Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violent open-world crime adventure earns its mature rating.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
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Saints Row: The Third
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 33 parent reviews
Based on 55 kid reviews
Kids say this game is a highly entertaining, humorous experience packed with action, customization, and open-world exploration, but it is definitely not suitable for younger players due to its crude content, mature themes, and excessive violence. While some argue it's appropriate for teens who can differentiate between fiction and reality, many parents express concern over the strong language, nudity, and glorified violence that characterize the gameplay.
- mature themes
- excessive violence
- strong language
- character customization
- entertaining gameplay
- not suitable for young kids
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's It About?
THQ's SAINTS ROW: THE THIRD is an over-the-top, mature adventure with the same amount of violence, sex, and irreverence that made its predecessors become more than just Grand Theft Auto clones. Having taken over the city of Stilwater, the Third Street Saints organization –- now a household name in the city -- has set their sights on Steelport. The problem is that three rival gangs already have their claws dug into the city. The main goal throughout the many varied missions is to crush the competition and take over Steelport.
After a short introductory mission to get players familiar with the controls, players can begin customizing their character in myriad ways, adding bizarre animal, alien, and monster-like features if they desire. They can then begin diving into the game's wealth of primary and side missions, which include the franchise's popular insurance fraud challenges that have players steering their avatars into traffic to cause as much bodily harm as possible to net a big payout.
Is It Any Good?
Saints Row: The Third is ridiculous and outlandish, ending up as an entertainingly silly sequel for adult gamers. There are so many customization options, non-repetitive missions, memorable characters, and other extras packed onto the disc that it's plainly evident a lot of work went into the game's making. The money and respect players earn can be used to buy and unlock new goodies for your character (outfits, weapons, vehicles), so there's incentive to take on as many missions as possible, going on violent adventures that see them taking out rivals, protecting a convoy in a vehicle, and stealing evidence from a police station. It's worth adding the single-player game can be played in co-op mode with an online friend.
Downsides include so-so-graphics, a few technical glitches and slow pacing. However, those who take the game for what it is -- an absurd adventure that doesn't take itself seriously -- will no doubt enjoy the cheeky experience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the game being over-the-top and purposely irreverent. Do you think this dark fantasy appeals to some players because it is so forbidden in real life?
Families can also discuss the portrayal of gangster life in video games. Should the game include realistic consequences for killing innocent civilians and law enforcement officers? What is the impact of media violence?
Game Details
- Platforms : PlayStation 3 , Windows , Xbox 360
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : THQ
- Release date : November 15, 2011
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 20, 2019
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