The Saboteur™

Eventhough i have only played a little bit, i am really loving this game's atmosphere and story so far. It is intriguing, and very well made, a big up to Pandemic Studios for this one !. I remember wanting to buy this game for ps3, when it just came out, about a year after i got one, at the end of 2008 (Phat 80gb.) But then i didn't.. because the game did not run at 60 fps, on Ps3. Being able to buy this game now, in it's well optimized form on pc, (Thank you GOG, for including an iDeal payment option.) It felt really good being able to do so. So far i think this game really is a true diamond in the rough, a real big true diamond in the rough. I did have some problems getting it running right. I just could not change the graphics settings within the game's menu. I found out my anti virus was blocking some parts of the game, but after granting acces to it, within the software, it still did not work. I had to manually edit / insert resolution and graphic settings, in the config file, after searching for it on google a little bit. But then it worked, and it plays looks and feels like a charm. Great atmosphere, soothing fitting sound track, ok / good / funny voice acting, very descent sound ambience, fluent 60fps gameplay, no DRM, great driving experience, (Also with keyboard) Excellent.

After a sixth playthrough and countless hours spent free roaming around france and germany, collecting race cars, assassinating Krauts generals, and generally having a blast (pun intended) I can say for certain this is the greatest game of 2009 and possible the greatest game of all time. The details in the cities and in the countryside are wonderful, the AI never fail to challenge or amuse me. The large number of weapon unlocks keep the game interesting and present multiple options for completing each level ranging from stealthy silent assassin with silenced pistols and stealthy takedowns, to Guerrilla warfare with fully automatic weapons and high powered rifles, or outright Chaos with Rocket Launchers and explosive traps. My only complaint is that the game was never finished and looking through some of the concept art It's a darn shame too because this only could have made the game even better. Sadly there are only few mods out there but those are limited to shading and driving pov. Perhaps someday a team of coders will come back to finish the game but until then I'll give the game a 4/5.

The Saboteur is more or less a GTA clone, but set in WW2 Paris. As such, it's not surprising that the main story and pretty much all side missions, including pretty much all side activities revolves around shooting nazi's and blowing up nazi stuff. The characters are unlikeable, and the storyline is pretty forgettable, but still the game is quite enjoyable. Why, because the gameplay is quite satisfying. It's possible to steal someone uniform, stealth around, taking out guys with quietly, or at least without being seen. And as the game title suggests, blowing stuff up is quite a big part of the game itself. You have timed dynamite, triggered dynamite, and grenades. Or if you know where to look, you can get yourself a tank. Stealthing around, blowing stuff up, it plays quite well. Most open world targets are stuff for you to blow up as well. Blowing stuff up indiscriminately will quite quickly see you swamped with nazi's trying to kill you. Though you'll die quickly if you get caught in a bad spot, it's not that hard to escape the alarms, either, though the higher level alarms will make it a lot harder, until you unlock an upgrade that makes it just as easy as on the lower difficulties. There were also some bugs, most of them apparently revolving around my either having a 4 core CPU, or having an older AMD graphics card, both of which apparently can cause bugs. My most noticeable one was that the textures would load slowly in some areas. Most of the time not much of an issue, except when you're driving a fast car. Unfortunately, there are some races in the game, which are made somewhat more difficult by this bug. Not too much, but the time trial would've been impossible to beat on higher difficulties, as the timer continues while the game hangs while the textures load. Also, in one of the races I fell through a bridge a couple of times, as I tried to cross it before it was loaded. All in all, it's a somewhat flawed game, though I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

The setup for the game is interesting in the first place. You play as an Irishman in Nazi-occupied Paris who seeks revenge from the Nazis and has several skills at his disposal to do so, from climbing buildings to using explosives to disguising as the enemy. And it holds up to that well. Paris is gorgeous and never feels small with enough city and countryside and many of its famous landmarks, the Nazis are ruthless once they start chasing after you, and there's hundreds of Nazi installations on the map that you can sabotage. The story will keep you looking forward to what is next and will highlight the movements of the Resistance, the Nazis and British Intelligence. Only the optional missions may feel weak, but even then, they play a role in liberating Paris which will help you tremendously when escaping from the Nazis as they aren't as common in liberated (or colored) areas, and the Resistance will come to your aid in these areas. While there aren't several radio stations with tens of tracks like you'd expect from a GTA game, what few there is can keep you glued to your car just listening to them (even though they weren't composed in the time of the game). Even the background music when the Nazis chase after you or during infiltrations will highlight the severity of the situation well. The game is fun, and I don't regret plunking 60 hours into it. However, EA's meddling is immediately obvious in the game, even more so that this is Pandemic's last game before EA shut them down (that's why one star off). Stationary machinery may spawn in a way that kills its guards or explodes, the getaway strike may never properly arrive or be stuck in the ground, crate debris may kill you from their momentum, the last gear in most cars have quieter engines...who knows what the game would've been like if it wasn't for EA's meddling? However, don't let them discourage you from experiencing this masterfully crafted game and its depiction of Paris!

I was expecting a lot more in the way of stealth missions but this is a bit more like GTA. Half the time when I thought out solutions to dealing with a problem without raising the alarm but all the suggestions said to go in guns blazing anyway. The combat is fun but it's irritating when the Nazis never stop spawning unless you can outrun them or hide. Driving is fun and there's lots of cars but unlike some other open world games running over people doesn't seem to matter unless they're Nazis or allies and cars don't handle that much differently. I liked the cutscenes and voice acting, although sensitive souls may take issue with the profanity and nudity (the nudity can be turned off in the menu). If you like blowing stuff up and shooting Nazis this is a fine sandbox, but it's not very meticulous as a stealth game similar to Assassin's Creed or Hitman which I thought it might be like. Not a bad game, but not very realistic and a bit chaotic.