Saints Row: The Third – Remastered Stadia Edition Review
Fast Facts
Saints Row: The Third – Remastered Stadia Edition
Developer: Volition
Publisher: Deep Silver
Website: https://saintsrow.com/
Genre: Adventure, Shooter, Action
Platform: Google Stadia (Also Available on Xbox One, PS4, NIntendo Switch and PC)
Age Rating: PEGI 18
Release Date: 05/03/2021
Price: £39.99
A code was provided for review purposes.
Third Time’s the Charm…
In my early days of playing adventure games on my Xbox 360, one series always had my heart. As campy and ridiculous as it was, the Saints Row series has and always will be one of my favorite series of GTA-like games. I often call Saints Row “Goofy Grand Theft Auto,” a perfect parody of practicing crime while also shooting obscene mascots with a Dubstep gun (yes, that’s a real weapon in this series.) If you’d like to read our past review of Saints Row The Third: Remastered, check it out here!
The Saints Row series follows GTA V in the vein of “put it on literally every system possible.” Saints Row: The Third has now entered the remastered world of nostalgia game trips down memory lane. Firstly, Saints Row: The Third can be found on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Adding the Remastered version, we can now play Saints Row: The Third – Remastered on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC and now the newest (and in my opinion) most interesting platform for games today: Google Stadia, which brings your games to any PC or Android Phone (sorry Apple peeps…we’ll get actual Stadia usage eventually I’m sure…)
The Saints Taking Over!
Launched on March 5th, Saints Row: The Third – Remastered shines on Stadia just like its other platforms. However, because it IS Google Stadia, you MUST have a stable internet connection to truly enjoy the mayhem. It is basically streaming cloud gaming, so make sure you are hardwired in or have really good internet before you play anything on Stadia. Multiple times when I would play it with a wireless connection, the game would get caught in some kind of loop and I would have to completely leave the game and start over.
Saints Row: The Third has been around since 2011 and received better reviews and nominations than its other titles. While some of its graphics are seen as basic or average, the game was praised for its mini games, customizations, writing and sound. The Remastered edition puts a little more shine into the graphics, especially in the cutscenes, however, when we dive into the overworld, sometimes the environment in the Stadia edition can get glitchy. If you’re a Keyboard and Mouse player, the controls will take a little getting used to. Personally, I am more of a controller user and the Stadia controller for this game was a much more enjoyable experience than using a keyboard and mouse, but to each their own!
Third Street Celebrities!
If you’ve never played Saints Row: The Third, the plot is pretty basic. You are the leader of the Third Street Saints and you are battling multiple gangs in Steelport. In this fantasy world, the Saints are revered as celebrities and the other gangs are trying to take over. You control different areas as you complete missions and eventually will own all of Steelport! Let’s face it, you’re not playing a Saints Row game for the plot. You’ll take on The MorningStar gang, a high class, violent crime syndicate that is the primary antagonist to the story. You’ll also be fighting the Luchadores, a gang full of wannabe pro wrestlers that took way too many steroids and then the Deckers, an EDC cyberpunk style gang with super fast cyber ninjas. All three of these gangs make up “The Syndicate” and it is up to you and your homies to take them down and rule Steelport, Third Street Saints style!
Super Ethical Fun Time!
My favorite features in Saints Row: The Third – Remastered are the mini games. There are a wide variety of them to keep yourself occupied. Once completed, you can always come back for a better score. In my opinion, Mayhem is the best one. You drive a tank and destroy everything in your path trying to cause the most amount of financial damage to Steelport imaginable. Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax is one of the most heralded minigames. It’s an arcade obstacle shoot-everything-and-survive mini game that limits you to whatever gun for that particular level. It’s definitely the most challenging minigame that will keep you hooked until you conquer all the different levels! Other fun games include Insurance Fraud where you crash your character into traffic to cause as much financial damage as well. Helping out local directors with their terrible movies will also grab you some cash and star power.
Following the formula of Grand Theft Auto, when you drive you have an excellent variety of music with different radio stations that take on their own personalities. It’s especially therapeutic to destroy everything while listening to the Classical Music station. The Metal and Rap station also have a great selection of music. The main soundtrack and voice acting are among the best work of the entire series and are well-balanced and voiced. The NPC’s also have their own personalities and the things you hear will be… quite interesting.
