Support NeoGAF

[Chrysalis]

OK...Saint's Row virgin here. While I understand that story isn't really the main focus here, I'm wondering:

Is it worthwhile to play one or both of the earlier games to be familiar with the characters and backstory? Will I miss out on in-jokes?

I'm getting to the age where time constraints mean more content isn't always a good thing, so if the story elements are unimportant, I'd rather just skip to 3. But if they are important...

 

[Striker]

I loved the things Gat did in Saints 2. Though Julius is another you could become acquainted with.

 

[angelfly]

OK...Saint's Row virgin here. While I understand that story isn't really the main focus here, I'm wondering:

Is it worthwhile to play one or both of the earlier games to be familiar with the characters and backstory? Will I miss out on in-jokes?

I'd say Saints Row 2 is worth playing and if you bought the PS3 version of 3 you get it free. I'm planning to replay it once I'm done with my second play through of this. However if you're just doing it to get some background then go straight to 3.

 

[reggie]

.

 

[GotchaForce]

My new problem is according to the Saintsbook I've not taunted any gang members. I've done it in combat, which is the only place I can since I've beaten the game and gang members don't seem to be walking around. What to do?

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

It was really weird that they

Spoiler

killed off Gat in the first half-hour of the game. I kept expecting him to come back, but it never happened, and then they confirmed the kill with Zombie Gat. I don't play the games for the characters, but it seemed odd to just sort of end a fan favorite in that way.

 

[angelfly]

It was really weird that they

Spoiler

killed off Gat in the first half-hour of the game. I kept expecting him to come back, but it never happened, and then they confirmed the kill with Zombie Gat. I don't play the games for the characters, but it seemed odd to just sort of end a fan favorite in that way.

Spoiler

I'm expecting Gat to be cloned or something to make a return in 4. I too was surprised how quickly they killed him off since he played a big part in the first games.

 

[Neuromancer]

It was really weird that they

Spoiler

killed off Gat in the first half-hour of the game. I kept expecting him to come back, but it never happened, and then they confirmed the kill with Zombie Gat. I don't play the games for the characters, but it seemed odd to just sort of end a fan favorite in that way.

The lead designer talks about it on a podcast with Tom Chick. Good listen but I still don't fully understand or agree with the reasoning behind it. Apparently the staff at Volition was pretty split up over it.

Link: http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2011/12/08/qt3-games-podcast-saints-row-3-lead-designer-scott-phillips-explains-it-all/

My new problem is according to the Saintsbook I've not taunted any gang members. I've done it in combat, which is the only place I can since I've beaten the game and gang members don't seem to be walking around. What to do?

Sometimes you can lucky and see them walking around or do an activity like Mayhem or Snatch where they populate, and end the activity and run into a safe house to get your notoriety down. It's a real bitch, I was in the same position. Easier thing to do is go into a friend's game if you have the chance at the beginning of his game, where all the gangs are still out.

 

[Fox Mulder]

My new problem is according to the Saintsbook I've not taunted any gang members. I've done it in combat, which is the only place I can since I've beaten the game and gang members don't seem to be walking around. What to do?

They still spawn, just barely. Walk around the streets on foot and you should see them appear in groups of two or three at most. It is best to do the gang taunting before taking everything over, but it's still doable without going into side missions

 

[edgefusion]

It was really weird that they

Spoiler

killed off Gat in the first half-hour of the game. I kept expecting him to come back, but it never happened, and then they confirmed the kill with Zombie Gat. I don't play the games for the characters, but it seemed odd to just sort of end a fan favorite in that way.

I didn't even realise they had died until about halfway through the game and someone mentioned it in brief passing. Unless I missed something?

 

[Neuromancer]

I didn't even realise they had died until about halfway through the game and someone mentioned it in brief passing. Unless I missed something?

Yeah there was a cutscene where

Spoiler

the main character, Shaundi and Pierce were driving a hearse presumably with Gat's body in it. They were on the way to the funeral in Stilport stuck in traffic on a bridge (which was coincidentally being dedicated to a dead politician from SR1) when the Luchadores blew up the bridge and presumably Gat's body.

