Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package arrives this November

When Saints Row: The Third hit store shelves in November of last year it was instantly hailed as a breath of silly, wacky fresh air for the open-world sandbox action game subgenre. Where Grand Theft Auto is hyper-serious in its efforts to simulate a Hollywood-caliber cinematic experience, Saints Row: The Third gleefully asks players to create as much awesome mayhem as possible — even giving players a button specifically designed to make pedestrian actions like fistfights and carjackings a bit more stylish (if physically impossible). This trend of “fun over realism” continued with the game’s many, many DLC offerings, but developer Volition Inc. quickly became a bit too good at releasing extra content for the game, and it’s not at all surprising to see many players overwhelmed by the sheer number of extra downloadable goodies on offer for the game. Fortunately publisher THQ has opted to simplify the experience a bit — particularly for those who’ve yet to play the game — by releasing Saints Row: The Third and all of its DLC content in one huge package dubbed Saints Row: The Third – The Full Package.

We’re going to assume that the double entendre there is absolutely intended.

According to THQ, The Full Package will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC platforms on November 6. Regardless of which platform you choose, the game will set you back $50. That’s $10 less than the game’s original retail price point, but this version also includes a massive amount of new content that, by our math, should add somewhere on the order of 20 to 30 extra hours of gameplay. That’s all three downloadable mission packs (Gangstas In Space, Genkibowl VII and The Trouble With Clones), all the new weapons, vehicles and clothing options added by the game’s 13 smaller DLC packs, and though not explicitly stated, we’d also assume all of the game’s extra pre-order content. All told it’s a ton of gameplay content, and that $50 price point is totally valid — particularly if this is your first time playing Saints Row: The Third.

On the other hand, maybe you’ve already played through Saints Row: The Third. What’s the value of this package in that case? Well, as we reported in June, Volition is already hard at work on a fourth Saints Row title, and according to THQ president Jason Rubin that game will be built on top of an unreleased Saints Row: The Third DLC pack dubbed “Enter The Dominatrix.” Thus, it’s a safe bet to assume that Saints Row: The Fourth (or whatever it’s eventually called) will be quite similar to this enhanced version of Saints Row: The Third. If nothing else, that means that you (and any friends who join you in the game’s crazy-fun online multiplayer modes) can use The Full Package as a bit of practice for the imminent sequel. You don’t want to be caught off guard when Volition unveils the next game’s answer to beating old ladies to death with giant, floppy sex toys, right?