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

The foundation for unique horror was laid by Silicon Knights’ Eternal Darkness back on the Gamecube, yet it was never built upon, which to this day feels like a truly missed opportunity. While other genres have advanced and grown, it seems horror has merely been merged into a sub genre of action. It seems strange that Nintendo’s Wii, a console geared towards family and children, is home to the most pure horror titles this generation. The Xbox 360 and PS3 have a massive void waiting to be filled in the horror genre.

Horror took a nose dive after Resident Evil 4 – with more and more horror franchises and IPs going the route of action-horror

There have been a few horror titles in the past that were fantastic, such as Monolith Productions’ Condemned. It didn’t depend on jump scares like some of the more recent horror titles (F.E.A.R. 2 and 3, I’m looking at you). Instead, Condemned offered an intense atmosphere and an impending sense of dread and mystery wrapped into one fantastically creepy video game experience. It also featured one of the most memorable final bosses of modern gaming. Condemned came out at the start of the current generation and seemed like a sign of things to come, however, things went a bit pear shaped.

Horror took a nose dive after Resident Evil 4 – with more and more horror franchises and IPs going the route of action-horror. Silent Hill was once the pinnacle of horror. Unfortunately, even that franchise fell victim to the idea of action-before-horror with the release of Homecoming. While this trend offered an aspect of horror, it wasn’t a very strong aspect and failed to scare due to the player being more than capable of defeating said horror with a pull of the trigger.

Today’s games offer no sense of menace anymore as the only horror titles available now tend to drive towards action. The player is placed in a position in which they are armed to the teeth and able to take on anyone or anything. Silent Hill: Homecoming felt almost alien from the rest of the franchise as Alex Sheppard could take out his enemies in a very effective manner. The player now has the advantage and thus the sense of terror and menace is instantly gone.

Even Condemned 2 went the way of action-horror with the game progressing into yet another first person shooter. This was a true sign that even the last beacon of genuine horror on the consoles was gone.

As action-horror games become increasingly popular, the question to ask is, are they all bad? The answer to that question is no. The F.E.A.R. franchise has done a decent job of combining horror and action into an effective mix. The first in the series was by far the best example of horror and action coming together. The horror in F.E.A.R. took inspiration from Asian cinema as it used creepy child demon Alma to jump scare and stalk players throughout the game. While the horror was quite reliant on jump scares, there was a decent amount of creepy imagery and audio that was spliced into the intense action. Although it wasn’t the horror that laid the scares on thick and fast in the fashion of classic horror titles, F.E.A.R. did manage to prove that both horror and action could be combined well on modern day consoles.

Another surprising title that also managed to bring elements from classic horror games to modern systems was Valve’s Left 4 Dead. While the game was fast and furious and didn’t contain any dark atmosphere, it did contain a broad sense of panic and doubt to whether you would survive or not. The world that Left 4 Dead was set in also contained some classic elements of horror with locations seemingly void of population (until the infected turned up) and the great use of audio (for example the screams of the Hunters that prowl on the rooves above you).

Of course, it would be unfair not to mention Resident Evil 5 (aka Resident Evil 4.5) when talking about combination of action and horror that works. However, Resident Evil 5 went slightly off course towards the end of the game and threw itself into all out action with little to no scares or even many horror elements.

The potential for fantastic horror is immense and there is a market crying out for it. Both the 360 and the PS3 have proven they can render fantastic environments and visuals that suck a player in and keep them hooked, yet both systems have not shown current generation horror at its finest.

With a few years left for the current consoles, perhaps there’s still hope for a true return to pure horror video games, a hope I cling onto.  There is a slight return of familiar horror franchises in the shape of Silent Hill: Down Pour and the Kinect title, Rise of Knightmares. Hopefully, those titles will bring the horror back.

Light gun games on consoles were a mixed bag, obviously the buzz of the packed arcade was detracted and the social aspect lowered, with games either feeling too light in content or just feeling rather dull to play. But there were some sparkling examples of games that made the cross over well, such as House of the Living Dead 2 on the Dreamcast, this was always a great game to pick up and play either solo or with friends. Its  unique co-op experience is under appreciated in today’s modern multiplayer formalities.

Booting up House of the Living Dead 2 armed with my light gun is a memory I’ve always looked back on when talking about light guns and arcade shooters.  The game was a fantastic light gun experience that played just as well on the Dreamcast as it did in the arcade. The official Dreamcast light gun was nothing short of brilliant (the VMU unit added some nice little touches). It had a good weight to it, it was able to take punishment (rage throws to the floor after a cheap death) and was responsive.  Playing light gun games with Playstation Move and the Wii motes feels like a pale imitation. This isn’t to say the Move or the Wii doesn’t work or is particularly bad, they just feel rather soulless compared to using a brightly coloured light gun, which feels almost natural while playing the game.

While light gun games are disappearing and/or are merged into the first person shooter genre (for example Killzone 3) it would be nice to see a little more activity in the genre.  There are of course the few bastions carrying the torch for light gun titles in today’s market, such as the fantastic House of the Dead: Overkill, but these games are far and few between. While the light gun is set to become something of a relic, and the genre either obsolete or merged into another genre, it should be remembered and treasured for being one of the most fun video game experiences to date. While the arcades have all but gone (in the UK anyway) and video games now strive towards motion control, I will always look back at the light gun with a sense of joy and regret. Joy for the great times I had with a light gun in my hand, be it in the arcade blasting zombies in House of the Dead with my father or playing the Dreamcast equivalent alone in my room, it was always fun to play.

