THQ doesn't want players spending too much time creating their custom sleazeball character when Saints Row: The Third hits the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC this holiday season, so they're releasing a standalone character creator before the game ships.
Available in advance of Saints Row: The Third, the Saints Row Initiation Station is a free downloadable character creation tool that will allow players to create and share their custom characters, getting their team ready to hit the mean streets once the game hits store shelves. Create a superhero, super villain, out-of-work actor, retired pro wrestler, or any number of ridiculous lowlifes. Friends can coordinate their creations for co-op play, or just steal someone else's idea and use it as your own. Once the game drops, just download the character to your system and you're good to go bad.
The Saints Row Initiation Station will be available as a free download on the PC, Xbox Live Marketplace, and PlayStation Network sometime before Saints Row: The Third hits stores. If that's not fast enough for you, pre-ordering Red Faction: Armageddon will gain fans early access, for what that's worth.