Three games in, Saints Row has found its stride. It is the anti-Grand Theft Auto. Volition has created a game that delights in mayhem, revels in trashy exploitation and aims to make you smile. And you will, so long as you don't stop to think about anything.

Saints Row: The Third is built on ludicrous foundations and that's why I love. It does what any good game should aim to do, produce hours of fun, and leaves it at that. It becomes more absurd with each new mission, made even more entertaining by an outstanding selection of ambitious weapons and...

Saints Row: The Third takes everything your teenage self found awesome and distills it into a single, outrageous game.

Reviewer's note: This review contains spoilers regarding the first few moments in Saints Row: The Third. Read at your own discretion. At the beginning of Saints Row: The Third , we witnessed what appeared to be the death of Saints member Johnny Gat.

It begged, borrowed and stole a lot of its ideas from the GTAs III, Vice City and San Andreas, certainly, but it was also the moment the Saints Row franchise established itself as the video game corollary to the movie, Crank.

Outrageous weapons and characters; customisation levels border on fetishistic; masses of fun

Graphics aren't very good; occasional breaks in gameplay; Steelport is a soulless cesspit

For the first two instalments in the Saints Row franchise, it has been perceived as a kind of low rent pretender to the open world action crime crown.

Bizarre humour throughout; Smart writing that has an underlying intelligence; Great styling and design; Insane fun; Free from any heavy plot or tone considerations

Looks slightly dated; Has an odd reliance on humour that doesn't always work

Possibly the most ridiculous terrorism simulator around In this gaming generation of soul delving plot-lines and eye deceiving realism, it's easy to forget a videogames' primary function is to make sure the player is having fun.

Tons and tons and tons of deadly gadgets to unlock; Loads of challenges to complete; Hilarious juvenile humour; Extensive character/clown customisation

Strange almost paranormal glitches; Missions are too easy with two players; City lacks a vibrant design seen in most other open world games

There's a TV advert doing the rounds at the moment that helpfully points out that Saints Row: The Third is available at Argos. As well as nudging you towards an impulse purchase, while treating that special person in your life to some Elizabeth Duke jewellery, the advert also acts as a - presumably...

Funny; entertaining; absurd

Derivative; obscene; sexist

GTAV will have to wait its turn. We've been looking forward to Saints Row: The Third for a while now and after the dirty delights of SR2 , we can't wait to get stuck in again with the current console generation's most enjoyable open world crime series.

Simply fun to play; So much to do; The driving is the best the genre has ever seen

Not a lot of new side-mission types; Homie backup calls are pointless; Steelport very similar to Stillwater

I'm not normally a fan of sandbox games, a lot take themselves far too seriously. Some pad out the game with tedious side missions and a few aren't even really sandbox games at all.