gaining access to a predator drone or a laser guided air-strike will certainly even odds in the toughest of fights and put a smile on your face, and while a two-foot purple dildo might not have been exactly what you were expecting, it fits perfectly with the feel of the game and, as is true with most of the game, it will depend heavily on your own sensibilities whether you find it offensive or downright hilarious.

With most open world games, half the fun lies in exploration, side-missions and absorbing the sights and sounds. There is a lot to do and steal in Steelwater. Diversions return in various formats; from completing challenges like streaking and car surfing, to hunting down gang specialists and vehicles. Mayhem returns to blow up everything in a mile radius, with the added explosion-factor of Tank Mayhem. Never let it be said that Saints Row does things in small measures.

There are other forms of side-mission that will be familiar to returning fans, like Snatch and the ragdoll madness of Insurance Fraud, but if there was one complaint; the developers haven’t deviated too far from the original formula. A little variety in the Diversion department wouldn’t have gone amiss, though there are some minor changes in some, the rest remain relatively untouched.

Respect and money remain the most important factors in the game. The former unlocks abilities and rewards and the latter is used for upgrading your cars, buying guns, ammo and any clothing you feel you need to ‘pimp’ out your Saint. There are some truly insane abilities and rewards to unlock, which can be anything from the delivery of a VTOL or tank, to being completely unaffected by explosions. None of them are useless, though you’ll need to perform tricks, stunts and complete both main story and side missions to gain the levels of respect required to purchase new perks.

Travelling the roads of Steelport is no easy task, with gangs and police around every corner. Thankfully, the developers have seen fit to throw some crazy vehicles into the mix too. VTOLs and a vast array of planes and helicopters will help you navigate the city in the most productive fashion you’ve ever seen in an open world game. The streets have been crafted to make all of this possible without too much effort. If it’s lacking anything, it would be some form of fast-travel between your owned cribs. If you’re the boss, why not have someone else take you?

Saints Row has never been the most technically advanced game on the market and the game has always suffered in its visuals. Draw distances are severely lacking and pop-up is prevalent in every area of the game. This doesn’t detract from the game overall as the character models are great and the personalisation of your Saint and their gangs is just as integral part as always.

The animation is fluid and the melee system has been handled in a way that suits the overall game style, whereas some games never manage to make fluid animations for when you have to go toe-toe. The method of hi-jacking cars can involve two feet through the window of a car, and it’s handled smoothly and with precision. The ragdoll physics of old return, but that’s just how it was meant to be and it adds to the constant level of madness on display.

Saints Row has never been one to have a great deal of spectacular licensed music, and the same is true of this iteration. This could be a problem, but there is something quite soothing about the sounds of Bonnie Tyler followed by Kanye West’s Power; if that’s your thing.

Dialogue is sharp, witty and fast paced. While it can be a tad childish at times, it always makes up for cheap jokes with well delivered lines. There’s an added bonus to choosing different genders and voices too; each one has quite a few of its own distinct lines, and the same is true in one-liners and taunts, though they do repeat it’s nice to see a little variation.

Saints Row The Third is an extremely fun experience by yourself, but that doesn’t mean that you have to go it alone. Another player can join in on the fun, and help you raise hell in the streets of Steelport. There is no downside to the co-op play, it never limits what you or your buddy can do and it allows for some crazy action and the possibility to create your very own set pieces.

Saints Row: The Third attempts to surpass its predecessors in the crazy stakes, while providing a true sandbox experience, and somehow it manages to do so while waving massive sex-toys around. It’s an extremely well crafted box of tricks that allows players to enjoy themselves, without getting mired in the storyline. It’s a game of huge proportions and deserves a place next to its peers, despite some technical shortcomings. Quite simply, Saints Row: The Third is a blast from start to finish.

4.5 / 5 stars

Minecraft Snapshot 12w05a Download

Chris — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:21:08 +0000

Hello people,

We have another SnapShot

Here’s the development snapshot of week 5, 2012! List of changes:

Many mob-related bug fixes (and some new behaviors)
Ocelots are easier to tame, and cats can be told to sit
Many small bug fixes and tweaks
Villagers will try to detect village houses and live in them
Updated language files (now with 50% less profanities!)

Get the snapshot here:

If you havent downloaded Minecraft you can grab it here: www.minecraft.net/download

// jeb and jon

See the original post here.

It is good they have made taming Ocelots (Cats) easier, that would have saved @Mangler112 and myself a good 40mins.

See the Minecraft 12w04 videos here.

I managed to find a good video by the M1neTube going through some of the updates;

Gamer Euphoria » PC

Saints Row The Third Review

Minecraft Snapshot 12w05a Download

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Minecraft Snapshot 12w04a Download

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Mojang SOPA Protest [Minecraft.net Shutdown]

Update 18th January

Post SOPA Protest

Minecraft 1.1 Released

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Minecraft Snapshot 12w01a Download

Merry Minecraft Christmas