Saints Row: The Third details have appeared online, as US magazine Game Informer's exclusive has its guts spilled open by the internet savvy.
Developer Volition has wisely kept the crazy level of character customisation that made the second game such a hoot, and implemented a perk-based system to it as well to improve, say, firing accuracy or gain sprinting abilities.
Customisation extends to the weapons and as well, letting you add scopes to rifles or an extra barrel to your shotgun. There's talk of a device that lets you tag vehicles with a transmitter and control them remotely. You can pimp out your rides, adding nitrous and such too.
There's multiple ways to finish missions, and what you do afterwards; the article discusses capturing a boat full of prostitutes from another gang, and keeping the business afloat to let the proceeds accumulate into your bank account. Or you can appropriate a gang's hideout as your own, after you first clear it out during a mission. Multiple gangs are still a problem in Stillwater, with three vying for the same turf.
The game has co-op gameplay but the studio has jettisoned any notion of multiplayer - no great loss as far as we're concerned.
From what we can tell the game will retain the franchise's trademark humour, which made the second title such good fun. Remember the good times right here.