So, why do people dislike Saints Row the Third anyway?

[Something Amyss]

5). The upgrades

The second game had you earning upgrades with cheats for if you wanted them which was awesome there was stuff to be earned but if you wanted to say screw it the cheats were there for you as well. The third game made it so you earn things but can never turn them off ever thus eliminating any challenge from the game and making it really boring. Then they kept cheats but made you have to buy them which is really stupid.

Oh, man. I really wish you could toggle stuff like "no bullet damage."

 

[Evil Smurf]

I liked everything but the endgame content, but then again I got 60+ hours out of it. That said, I love that game more then you love your child.

 

[IGetNoSlack]

Saint's Row: The Third was absolutely uninteresting 10 hours in.

Two skydives followed by drug trafficking is NOT the way to start a game. After the skydives, everything else felt bland.

(I've never played SR2, only spent about 15 hours with 3.)

 

[2fish]

Spoiler: this

Okay.
I'm gonna start off and say I played Saints Row 2 first, and a year later I played the Third.
I prefer the Third. Every complaint I've seen about it is that SR3 is silly.
Okay?... What's wrong with that? I get that SR1 was serious and SR2 was not as silly, but what's wrong with it being silly?
I seriously need an explanation for this. The fact that people are going 'Saints Row 4 is going to be an abomination' and the most I can gather from their reasons is that the game is obviously going to be silly...why is this such a major issue?

Saints Row 1 was considered a parody and a joke by people. Theres a reason Volition has pretty muched disowned it and you can't even get DLC for it. It was trying to be a straight urban game and in all actuality is racist as all hell for it, but it goes over most peoples heads so yeah.

Saints Row 2 on the otherhand had this really rather delightful tone of making the playcharacter feel like a batman villian. Actually I've repllayed this game several times with the Joker as my avatar for this reason. It can be silly as hell at times, and at others you're tricking one of your rivals to crush his girlfriend with a monster truck and blow up some poor saps hand just to send a message. It's a nice balance, and it works. People wanted more of that.

Saints Row 3 comes along and all those delightfully dark twisted bits get shoved to the side instead for whackyness. And theres a lot I like about Saints Row 3, don't get me wrong. I'm a wrestling fan, so I love Killbane as a villian as a character and that whole bossfight where you right him in the ring, and some of the things he says are things only a wrestling nerd like myself would get. I love that he just breaks that bitches neck after calling him by his real name (never call a wrestler by their real name) but that's also kind of the problem.

I want the player character to be snapping bitches' necks like popsicals because they angered him. Character went from being a pyschotic blood thirst sociopath to such a fucking pansy. They ruined the fuck out of Shaundi too, she use to be the cool stoner girl and now shes some diva?

Johnny Gat said it best at the start of the game. The Saints sold out, and that's the exact reason why they had to kill him. Gat was telling the audience the truth about the product.

I don't hate 3 but I like number 2 ALOT more and I will share my reasons since you asked ^^.

1). The characters

The characters in the second game were great they were funny and had you laughing all the time all the while when we needed they could still be serious and have some great character development. The third game took the characters that you had grown attached too and loved and said lets make them not even remotely the same anymore randomly for no reason. Then they killed of Gatt who was one of the most important characters in the franchise without even clarifying if he is dead or not it was so confusing anticlimactic and just awful. Shandi was literally a different character who didn't have a thing to do with the second game and was the same literally in the name alone even the voice actress was different and they even changed her look to the point they even made her white randomly.

2). The customization

The customization in the second game literally blew my mind. I was so excited for even more with the third game and while it was solid it was no where near the level that saints 2 was at. In saints row 2 if you could think of it you could likely do it they had crazy amounts of depth in the outfits you could put together. You could literally put on a bra then undershirt with over shirt then sweater then a jacket on top of it all then a costume on top of all that and all the while having custom colours and patterns and even ways you wear it. In number three you can still choose what to wear but you can't customize patterns, you had less colours and, you couldn't chose how to wear things. They also took out all the layering leaving you with shirt, coat, and maybe a bra and thats it. Also they had a fraction of the options in clothing you could wear. The second game had tons of different stores that sold all kinds of different clothing which was all scraped for maybe 2 or 3 places which all had the same handful of outfits.

Almost all of the above applies to the vehicles as well while I will say three had some cooler vehicles they had a fraction of the options of cars to choose from that the second game had. The second game had a TON of different cars that all felt unique. While the third had a good few they had a fraction of the amount from saints 2. Also in the second game you could customize you car much like clothing down to insane detail which a lot of that was scrapped for fewer choices.

I will just save some time and say they did the same thing for character customization (which was the most detailed creator I have ever seen), crib customization, gun options, gang customization, radio station customization, taunt customization, walk customization, even fighting style customization.

