A lot of humor ages worse than Nate Silver's predictions for the 2016 presidential election. It's hard to go back to things you used to find funny, only to realize that they're actually pretty flinch-inducing. People grow, humor evolves, two-bit comedians get angry about it - it's all part of the circle of life.

Fortunately, Saints Row The Third Remastered has nothing to worry about. The bawdy, beloved open-world crime romp is just as charming as it was in 2011 - barring some pretty awful depictions of sex workers. Bolstered by compelling gameplay that's held up pretty well over the years, and tied together with a nifty little visual overhaul, this inspired re-release is a reminder of how to make open-world games feel fresh, focused, and fun

For newcomers, the basic saga of Saints Row follows the Third Street Saints, a celebrity street gang that's sold out and hawking energy drinks. They have their own clothing line, movie deals, and legions of adoring fans. But things go awry when they piss off The Syndicate - a rival gang that controls Steelport, a town nearby the first two games' Stilwater. The Syndicate murders the beloved Johnny Gat, then wages war on the Saints.

The Saints spend the entirety of the game retaliating in kind. That means dispatching rival gangs, invading military bases, and schmoozing with Burt Reynolds. For something like gang warfare on the scale of a whole city, the whole thing is presented with a pretty flippant tone. The Third wisely avoids gritty, edgy inclinations and leans into absurdity, which helps to establish the world as an irreverent, unpredictable place inhabited by big personalities.

The world of The Third is truly unlike any in gaming, to me. It threads this delicate needle of serious and silly, sincere, and satirical that so many games attempt, but so few actually land. While some jokes at the expense of sex workers are truly rotten, and its poor characterization of the BDSM community leaves much to be desired, it's a mostly funny and always compelling game.

I'd Like One Open World, Hold The Bloat

More games in 2020 could learn from Saints Row The Third. Here's a title that is very much a sandbox game, complete with collectibles and side activities, but never threatens to overwhelm the player with meaningless B.S. time wasters. Every side activity is fun, pushes the mechanics in interesting directions, and doesn't feel like padding. Each bit of "filler" content adds a bit more to the world and forces players to do interesting things with the mechanics they're given.

Those mechanics are also still mostly good. While the physics are still janky beyond belief, I feel like that's part of the charm. Moment-to-moment gunplay is tight and weighty, with a satisfying heft to each weapon. The same goes for the melee, which feels chunky and tactile in the best ways possible. And while some might not be a fan of the arcade-y nature of the driving, I'm personally a big fan. It makes driving feel more like an action flick than some clunky simulation, which fits with the tone of the game.

Driving around Steelport is still such a nice feeling, too. It's a tight map with lots to see and plenty of weird quirks to discover. Steelport's map is so immaculate that Volition saw fit to use it in two separate games that played completely differently, and that basic quality holds up.

Related: New Saints Row Game Not Scheduled To Release Until After March 2021

A Real Looker

The map holds up even better with the impressive remaster work done in this release. Reworked textures and remodeled assets go a long way towards making this look like a viable release in 2020, and the improved lighting effects are truly beautiful. While certain city blocks and in-game times of day definitely show this game's age, it's a far prettier and far more thoughtful release than Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, a game that I 100%'d multiple times but is definitely a bit of a slapdash port.

As far as last-gen re-releases go, The Third Remastered makes great use of modern console capabilities, and comes complete with really snazzy HDR support. For forty bucks, it's definitely a win for newcomers, and an enticing proposition for diehards.

No One Port Should Have All This Power

Ultimately, the best way to look at Saints Row The Third Remastered is as the best version of a 2011 video game. There are things that haven't held up, certainly, and some visual elements are definitely outdated. But for all its warts, both in the ideological and technical sense, The Third represents a better era for gaming. An era before the line between games-as-a-service and single-player experiences were blurred. An era before Ubisoft singlehandedly made open-world games less interesting. An era before Borderlands would set the standard for video game comedy with its egregious blend of yelling humor and memes.

Saints Row The Third is still a remarkable game, for all its faults, and this remastered version is undoubtedly the best way to experience it.

A PlayStation 4 copy of Saints Row The Third Remastered was provided to TheGamer for this review. Saints Row The Third Remastered is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Saints Row: The Third Remastered

Next: Saints Row The Third's Depiction Of Sex Work Is Dated And Ugly