Sunday, 12 June 2011

GameFocus E3 Preview: Saints Row: The Third


Since we last saw them, the Saints have catapulted into international celebrities with their own brand name (energy drinks, merchandise, etc.) and flocks of adoring fans. This time, they’ve jumped ship, leaving Stilwater for the lovely Steelport. There are still multiple gangs the Saints will take on, but the major opposing force is The Syndicate (whom is still in full control of Stilwater as well) that wants to further their dominance across the world. It’s like Biggie said “Mo Money, Mo Problems”, so despite their success, the Third Street Saints will still have to lay down the law.
The E3 demo was set in an area controlled by The Luchadores, a Mexican gang who wears wrestling masks (hence the name). Volition used the open-world playground to show off some of the new features in the game. Variety is key here, with players having more options to customize their clothing (a space suit!!) and interact with people. They can run up behind a person and body slam them face first into the concrete along with performing similar fighting moves like punching a pedestrian in the crotch. Some onlookers did react, but for the most part they were oblivious to the violence occurring nearby.
Next up were melee weapons and in shocking fashion, the player pulled out a giant purple dildo bat and started beating people with it. Yes, it’s as funny as it sounds. A more violent weapon, the apoca-fist, consisted of punching people with large mitts and watching them explode into chunks. After that the player ran over to a vehicle and jacked it by jumping through the driver’s side window and drove around with improved controls that allow you to stop and turn in an instant.
Unfortunately, Saints Row is also known for its floaty physics. Volition said they overhauled the physics engine and demonstrated the improvements by participating in the Tank Mayhem event (one of the mini-games; something else Saints Row is known for). Anarchy reigned supreme with explosives raining down on everything and the tank creating vehicle pancakes after running them over. Next the player piloted a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing jet). Graphical pop-in was still apparent like before, but keep in mind that this is still an incomplete build of the game so that could improve before release. The pilot spotted a gang of Luchadores standing together, so he called an air strike that simply obliterated the crowd.
After landing the craft on a rooftop the player jump and rolled off safely onto the ground. The remaining section of the playground showed the player driving the manapult, a vehicle with a cannon on the back. Suck in bystanders with the cannon, then launch them into buildings or the air. Players can even jump into the manapult and shoot themselves into the air before deploying a parachute. Needless to say, the mayhem SR3 has lined up is nothing short of nuts.
Once we were done with the playground, it was time ti check out a story mission. Essentially, it consisted of a bank robbery led by the player who was accompanied by three gang members. All four of them were dressed up in Johnny Gat bobble head suits and they looked awesome as they fought a bank full of enemies. Humorous dialogue and ludicrous scenarios (signing an autograph during the chaos and hitching the vault to a helicopter) were sprinkled in during the mission as our hero attempted to stay on top of the vault while fighting off waves of bad guys. The demo ended with the vault slamming to the ground and the player in custody.
Based on both what I saw and the audience’s reaction, Volition has definitely demonstrated that Saints Row is the go-to franchise for outrageous, over-the-top amusement with excessive violence thrown in to make a chaotic cocktail. Saints Row: The Third appears to continue its predecessors’ tradition of fun filled entertainment that begs to be shared with friends. We’ll have to see if the rest of the game can live up to this sampling once it launches this November.

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