It was only after seeing it twice that I was really able to make sense of it all.

 

[coopolon]

I didn't even realise they had died until about halfway through the game and someone mentioned it in brief passing. Unless I missed something?

Early game spoilers and then end game spoilers:

Spoiler

It is implied that he died while ensuring your getaway on the syndicate plane. He's in gangsters in space though, so I don't know. I'm pretty sure they're going to bring him back, he's such a major (and awesome) character.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Early game spoilers and then end game spoilers:

Spoiler

It is implied that he died while ensuring your getaway on the syndicate plane. He's in gangsters in space though, so I don't know. I'm pretty sure they're going to bring him back, he's such a major (and awesome) character.

He sold his likeness to Ultor Media, so that could be a impersonator?

 

[Neuromancer]

He sold his likeness to Ultor Media, so that could be a impersonator?

Or a clone.

Or that whole scene was just meant to be silly and non canonical.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Or a clone.
Or that whole scene was just meant to be silly and non canonical.

I <3 that ending more than the other.

 

[Cheska]

Okay, how do the cars work in this game? As in,how do I get new ones? See,I thought it would be similar to some other open world games where if you drove one, it would be in your garage, but I was wrong

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Okay, how do the cars work in this game? As in,how do I get new ones? See,I thought it would be similar to some other open world games where if you drove one, it would be in your garage, but I was wrong

You have to jack a car and then store it in on of your garages or take it into a Rim Jobs. Then it will be yours to use and you can customize them as well.

 

[george_us]

Saints Row 3 just paves the way for Cyborg Samurai Gat in Saints Row 4.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Saints Row 3 just paves the way for Cyborg Samurai Gat in Saints Row 4.

clone

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Okay, how do the cars work in this game? As in,how do I get new ones? See,I thought it would be similar to some other open world games where if you drove one, it would be in your garage, but I was wrong

Steal the vehicle you want then either put it in your garage or modify it at rim jobs.

edit: to slow

 

[Cheska]

Ahhh gotcha! I seem to have forgotten that part. Thanks amigos!

 

[george_us]

clone

Cyborg!

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

My new problem is according to the Saintsbook I've not taunted any gang members. I've done it in combat, which is the only place I can since I've beaten the game and gang members don't seem to be walking around. What to do?

You are making sure you are taunting and not complimenting? Also make sure you don't spam it. from what I saw using (weapon and possible story spoiler)

Spoiler

Killbane's mask

there is a bit of a cool down time.

OK...Saint's Row virgin here. While I understand that story isn't really the main focus here, I'm wondering:

Is it worthwhile to play one or both of the earlier games to be familiar with the characters and backstory? Will I miss out on in-jokes?

I'm getting to the age where time constraints mean more content isn't always a good thing, so if the story elements are unimportant, I'd rather just skip to 3. But if they are important...

I would say play SR2..the story is just pure fun there...Like someone said the PS3 version comes with downloadable SR2 if you are looking for a deal on both.

BTW, anyone know how you redeem the SR2 copy? do you just download it on the store?

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

BTW, anyone know how you redeem the SR2 copy or do you just download it on the store?

I think it says free on the store.

 

[Dead Man]

Yeah there was a cutscene where

Spoiler

the main character, Shaundi and Pierce were driving a hearse presumably with Gat's body in it. They were on the way to the funeral in Stilport stuck in traffic on a bridge (which was coincidentally being dedicated to a dead politician from SR1) when the Luchadores blew up the bridge and presumably Gat's body.

It was only after seeing it twice that I was really able to make sense of it all.

Yeah, the custscenes did a pretty poor job of exposition.

 

[Darklord]

I love this game because it's an actual game. Not a linear, try-to-be-a-movie game. But a game arse game. Who cares about structure or whats believable lets just go batshit crazy and be creative(something that is seriously lacking in games these days).

Also, the music choices in missions is incredible. Air Steelport was a stand out so far.

 

[Hawkian]

Just got the jet bike. this game...

 

[Trevelyon]

Argh! Can't get the last 'survival completed' mission to trigger. I noticed in the last survival mode completion, it said 26/26 completed but Saints Book says only 25 of 26.

