When Good Heists Go Bad

"When Good Heists Go Bad" is the first mission in Saints Row: The Third.
==Overview==
A brief expository opening crawl briefly explains that in the several years after the events of Saints Row 2, the 3rd Street Saints have evolved into a "media empire". Josh Birk, a method actor who is preparing to film a movie based on the 3rd Street Saints, has accompanied Johnny Gat, Shaundi, and Playa as they prepare to heist the Stilwater 1st National Bank to better understand his role. After watching a Saints Flow commercial starring Pierce, he and the others don their Johnny Gat mascot suits in disguise, equipped with voice modulators, and exit the elevator to begin the heist.
Birk is initially disappointed with the heist; he derides the gang as "a bunch of pussies" as they stand around signing autographs for the visitors. However, it is quickly revealed that the bank is more than ready to withstand the 3rd Street Saints, and the group struggle as they fight through the bank's red-clad security guards. As they attempt to airlift the bank's vault using a Stork helicopter, Birk accidentally trips an alarm believing it to be the door-release button for the vault and the SWAT arrive. Birk flees as the Saints are overwhelmed, and Playa is ultimately caught.
==Gameplay==
This mission automatically starts upon starting a new game. It is not possible to exit this mission, only to restart it.
After the opening cutscenes finish, the mission begins under enemy fire. Playa is armed with a level 2 45 Shepherd, a TEK Z-10, a AS3 Ultimax, and a level 4 K-8 Krukov, all with infinite ammo.
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There are 3 armed tellers in the bank lobby, joined by 2 security guards.
Birk attempts to kick open the closed double doors, unsuccessfully, falling to the floor. Gat then kicks the doors open and kills the first guard, leaving 3 marked security guards on the ground floor and 2 Morningstar gang members upstairs.
Playa is not required to engage in combat, as the other Saints can kill all enemies.
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Go upstairs.
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6 marked Morningstar gang members run down the stairs from the third floor.
Playa is not required to fire, as the other Saints can kill all enemies.
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Head up the next flight of stairs.
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There is a single Morningstar at the top of the stairs. If Shaundi reaches the top of the stairs first, there is a scripted sequence of Shaundi fighting the Morningstar. It is possible to avoid this sequence by reaching the top of the stairs before Shaundi, and killing the Morningstar or using them as a Human Shield.
Entering the vault room triggers another cutscene.
;Checkpoint
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More Morningstar gang members arrive in the lobby below, but are not required to be killed.
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There is a prompt to sign an autograph for a Saints fan, an early introduction to the similar Photo Op Collectibles later in the game. This is not an objective, and the fan can be ignored or killed.
Setting explosives above the vault triggers a cutscene.
;Checkpoint
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After Birk sets off the bank alarm and flees in panic, SWAT arrives. A Flashbang goes off, which cannot be avoided no matter where Playa is standing, or where the camera is pointed.
The SWAT members not marked enemies, but come in waves regardless. First, 4 SWAT enter through the windows, followed by 4 more. Another 4 come through the window, followed by 4 more through the next window, this time carrying Riot Shields.
After the second group is killed, 2 SWAT enter along the balcony and are repeatedly replaced up to 5 times as they are killed, independent of the window waves.
These are not required to be killed to trigger the next objective, but Gat and Shaundi target them anyway.
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A helicopter flies in and fires bullets and rockets into the bank, and must be damaged to a certain level before the next objective is triggered.
The Tornado cannot be destroyed, even using Cheats to spawn an Annihilator RPG.
Playa is not required to fire, as Shaundi and Johnny Gat are capable of bringing the helicopter health to the required level.
When the helicopter health reaches the required level, a cutscene starts.
;Checkpoint
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The finale of the mission does not contain an objective, and features Playa atop the vault as the Stork helicopter attempts to airlift it out of the building.
Playa is not required to fire at anything other than the Tornado in the final section.
During this scripted sequence, Playa moves from one end of the vault to another, holding on in various places as the Stork manoeuvres between the bank and a nearby building. The low Health beep is triggered after being shot, but despite this section having a Checkpoint, it is not possible to be Smoked.
There are waves of SWAT, both coming up the stairs and being dropped off by Eagle helicopters, as well as Oppressors containing Sniper Specialists. The Tornado returns, and this time must be shot by Playa with approximately 16 bullets in order to reduce the health to 1/4 and trigger the final cutscene.
The next mission, "I'm Free - Free Falling", continues immediately after the Player Customization following this mission.
==Rewards==
==Newscast==
==Trivia==
* This mission takes place at the Stilwater 1st National Bank, and is the only mission to be set in Stilwater in Saints Row: The Third (although the opening cutscene of "Return to Steelport" takes place in Stilwater).
* Josh Birk holds two 45 Shepherds in the opening cutscene but carries KA-1 Kobras during gameplay.
* The cutouts of Killbane inside the bank were also used as promotional art for him.
** The decapitated cutout of Killbane also appears in "Hangar 18 1/2".
* It is possible to escape the bank and explore "Stilwater" by using the Cheat "givesatchel" and using Satchel Charges to ragdoll Playa outside the bounds of the map. This rendition of Stilwater is approximately one square kilometer of empty streets. The ground and surrounding buildings are solid, but neither the streets nor buildings match the geography of Stilwater from Saints Row or Saints Row 2; the bank itself is just two floors floating high over the city.
** It is possible to reach Steelport by jumping into the water and warping to shore. There are no cars driving, and few pedestrians. Parked cars are present, as well as aircraft at Wesley Cutter Intl and Sierra Point. Playa may also perform Photo Ops. "Stilwater" is not visible from Steelport, but the helicopter marker is visible at all times. When flying back to "Stilwater" the buildings reappear suddenly, and are solid.
* As Player Customization does not occur until after this mission, a distorted Male Voice 1 is used throughout the mission. The default taunt and compliment used is The Marine and The Experience, respectively, and also cannot be changed until Player Customization.
** If the game is modded to skip equipping the Gat outfit, Playa's body is invisible, and changing to certain outfits – such as the outfit used during "Murderbrawl XXXI" – reveals that Playa's model is female, but still uses the male animations.
* The newscast for this mission, as well as the next, do not play until the third mission, "We're Going to Need Guns".
* Cultural references in this mission include the following:
** The opening crawl is . The music that accompanies the crawl is "", which was used in the film .
** During the Japanese commercial for Saints Flow in the opening cutscene, Pierce reaches out and touches fingertips with a can of Saints Flow, parodying .
** Shortly after, Pierce dispatches of a nearby assailant with a , a move from .
** Shaundi tells Josh Birk not go to "all Hong Kong-style in there", referring to Hong Kong's fame for .
** The mission is strikingly similar to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and Michael Mann's Heat, which feature bank heists. This concept is also referenced in the Payday series.
* The basketball court in the Japanese commercial cutscene is in Sunset Park.
* Shaundi in this mission is a special "npc_Shaundi_bobblehead" model with her ponytail and fringe removed so they do not clip through the mask. The other characters are their normal models with the "Gat Bobble Head" Customization Item added.
==Transcript==
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===Gameplay===
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===Cutscene #3===
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===Cutscene #4===
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===Cutscene #5===
===Unsorted===
==Gallery==