Saints Row The Third is, naturally, the third game in the long running series from Volition. Though it's story and elements are over-the-top and immature it's gameplay is still firmly rooted in the traditions set up by Grand Theft Auto.
Graphically, we get much improved visuals from the previous game in the series but it's still not a very well optimized engine. You get a medium amount of detail up close but there is a steady supply of pop-in and the framerate frequently drops below 30 fps. I enabled v-sync for both versions because I am not a fan of screen tearing and would rather suffer some decreased performance. There are many high-intensity workloads running during the game so there will rarely be a time when things run smoothly. The PS3 version suffers from fits of poor performance quite a bit more than the 360 and it's visuals are not quite as crisp, either. Graphically, the 360 wins this contest by quite a bit.
For sound, the 360 supports Dolby Digital while the PS3 version supports PCM which is par for the course. Naturally, the PS3 wins the sound category with it's slightly higher fidelity.
Controller response is largely the same across both platforms though the PS3 suffers a little bit because of more frequent framedrops. The 360 wins this just by a tiny hair.
I know it seems like I've been largely negative but I would like to remind readers that this game is not about graphics and sound. It's about over-the-top scenarios and the freedom to explore the game's large world. In this case, the game easily succeeds and I recommend it highly for a purchase. The plot isn't as high a priority as the gameplay and that's where all games should focus. Saints Row The Third is fun even with it's underperforming engine.
