Saints Row the Third - Strap it On

[NiX]

Did you ever see a body?

Well no... but we did have a nice scene with a coffin.

No, you never see a body, but that shouldn't stop you from using his death, real or not, to release rage-ocalypse on the people responsible.

[Koyasha]

Did you ever see a body?

This is what I thought for a long time.  Never actually saw him die - we heard gunfire over the intercom and that was it, so I expected him to be back at some point.  And I guess I just didn't expect them to actually kill Johnny Gat, either.

Also, Shaundi was bitchy even before he died.  I just...well, I can understand and totally buy her character becoming bitchy after all that money and success, which does sometimes change people like that.  But I still didn't like it, she seemed too far removed from the laid back, 'fun' Shaundi of Saints Row 2.

[NiX]

I have officially played more Saints Row than Skyrim.

[Azazel]

With DLC and more to come from SR3, I'm of the opinion that Johnny Gat will be back in some form. Like good old Captain Price!

[01101010]

[Surlyboi]

Johnny Gat died. You should have been just as angry and bitchy as her while playing.

No kidding - I hear that that's the result of the VA wanting to focus on other work, but who knows.  Either way, it sucks - that character was awesome.

Daniel Dae Kim wanted to focus on other work? Shit, he was doing Lost when SR2 was in production. He's still in Hawaii doing 5-0, what other work could he be focusing on?

[NiX]

Daniel Dae Kim wanted to focus on other work? Shit, he was doing Lost when SR2 was in production. He's still in Hawaii doing 5-0, what other work could he be focusing on?

Rakin' in that mad money from Air Bender.. yo.

[Azazel]

Well, given that they replaced the VA who did Shaundi, they could have done the same for Gat if they wanted to keep the character on.

OTOH, SR has never been shy about killing off secondary characters - we've seen the chick who worked with the mechanic guy in SR1 die (and zombified in SR2), the young kid from SR2, Gat's girlfriend, Julius.. we're really only left with Shaundi and Pierce now, and Pierce is kinda useless while Shaundi had a personality transplant and is essentially a different character.    ...and I'm not expecting to see the return of DLC Tera Patrick.

[justdave]

+10 for integrated use of Bonnie Tyler for the last bit...I agree that no few of the missions seem a little thin and over the top compared to SR2, but the set pieces are much better. The missions that -are- better are WAY better. The end was much more satisfying than shooting Jay Mohr in the mouth. All told, it was better than Cats.

[CmdrSlack]

Rise! Just got this for my birthday weekend via Gamefly. I have been trying to play games and send them back, but this one is a must keep. Hell, I am barely through the intro to activities missions.

[Furiously]

The intro bank robbery is probably the best game start ever.

[01101010]

Best money I spent on a game in years.

[Surlyboi]

Best use of a Kanye West song. Ever.

[Kail]

Rise! Just got this for my birthday weekend via Gamefly. I have been trying to play games and send them back, but this one is a must keep. Hell, I am barely through the intro to activities missions.

You got it just in time for the DLC which allows you to recruit Penthouse models as your personal bodyguards, too!

[LK]

This weekend is a good as time as any to grab the game.

[Azazel]

Just checked out all the DLC available for this thing. I think it would be cheaper to wait for the inevitable GOTY around Christmas time then to buy much of it.

[Falconeer]

I got this yesterday after hearing so much about it. I must say I am impressed and surprised. I had no idea the quality was so high and the whole thing... well... so damn fun.

[Sky]

Yeah, I had some fun with it over the weekend....but I still hate aiming with thumbsticks. One reason I like GTA is lock-on targeting.

My main gripe, though, is the driving camera. In GTA you have a few different car cameras, I use the one that's the next notch higher above the car than the one SR gives you. So I'm constantly annoyed I can't see the street ahead properly because the car is in the way. Maybe I missed the option to set it? Game's not real friendly with tutorial stuff, I guess they assume everyone's played the other two or something.

[Falconeer]

I hear you. As much as I have a PS3 and I love it, I still can't wrap my head around the difference in fun I have in playing certain (lots) of games with a mouse instead of a joypad. Aiming with a thumbstick is always a dealbreaker for me. Hell, I wouldn't even play Skyrim on a console for the lack of a mouse.

[Lantyssa]

It works just fine with a mouse.  Dunno why you'd try to use a gamepad for this.

Having an absolute blast with it.  I have to switch over to Warlock occasionally so I'm playing a game I can manage to take breaks from.  (Despite the one-more-turn nature of it...)

[Sky]

It works just fine with a mouse.  Dunno why you'd try to use a gamepad for this.

I like to drive with the gamepad, it's less of a hassle for me to shoot with thumbsticks than to drive with a keyboard. I've played all the GTAs on the pc with a gamepad without any problems outside a few sniping missions.

[Azazel]

Funny, I could never get into the GTA games on console precisely because of the lock-on targetting. Since GTA3-SA were all decently good ports to the PC, I just played them there.

