My planned weeked with Amnesia: Ruined

[bombatomba]

This week end I had planned to finally sit down and play Amnesia on my PC.  I've heard so much positive praise along with shudders of terror I thought, "Why not?"

But when I signed onto Steam to put my laptop in "Offline Mode" I knew that I wouldn't be touching Amnesia.  Turns out Saints Row The Third is having a free weekend.  Not just the multiplayer, mind you, but the whole game.  It's also on sale for $13.59, but I think I can probably power through it.

Has anyone played Saints Row The Third yet?  I've only really heard the comments from Giantbomb and CheapAssGamer, so I don't know.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've only ever heard good things and seen hilarious videos from it.

[InvadErGII]

Regarding Saints Row: The Third, have you played Saints Row 2? SR3 is like that, but even more extreme. If you haven't played the series before, think of it as a GTA that never, ever, ever takes itself seriously. It's definitely a welcome twist on the often same-y sandbox genre.

I really can't stress the humor in the game enough - it is very, very silly, perhaps to the point where it may alienate some people. Personally, I can't recommend it enough.

[bombatomba]

Well, the free weekend is over.  I've uninstalled Saints Row: The Third and flipped Steam back to Offline mode.

Pretty much everything I've heard about this game is true: It builds upon the base started by Saints Row 2 (that being a GTA: SA derivative) and adds more personality, wrestling moves, and overall content, as well as taking things so far over the top it's hard to imagine what the next game will be like.  If you simply look at the story, humor, and self-awareness one could almost call this the antithesis of what Rockstar was trying to do with GTA 4 and its "expansion packs."  Explanation?  At no point did I feel there was a divide between what the story was presenting and what I was doing randomly on the street.

I didn't have very much fun with it.  Granted, I only played for about 4 hours, but I really felt a struggle to stick with what was going on.  The hardest part is I'm having problems qualifying exactly how I feel about my experience.  I loved Saints Row 2 so much that I spent ludicrous amount of time finishing the side missions, collecting cars and outfits, and causing as much mayhem as the game would allow.  I feel that it was almost single-handily responsible for my dislike of GTA 4.  So what went wrong with The Third?  It may have something to do with Just Cause 2, which is what I've been casually playing through for the past week.  See, I think what attributed to my growing boredom had something to do with freedom.  As I patiently waited to hit that "I get it" point in The Third I came to realize that I didn't feel at home in the world at all.  It felt a little like the overworld of Final Fantasy X, where one simply goes from one place to the next, fighting waves of enemies until you complete the intended objective.  Rinse repeat.  Now that's fine for a RPG, but that's not the reason I play sandbox games, and after experiencing the lush, hilly landscapes offered in Just Cause 2. 

I don't know.  I feel that if I wait until I'm more in a "GTA" mode I'd be more accepting of The Third.  But as it stands, driving around listening to a bored-sounding radio announcer detail events that have happened in the last mission is not how I want to spent my precious free time.

The Good Woman has to work all next weekend (12 hour midnights), so I'll be able to start Amnesia.  Whew. 

[bombatomba]

My God.  Complete retraction.  I just finished the Best Games of 2011 video of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?  I promise the next time The Third is $13 I will buy it.