The Saboteur is a game I really enjoyed playing, and a game that shows that the sum of its parts may be better than expected. The game has you flung in the middle of the Nazi occupation of Paris, shortly after it happened. The story is an average revenge one, though it does get points for not being the cliche one of "Repel the invaders" or "Protect your country". Your character doesn't care for the conflict, he just wants to kill a single man. In trying to do so though, he will use enough explosives to level a small mountain. The game itself is an open world one, even if the world is small (Paris and its surroundings). You are free to move around, accepting possible quests (though you'll have to unlock them first), looking for collectibles, blowing stuff up or just causing mayhem. The city is divided into zones, with each zone requiring proper papers to pass through the checkpoints, but you can always either ignore the checkpoints and look for a different way through, or run through them and attempt to evade the Nazis. It does sometime help to go through such a checkpoint, blow a few guard towers up and die (or load), since anything you destroyed outside a mission will remain destroyed once the mission is started, which can make your life easier. For getting around, the game has quite a few vehicles, though the driving isn't anything exceptional. It does the job, and that's all. Alternatively, you can always climb up to the rooftops of Paris, though again, the climbing and free running isn't something to write home about. Finally, the gunplay. You can carry up to two weapons on you at a time, as well as grenades, dynamite and RDX. There is a bit of variety for the weapons, though I usually found myself using a sniper rifle and either a silenced weapon or a rocket launcher, depending on my mood/target. Gunplay is the usual 3rd person cover based regenerating health style, which once more just does the job. Somehow though, a game where most of the mechanics are mediocre ends up being quite enjoyable. It could be all the nods and references you find in the game ("Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb" is a mission for example), as well as the planning of how to sabotage a group of targets without getting noticed, or the mayhem that ensues once your planning proves inadequate. The game unfortunately still retains a few bugs, though GOG is working on fixing those as well, and the price may be too high for a few people. All in all though, it is an enjoyable game that should give you quite a few hours of enjoyment.
