Game Review: The Saboteur

Title: The Saboteur
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Platform played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: 2009
Final Score: 8/10

The Saboteur is one of two heavily stylish World War II shooters that featured a heavy stealth element and came out in 2008, the other being Replay Studios' Velvet Assassin. Though both games came with their fair share of problems, I think it's admirable that they tried to do something different in their approach to Nazi-murderin', in a time where WWII games mostly consist of boring, brown and grey first person shooters. These prettier takes on the genre were a breath of fresh air.

And man, was The Saboteur ever pretty.

Seriously you guys, it is so fucking pretty

The game uses Paris as the backdrop for its story, and leaves the entire city open for you to explore. It's basically GTA: WWII Edition (but this game is actually fun). In the beginning of the game the world is completely black and white, with only small splashes of color, like the red on the Nazi flags or splashes of blue to help you identify other members of the resistance. Not only does this make The Saboteur one of the most visually striking games I've ever played, but it also gives the game a very oppressive and depressing atmosphere. As you drive through the streets you'll see the Nazi soldiers straight up gunning people down in the streets, as their massive air Zeppelins slowly soar by overhead.

This isn't to say the game is a completely bleak killjoy. As you progress and the resistance grows stronger, color will flood back into certain areas of Paris, giving these areas a strong feeling of hope and provides a complete contrast to the helplessness that the black and white areas convey.

Freedom FTW, BITCH!

 It is seriously stunning. A game that I can wholeheartedly recommend for the art direction alone.

The story begins in the countryside, and follows an Irish racecar driver named Sean Devlin. After being cheated out of a win in an important race by a blond haired, blue eyed German man named Kurt Dierker, Sean and his best friend Jules decide to trash Dierker's prize racecar as payback. This plan ends up blowing up in their face however, when they learn that Dieker is (*SHOCKER*) a Nazi! Dierker tortures and executes Jules in front of Sean, under the impression that they are British agents sent to spy on him. Sean manages to escape, but once he leaves the facility where they were being held, he learns that the Nazi invasion has begun. He grabs Jules' sister Veronique, and they flee into the city.

Soon after this, we learn that losing his best friend has left Sean feeling slightly depressed. So joins the French Resistance in order to find the man who killed him. It's actually a pretty compelling little story, and the characters are for the most part, fairly charming, especially Sean, with his charismatic Irish-ness and witty one-liners. William Grover-Williams, the man who voices him, really brings the character to life.

The supporting cast is pretty decent as well, though there are some hilariously phony accents you'll have to look past. The actors aren't given much to work with, as the characters surrounding Sean are likable, but rarely get much in the way of character development or their own personal arcs. It's really Sean's story through and through.

The place where Sean decides to hide out happens to be a night club with lots of naked women in it. CLASSIC SEAN! 

The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag. It's a third person open-world stealth action shooter with platforming and RPG elements. If that sounds like too much, that's because it is. It's the game that tries to do everything, but some of these things aren't as fully developed as they should be. The gameplay mostly consists of running around the massive city, gunning down Nazis and blowing up all of their equipment and bases with dynamite, and let me just tell you, killing Nazis has rarely been this fun. Filling the bastards with bullets and watching them go down as red blood splatters across the black and white backdrop is just plain cool. Sean is able to soak up a lot of damage before you'll need to take cover to heal, so you're really able to indulge in the gleeful insanity of the combat.

The city of Paris is your sandbox, and it is filled with German bases, towers, and equipment for you to obliterate and steal to your heart's content. Doing so earns you contraband, the game's form of currency, which you can use to obtain better cars and weapons. You also get perks for doing certain things, like killing a certain number of Nazis in a particular fashion, or blowing up a specific kind of vehicle. These perks can change the combat, like your character's accuracy or ammo count,  but they can also unlock cool weapons and abilities for Sean to use in battle.

Where the game really falters is in the stealth and platforming segments. I feel like they wanted to have an Assassin's Creed type thing going here, but where Altair from AC can fly from rooftop to rooftop and spring his way to the top of buildings quickly and fluidly, Sean moves, by comparison, much more sluggishly, which makes climbing in The Saboteur more of a hassle than anything else. It's not really required for you to climb much, but it unfortunately tends to be one of the most effective methods of doing certain things, so it's unfortunate that it feels so slow and dull. 

HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE

I will admit, however, that sliding down a zipline and punching a Nazi on the other end square in the face is fun as fuck.

Pictured: Fun as fuck
Not pictured: Nazi face punching

The stealth elements also fall really flat, which is odd since so many of the ideas here are great. You're given the option to kill a nazi and steal his uniform, giving you the opportunity to sneak into areas previously restricted to you, and fuck up all their shit undetected. AWESOME....in theory.... Because you see, also much like Assassin's Creed, there is a "suspicion meter" of sorts. Once the suspicion meter reaches its peak, every Nazi within a 100 mile radius will be on your ass. And the Nazis are suspicious of everything you do. This makes it nearly impossible to go through any mission undetected. You can try, but they will almost always end in a blazing firefight. The game gives you the illusion of choice in how you tackle a mission, but it's not done well enough to be considered a viable tactic.

Like most open world games, there's also a lot of driving...Even a few racing segments, as you might have guessed from the protagonist's background. I thought that for the most part the driving controls worked smoothly. They couldn't take too much damage, but I guess that's just realistic...This was the 40s, after all. I thought the driving in this was more fluid and fun than in most GTA games, but I'm in the minority there.

So, to sum it all up, The Saboteur is an underrated and under appreciated gem and if you haven't played it yet, you suck. It has its rough spots, but if you're able to look past them you'll find a very rewarding, highly entertaining, and beautiful game. It's a personal favorite of mine, for sure. 

8/10