In a surprising turn of events, THQ has stated that its upcoming sequel to the popular sandbox title, Saint’s Row and Saint’s Row 2, will not continue down the path of an urban gangsta trying to make a name for himself/herself. Instead, the developer wants to continue to differentiate itself away from the Grand Theft Auto franchise and go in a crazier, more unique direction than ever before.

Speaking with CVG, Danny Bilson of THQ had the following to divulge about the upcoming game.

“We don’t compete with GTA. We’re differentiating even further with GTA with this one,” Bilson said. “The new Saint’s Row will be less urban – it’s definitely not about ‘gangsta’ anymore at all. And it’s more fun and almost sillier and wackier and weirder than the other one.”

He digressed: “I love GTA – especially the last one, which knocked my socks off. That’s almost like a Martin Scorsese cartoon, right? We are more like the Mad Magazine version of that or something. It’s colourful, it’s wild, it’s fun.

“The only thing it has in common with GTA is open world, tonnes of options for the player and a certain amount of crime. But even in the new game, it’s not exactly like that either. There are new gangs in a new world and it’s not just about criminals.”

Considering the success and fun factor of the previous two installments, I’m really stoked for a third. The fact they’re taking it even further to the edge and to a whole new level of storyline in comparison to the past titles should add a sense of freshness to the game that is definitely needed by this point in time. It almost makes you wonder if Rockstar should have potentially tried something similar after Grand Theft Auto III to perhaps keep the series a bit more fresh without being so redundant like it has quickly become.