Saints Row: The Third/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Author's Saving Throw A small one, but still sweet. After the invasion of Steelport, the Boss encounters a diehard Johnny Gat fan who went so far as to clone him. It did not go according to plan. The next few missions revolve around trying to calm Tag (Johnny's clone) which includes Pierce dressing as Aisah in drag and singing her songs (it fails since Pierce is not really that good at imitating her)... PLUS another equally disturbing brute clone of Aisha (fails because Steelport's guard missiles the hell out of her). Finally, in a homage to King Kong, the Saints fight off the Steelport guard trying to kill Tag and talk him down. While it's clear Tag isn't Gat, the Boss is still eager to make up for the fact that s/he couldn't save their friend. And then they go to find a stripper pole.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Fans reactions to Johnny getting killed, especially considering what he had done in the previous games.
    • Word of God refuses to confirm that Johnny is actually dead, even though you get the Zombie Gat homie at the end. They've said it's meant to be ambiguous whether he's actually dead, since no one's seen the body. (Though the Saints hold a funeral for him, presumably they buried an empty coffin as a standin.)
    • The description for "The Trouble with Clones" Mentions a kid that made Saints clones for a Science Fair and it also mentiones Johnny Tag, Gat spelled backwards.
      • To much dissapointment it turns out to be Just a Oleg clone spliced with Jonny's DNA giving us a Brute with Jonny elements.
  • Awesome Music: The soundtrack for the game is greater, but two examples stand out for just how great they went with the times they were played: Joe Esposito's You're The Best, played during Murderbrawl XXXI while fighting Luchadores off of Angel with a chainsaw; and Bonnie Tyler's I Need a Hero, an extended version of which played during Three Way during the race to either save Shaundi and Viola or stop Killbane.
  • Dude, Not Funny: The Ho Boat, wherein you take over a human trafficking operation, has received quite a bit of flak.
    • The dev team seems to acknowledged that this wasn't meant to be perceived as a good thing. The achievement asks if what you decided has left you, "happy with yourself."
    • One mission has the Boss trying to get to Killbane by eliminating his opponents for a wrestling match. The first target is done away with by making it look like he's killed a number of people before killing himself. The unfunny part kicks in with several possible mentions of steroids and how people will blame the killings on roid rage.
    • Not everyone thinks furries are Acceptable Targets.
  • Game Breaker: Incendiary ammo for SMG. It instantly sets on fire everyone it hits, except for people in vehicles. It continues to deal damage even if target is incapacitated, also enemy set on fire starts running around making other enemies catch fire as well (except for Brutes, they attack as normal, but are still damaged by fire). It also functions as a Disk One Nuke, as its very easy to upgrade an SMG since it only requires spending around 40,000$ and can be done before any mission in Steelport (with some money gathering). Since it's an SMG, it has high rate of fire, large magazine, large ammo reserve and, later in game, can be dual wielded. The only downside is that you can also catch fire, but much later, with your Respect level around 46 or 47, you can buy total immunity to fire damage, eliminating the only real downside of incendiary ammo.
    • While we're at it, you can buy immunity to a number of damage types, especially bullets. While you do need a really high Respect level (around 47 or 48) to even get the opportunity to buy it, the game is a cakewalk after that, save for the mission where you kidnap Josh Birk where it suddenly doesn't work, or anything that relies on keeping a vehicle intact, since you still die if it explodes before you get out. Yes, even with immunity to explosions.
    • To a lesser extent, the .45 Shepherd, once you pay a measly amount to bring it to Level 2 to make its fire rate not painfully slow, is quite a potent weapon at little cost, with very common ammunition, since one headshot is enough to down most mooks, it still hurts Specialists and Brutes quite a bit with said headshots, and can be dual-wielded much sooner than SMGs. By comparison, the KA-1 Kobra fires much faster initially, but deals noticeably less damage when even the mooks don't die from single headshots.
      • And when you upgrade the Shepherd all the way to Level 4 and obtain the exploding bullets, you find it's surprisingly effective at taking out vehicles, especially those pesky helicopters.
    • Oleg Kirrlov, once he's available as a homie after Act 1. You know how Brutes are a pain in the ass to fight? Now imagine having one on your team this time. Just try not to accidentally hit him (which can happen too easily if he charges at the same guy you're trying to kill), or else he'll leave and likely turn against you.
    • Get the Challenger tank delivery upgrade, and you can suddenly fend off entire armies of rival gang members without a sweat. Even Brutes become nothing to fear with its fast-firing main cannon and machinegun that's just as powerful as their miniguns, but never runs out of ammo. You can even turn standard Mayhem into Tank Mayhem with it and rack up the damage goal in no time!
    • The Bear returns from Saints Row 2 and is still extremly tough. It's machine gun can blow up enemy vehicles fair quickly, making Snatch and Traffic missions almost too easy. Unlike the Tanks it counts as vehicle and can use the Nitro ability. While marked as unupgradable, you can still upgrade it via a trick.
