Even though it does improve on certain aspects from it's previous installments, it suffers on other aspects as well.
Welcome to Steelport, the new city that The Saints will take over. Here's where the game takes a blow. Steelport is boring compared to Stilwater. First, it just looks and feels so lifeless. Pedestrians are no where near wacky as they were in the first 2 games, you don't see much going on at all. Go outside right now, that's what it's like to play in Steelport. Another letdown is that there are no buildings to enter, barring the shops. And finally, there isn't anything interesting to discover, nor any secret areas. Remember the caverns in Stilwater? What about the Mall or Science Center? Nothing along those lines are in Steelport. What you see is what you get.
Certain activities such as Fuzz, Crowd Control and Septic Avenger do not make a return here. However, one new activity that stood out was Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax. Basically a game show styled activity where you eliminate enemies. It is a lot more fun than it sounds.
Customizations take a hit. No longer can you buy and customize different cribs from all shapes and sizes. It's just so disappointing when coming from a content heavy game like Saints Row 2 to this game.
But that's not to say this game has any redeeming factors. For one,the visuals are vastly improved over it's predecessors. The visuals weren't horrendous to begin with, but we all know it would have done so much more. Steelport looks beautiful at night, with it's skyline, neon lights reflecting off the ground, with it's shiny roads from the rain.
Another improvement is the game play. The gun play controls are now like a typical shooter, which is not a bad thing. The driving physics are completely overhauled, and they control perfectly. Another improvement introduced is upgrades. Instead of earning respect to unlock missions, respect is now used to upgrade your character, such as health, stamina, and weapon proficiencies.
The humour is subjective. It is now completely over the top. Most people found this a weak point, but for me, it's the furthest thing from it. You'll chuckle here and there, Sure there is no serious writing to balance it out and find that the humour while in your face, it is not as bad as it is made out to be.
Overall, Saints Row The Third is worth a playthrough. Even though a chunk of SR2's content is missing, it is indeed understandable that they had incorporated a new engine, and obviously couldn't include every single thing that made SR2 so great.