This game feels like it's missing so much from Saint's Row 2. It feels like there are way less clothes and piercings and stuff, the tattoos feel gutted. The lack of a store to buy cars at feels weird. Stillwater felt so much more alive than Steelport. Steelport just feels like a bunch of the same place, (not helped by the lack of diversity between stores). In SR2, there were places in Stillwater that felt real to a city, like a college area, a downtown, residential area, prison island, etc. Steelport is basically a bunch of buildings that don't differentiate themselves too much. I'm pretty sure I remember gameplay just feeling better in SR2, but that's preference.
The PC port also has like a major bug where cars just dont make noises when driving, totally flattening driving in this game.
What SR3 does good though is good ass set pieces. The whole beginning with bank and the plane, to the penthouse assault, and ending with attacking the morningstar leader is great. The whole story is enjoyable and I still love the saints' crew and their banter.