The latest issue of Game Informer features a full-blown reveal on the recently announced threequel, Saints Row: The Third. With scans now on out the net (no, we’re not linking to them), we’ve pulled some of the finer bits from the article for easy reading.
The game opens up in the city of Stilwater. The Saints are kings of the city; they’ve run out every other gang and the locals consider them guardians. In partnership with mega-corporation Ultor, the gang is selling Saints-branded t-shirts, bobble heads, and other novelties. With no other gang to compete against, the player begins the game robbing a bank with comrades Johnny Gat and Shaundi. Though they’ve bribed police to look the other way, another crime organization’s ponied up more. Syndicate, an international gang, happens to own the bank that the player and company are attempting to rob. Next thing you know, the trio awaken aboard a private jet owned by Syndicate.
This is the start of the game’s first mission. A firefight breaks out in the sky which eventually leads to the player and Shaundi free-falling out of the jet. Whilst falling through the sky, you’ll shoot down Syndicate members, avoid the debris of free-falling tanks and cars, and dive towards Shaundi, whose parachute-less. According to the magazine, “the mission’s already featured more action than any previous Saints Row game”. Then, another twist, literally. The plane, now falling from the sky, does a 180 degree turn and comes plummeting towards you and Shaundi. You throw her to the ground and break through the window of the oncoming plane. Unfortunately, Phillipe Loren, leader of Morning Star (a gang within syndicate), escapes. Loren is the game’s primary antagonist.
Players land in the city of Steelport, a city in economic decline whose appearance is vastly different to that of Stilwater’s. It’s filled with skyscrapers, warehouses and one-story apartments. Volition‘s including “numerous landmarks” in the city for players to easily determine their location without looking at the mini-map, and have said that the skyline is visible from almost any point in the city, so you’ll always know a route to downtown. Naturally, as the city is in decline, both the Saints and Syndicate see the opportunity in rebuilding it.
Steelport is home to four gangs. Morning Star are “suit-wearing, chain-smoking European baddies straight out of a Bond) film”. They prefer sniper rifles and SMGs as their weapons of choice. The Luchadores, or “the muscle”, are masked wrestlers that drive around in SUVs and deal drug. They prefer close-range combat and heavy weapons. The Deckers are “computer nerds” that deal with security and money laundering. Finally, the STAG Unit (Special Tactical Anti Gang Unit) are “tasked with riddling the streets of any gang,” whether it be the Saints or Syndicate.
The Third plays host to your standard arsenal of weapons — pistols, SMGs, rifles, grenades, — but also throws in that Saints Row fun. The magazine descried a “giant bat shaped like a certain sex toy”/”floppy rubber weapon” the players can make use of (let your mind ponder). As for new generic weapons, players can now call in airstrikes and predator drones, where the screen shifts perspective to a top-down view.
Other small tidbits:
- L1/LB speeds up the players actions. The developers call it the “awesome button”. Tired of waiting to hijack a car? Use L1/LB to missile kick into the driver’s seat.
- There are no more hamburgers, liquor, etc. for health regeneration. Health will now regenerate on its own much faster.
- There’s one mission in the game where you take control of a tank falling out of the sky.
For more on Saints Row: The Third, pick up the latest issue of Game Informer.