Saints Row: The Third/Act 1

Your team minus Josh Birk starts off in jail. Morning Star team comes in to bring your team to meet Loren. He proposes that The Saints work together with their team but they flatly rejected the offer leading Johnny Gat to take on the group while you and Shaundi escapes the room.

Airplane battle
Shaundi wants to help Gat but the door won't open and the bad guys in red and black comes to attack you and your partner. If you use light attack we'll lead to a quick time response while heavy attack is more straight forward. And yes, the people on the radio can be goofy and entertaining. On the second part of the section, you and the bad guy with the gun will hit a bit of turbulence so attack him to acquire a pistol. Shaundi will also automatically have that gun too.

Next is going through the cargo area. You can grab the nearest person as a shield while shooting at enemies. Your shield could be shot down completely, thrown or there's a button which snaps it neck. Ouch! If your aim assist is on, shooting should be simple to control as you have to just hold the button to auto aim the person and press another button to shoot, depending on the controls of the console. A cutscene ensues as Johnny Gat's fate is unknown, presume to be dead. Then as cars and items are falling out, you and Shaundi falls out too.

I'm Free... Free Falling
Given that you've falling at such a great height you have to handle lots of sequence before this sequence end. A reference to Lego City Undercover in which Chase has to go down a lengthy fall before continuing this journey. Anyway, this is one of two sequences you have to go through. First take care of the guy first with a quick time. Then shoot about three guys, both up and down. Then shoot the boxes and cars until you reach Shaundi. But it's not over yet. After the dialogue, (well Shaundi is not exactly faithful with you) you drop Shaundi from the parachute then shoot the window for the next cutscene. On the next sequence, shoot a few more men in the air from the top and button, take care of one more person, then shoot cars and boxes until you reach Shaundi… again. She's not too happy but you did save her from certain death for now.

We're Going To Need Guns
You won't see where they land but they start off somewhere in the middle of Steelport. Go straight and take the car. Go on your GPS and select "Friendly Fire", the only one on the north area of the map, somewhere in the middle. In "Friendly Fire", Shaundi gives you cash and you just have to upgrade your guns. Just upgrade the first gun you have because it's the cheapest with $100 for either a better upgrade or buying a new pistol next to it. Go back in the car and you and Shaundi have a banter with each other, letting you know that they could stay at Shaundi's ex-boyfriend apartment and Pierce coming over with the reinforcements. Anyway, follow the GPS for a gun fight with the military, thankfully, they're not hard to defeat, considering your first time around.

After taking care of the military with the target signs on the map, go check inside and Shaundi will mention a gadget that shoot rockets from the sky, guided or not. Hold your ground until the cutscene arrives. Grab the gadget (the reaper drone) as you automatically go into this high sky projection aiming down like a map but quite close and grey color theme around it. Take down the tanks and jeeps shooting Pierce's helicopters. When it's over, run over to the helicopter for the last sequence. On the side with Shaundi, you just have to take down some helicopters until you reach your destination. You can take a breather at this point or continue on with learning the basics before deciding to dominate Steelport which is like a fictional version of New York that's broken down to three big islands connected by a few bridges. Lastly, if you get a cell phone call, answer it and try to handle the survival activities which will be explained in the "Activities" page.

Steelport Here I Am
Take a car nearby and drive to the park following the GPS. Pierce will arrive with a different car. Go in the different car with Pierce and follow the GPS to the Repair Shop. It's not important but if you want to learn one thing, it's the nitro boost. After purchasing at least one upgrade, (nitro is recommended) you follow the GPS again to the Saints Clothing Store. Again, keep it to a minimum. Buy a simple hat and take it off is the easy way out. Once you get off, Morning Star would arrive with one surprise: a brute! Unlike the regular bad guys, the brutes can take more bullets and is very hard to dodge. Not only that, they can carry flamethrowers and miniguns! But for now, defeat him with whatever weapons you currently own right now. Once he's finished, clear the Morning Stars before you and Pierce go back in their cars and drive all the way back to Shaundi's ex apartment. As one of the ways, the gang and cop signs around the minimap will instantly disappear. This ends this mission and use it whenever your in hot water and wanted the heat to end.

Party Time!
Not at Shaundi Ex's apartment! It's somewhere in the south east that they're about to take over from the Morning Star: Their tall penthouse building but first, get a car (walking takes forever!), then follow the GPS to the airport. Why? To get a helicopter. There's no freefall. Instead you start at the top part of the building. Once you jump out, land as close to the swimming as you can. Anywhere else and you have to start over. Go to the person with the yellow target and interrogate him before a major shoot out starts. Take down Morning Star gunmen and women then go downstairs. Use the grenade to unblock the barrels and take care of anymore shooters before unlocking the elevator. Go back and take care of reinforcements as your team comes in.

Helicopter code chase
Shaundi will info you that there's a bomb in the building. Go to the helicopter and follow the enemy helicopter as close as you can. It will be a long travel to the bad guys base. It's located on the north west on the map. After you land at their place, go in and take down a room full of Morning Star gunmen and women. Go to the last person with the yellow target sign and interrogate him. After that, you can let him go or kill him. Also, later on, this place will become Kesington's base where her tech know how will come in handy. Lastly, you can use the crib when it comes to weapons, gangs and vehicles. Only penthouses and tall buildings will have helicopters or something cooler than that. Certain places will be allowed to be upgraded but you need income which will play a major role later in this tutorial. Same with respect as it will benefit you through the game.

