14 DAY TRIAL // Saints Row started life as an open world story minded rival to the Grand Theft Auto series from Rockstar, but for the latest installment the team working on it took the idea of delivering madness in a game to the limit.
Scott Phillips, who is the lead designer working on Saints Row at developer Volition, told VG247 that, “The biggest trademark of the game is that it’s bonkers, beyond bonkers. It’s crazy. Yeah, I think over the top is definitely our tone, our feel for the game. Internally, we had a design mantra of ‘embrace the crazy, fun trumps all.’”
He added, “That was something we carried through in everything we did, and I think it shows in the final game that we as a developer, everybody at the studio, has a blast making the game and we just get the ideas from everywhere. We do the best we can to deliver the craziest, most over the top experience possible.”
He also talked about whether pushing the limits of what could be included in a video game also comes with drawbacks, saying that both the developers and the publisher have made it very clear that Saints Row: The Third will be over the top and all players who are getting the game know what kind of experience they will be getting from it.
The insanity in the game includes a section where the player controls a toilet and a number of polygon video game tanks intruding on the real world with simulated gun fire and explosions.
The mantra that Phillips talks about seems to be a successful one as Danny Bilson, one of the leading executives at THQ, has already said that a fourth game will be created for the series, with Volition suggesting that work on it will start very soon.