The RC Possessor^[1] is a "Special"-class weapon in Saints Row: The Third.^[2]

"Why play with a tiny remote-controlled car when you can remotely control a full size vehicle!"

— Weapon description^[3]

DescriptionEdit

The RC Possessor is a fairly unique weapon which shoots a tag-like projectile which can take control of vehicles, presenting the player with a third-person camera view as if they were driving the vehicle in question; while controlling a vehicle the player will stand upright and perfectly still, and can still take damage. By default it can control anything except military vehicles. The second tier upgrade simply increases ammunition count, while the third tier allows vehicles to be detonated on command. The four-tier upgrade allows the RC Possessor to control all vehicles the player can, including tanks and military aircraft.

The player has unlimited time in control of the vehicle, but is subject to a range limit; if the vehicle moves outside the fixed radius, control will be lost. When this happens, vehicles with nobody inside will coast to a halt, while occupied vehicles will resume normal activities after a few seconds; helicopters will often crash before the pilot regains control. The player can also stop controlling the vehicle manually at any time.

Controlled vehicles act entirely as if the player is driving; this includes those with turreted weapons, even if there is a crewman manning the weapon in question. They are treated as if the second seat is empty, and second seat only weapons (eg the tank's hatch machine gun) will not fire, while those which are switched when a second player enters a vehicle (eg an attack helicopter's machine gun) will still be controlled by the player unless an actual second player enters the vehicle. Stopping a vehicle or landing an aircraft will cause the driver to exit after a short time, making the vehicle easy to steal. Exiting a possessed vehicle appears to be treated the same way as passengers exiting a stolen one. Enemies will very seldom attack a possessed vehicle; often they will not even notice it.

The weapon is unlocked after completing the mission "The Belgian Problem." The mission "A Remote Chance" is based entirely around using the RC Possessor to control various vehicles, and is structured rather like a tutorial, even though the player has had the weapon for a very long time by that point.^[1]

Weapon BreakdownEdit

PROS:

• Fast-firing semi-automatic.
• Surprisingly long range.
• Never needs to reload.
• When fully upgraded, can be used to attack enemies with their own support or quickly neutralise dangerous vehicles. Detonating destroys any vehicle instantly, no matter how tough it would normally be.
• Allows the player to attack enemies from outside their line of fire, even around corners or from inside buildings. Anywhere the player can target a vehicle is a place they can attack from.
• Controlling and detonating a vehicle does not count as an aggressive action and seldom increases notoriety, so self-destructing incoming gang / police vehicles is an efficient way to lose it. It also will not increase notoriety in time-based Survival.
• Can be used to steal vehicles for Vehicle Theft Activities without attracting notoriety.
• Allows easy access to dangerous and rare vehicles when fully upgraded; can force helicopters to land and be used to turn a tank's turret away from the player to give a window to steal it.
• Exploding vehicles are powerful, and a few random cars can kill a large group of enemies or destroy an enemy vehicle.
• Self-destruct kills all vehicle occupants instantly, even Brutes.
• Excellent weapon for dealing with helicopter snipers.
• Cheapest upgrades of any Special weapon.

CONS:

• Cannot directly harm organic targets.
• Of very limited use during indoor missions and Activities, since vehicles inside buildings are rare.
• Requires an initial line of sight to the target vehicle.
• Player is completely vulnerable while controlling a vehicle.
• Short downtime between ceasing to control a vehicle and regaining control of the player character during which the player is in control of neither.
• Highly dependant on upgrades; of dubious usefulness without them.
• Relatively low ammunition count.
• Self-destructing a vehicle does not count as killing the occupants for purposes of kill-based Survival waves.

Weapon UpgradesEdit

Main article: Weapon Upgrades.

TriviaEdit

• The plot is contradicatory about the weapon's origins; the player gets the RC Possessor at the end of "The Belgian Problem" with the implication that it is taken from the Syndicate Tower, but in "A Remote Chance" Kinzie claims to have built it herself as she was supposedly bored one night and 'threw it together'.^[reference?] This along with the tutorial-like presentation of the latter mission seems to imply that the player was originally going to be given the weapon much, much later on in the game.
• Some scripted vehicles (such as most of the F-69 VTOLs in Gang Bang) will not show a red reticle when the weapon is aimed at them and cannot be possessed, even though they are of a type that normally can be.
• The RC Possessor cannot control a vehicle another player is driving. It can, however, control another player's custom vehicle if they are not driving it. It is possible, if the game desyncs, to appear to be controlling a vehicle which another player is in control of; this can happen if the vehicle is possessed just as that player gets into / onto it, but the player will still be in control of the vehicle on their end.
• Co-op can produce numerous glitches with the RC Possessor; for example, if the player is controlling a vehicle while riding shotgun and is forced to exit the vehicle they're riding in, the controlled vehicle will freeze and the player glide around without responding to anything but movement commands. This state can be ended by having the other player destroy the controlled vehicle.
• Controlling a vehicle will make any other player who gets into it take the second seat rather than the first. This can cause problems with aircraft if they are being delivered by a Homie, since if the player with the RC Possessor stops controlling the aircraft the Homie will be the pilot, requiring the aircraft be possessed again and landed for the other player to change seats.
• If a second player gets into a possessed aircraft with no pilot, the aircraft will no longer respond to the first player's commands; helicopters will sink slowly to the ground, while landed aircraft will be unable to take off or use the weapons the first player would normally control. Regaining control of an aircraft in this state requires the second player exit and the first re-possess the aircraft. If the player ends possession, the second player will find themselves in the gunner's seat of an aircraft with no pilot; if the second player exits, the aircraft will remain unresponsive until it is released and possessed again.
• If a helicopter is landed using the RC Possessor and the player ceases to control it, the lights will stay on and the rotors will keep turning.
• Only vehicles which have a bought Nitrous customisation can use nitrous while possessed, even if the player has the "all vehicles have Nitrous" ability.
• STAG aircraft can still change modes while possessed.
• There is a bug with the gun where it will sometimes stop firing. The only way to fix it is to reselect the weapon from the weapons cache.
• Another bug can cause it to reset to level 1 after the mission "A Remote Chance."
• Firing at certain things (such as chain link-link fences and bus stop shelters) will cause the RC tag to stick to and slowly slide across the surface, and it may attach itself to passing NPCs that get too close.
• Detonating vehicles may occasionally cause The Protagonist to use a thrown weapon.

Gallery Edit

• RC Possessor's view when controlling a Challenger.
• The RC Possessor in the weapon selection screen in Saints Row: The Third.

1 of 2

Add photo

ReferencesEdit