The best-selling Saints Row and also the most valued. Almost a decade after its original release, we return to the city of Steelport to relive some of the craziest and funniest scenes from this open-world action game. In the analysis of Saints Row the Third Remastered we talk about it and how the Volition video game has aged.
When we dedicated a video to the best video games to cause chaos it was one of the first titles that came to my head. It is not for less. While the GTA saga and other open-world games have opted to bring more realism to the action, more plausible situations in a framework of shots, explosions and scenes typical of the best action movie, in Saints Row The Third Remastered you find just the opposite : the madness unleashed ; the triumph of the absurd against any hint of realism. It is his hallmark, and it is one of the great virtues that this crazy video game from Volition treasures, which comes back to life in the form of a remastering which is more ambitious than seen in other recent releases, in the sense that there is a clear graphic improvement that could even make us think that it is a remake. But that’s where the changes with respect to the original game released almost a decade ago.
The missions, history, weapons, vehicles and other game content remain unchanged, with all the good and bad that this implies. By this I mean that some game mechanics have aged badly, with battles or missions that may now be too simple for us compared to other recent releases. The chaos, the explosions, the shootings in impossible conditions against even more delusional and absurd enemies … everything that made the original great is still there, preserving that natural charm that the Volition franchise treasures. But while it’s easy to have a great time causing chaos in the city of Steelport, you will also find yourself with less fun situations, either because the driving of vehicles has not resisted the years as well, for the simplicity of the shootings or, worse still, for the discreet artificial intelligence of enemies who are rompers with legs.
Gangsters, sharks and a gigantic poll
Saints Row the Third is synonymous with immediate fun; frenzied combat without a second of respite in the most bizarre conditions imaginable. Aliens? Clear! Why not, if everything is valid here. As if you decide to fight disguised as a hot dog, flying on a magic broom with a huge dildo in your hands. The absurd takes over the action almost from the first minute of the game, making it practically impossible not to laugh with some of the nonsense you will have to carry out during the adventure. What’s cool about this hilarious open-world action game is that many of its main missions are still a spectacle worth living, not so much because of the shootings, which, as I said, seem simple, but because of the variety of situations that you face.
A few minutes are enough to show some of his crazy action, leading you to fight against dozens of enemies, and helicopters! on a structure that wobbles from one side to the other. Plus? Seconds later you will fight to the death in a plane from which, you can imagine, you end up being thrown with enemies, cars and garbage everywhere. So you plummet, at full speed, while dodging obstacles and shooting rivals. All this seasoned with endless jokes and bombastic phrases that help you get fully into the action. Because yes, Saints Row the Third is absurd, but it is also a video game with an interesting plot, which catches, thanks to the charisma of its protagonists and villains.
It is a good excuse to continue to fulfill orders, controlling territories, because thanks to this and the respect you earn you can unlock new vehicles, weapons and improvements in a progression system very thankful. It is undoubtedly one of the aspects that has most resisted the passing of the years. But … what can you do at Steelport? There are tons of activities with tasks as absurd as participating in wrestling matches, surviving a bloody obstacle course with traps and ridiculously disguised psychopaths, competing in races, using satellite weapons to bombard your enemies, boycott and destroy rival gangs, or cause chaos for fun. There are few games where something as simple as this is both fun. Blame it on the absurd design of some weapons, such as the shark pistol, which will make a gigantic shark come out from underground to devour its victims.
Despite the simplicity of many of the tasks it offers us, or the shootings themselves, Saints Row the Third is still, as a game with a special charm, said; in style, as evidenced by that Saints’ attic assault mission, accompanied by Kanye West’s Power theme. Okay, yes, the enemies seem to be there for decoration, they hardly pose a challenge, and the objectives are not original at all; but it is so grateful to exterminate them to the rhythm of the music that the drawbacks are less. To a certain extent, of course, because in the end the hours of play are heavy and some of their missions, repetitive or simple, end up becoming tedious. There have been times when I wanted the shooting and blast madness to end because, as much as the idea of shooting and destroying everything in your path sounds great, there comes a point that becomes exhausting. It is like an excess of chaos that ends up saturating.
And here you have content to bore on Xbox One, PS4 and PC via the Epic Games Store , because apart from the main adventure, three content expansions and about 30 DLC are included with more cosmetic items, weapons and various crazy things to spend it with fine at Steelport. A city that, obviously, has made a big change in the visual, with better modeling of characters and vehicles, more detailed faces, more elaborate lighting effects and higher quality textures. It is appreciated that instead of just increasing the resolution and little else, Deep Silver have been more ambitious, creating a game more typical of the beginning of the current generation. It is true that some scenes and characters are rare in certain circumstances, and that despite the greater drawing distance, there are still elements that appear suddenly before your eyes, but in general, the remastering work is more than good, being able to enjoy of the Saints Row the Third Remastered action with a major facelift. In this regard, by unlocking the frame rate per second, it can work at 60fps on Xbox One X, based on technical analysis, and at 45fps on PS4 Pro.
The remastering of Saints Row The Third is proposed as the best option to enjoy this great action game in the open world, especially if you did not have the opportunity to enjoy its wild shootings in its day, but you have to play it considering that they have Ten years have passed since its original release, and some of its game mechanics are outdated or feel somewhat poor. The AI of the enemies, the driving, and the simplicity of the shootings or the design of the missions is far from the spectacular nature of other recent games, and it is something that sooner or later affects the overall experience of this game developed by the authors of the Red Faction saga.
A great facelift for a video game that is synonymous with immediate fun. The shootings are outdated and there are issues with enemy AI, but Saints Row the Third Remastered knows how to entertain for hours with endless wild battles in the most unlikely situations. If you did not play it in its day, you will find here a fun title with a lot to offer. The visual remastering work is also to be commended.
- Direct, uncomplicated action with a great sense of humor
- Lots of content to discover and lots of crazy things to do in Steelport
- A remarkable facelift that clearly improves the graphics of the original
- The shootings, too simple and with little emotion
- Enemies in low light: their artificial intelligence is discreet
- Some bugs that ugly the final result
- Duration:15-25 hours (+ extras)
- Players:1-2 (Cooperative: Online)
The requirements of Saints Row the Third Remastered in its PC version have finally been revealed. Here we leave you the minimum and recommended requirements of the Deep Silver video game to play it on PC:
Minimum requirements:
- Operating system:Windows 10
- Processor:AMD / Intel 3.4 GHz CPU or higher: AMD FX 6000 series or Intel Core i5-3000 series or later
- Memory:8GB RAM
- Graphics card:AMD / NVIDIA with at least 4GB VRAM and support for DirectX 11 and Shader Model 6.0: AMD Radeon 500 series or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or later
- Sound card:DirectX 9 compatible
- Performance:720p in low settings
Recommended requirements:
- Operating system:Windows 10
- Processor:5 GHz AMD / Intel CPU (AMD FX 8000 series or Intel Core i5 4000
- Memory:8GB RAM
- Graphics card:AMD / NVIDIA with at least 4GB VRAM and support for DirectX 11 and Shader Model 6.1: AMD Radeon RX 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1000
- Sound card:DirectX 9 compatible
- Performance:720p in low settings