The regret is that within a year or so light gun games will be all but gone; a mere relic of days gone by. While this realization is disheartening, I can rest in the knowledge that playing my light gun collection is merely a press of a button away.

The return of Leon is well welcomed as he as been my most favoured Resident Evil character (though his hair cut has always slightly confused me) but it does raise a few questions that the game will surely answer. Leon’s sections seem to be a mixture of the action packed Resident Evil 4 gameplay tied in with the classic T-Virus zombies. It’s a nice touch to see Resident Evil bringing back the classic zombies but it does present a few issues in terms of how well the gameplay can blend in with the established ‘slow’ zombies. While there is plenty of room to question Leon’s section in trailer I found myself easily looking past them and instead questioning the next showing.

Chris Redfeild takes a large role in the Resident Evil 6 trailer and this is where my problems arise. My issues don’t rest within the character of Chris Redfeild but instead rest with the actions we see him perform. There’s a certain clip within the trailer that shows Chris taking up a very ‘Gears of War’ like position. While its apparent Chris has became the face of the pure full on action side of Resident Evil, this jump to third person cover based shooter seems rather alien given the franchise we are talking about here. While I understand franchises must evolve/adopt to survive (for the most part anyway) I cant quite get past the mish-mash of gameplay styles Resident Evil 6 seems to be.

I worry that the sections I could possibly enjoy could often be broken up too often and the gameplay switched to something I enjoy a lot less (or perhaps even dislike). This could easily lead to the game feeling like a chore to play through which can easily kill any video experience. Of course I’m speaking from a personal point of view, there will certainly be people who enjoy the potential mixing pot of gameplay. The prospect at having such a mix and change in pace within one game, while trying to carry a storyline, is an extremely daunting idea.

Another problem I seemed to find myself having with the trailer stems more from the identity crisis Resident Evil seems to be suffering. Capcom are no strangers to experimenting with the Resident Evil franchise. A look back through the years shows new directions taken by the franchise with some having more success than others. The likes of Resident Evil Survivor showed Capcom were willing to push their franchise into new genres. Even when they met failure they were still willing to try again and use their past experiences improve future efforts. You could not accuse Capcom of lacking ambition with the Resident Evil franchise after the releases of Out Break 1 & 2 which were met with a mixed reception. After a number of experiments and new directions it seemed Capcom had stuck gold with Resident Evil 4. The core gameplay of Resident Evil 4 seemingly set the tone for Capcomls numbered entries into the franchise. This hasn’t resulted in Capcom sticking to just one style of gameplay or genre, but has in fact allowed them to return to their experimental ways allowing them to branch out the franchise. The existence of the Wii Resident Evil light gun titles (Umbrella Chronicles) was further proof Capcom felt comfortable returning to their meddling ways within the Resident Evil world, the same can be said for Resident Evil:Raccoon City. Capcom have also began to embrace new technology in the shape of their title for Nintendo’s 3DS named Revelations.

I may have my issues with Resident Evil 6′s trailer and indeed with Capcom as a company, but I can see to why they have seemingly took the route that Resident Evil 6 is on. The mixture of gameplay is a double edged sword that could allow the game to offer a decent range of experiences or turn out to be a mess. I may be against the ‘Gears of War’ style action we seen in the Chris sections of the Resident Evil 6 trailer but the Leon sections and the sections belonging to the new character did raise a slight interest for me. Resident Evil 6 could be potentially franchise changing event for a number of reasons but until the game ships all we can do it sit back and wait.

Maybe I’m stuck in the past, maybe I’m just jaded but what I do know is I’m willing to have my mind changed. Just don’t charge us for content that’s locked on the disc Capcom.

What more? Here’s a short list.

- Make Tropico fit for the 21st century: Evolve the island from the Cold War era to modern times and even into the future

- 30 new buildings become available as time progresses, including condos, skyscrapers, Organic Ranches and Biofarms. Replace obsolete buildings with these modern and inspiring designs

- Upgrade old buildings to new variants — modernized apartment buildings, banks, museums and much more

- 10 new edicts allow even more control over your citizens’ lives. Block or limit citizens’ Internet use, create a police state or be a “good guy” and launch the Festival of Love edict

- New single player campaign comprised of 12 comprehensive scenario missions. Protect Tropico from unseen and sinister forces

The expansion releases March and will bleed your pocket a decent 1200 Microsoft Points, until then you can check out the teaser trailer released earlier below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Trophies, Achievements and all of that good stuff will also be included in the collection. There will be some unspecified “bonus content” as well.

Source: Joystiq

The new screenshots released are as follows:

Prototype 2 is due out April next year in 2012; April 24th in North America and April 27th in Europe.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The eight games included on the disc are:

• 1942: Joint Strike
• Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Flock!
• Rocketmen: Axis of Evil + “Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus” expansion
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
• Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

Each of these games will retain their individual Achievements and online functionality on the disc.

Gamers who don’t want to purchase the Collector’s Edition can still get in on the Dead or Alive 5 demo. Those that pre-order and Gamestop and Amazon will recieve a two-character Dead or Alive 5 demo. Pre-orders at Gamestop come with Ryu Hayabusa and Hitomi, while Amazon pre-orders come with Ayane and Hayate.

Source: Joystiq