  • Good Bad Bugs: It's possible to upgrade vehicles which are marked unupgradable like police vehicles, APCs and unique vehicles, by driving a normal car into a Rim Jobs, highlight a special vehicle in the garage and cancel causing said vehicle to appear in the upgrade menu. This includes changing the color of the virtual X-2 cycle to something else, like red.
    • Sometimes, picking up a De4th Blossom will result in the player being able to use the entire ammo supply without without having to reload.
  • Holy Shit Quotient: One per mission as a goal set by the developers themselves.
  • He's Just Hiding: Johnny Gat. It didn't help that the developers left it ambiguous as to if he died or not. The Big Bad told the main characters that Gat was dead when Gat could've been chillin somewhere.
    • Beating the game unlocks Zombie Gat. Make of that what you will.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Perhaps the reason why Kia was willing to (secretly) cross lines that even Cyrus would dare not to is because she still harbored strong feelings for him and therefore wanted to help him succeed at all costs.
  • Non Sequitur Scene The last mission gangsters in space. It might qualify as a Gainax Ending as well.
  • Narm Charm: Intentional example in the later half of "Three Way", in which Bonnie Tyler's Narm-tastic "Holding Out for a Hero" will start playing as you go to either rescue Shaundi or kill Killbane.
  • Pet the Dog: When Matt Miller says he's leaving the syndicate to pursue new opportunities (in reality, it's because the Saints beat him), Killbane says he's going to miss the kid, and says Matt can use him as a reference. In general, he treats him like a little brother. Given that he's killed or alienated just about everyone else high-up in the syndicate, and is maybe one step back from sociopathy most of the time, it provides a sharp contrast.
    • While it comes across as that in a sense it's also quite possible Killbane was passively intimidating him, since Matt was visibly terrified during their last meeting. Many real-life gangs don't take very kindly to members leaving either, especially not someone that was that high up in the ranks.
      • You'd be terrified too if you just recently saw the giant manhandling you (in a jovial fashion) snap a woman's neck with one hand. A woman of roughly your size, build, and weight. But Killbane is nothing if not theatrical, and respects Miller for telling him to his about wanting to resign.
  • Straw Man Has a Point: The existence of STAG seems out of proportion, until you remember the amount of force and power the Saints alone have, much less other gangs. They regularly cause mayhem on a scale Zombie bin Laden would envy.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Some people aren't thrilled about Shaundi's new look, personality and new voice actor. When she was originally played by Eliza Dushku it's a big pair of heels to fill. Some would say she does a admirable job of portraying a more mature Shaundi, but they couldn't have gotten a similar voice actress and retained some of the character's personality? Some actually thought she was a new character at first until they realized she was 'the pothead chick with the dreads' from SR2.
    • Took a Level in Jerkass: Others have attributed their hate more towards her shift in personality, namely from being a carefree druggie with a humorous snark attitude to a "stick up the ass" gun-toting serious bitch.
    • The change or removal of a number of elements of the game also lead to this. You can no longer customize your clothing in layers, eat, drink, or smoke, or customize your cribs (Or even enter some of them), and as said above how you can't replay missions or re-watch scenes.
  • That One Sidequest: Snatch. Possibly even moreso than Escort (see Saints Row 2 entry above for why that one's so reviled), due to the hos you need to pick up sometimes getting hung up walking around the car instead of getting in the car while you have an entire army of gang members shooting at you. Even with a fully upgraded vehicle, it may not be durable enough to withstand all the bullets being thrown at you. Worse off, if you're not careful and stay parked too long trying to get one of the hos to get in the car already, an enemy gang member might pull you out of the car, causing them to exit and you losing even more valuable seconds trying to get them in the car in the first place and right the hell out of the group of gang members trying to kill you all. Fuck Snatch.
  • The Scrappy: Each of the new NPCs have recieved criticism or hate from some corners of the fandom, but the one everyone universally hates the most is Angel. But, then again, when you're a former wrestler who claims the player isn't tough enough to fight Killbane, even after they've flown through a Fucking plane, took on the army and won, and took down possibly hundreds of gangbangers (And if you want, with your bare hands), and that a big deal is made about how only he can beat Killbane, only to get thrown from the ring when he actually gets a rematch, leaving you to fight him in, what is a pretty easy bossfight, and when they seem to use Insane Troll Logic, people tend to hate you. Killbane to a lesser degree is also pretty hated, again for being a pretty easy boss in the two times you fight him( except in Gangstas in Space due to him being invulnerable to your attacks, but that's not really him). And, the change in Shaundi's personality caused many to dislike her new characterization.
  • Tough Act to Follow / Contested Sequel: Saints Row 2 was very well-liked and had a lot going for it. The majority of the complaints that crop up about Saints Row the Third are in context to the second game; "the second game had more secret areas," "clothing customization was better there," etc. If you put the second game completely out of your mind or never played it to begin with, The Third only has a few flaws and is still fun either way. Saints Row 2 was a really tough act to follow.
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