3). The story

The story of the second game was actually really engaging with character trials and some really sad moments that had you going "holy shit did that just happen" all the while having random humor and some really awesome randomness to keep you laughing. The third game took the balance and threw it out the window for pure randomness for the sake of randomness. The story was straightforward and a chunk of the humor was really forced and luckily there was humor cause the seriousness was really awkward and stilted with characters being angry for no reason and nobody really changing and nothing truly being resolved or even making all that much sense. It also really sucks that they pritty much ignore that the other games happen at all for the most part thus eliminating almost all story progression you had been engaged in.

One thing I liked about the mini games as well in the second game is that they would have a story sequence to explain why you are doing what you are doing usually something really funny but it made sense they took this out of the third game leaving you with "I am doing this because.... well I just am" so you are just left going er ok sure why not.

4). The side quests

They had some really really fun side quests in the second game and I can't really think of any one I didn't like at all they were all a blast. The third game kept some but got rid a lot of the more popular ones and added in some really annoying bland ones instead. I mean driving around with a tiger is funny for a few min but the joke stops being funny when you are forced to drive into a lake with no control of your own thus eliminating the idea of skill.

5). The upgrades

The second game had you earning upgrades with cheats for if you wanted them which was awesome there was stuff to be earned but if you wanted to say screw it the cheats were there for you as well. The third game made it so you earn things but can never turn them off ever thus eliminating any challenge from the game and making it really boring. Then they kept cheats but made you have to buy them which is really stupid.

6). Forced new and online pass

In order to force players to buy new they added a online pass for something that was previously free they did the same thing with clothing cheats and various other things which was a real spit in the face to long time fans.

7). The Map

Saints row 2 had a huge map with tons of different areas with different themes and just in general a very large and diverse city with lots to see and experience. The third game cut the map size in half and got rid of all the different areas and made it just city and suburbs more or less. The second game had a ton of random cpu actions so no matter where you go different things would be happening and the city would really feel alive not to mention the computers were hilarious. The third game features people walking around a barely that.

8). The music

While this is more of a preference call I vastly preferred the music in the third game which featured more types of music and in general more selection. This one is a preference mostly but it counts for something.

9). Mini Games

They just straight out took out most of the diversions and fun little side activities that were fun side options in the second game. There is the occasional one still around but most are gone

10). Picking up random stuff

In the second game you could literally pick up a hydrant and throw it at a man like the Hulk which was really fun once in a while and it gave you lots of options. Don't feel like using a gun just pull out that stop sign and start swinging.

11). The collectables

In the second game they had tons of collectables to find and collect which added a lot more depth to the map encouraging you to explore and mess around. They made you find CD's, Jumps, Tags etc there was a tonnnnnnn to find.

There is more too this is all just off hand I likely missed things as well and I didn't even get into a few things I only mentioned mostly in the customization department.

I cannot say it better so I shall back these. I mean 3 is fun but 2 has more charm more choice, ect. Pity about the pc port for 2.

 

[Reaper195]

I think perhaps you don't hear from the people who like the game often because they don't have anything to say, while those who don't like it will naturally complain. To whit, you can't please everyone. However, it can't be that big a complaint if there's yet another game coming.

Pretty much this.

A lot of people didn't like GTA4's step towards being less outright comedy satire and became much more down-to-earth and serious. But that game made a few records when it was released (Now all dashed by BLOPS2), but a fifth one is still coming out. And Rockstar are still in mad business.

The only reason I never truly enjoyed Saints Row 3 was the lack of characterisation. I prefer my games to have a focused story with characters which develop. Like GTA4. Whereas everyone in SR3 had a distinct personality...but it didn't change at all the entire way through.

 

[wulf3n]

...valid criticisms...

But at least I don't have to do those Shitty mini-games to progress the Fucking story!

I really wanted to like SR2 but I just kept getting blocked by the game.

Game: "Oh you want to continue the cool story, TOO BAD, Go back to the sandbox until you've had more "fun"


...Anyway Back on Topic.

I didn't see too many reviews but the ones I did see were awfully hypocritical and come off as snooty.

Example: They pointed out how much they enjoyed mowing countless civilians down in their car in SR2, watching the bodes flail about, but found the wrestling style take downs of civilians in SR3 "went too far"...Really!

 

[mooncalf]

There was something unapologetically psychotic about the protagonist of Saints Row 2 and that made it's silly moments all the more absurd, it made the absurdity plausible. Wheras in 3 you have a character as glossy as the new ultra-swag graphics. I don't mind, SR 3 is great, it just doesn't feel quite as... Thorough? as SR 2.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It was too short, too much content was stripped out and resold as DLC, the clothing options were way over simplified, the edgy and dark humour was replaced with the kind of "humour" you'd see in one of those 80min pop culture scripted movies. Oh and they

Spoiler

killed Johnny Gat, arguably the best character in the series, in the first 10 minutes.

 

[Nomanslander]

I don't know, I'm an outsider when it comes to this series with little interest in investing any time in the games. But out of all of them, the third seemed to be the only title I might have gained enough interest to try out. I cared less of the "gangsta gangsta fast and furious what-up-dawg" approach of the first two games; actually, I down right hated it.

