The Saboteur™

This was the last game Pandemic Studios made before EA Games shut them down for good, but oh boy did they go out with a loud BANG. Unlike their last game, the rather disappointing Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, The Saboteur feels a lot more refined and, most importantly, fun to play. You play as the Irish mechanic Sean Devlin who joins the French resistance movement in Paris as it means an opportunity to exact revenge on a cruel Nazi by the name of Kurt Dieker, who 3 months prior had murdered Sean's best friend Jules after they had attempted to get back at Dieker for cheating in a grand Prix race. The most striking aspect of the game is that whenever you enter an area of Paris that's under Nazi control, it will turn black and white with only certain colors being visible, like the red colors in the flags and blood as well as city lights and the blue color of the Resistance, and the general mood being incredibly oppressive with rain and lightning. In order to free these areas, you need to conduct acts of sabotage, kinda obvious considering the name of the game, which involves sneaking into heavily guarded areas and blowing up fuel tanks and many other important installations to inspire the people to take up arms against the Nazis. You can also aquire disguises that lets Sean get inside restricted areas, although you must not do anything suspicious infront of the soldiers otherwise they will realize you're an impostor. This game was quite criminally overlooked when it came out and its a damn shame that this was Pandemic Studios' last ever game, but at least it gets a new chance here on GOG.

I was losing my mind the months leading up to the release of this game, checking the website, looking at screenshots and watching videos everyday about 20 times a day. Then I finally got to play it, on PS3 initially, and my mind was blown. I don't think this game is a masterpiece, but it's very underrated and one of the best TPS games I've ever played. If you've played Mercenaries or Just Cause, this feels similar to them, but scaled down to a compact - but detailed - size. The game takes place in Nazi-occupied Paris (yes, you can climb the Eiffel Tower and yes, you can jump all the way from the top of it to your death) where you are a member of Les Resistance (or, The Resistance). Sean Devil, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes - who alone makes this character who he is - is our protagonist. His witty one-liners, ironic comebacks and general well-written, light comedy, snarky sarcasm under an Irish tone of voice makes for shooting Nazis, blowing buildings and vehicles up and causing havoc that much more entertaining. The game is open world and uses an under-appreciated mechanic where the world is black and white at first (makes sense, given the timeline) and more of the world is populated in colour the further your resistance pushes back that area of Paris. Very cool and innovative and makes for a nice contrast of "oh, I've been here, but not over there" whilst providing eye candy. Missions vary from racing cars, sneaking and infiltrating Nazi bases, blowing shite up and using guns or emplacements to shoot Nazis. There is a large degree of 'mindless' shooting, as with the Mercenaries and Just Cause games, but there is a strong narrative that keeps pushing you forward and you're constantly being rewarded, which is satisfying. Do not miss this 50% discount chance and buy this if you love action games, Sean's character, shooting Nazis, a narrative and open world exploration is a rare yet excellent combustion of ingredients that more games need to take advantage of. 10/10

Based on the PS3 version: i often derided nazi poppers back in the day (I'm looking at you Call of Duty) but The Saboteur is by far one of the best from the last generation. The story is your typical tale of revenge tossed into nazi occupied Paris, but Sean Devlin is by far one of the funnest protagonists to listen to, often when you kill a nazi he will make a witty remark or insult the soldier he just killed. (WHO'S THE UBERMENSCH NOW!) There are quite literally HUNDREDS of nazi installations to destroy, from watch towers and propaganda speakers, to tanks and AA guns (both of which you can climb into and wreak havoc with) you will spend far more time blowing these things up than playing the story missions quite simply because it is so much fun to do. by far the most satisfying thing to do in the game though are the missions that task you with infiltrating a nazi compound and stealthily killing everyone and then blowing it all to kingdom come! Granted it isn't the most polished open world game. the perk system is very easy to abuse VERY early on allowing you to get rdx, a fast stealth kill, and a (ridiculously powerful) shotgun/sniper rifle and a bazooka before they are available in the game store, To put it simply, if you love blowing s**t up, popping nazi arse, and look cool while you do it, then this game is for you P.S. there is a way to get on top of the zeppelins that fly around the city, but I'm not telling. (Hint: get high)

one of my most vivid memories of next gen gaming was hearing about The Saboteur: Pandemic's Studios Last Huzzah! Before being dissolved completely: being fresh of some of thier most excellent games: including "Battlefront 2" and "lord of the rings conquest"(a game i highly would like to see on gog since,comon: its lord of the rings-battlefront style): only to finally hear about the masterpiece in question: a game that pain stakingly merges awesome atmosphere,open world gameplay,a great ww2 story and the awesome position of saboteur for the french la resistance!.....what more could you ask for,really,from an open world game? sadly,the story had a tragic end: i remember coming up to a local retail store,with the game being sold right there on the shelf for months on end: itching to get enough money to take it down for my own. but sadly: in late 2011,the game disappered even from my local retail game's store. and now: gog.com: the pinaccle of game's republishing,the masters of perservations,the heroes of nostalgia: came together once more to make my old dream a reality....... thank you gog for posting this game on your servers: while i have little time for games as of yet,i'm sure many happy GOGrs will more then love this game on their virtual shelf. so,to all others: what are you waiting for? get it now! its practicly a steal at this price! Thanks GOG <3