Guardian Angel (with Pierce)
This one is straightforward. It's like a rail shooter, most common among Wii games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2 and House of the Dead Overkill. Anyway, you start with the rocket launcher sequence. It takes practice so aim, time and shoot before the red and black car goes near Pierce's car which is purple. The second is the sniper rifle. If you have the speed, you can take out the cars quickly or if you're more interested in shooting people which would be harder as they will move in their pace. It would be over once Pierce is in the building on the right. Take note that this is just the easy version. There's also medium and hard version somewhere in the central island. But that requires you having full control of the helicopter, under the title "Heli Assault". Lastly, you might have to do this later in reverse with Miss Kesington.

Trafficking (with Pierce)
This is like Guardian Angel in a car instead of a helicopter. Your job is to protect Pierce as Morning Stars automatically tries to stop you from making deals before going back to the start. So check your weapons as your pistol will be unlimited regardless. Best take down cars and gunmen and women once your driver stops as you're in charge with a weapon use. If something goes wrong, you have to come out and shoot or try too get away from the cops. Like "Heli Assault", there's also medium and hard versions so be prepared to protect Pierce at all cost. Same with Zimo's later on.

Taking Over The City
Pay attention to this! There's a period payment which happens every hour as you build your reputation. It's not really like "The Godfather" where you intimidate the owner for cash, it's more straight forward than that. Anyway, follow the GPS and purchase "Friendly Fire" (as there are many more around the city). This shop costs $100 in this tutorial but the standard is $5,000. Then follow the GPS to by an apartment that also costs $100. Now you have two Morning Star gang operations. Best use the pistols as they're the most accurate than using short bursts off your machine gun.

Once you dealt with the groups, follow the GPS back to "Friendly Fire" and go inside to instantly take down your alert system on your minimap. This would be useful for your reputation: the more places you by and gang operations taken down, the more your income goes up so buying upgrades becomes easier as you go through this game. Lastly, make it a habit so when you reach "Three Ways" for both endings, you'll have enough to endure bullets, explosions, fires and falls when dealing with a multitude of enemies with enough gunfire and team endurance to handle the most difficult missions ever.

Tank Mayhem
Follow the GPS to your next activity and boy does Pierce has something special for you! Call it absurd but aren't you allowed to have some fun? The idea is simple: Reach the highest score by taking down red targets and increasing the combo to make reaching it a lot easier. If you fail the first time, retry again. Don't forget the medium and hard versions as well.

Professor Genki
Ok. Have you ever been in a Japanese game show? It's simply shooting mascots and signs really within the time limit. Watch out for signs like ethical, money shot and time bonus. If you reach a combo, a weapon in a present will be there for a limited time. Avoid unethical sign as you'll lose five seconds on the clock. Once you reach a high score, it's best to finish the course unless you're low on time. There's also medium and hard but watch out for the brute! You can take out one but there's more and more so it's best to run away to the end! Don't get too overwhelmed and hurry before the times up! Sayanora!

Hitting The Powder Room
It's almost time to hit Morning Star but first, you have to know where he is. Follow your GPS as you'll be teaming up with Pierce and Shaundi. It's pretty straight forward. You start outside with the trucks with empty backs on the left side from the starting point. Clear the enemies before going in from the corner left (marked with yellow hands to indicate whether the door can be open or not). Shoot down the gunmen and women but watch out for snipers. A simple description is looking for a red laser and a gunmen who's bald and wears a big red jacket. Not only that, a sniper can pack a punch, unless you've already upgrade from the "Damage" section in "Reputation". Then follow the next door to deal with a few gunmen before the next room that has a brute holding a big minigun. Use grenades or any powerful weapons to make short work of him before more gunmen and women comes out for you to deal with.

Follow up the stairs and mow down even more gunmen and women until you reach the office at the end. Shaundi will go through the computer and all you have to do is gun down anymore people until she's finished. This marks the end of this mission. There will be one more to go so prepare yourself through reputation and refill your ammo before the battle with Morning Star's boss Loren.

The Belgian Problem
This is the last of the missions although it doesn't focus on the country and people. Anyway, follow the GPS until you reach the underground of the Morning Star boss' building. Clear out the gunmen and women and a brute so your team comes in and you set the timer on the bomb. You have fifteen minutes so don't waste time and hope the bomb isn't a total waste of time since you last took it out of the military compound. Along the way, after the elevator, watch out for snipers and get ready for another surprise: a brute with a flame thrower! Use grenades or a fast powerful gun to take this brute down and continue on as the time is ticking down.

The cutscene kicks in and you get to meet the original brute the first time. Well to avoid spoiling it, he has no clothes and his name is Oleg. Just follow him and you'll reach the light with the ball on the roof. Shoot the gunmen and women while Oleg disable the light that you're hanging on. Once it goes down, get ready to shoot one more brute before a cutscene showing Loren getting knocked by a giant ball! When you're back down you have two choices: Blow up the building or disable it and make it your own. Either has its reward depending on your choice. This marks the end of Act 1.