Saints Row The Third Remastered Review (PS4) – Pure, Uncut Fun

Saints Row The Third is absolutely, bloody ridiculous. And that’s perfect. If the Mafia franchise is Scorcese and GTA is Tarantino, Saints Row is The Fast & The Furious. It’s an over-the-top, action-packed, adrenaline pumping thrill ride, complete with floppy dildo bats, gimps, pimps & hos and more juvenile jokes than you can poke said dildo bat at.

Saints Row The Third Remastered takes the original game, gives it a bright, fresh coat of paint and lets you loose in Steelport once again. From the opening heist mission and parachuting action, Saints Row The Third bolts from the gate.

There’s never a dull moment for the duration and while you may have played this all before, the care and attention that’s gone into remastering Saints Row The Third means that it is absolutely worth playing all over again.

Saints Row The Third Remastered Review

Saints Row The Third is GTA’s cousin. Its meth-addicted, speed addled cousin who can’t sit still for a second and doesn’t understand the meaning of restraint. Saints Row The Third throws absolutely everything at the wall just to see what sticks. Luckily enough, just about everything does.

Sure, this is a game that came out in 2011 and yes some references have dated, some jokes no longer work and there are huge parts that are deeply problematic, however, Saints Row The Third could not care less. All it wants is to give players something fun to do and on that front it more than delivers.

As on open-world crime-sim, Saints Row The Third offers up plenty to do. There’s the campaign that sees you trying to take down the eveil Syndicate and a huge range of side-missions and activities.

Seriously, it’s difficult to even list everything you can do in Saints Row The Third. The game just does not want you to ever get bored playing. Whether you’re flogging Third Street Saints merch, picking up “hos”, causing as much destruction as possible or even cruising the streets listening to the incredible licensed soundtrack, you’re bound to be having a good time.

Remaster

As remasters go, Saints Row The Third is pretty high up on the list. New lighting, 4K resolution, HDR, rebuilt character and item models…the list goes on. A tonne of work has gone into making Saints Row The Third Remastered look like a current-game. And you know what? It does.

Cruising around the city of Steelport, I was frequently amazed at the visual fidelity and especially the lighting. Steelport is a neon nightmare and seeing the bright, coloured lights, reflecting off the rainslick road while powersliding around a corner to Faith No More’s “Epic” is about as good as it gets.

Gameplay-wise, Saints Row The Third Remastered doesn’t quite shake off its nine-year old legacy but it’s still incredibly playable. Whether you’re driving, shooting, flying, parachuting or beating people to death with the dildo bat, Saints Row The Third Remastered is responsive and intuitive.

I do wish there was a cover option though.

Saints Row The Third was a great game when it was released and its still great today. The remaster gives brand-new players a chance to check-out videogaming’s Fast & the Furious franchise while giving veterans a chance to go back and do it all over again.

If we have to be stuck inside in isolation, at least Voltion and Deep Silver are giving us a place to go nuts, create chaos and live with no consequences. Isn’t that what we all need a bit of right now.

Saints Row The Third Remastered is the escape from 2020 you’ve been looking for, even if it is a trip back in time.

Saints Row The Third Remastered was reviewed on PS4 using a digital copy provided by the publisher.