‘Saints Row: The Third’ pitch perfect in its silliness

The makers of "Saints Row: The Third" claim their game is "over the top." Listen, most shooters are over the top. This satire of "Grand Theft Auto" is way beyond that. It's hyperbole turned in on itself.

In this open-world game, I jump off a building as tall as Chicago's Sears Tower -- as a fully naked woman -- then parachute into a swimming pool on a roof during a swanky VIP party and kill everyone at the party.

I swing a giant adult toy to beat up prostitutes, pimps and zombies roaming city streets.

I command tanks to blow up cop cars. I call in airstrikes on rival gangs hanging around basketball courts.

Let me remind you, this is not a war game. It's a gangster game with tanks and armed hover jets.

It was crafty of the game's designers at Volition Inc. (on behalf of THQ), to do this -- to mock the "GTA" format, because that format is old and tired.

To wit, the last "Grand Theft Auto IV" by Rockstar Games took itself so seriously, it deteriorated into an earnest slog about a carjacker taking a girl on a date -- literally.

In "The Third," you portray a rich and famous gang member in an America that now values gangsters the way it overvalues Kardashians, as empty-calorie celebrities.

Ordinary pedestrians cheer you on, even though you rob banks and kill them.

This is a ripe idea for modern parody, and it's pitch perfect in its silliness. If you object philosophically, blame Martin Scorsese for elevating the criminal sociopath to the status of sympathetic anti-hero for four decades.

That's right, I'm saying the juvenile and ultra-violent "Saints Row: The Third" is the logical conclusion of Scorsese and "The Sopranos." Deal with it.

And yet, this parody takes a cartoon form so lacking in gravity, no rational soul who plays it could accuse it of being sexist or reprehensible.

Because, it's just the dumbest thing -- in a good way, like a Three Stooges sketch.

Valid criticism? I've got one: Since it's vapid moment to moment, it is a sleek machine but emotionally hollow. Going into the game, just know you're digging yourself into a shallow grave.

Practically speaking, "The Third" begins easily but becomes quite difficult after some hours. Missions require killing scores of rival gangsters and cops without dying.

You can play the solo campaign or a cooperative mode. There's a "Whored Mode," styled after "Call of Duty's" hoard mode. Don't blame me. That's what it's called.

"Whored Mode" sees you killing wave after wave of prostitutes and zombies, on a timer, while armed with shotguns, rocket launchers and a violet adult toy.

I could do without that 4-foot-long purple weapon. It's nasty.

("Saints Row: The Third" by THQ retails for $60 for PS 3 and Xbox 360; $50 for PC -- Plays fun. Looks good. Challenging. Rated "M" for blood, gore, drug reference, intense violence, partial nudity, strong language and sexual content. Three and one-half out of four stars.)

Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.