Personally, I'm 7 hours in and only 20%. I'm on the fence on whether or not I should rush and beat the story so I don't get spoiled or take my time.
After the first day in Steelport I have some general thoughts:
- I think the core gameplay in Saints Row: The Third is better than 2. The story missions have more variety so far, the game's economy makes upgrading your character involving on a wide consistent basis, the controls (on foot and vehicle) are better and feel more natural, and I've always got a smile -- or at least a grin -- on my face while playing it.
- Though the game uses activities as story missions, which really feel like padding, I actually don't mind this, because a lot of these activities are either new (in the case of Pierce's Guardian Angel mission, which owns) or altered to the point where the old activities
feel new, or at least slightly improved or revamped. I enjoy that the activities are brought into the story because it gives them a sense of credence. Whereas in SR1 and 2 you'd be doing insurance fraud because some random jerk off tells you to, in SR3, you are given actual story motivations. I like that. It means more Boss, more dialogue from the characters I like.
- On the other hand, I'm disappointed with how they're handling the story. I mean, the dialogue and characters are as great as ever, don't get me wrong. But it feels like so much happens
off screen and the game acts like you know what's going on. Take
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Phillip's death for instance. I didn't even realize the Boss killed the dude but in a later cutscene Killbane confirms it.
This makes the game feel impersonal, which is a contrast to Saints Row 2 where you implant nuclear waste on your foes' tattoo needles, or stash their girlfriend in their car and trick them into running over her at their own monster truck rally. The Boss in Saints Row 2 is a bonafied badass who confronts any and all odds and takes them down, one by one. That's still present, but it feels tame in contrast. Hopefully it gets more SR2-like down the road because one of the best things about SR2 is that the "villains" are just as interesting as the main characters, in their own unique way. Another example of the story's lack of development is (major spoiler)
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Johnny's funeral. YOu finish a mission, and then the game transports you to like, a bridge, without any transition whatsoever and then Killbane and his guys do a badass surprise attack. I understood that, but then Shaundi brings up the fact that you were at Johnny's funeral, and I just sat there like "what"
- Making things easier to access (funds, missions, customization, upgrades, gps) really makes things nice and simple experience. I find myself not doing menial bullshit like driving to my crib just to pick up some cash or staring at my map to see where to go on my gps. You can tell that Volition took the opportunity to care for the player, not so much coddle us, but make the fun shit become easier to access.
- The weird thing is, I find that there's
less to do so far. I think this is mostly because activities are instanced and not multi-tiered with levels. I'm not sure if the instances are even
bad it's just different, and I can't really claim that to be a negative. The funny thing is that despite all of this, I never really think about it when playing the game because I'm having too much fun to give a shit.
- Co-op is amazing. I mean, we all knew this, but playing with a friend and getting max bounty on with gangs and the cops is a sight to behold. It becomes utter mayhem as two players take on
hundreds of cops and gangsters.
- The game is more difficult than SR2. It doesn't have difficulty spikes or anything, but it just feels...I don't know, like you have to play smarter even if the core fundamentals are about the same. This could be from anything ranging from the lack of healing items to the fact that the cop ai will get on your ass for ANYTHING, when in past games they were far more lenient. I see this as a good thing because it makes forming the Boss from a badass to the ultimate badass even more fun.
I think that ultimately, SR3 improves on most assets SR2 laid upon, making a much more fun game while they're at it, despite taking a step down in some areas, because for every step back, there are literally at least three or four steps forward for every design decision.
