SideQuesting’s Best of 2011 #2: Saints Row: The Third

SideQuesting’s Best of 2011 #2: Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row The Third GOTY Screenshot 1

We live in a world where videogames are now constantly being scrutinized to see if they are ‘art.’ Some games go out of their way to provide you with a somewhat dull experience just so they can provide what they think is an artful tale of woe and wonder. None of these games are Saints Row: The Third.

Saints Row: The Third is a game that follows in the shoes of Bayonetta. It is nothing alike it in structure nor story, but it is exactly like it in the way that it is pure insanity. In one moment I went from diving out of a plane to rescue a crew member, to letting go of that crew member so I could smash through the front window of the same plane, to flying out the back and returning to my falling crew member once again. Not to mention the whole time I had to dodge the excessive amount of junk flying from plane while shooting copious amounts of bad guys. So why did I just spoil the craziest part of Saints Row: The Third? Well, I didn’t. This is the second mission and nearly tame to the badassery that happens throughout the game. VTOL jets, jet bikes, Atari style tanks…the list would go on for hours. The amount of stuff worth your while in this game is simply staggering.

Saints Row: The Third may not be artful, moral, or even appropriate for anyone of any age, but it is FUN. I have not had a more fun time playing a videogame in a long time, and Saints does very little wrong in my eyes. Even the open world jank that is in the game is unoffensive because it feels like it was put there for a reason (even if it wasn’t).

Saints Row: The Third should not be taken seriously, but as a pure videogame, I could not have been happier. That is why it is SideQuesting’s second favorite game of 2011.