SR1-3 I was actually able to get into on console because of the free-aim. It did take a little while to get used to, but once used to it, it felt natural and decent. GTA4 on the other hand, I've only played about 10mins of on 360, and avoided entirely on PC because of all the R* social club/DRM shenanigans. I did manage to finish Grand Theft Horse though, but that had a different take on aiming as well.

[Sky]

I just kept getting slaughtered by challenges, especially the rival gang with the skating teleporting ninja chicks. Oddly, I was doing great against cops and choppers, but still mostly getting overwhelmed because lolthumbstick aiming. Finally said fuck it and went back to the way I played GTA:Vice City on the PC: mouse and keyboard for on-foot, gamepad for driving/flying. It's a pain in the ass, but at least the game is somewhat playable.

The first time one of those porty skatey bitches showed up it was like what what what dead. I have respect for people beating them using thumbstick aiming, honestly. With the mouse I was able to take out five of them before I got overwhelmed, still getting used to the game mechanics and whatnot. But at least I can play now rather than just fighting the stupid thumbstick.

Tried driving with the keyboard and it's not horrible but I need me some analog control, just a lot more fun.

GTA:SA was the first to get it right (for me), and GTA4 was great as well. Controls for both just feel natural and I'm never fighting them rather than playing the game. SR3 so far is better than SR2, other than the aiming thing, but I'm still struggling with the radar. I like a fixed radar, but my guy keeps doing these janky movement animations, can't tell which way I'm pointing. Hopefully I'll get used to it, but right now the radar isn't very helpful. And that thing with the driving camera being too low makes me nuts, not just because GTA gives you a couple options for it, but most racing games in general do. By the third iteration, I'd think they'd have gotten that, but I guess they were too busy modeling dildos.

I don't talk about the port-less GTA:Horsey. Dammit.

[Lantyssa]

The sk8r chicks aren't too bad once you learn how to deal with them.  (I do want their teleport move.)  Taking a shock hammer and turning it against the Deckers is a lot of fun.   Brutes I hate.  Brutes with flamethrowers I loathe.

My one gripe is that I managed to jack squad car 69 (love the Peacemaker, so always stealing one and it was bound to happen), but when you store one they lose the number markings.  No point in looking for car 54 either.

[Sky]

So it stores car permanently? I pulled out a little sports coupe and it always seems to be there. Didn't see a limit, either. If so, awesome. Just put in one of the souped-up cops cars before I logged out last night.

And I got stuck on a pier somewhere when I was just dicking around jumping cars off things...got a phone call for the mission that saw me learning to deal with those skatey bitches...and no car for a mile. Remembered there was an upgrade to phone in cars, had just enough dough for it...then had to run back to a road for it to find me :) Then remembered you can call in homies, so I called in some dude because the chick was busy, and the girl who drove the car (the DLC APC with turret) I phoned in, both of them pile into the APC. So we ripped into them pretty good, though I parked in a shitty spot and we had no cover or we'd have finished the mission (I died). Like I said, still learning the game systems, WAY better with backup.

As much as I'm bitching about stuff, if I didn't like the game I wouldn't bother. Really fun game.

[01101010]

You can jack and store every vehicle in the game that you can drive. Cars, boats, helicopters, etc. My garage list takes a minute to scroll through. Haven't actually logged in though for about a month.

[Lantyssa]

You need to store them in the garage of a crib.  Stashing them at a Rim Jobs didn't seem to permanently add them to my list.

[CmdrSlack]

You need to store them in the garage of a crib.  Stashing them at a Rim Jobs didn't seem to permanently add them to my list.

I think that it initially does stash them permanently, because I would go steal a car, modify it, then wreck it, then find it in my garage crib. These were cars that I stole and modded before taking over the penthouse.

[Azazel]

If you mod them at a rimjobs, it adds them to your garage permanantly. So just paint it blue or change the wing mirrors or whatever, and it's permanently yours.

[Sky]

Yeah, just got one like that last night, so verified the mod thing. Had a laugh as I went on a crazy tank binge with the DLC tank, then jumped into my car to cruise around and the block over from the newbie apartment there's a military blockade set up. I jack the APC and whip it into the garage, then head back and pop the gunner out of the tank and jack that. Thanks, guys!

I have no idea what happened to my evening last night. It disappeareded!

[Lantyssa]

I'm having that problem a lot.  Open world with lots of silly stuff to do... it's my weakness.

Now if I could get my VTOL to transform into a robot, I'd be set.  Saintbot?  SaintMech?  TranSaintor?

[CmdrSlack]

[01101010]

My favorite vehicle in the game is the Tron bike. VTOL for completeness though...

[Surlyboi]

The 8-bit tank is the shiz.

[CmdrSlack]

It's massively useful for taking out rival gang activity spots. And it looks cool.

There needs to be a DLC with a quad laser. They already have the adult swim radio channel, gimmie some mooninite DLC.