Epic Games has announced that it is giving away Saints Row: The Third Remastered for free to celebrate the announcement of the reboot. The franchise started off with humble roots, as original impressions for the first game equated the title to just another "GTA clone" until the release of the second and third installments, which gave the series the unique identity it needed to thrive. Afterward, Saints Row IV and Gat Out of Hell pushed the series' formula even farther with super-powered gameplay, a divisive move that fans either loved or hated compared to past titles.
Saints Row: The Third Remastered was released fairly recently on May 21 of this year and, while the original game was highly praised, the remaster was reviewed as beautiful but outdated. The remaster is essentially a complete edition of the game, coming out with all of the expansions and with updated graphics. The gameplay and graphics held up, but reviewers have noted that some of the humor present in the game has aged poorly and could be viewed as insensitive or offensive by some modern players.
With the announcement of the Saints Row reboot at Gamescom 2021, Epic Games announced via Twitter that the remastered edition of Saints Row: The Third is available for free for a limited time. Anyone who picks the game up before September 2 will own the game forever, making it a good opportunity for players who've never tried the franchise to get a taste of its history before the release of the reboot in February 2022.
The Saints Row reboot's first gameplay teaser looks explosive, not unlike the past several games in the series. The game will likely try to recapture the feeling of mayhem that the original series is known for. Saints Row: The Third is widely considered to be the best purveyor of this chaos in the franchise, or at least a close second to Saints Row 2, embracing wacky and unique gameplay without going too far from the semi-serious story.
While the third game is considered to be the perfect balance in the series, dedicated fans were hopeful that a reboot would take the series back to its more serious roots from the first and second installments. The reveal's reactions were not very positive due to the lack of any recognizable characters and complaints that the graphics look too basic for the series. Whether they enjoyed the reboot's trailer or not, fans and newcomers alike can pick up Saints Row: The Third Remastered now while it's completely free to keep.
Sources: Epic Games/Twitter