Not for the Kids…
It goes without saying, but Saints Row: The Third is definitely not a family game. Some of the weapons are absolutely obscene, some areas you explore can be risqué among other things. Use caution and don’t show this game to your grandmother. Just like Grand Theft Auto, you have absolute freedom to do anything you want, good or bad. Your actions do have consequences, however. There is a ‘notoriety’ system that increases with every crime you commit. On the other side, every enemy gang member you attack increases your notoriety for them and they will attack you at random while you’re exploring Steelport. If you reach level five notoriety for police or gangs, the entire military will attack you until you’re done for. Tread carefully as you explore your gang paradise.
Gangland Empire
As you collect businesses around Steelport, those businesses will become your income. Purchasing them will increase your hourly income to ungodly amounts as you expand your empire. Defeating rival games and completing minigames will also increase your hourly income which you can use to upgrade your character and homies’ abilities. Even when you control all of Steelport, the replayability of this game is huge. The minigames are fun enough that I go back almost every day and cause some mayhem.
Controlling Your Empire
The third person perspective can be a little jaunty. It is definitely not as smooth as most third person games like Gears of War. Even though this is a remastered game, it still shows its age. You can modify the controls a bit, but overall they can be a little sticky at times. This has caused me to fail some shootouts at times, and again, when the internet is not steady, it is almost impossible to finish a mission. The Stadia Controller takes some getting used to as well. The button mapping is a little different than Xbox Controllers and can throw you off at times if you’re not used to it. I still prefer the Stadia Controller to mouse and keyboard for this game in particular.
The driving mechanics are not as bad but can be a little icy on the road at times. You can set you car to auto drive and shoot bad guys if you’re being chased. Some missions require you to shoot down helicopters while riding a computer controlled car, and that mission in particular is very difficult. Maybe I’m just not that good at it. You be the judge.
Gather Your Homies
Playing this on Stadia, I do not have many friends online, however, there are co-op opportunities for this game to make the multiplayer fun. There is a co-op campaign and a “Whored Mode” which replicates the famous “Horde” mode from Gears of War to keep your friends hooked and interested in this title. Get your homies and have some fun in the co-op modes available.
Cheaters Always Win
Following in the footsteps of GTA V, Saints Row: The Third – Remastered also has its own slew of cheat codes. Remember, when cheat codes are activated you cannot collect achievements. They’re simply there for fun. Some cheats include invincibility, indestructible vehicles, infinite ammo, super strong homies, large chunks of money, etc. I believe after you conquer the main story and all the side quests you want, you should check out all the cheat codes available. They really spice up the overall gameplay.
Final Thoughts
Saints Row: The Third – Remastered will always have a special place in my gamer heart. It’s fun, action packed, silly, raunchy and challenging. It’s basically a video game version of a college bro comedy that has pretty decent writing in the vein of most Will Ferrell or early Adam Sandler movies. If you don’t like childish, irreverent humor, this game is definitely not for you. There are some jokes and stories that might make some of us raise our eyebrows, but remember, this is a ten year old game. A ten year old goofy game that does not take itself too seriously. And I love every minute of it!
The graphics are not the absolute best, even in remastered standards, but they do look more polished when it comes to cutscenes. When I have stable internet, it runs just as smooth as the Xbox One version. Saints Row The Third – Remastered is a definite deserving edition to your library. I will say, however, the price is a bit much for a ten year old game. You are getting a lot in a purchase, but it may be worth waiting until the price drops to add this to your Stadia library.
Rapid Reviews Rating
4 out of 5
4
You can buy Saints Row: The Third Remastered on Stadia here.
You can find and read our reviews on OpenCritic.
One Comment
Andy gamer
I just got saints row third remastered for ps4 yesterday this game is freaking awesome this is my first saints row game I had ever played and I didn’t know that it was this freaking fun….. I can’t stop playing it. But if we do comparison it with GTA then they are both great games. GTA5 and GTA triology are great for its realism, but you can’t beat the arcade style of SR3 Remastered.