Might need to roll back to my last hard save (-10 hours) if I'm indeed glitch'd out of the trophy.

 

[SmithnCo]

I love this game because it's an actual game. Not a linear, try-to-be-a-movie game. But a game arse game. Who cares about structure or whats believable lets just go batshit crazy and be creative(something that is seriously lacking in games these days).

Also, the music choices in missions is incredible. Air Steelport was a stand out so far.

The Karate Kid music kicking in during the

Spoiler

wrestling

mission was incredible.

 

[Neuromancer]

Argh! Can't get the last 'survival completed' mission to trigger. I noticed in the last survival mode completion, it said 26/26 completed but Saints Book says only 25 of 26.

Might need to roll back to my last hard save (-10 hours) if I'm indeed glitch'd out of the trophy.

Have you tried saving, then reloading that save?

 

[Trevelyon]

Doesn't seem to help. Made a new hard save and reloaded it along with reloading an auto save, no calls coming. They usually trigger within' 3-5 minutes, if you're just standing idle with no wanted levels or on-going missions.

I'll do a story mission and see if that doesn't help correct things, then probably just finishing the remaining challenges and just see what happens.

 

[Neuromancer]

Doesn't seem to help. Made a new hard save and reloaded it along with reloading an auto save, no calls coming. They usually trigger within' 3-5 minutes, if you're just standing idle with no wanted levels or on-going missions.

I'll do a story mission and see if that doesn't help correct things, then probably just finishing the remaining challenges and just see what happens.

I'm sure you already know this but a call won't come if you're driving, have any notoriety, or are aiming down your sights. Good luck man.

 

[SmithnCo]

One thing that needs to be improved is the homies that drop off the Vtol/helicopters. It takes them forever to land the shit and if they hit a car or something they fly back up and repeat.

 

[Neuromancer]

One thing that needs to be improved is the homies that drop off the Vtol/helicopters. It takes them forever to land the shit and if they hit a car or something they fly back up and repeat.

Yeah they're terrible pilots. You just have to try to find a big open area and hope for the best.

 

[coopolon]

One thing that needs to be improved is the homies that drop off the Vtol/helicopters. It takes them forever to land the shit and if they hit a car or something they fly back up and repeat.

The helicopter deliveries are pretty awful. Several times it happened that I was sitting in the middle of a huge road with no cars around, but the homie kept trying to land the helicopter on a sloped roof house. Because it was sloped the landing was never quite right and he'd land, take off, land, take off. I always ended up just shooting them with a rocket launcher.

Also wish you could get the

Spoiler

jet bike

delivered.

 

[Sent]

Only thing missing from SR3 was the ability to wear the hot dog and saint's flow costumes.

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Only thing missing from SR3 was the ability to wear the hot dog and saint's flow costumes.

There is A LOT more than that missing. One of the biggest things for me, is no racing. I have all these badass customized cars and bikes, but no races to enter? What is up with that? The lack of radio stations compared to SR2 is also questionable. No 420fm? Come on. SR3 is a fun, fun game. But you can't help but notice the lack of content compared to SR2.

 

[SapientWolf]

There is A LOT more than that missing. One of the biggest things for me, is no racing. I have all these badass customized cars and bikes, but no races to enter? What is up with that? The lack of radio stations compared to SR2 is also questionable. No 420fm? Come on. SR3 is a fun, fun game. But you can't help but notice the lack of content compared to SR2.

The devs said they had to do more with less with SR3. More development with less time and less people. Reusing the city in SR2 gave them more resources for content.

Not that it's going to make people feel any better, but I expect a lot more content down the pipeline via DLC.

 

[Brandon F]

OK...Saint's Row virgin here. While I understand that story isn't really the main focus here, I'm wondering:

Is it worthwhile to play one or both of the earlier games to be familiar with the characters and backstory? Will I miss out on in-jokes?

I'm getting to the age where time constraints mean more content isn't always a good thing, so if the story elements are unimportant, I'd rather just skip to 3. But if they are important...

I impulse purchased the Saint's Row 1/2 two-pack(both games packaged together) alongside SR3 last week. Mostly out of curiosity given how cheap it was(and SR3 was already on sale), but not expecting to really play much of them before diving into the Third.