 

[Kal-Adam]

Saints Row 3 removed much of the depth that drew me into the series to begin with. The clarify, I don't mean a meaningful story, but the world it takes place in, activities available, customization choices. I love every game in the series to death, but anyone who has played all three can admit that the third was the most shallow.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Okay.
I'm gonna start off and say I played Saints Row 2 first, and a year later I played the Third.
I prefer the Third. Every complaint I've seen about it is that SR3 is silly.
Okay?... What's wrong with that? I get that SR1 was serious and SR2 was not as silly, but what's wrong with it being silly?
I seriously need an explanation for this. The fact that people are going 'Saints Row 4 is going to be an abomination' and the most I can gather from their reasons is that the game is obviously going to be silly...why is this such a major issue?

The big deal was that they gutted more than 50% of the content of Saints Row 2. Customization was just really bland in 3 next to the mountain of options 2 had.

Besides that, 2 had a much larger diversity in terms of NPCs. 3 had, like 4 different types (not counting gang members) and it was very often that you would find clones of citizens standing next to each other. Whereas I never saw two peds look the same in Saints Row 2. The ambient behavior was also leaps and bounds above 3. You would see NPCs doing everything from smoking to painting, to cheerleading, to doing yoga, to skateboarding, to throwing down with your homies (who would jump in on the fight or stand back and cheer on their homies) and the sheer hilarity of watching a granny go from hobbling along on a walker to picking up one of your homies and throwing him over a fence before jumping over that SAME fence to shank him with a switchblade was timeless.

3 just had none of that. The world is smaller, it feels lifeless, and there is less than a fraction of the customization that 2 had.

Also, they took out Fuzz.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

...valid criticisms...

But at least I don't have to do those Shitty mini-games to progress the Fucking story!

I really wanted to like SR2 but I just kept getting blocked by the game.

Game: "Oh you want to continue the cool story, TOO BAD, Go back to the sandbox until you've had more "fun"

The same thing happened in 3, it's just that they shoehorned in the activities to the story missions so you literally HAD to play them to progress.

At least in 2 if you completed all the levels of 1 or 2 activities then did some strongholds you'd already have enough respect to finish the game without having to touch another activity again.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Saints Row 3 lost a lot of the layers it had in the second game.

It has less minigames
Less customization
Less personality to the characters
It started you off more powerful than everything else in the beggining
The laughs were jammed in for laugh's sake
The content was cut to be sold to us in an attempt to save THQ


And overall was way shorter than SR2.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Okay.
I'm gonna start off and say I played Saints Row 2 first, and a year later I played the Third.
I prefer the Third. Every complaint I've seen about it is that SR3 is silly.
Okay?... What's wrong with that? I get that SR1 was serious and SR2 was not as silly, but what's wrong with it being silly?
I seriously need an explanation for this. The fact that people are going 'Saints Row 4 is going to be an abomination' and the most I can gather from their reasons is that the game is obviously going to be silly...why is this such a major issue?

I think generally most people didn't like the overclocking shift to extremely wacky, and the fourth is a continuation of that. To many they liked the polarization, I didn't care personally but people will get their nickers in a twist about that sort of thing.

Also changes to customization and the visual, which in my opinion were improvements, as I went to GDC last year and saw session where the art director showed off a lot of the changes they did. It was surprising deep, like the rival gangs and their headquarters and cars, all had highly saturated palettes with pink in their design (pink representing lewdness and sex), this was all done to make them stand out to the more pedestrian characters and backdrop. You can find the slideshow on the GDC website.

The only issue I had with 'the Third' is the lacking of watching old cut scenes or replay old story missions, being able to do that in Saints Row 2 made a good time sink. That being said since playing 3, SR2 looks so butt ugly to me, I had to tamper with my character for fucking weeks before I got something that I liked, got something I like out of 3 with the Initiation Station on the night I used it (great idea to have a place online to save the characters, would like to have a local copy, but an option is nicer than none).

Frankly I found SR3 to be a better game than SR2, when I started up SR2 I cheated right out of the gate, but I felt compelled enough to actually try PLAYING 3. Also the leveling up and skills were great, better than getting respect just to play more missions.

 

[Drizzitdude]

I loved saints row the third

 

[Tom Waits' hat]

I don't hate it, but in term of "gameplay" I find there isn't much depth in that game after a while. They did a really good job on the overall pacing in my opinion. It doesn't drag on forever.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

SR3 was probably the game i had the most fun with 2012. It was a blast, it was silly but in good way and it had Burt fucking Reynolds.
For me the sillyness could be somewhere between SR2 & SR3 to be absolutely perfect though.

I had my ~30 hours of fun, which is a good amount of time derping around, finishing the missions and 100% the game. I'm looking forward to the next.

And to everyone who didn't like it: That's like.. your opinion, dude.

 

[piinyouri]

To avoid beating a dead horse, I'm going to say it was the player character.
He just seemed like a either a limp noodle or the worst kind of internet poster come to life.
"LOLERZSKATE WAK U WITH A DICKBAT BAI"

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Eh I found the game world to be boring and the absurdity was just taken too far to the point that none of it was remotely hilarious to me.