The Saboteur Review

Non-linear, open world games have become a genre of their own over the last two console generations. Many different cities and times have been explored within the genre, but compared to genre's like RPGs and First Person Shooters, open world games have really only scratched the surface. EA's Pandemic Studios' latest title, The Saboteur, takes gamers to 1940's Nazi occupied Paris, merging numerous game mechanics together into a single experience. It's unfortunate that the title also marks the closing of Pandemic Studios, as The Saboteur manages to stand out from the crowd.

The "saboteur" referenced in the game's title is lead character and Irishmen, Sean Devlin. Having lost his best friend, Jules, and his career as a mechanic and race car driver because of the Nazis, Sean is recruited into the Paris-based French Resistance during the city's Nazi occupation. Sean doesn't merely work for the Resistance, but becomes a central figure in their operations while also getting himself tangled up with British agents. The expansive plot and Nazi-occupied Paris setting open the game up to all sorts of lengthy missions as well as an entertaining and sometimes intriguing story.

The game plays in a third-person perspective, with the key mechanics boiling down to driving, running, shooting, sneaking and climbing. A large amount of the missions given to Sean by Resistance members consist of blowing up Nazi installations, infiltrating bases and killing generals and protecting members of the Resistance. However, the game has quite the focused narrative and plot, and while there are many side missions available throughout the game, the story missions are for the most part unique. The plot makes for frequent hairy situations, and is overall paced quite well.

Sneaking in The Saboteur plays into the game's Suspicion System. Nazi's are notoriously paranoid as they occupy the city of Paris, becoming suspicious of Sean depending on what exactly he's doing. If Sean is merely driving around, walking, or running, he's free to roam around. If Sean starts climbing buildings, draws a weapon, is seen sneaking around, or crosses into an off-limits area, his suspicion level rises. When the suspicion level reaches its limit, Nazi's literally blow the whistle, and Sean becomes the target in a Nazi man-hunt. There are no arrests in The Saboteur, Nazis are hardly that merciful, instead Sean can either escape the alarm-zone, or die trying. The system uses a handy icon, a flashing exclamation mark, that displays whenever Sean is visible to a Nazi, so instead of constantly looking around to see if Sean is in-view of Nazis, a simple glance to the icon works.

Climbing is simple and ledges highlight when Sean can climb to them. Combat is also fairly solid as Sean has a wide arsenal to choose from throughout most of the game. Many of the weapons are historically accurate, however there are a few fictional, extremely powerful weapons to unlock later in the game as well. Being a 'saboteur' Sean uses an awful lot of explosives in his line of work. While planting sticks of explosives is a central part of the game, it's also an effortless task. For the most part the challenge stems from not being seen in the process. Through the use of sneaking, hiding, stealth kills, diversions, and wearing a Nazi disguise, Sean can get down to the business of blowing things up.

The Saboteur isn't without faults though, far from it. While there are many, many different animations that Sean performs depending on the situation and what the player is directing him to do, Pandemic has done a sloppy job. Sean looks good when he is animated properly, but many actions and transitions (like those during climbing) are animated poorly. Graphically the game is par for the generation at best. Draw distance is okay, but if at any point Sean gets the chance to look out over the city, or look through a sniper scope, distant graphics look horendous. It's also quite ridiculous to make it out of a Nazi alarm zone in a blood splattered, bullet ridden car, only to drive that same car through subsequent Nazi checkpoints unnoticed.

Enemies frequently hide behind explosive barrels, and are generally fairly stupid, as in, bad AI. The game tries to make up for this in numbers, and enemies having remarkable accuracy. Again however, Sean on normal mode is bullet sponge, and can take a huge amount of damage before he dies. The controls could also have been laid out better, but that borders on nit picking. On the up side, the game features a fantastic atmosphere, and a great original soundtrack that really fits the time period. Load times are quick, and while the story won't keep players at the edge of their seat, it's still enjoyable.

In terms of replayability, the game features numerous difficulty modes, all the way up to "Feckin' Hard". There are also lots of side missions to complete, gameplay perks to unlock and upgrade, and an entire city full of Nazi installations to blow up. Loading up on weapons and explosives and going on a city-wide rampage, drawing in tanks, zeplins, and hundreds of Nazi's also almost never gets old, and considering it's Nazis Sean fights off, being engrossed with the carnage is pretty much guilt free.

8

Great

The Saboteur doesn't do much new, but all of the convergence the game does with gameplay works great. While it is mostly rough around the edges in nearly ever aspect, the game is undeniably fun, almost to an addictive level. Sean is a genuinely funny lead character, and the setting of the game suits the genre perfectly. If you're looking to have a blast with a game and can look past the rough edges, don't miss The Saboteur.