Surprisingly, I am quite enjoying SR1 and am about to wrap up the story. I'll likely move onto SR2 right after before even opening part 3. I'm not certain how SR3 links the plotline, but SR1 and 2 at least continue the story. It's paper thin though, I'm close to finishing SR1 and have played the first couple missions of SR2, but the personalities are done well enough that I am glad to have met Johnny Gat, Troy, and other staple characters from the beginning that I know will emerge in SR3.

Also I find the evolution of the gameplay, engine, and mission design really fascinating. It's more of a personal curiosity, and SR1 is by no means a 'must play'. It apes the PS2 GTA games very heavily with only a few original ideas(albeit mostly gameplay convenience upgrades, and the arguable quality of the side missions), yet the acting is really well done and I am actually more curious about how each plot strand turns out than pretty much ANY of the story threads in the earlier GTA games(I really dug GTAIV). But ultimately mission design is almost identical to GTA3, to the point that nostalgia has played a bit of a role in my enjoyment.

SR1 is definitely dated and is far from a necessary play on its own though, but almost everything in its foundation still seems to carry through(and improved) in the sequels, which is really interesting. SR2 is a massive overhaul regarding the core game design of missions, activities, and world design, and seems like a better starting point...but again I'm not even certain the plot in SR3 is as woven as close as SR1>SR2 seems to be. So you may as well just start with SR3.

 

[SmithnCo]

Just got both the endings. They're both good, but

Spoiler

Gangstas in Space is way better IMO.

Now to try to platinum it. Has there been any word if the DLC mission packs will have trophies?

 

[coopolon]

Just got both the endings. They're both good, but

Spoiler

Gangstas in Space is way better IMO.

Now to try to platinum it. Has there been any word if the DLC mission packs will have trophies?

The Steam game already has DLC achievements in it, so I imagine all other platforms will also have them.

 

[NullPointer]

Beat this last night and loved just about every minute of it. Just a million small self-contained pieces of fun and mayhem and humor that unite to form the Voltron of fuck-awesome what-the-hell-just-happened-I-like-it sauce. This is definitely one of my games of the year and sits with honor in my "games that give you shit eating grins for hours on end" pile.

Its also the only wide open fuck-about world where I've found myself looking forward to doing the next story mission. This damn game - it's hilarious, wacky, inventive, surprising, self-aware and has great payoffs. I'm now a fan Volition. Great stuff.



God do I love that hover bike. And dual wielding SMGs. And calling in airstrikes. And forming a crew to go gang hunting, and ... ... ...

Spoiler

... and wrestling. Man that was good

(click images to embiggify)

 

[Sent]

There is A LOT more than that missing. One of the biggest things for me, is no racing. I have all these badass customized cars and bikes, but no races to enter? What is up with that? The lack of radio stations compared to SR2 is also questionable. No 420fm? Come on. SR3 is a fun, fun game. But you can't help but notice the lack of content compared to SR2.

Didn't play SR2

 

[NullPointer]

There is A LOT more than that missing. One of the biggest things for me, is no racing.

Gotta admit, I'd love some racing and/or road-raging goodness. It felt like it was missing.

 

[SmithnCo]

I do miss the soundtrack from SR2, especially the shop music.

 

[Dynamite Ringo Matsuri]

Picked up the game at BB for $30 with my $10 GC. This is my first SR game; and I got it mostly due to the giantbomb hype. Played 30 minutes before going to work and... Wtf, I totally get what they mean by it seems like ANYTHING can happen in this game. It is so surreal and weird, I can tell I'm gonna have a ball with this one

 

[SmithnCo]

Can you still find specific gangs after you completely own their part of Steelport? I need to kill more specialists for the challenges.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

Any chance there's still a secret final mission like there was in SR2?

 

[Eusis]

Can you still find specific gangs after you completely own their part of Steelport? I need to kill more specialists for the challenges.

I think you could attempt some of the activities again, IE mayhem.

 

[SmithnCo]

I think you could attempt some of the activities again, IE mayhem.

Okay thanks, I didn't think of that.