Saints Row: The Third Remastered Review

The Third Street Saints are back with yet another remaster of a previous title in the series, this time we are talking about Saints Row: The Third – Remastered. Experience the game with fully updated graphics and relieve the mayhem all over again. With the original release back in 2011 this was up there as one of my favourite games at this time, releasing on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC we got to see a whole new side to the Saints and experience a whole new level of fun. Though can I say the same about its Remastered counterpart?

Ultimately it is the same game from back in the day just with a much needed facelift when it comes to current gen gaming, this version does include all three mission packs and more than 30 DLC items which if you missed out on playing the first time round there are a few new additions to play. However if you was living under a rock back in 2011 or just wasn’t old enough at the time I’ll give you a little insight to what Saints Row The Third is about. Five years after the events of Saints Row 2, the 3^rd Street Saints have evolved into a media and consumer organisation making them into a brand. While robbing a bank in Stillwater, to promote an upcoming film about them, it doesn’t go as smoothly as they planned and they encounter some unanticipated resistance on the job, which ultimately brings them face to face with Phillipe Loren, who is the head of an international criminal enterprise known as the “Syndicate”. After the Saints refuse to give the Syndicate most of their profits in exchange for their lives all hell breaks loose which leads to Gat sacrificing himself so that the other can escape. In retaliation to this Loren orders the Syndicate to put an end to the Saints and destroy their empire.

Saints Row The Third Remastered plays the same way as it did back in the day. It’s full of properties and stores that can be purchased to help with your characters money income. Various activities like escort and insurance fraud (to name a few) add that little extra flare to the gameplay that helps makes Saints the crazy game that we all love and Gang operations are scattered around the map where by killing a number of enemies puts a dent in their hold over a district. By completing these it helps the Third Street Saints take over and make a name for themselves in Steelport.  The driving in Saints Row is very arcade like and feels outdated, if you have been playing a lot of GTA V recently then playing this will take some getting used to, it does come with a handy cruise control option while driving around which is cool. Aircrafts are another thing that takes some getting used to as well as the dodge camera angles you get from time to time.

Cribs are handed as these are the main hub place for your character and gang, here you can customize your gang members, their vehicles as well as your own look from the wardrobe. Customization is something that Saints Row does well and allows for the constant ability to change your characters look and gender while playing through the game which is amazing, you can start the campaign as a male and finish it as a female just by going to the image as designed stores scattered around the map, if only these were available in real life. On top of character customization you can customise your vehicles and upgrade your weapons to further suit your gameplay style and design. If this wasn’t enough you have the Saints Book that offers small little jobs for you to complete and the upgrade section on your phone to increase your health and make your life a whole lot easier with extended ammo clips in your guns and the ability to run faster. It’s nothing like the upgrade options you have in Saints Row IV but they will do.

Above all else the game looks fantastic; it’s defiantly an improvement on the original version from 2011. However, at times the game feels really dark and makes it very hard to see anything. This is even a problem after I have messed around with the display setting and have tried to boost the brightness. There are times that the game really shines and that’s mainly during its cut scenes. The character models look ten times better and the level of detail that has gone into this remaster really brings the map to life and makes for a wonderfully return to Steelport. The Soundtrack is bearable and does have some bangers but I seem to remember me enjoying the soundtrack a lot more the first time I played it than playing it now. I Love the voice acting on the character exceptionally Zimos the pimp with an autotuned voicebox, he was one of my favourite characters the first time around and definitely didn’t disappoint the second.

Once you have completed the story for the game which isn’t anything to difficult there isn’t much else to do. You can pretty much complete all the quests, activities and gang operations while just playing through the story. I find that it helps extend your play time that way instead of completing the story and going back to all the collectible stuff after. When you complete the campaign you could find someone to play co-op with or indulge yourself in the games Whored mode. This tasks the player with fighting waves of enemies across three different locations. You will have to complete bizarre objectives which allows for a unique experience and a few more extra hours of wackiness.

Closing Statement 

For a returning fan of the franchise Saints Row: The Third – Remastered is a nostalgic gameplay experience, however if you never played a Saints Row game before this isn’t a bad place to start as the series allows for you to join in at any point, as the stories in each game are standalone and have elements that piece together the story without actually playing the other games. The series originally got bashed as a clone of Grand Theft Auto but with the release of the second, third and fourth game it quickly became its own unique style by implementing wacky, over the top moments as well as out of this world activates and weapons, I mean who doesn’t love running around the street whacking people round the face with a huge purple d**k.

However, after playing through the game again it quickly dawned on me that it was better the first time round, don’t get me wrong I had fun replaying the game and gazing upon the graphically enhancements but for it to come out at the end of the current gen cycle where everything is just above and beyond it kind of makes you feel as if it should have been released sooner. With the asking price of £34.99 it’s pretty bad seeing as it was around that price the first time it came out back in 2011 but if you are a fan of the series then it is worth the money I guess. Seeing as we have just had the release of Saints Row IV Re-elected and now this, I for one am hoping for a big announcement soon were we will hopefully see the release of a brand new Saints Row game after all these years. For these reasons I’m going to give this game a 8 out of 10.

This Review is based on the PS4 Version of the game

Saints Row: The Third is Developed by Volition and Sperasoft Studio LLC, and published by  Deep Silver and Koch Media

Saints Row: The Third Remastered is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC

Saints Row: The Third is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and PlayStation 3

You can purchase the PS4 version of the game here for £34.99.

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