Saints Row The Third is the best open world crime sandbox game and it isn't really even close. It is a game focused on pure fun instead of being all stuffy and serious and the result is great characters, silly missions, and over the top gameplay that doesn't get in the way. Even better, Saints Row The Third Remastered is one of the best remasters we've seen in a while and is the best way to experience the game now. Read more and watch gameplay here.
Yeah, I said it. I think Saints Row The Third is better than GTA 4 or 5. GTA4 plays bad and has a boring city and a bad story and isn't fun. GTA5 is definitely more fun, but it's stiff and clunky and slow and not fun. Plus, having a huge map full of boring nothing isn't as appealing to me these days as it used to be. I'll take a well designed small map over a big open world any day.
Saints Row The Third also greatly benefits because the developers finally decided to stop trying to be a GTA copy and just let their game be its own thing so they cranked everything up to "11" and made it all more fun. It's over the top and stupid and unrealistic and ridiculous and amazing.
The remastered version of Saints Row The Third deserves special praise as well because it is really, surprisingly, good. I think a lot of people expected it to just be a lazy cash in or a port of the decade-old PC version or something, but a ton of work was put in to polishing the visuals and making it all look significantly better. Car models were improved. Character models were greatly improved. The lighting was enhanced. Everything is sharp and runs at a steady framerate. This is the best Saints Row The Third has ever been.
