Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row is basically a parody of Grand Theft Auto. It's a series that aims to reach ever higher levels of absurdity. The third game focuses on the leader of the 3rd Street Saints, referred to as "The Boss", and his struggle to free Steelport from the clutches of a criminal network known as The Syndicate.

Saints Row is filled with pop culture references and over-the-top humor. With this in mind, the series' themes are not for the weak at heart. Excessive swearing, violence, and sexual content give the games their M-Rating.

Themes include humor, absurdity, family (of a kind), and offensiveness. The games do not aim to be politically correct. For instance, one co-op mode has the player battling waves of prostitutes with a giant purple dildo. While it's clearly over-the-top, it's perhaps sexually and violently charged to an extent that many people are not comfortable with. Strong caution is warranted.

However, many have praised the series for its outrageous content and fantastic gameplay. While basically all NPC characters are caricatures of reality—and not always positive ones—the main character customization process is extensive. Saints Row IV, for instance, contains options for not only skin, hair, and eye color, body type, weight, facial structure, and age, but also options for adding unearthly skin tones and extras such as horns and tentacles. Although some would hesitate to call this an attempt at diversity, it has been quite freeing for many gamers who are tired of playing different models of the white male protagonist present in so many other games.

Players can save at an in-game savepoint or any time via the main menu—however, they will find their character returned to the nearest savepoint if they have used the menu option.

Much of the fun of Saints Row: The Third is in the relatively easiness of the gameplay. The playable character is meant to be overpowered, so new gamers need not fear giving the game a try.

Co-op mode is accessible over Xbox Live and Playstation Network.

• There's certainly a lot to talk about in Saints Row, if you're willing to go there. Here are a few ideas:
• The treatment of women, and especially sex workers, is not respectful in the least. Does this make you uncomfortable, and if not, why not?
• What is the purpose of parody? Saints Row is purposefully irreverent, and is not meant to be taken seriously, but is there a point at which parody has gone too far?
• Do you think the portrayal of gang rivalry is realistic? How so?
• Some people consider Saints Row an extreme form of escapism—it’s a dark fantasy that no one (hopefully) would ever enact in real life. What do you get out of playing this game? Does it help you relax, or help you live out these unrealistic fantasies in a safe way? Do you think it’s okay to explore dark fantasies, or do you think it impacts the way you think about things outside of the game?