At the beginning of the game, you end up in the new town of Steelport, and are forced to make your presence known and build up power amongst the local gangs and major crime figures.
The plot of Saints Row: The Third is fairly cohesive, with the Third Street Saints now being celebrities in their home town of Stillwater, with a full line of clothing in their name, and a film in the works involving a famous actor based on their various escapades. This is a step in the right direction, although you are still required to complete one each of the side activities in order to progress with the story, which serves to stutter the otherwise excellent pacing of the story missions.Īpart from this slow stretch of story missions that serve as tutorials for the generally fun side activities, the story levels are highly varied and always over the top. The main difference in structure from Saints Row 2 is that you are no longer required to complete side activities in order to unlock further story missions.
You still drive (or fly, or launch yourself) to mission locations and side activities while otherwise being free to cause mayhem in the substantial sandbox that is Steelport, the fictional city the game takes place in. Once you get past the astounding introductory sequence of missions, things settle down into a structure that will be immediately familiar to anyone who played Saints Row 2.
