The Saboteur Review (360)

It’s not just whiskey that’s made this Irishman angry

Road rage is such a beautiful thing, yet it seems to be one of those bad mannered behavioural issues that videogames regard just too big a taboo to cross. You could mow down a consecutive run of pensioners and toddlers in GTA4 and Niko’s face won’t change from that of a grisly Mr Bean, pissed off at the world yet too pessimistic to bother changing it. That’s why Sean from The Saboteur‘s filthy mouth behind the wheel is something of a breath of fresh air. That and his viewpoint on freelance terrorism.

The whole bombing areas and vehicles doesn’t prove to be much of a shock to moral standings considering the fact that its all in the aid of bringing down the Nazis, a group so infamously devilish that it’s hard to compare them to another such group for comic effect. The city of Paris has been invaded by the spiky headed Krauts and it seems the only man to kick them back out is Irishman Sean Devlin, a man with a severe chip on his shoulder when it comes to the fascists and enough dynamite to put Wile.E.Coyote’s ACME catalogue to shame.

Occupied France doesn’t look so great, partly due to the lack of Starbucks, but mainly as the Nazis seem to have a major love of the silent movie era. Anywhere strongly occupied by Hitler’s henchmen is covered in black and white, and it’s your job to liberate each section of France. Once cleared out, the vibrant colours of war-time France swiftly spread through the sector like the Dulux dog relieving himself after being locked inside all day. As the Resistance grows stronger throughout the city, the lush creations that start to spread proves to be an incredibly rewarding sight to behold, and truly drives you to progress throughout the slightly cliché ridden revenge fuelled plot.

There’s something about smoking a cigarette as you run over Nazis in the French countryside whilst listening to Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ which proves to be both blissfully ironic and psychotically classy.

Unfortunately this same graphical aspect means that basic practicality is sometimes sacrificed for artistic prosperity. When climbing up more of the complex buildings and running away from edgy krauts through streets with barely any street lights, you can’t see a damn thing and often find yourself in the centre of a wall and bullet sandwich. Then the colour of red begins to become something of a frequent annoyance.

‘Stealth elements’ and ‘Open-world’ are both aspects which make strange bedfellows, and true to statement sometimes make scenarios a tad awkward. The stealth system works well when it comes to creeping around the streets of Paris on your own accord, but when it comes to some of the main missions, some areas are so enclosed that it’s often easier to spray a vast array of bullets around the area before anyone notices that anything remarkably fishy is going on. It’s hard to force any stereotypes on a game where you have to save the French from the Nazis as an Irishman, but you’ll constantly win gunfights as Sean’s whole body seems to be lined with hipflasks. The man is somewhat super human and can easily take out five enemies before they can even get near him, making most of the story surprisingly easy.

Dotted around the map are various sniper towers, propaganda speakers and air gun turrets lovingly polished by Germans and begging for dismantling from your pockets full of explosives. Although entirely optional, destroying anything that can aid enemies proves to be both useful when you attempt to escape Nazi clutches and somewhat psychotically rewarding. Even when you get caught in the act (…), the city of Paris has been so well created that jumping through the rooftops dodging Zeppelin gunfire is incredibly tense and entertaining. Both stealth and combat elements truly compensate these optional objectives more than the main game itself and it’s a shame these weren’t taken advantage of more.

The voice-overs from the main cast leave something to be desired, especially from Sean. When he suddenly slips away from angry Irishman to solemn saboteur, anyone watching subconsciously shouts out guesses about where the voice actor actually comes from, and quite frankly any answer could be right. Thankfully the fantastic contemporary soundtrack drown out these voices most of the time and proves to be the strongest element of atmosphere to draw players back into World War II for what must be the billionth time in their gaming careers. There’s something about smoking a cigarette as you run over Nazis in the French countryside whilst listening to Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ which proves to be both blissfully ironic and psychotically classy.

Had the main story been both tightened and polished more in terms of plot and gameplay, The Saboteur would’ve probably stood as one of the greats of 2009, yet missions prove to be too linear and unambitious to really give it that title. However, the whole experience remains as the ultimate title in terms of ‘Just have a bloody laugh’. Colouring in Paris proves to be rewarding and blowing up Nazi structures is incredibly satisfying. This fresh look on World War II proves to be a great final stand from Pandemic studios, and will make you about as cheerful as a kid in a dynamite, Tommy gun and stripper store.