Saints Row: The Third Preview - Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Saints Row has entertained the casual gamer for hours ever since the original game was released in summer 2006. With its similarities to hit game Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row offers a real pick up and play for fun feel. Huge sales prompted a sequel, with Saints Row 2 being released in October 2008. And now, on November 18th, Saints Row: The Third is released.

Set in the fictional city of Stilwater, and playing as the leader of the Third Street Saints, a gang which having taken over an entire city, have risen to become a multinational company with their names on energy drinks and their own clothing line, the game begins with the Saints Performing a bank robbery. The Stilwater PD arrive and inform the Saints that the bank in question belonged to a rival group called the Syndicate. The Syndicate get hold of the Saint's leaders, and make them an offer: hand over two thirds of the city or die. The leader of the Saints and Shaundi escape, but Johnny Gat stays to fight and it's unknown whether or not he survives.

There are new weapons in Saints Row: The Third including the 'ApocoFist', a huge boxing glove like accessory, which when worn by the player, makes people explode when you punch them. There is also a car with a cannon on top, which can collect humans and then fire them across the city. Also introduced is a new form of transport that looks like a fighter jet. In the online game trailers this looks to be a very fast way of getting around, and something to look out for.

You won't be waiting to get good weapons like you do in GTA, either, as the first level involves using such weapons as an assault rifle, as the games creators said it would be unrealistic to be the leader of such a huge gang and only have access to a pistol.

With no new Grand Theft Auto in the pipeline as of yet, Saints Row looks set to become the best free roaming gangster game out there, and having seen the improvements from Saints Row 2, The Third has nothing stopping it from being a best seller.

Tom Holgate