Written by: Mark

 

 

 

World War 2 and sandbox games have been done to death on next gen consoles, however it may come as a surprise that it has taken up to late 2009 for a game to be released which combines both elements.

 

The game in question is "The Saboteur" which is a story driven romp through an atmospheric Paris during World War 2 and when you consider when the game takes place you can almost guarantee action galore, But this does not necessarily guarantee that the game will offer an enjoyable experience.

 

The following review delves deep into what the game offers and answers the question as to whether it is a worthy purchase.

 

The Saboteur casts the player in the role of Irish mechanic turned racing driver Sean Devlin who travels to Germany to compete in a high stakes race. Once there Devlin finds that he quickly becomes involved in a fight against the Nazi’s thanks to a whole chain of events which starts with a confrontation with rival driver Kurt Dierker who himself has strong Nazi connections.

 

The game is cleverly put together as it starts with an opening scene taking place in a French dancing club complete with semi-naked women as Devlin is sat drinking alone before being approached to carry out a task by the French Resistance.

 

This first level acts as a tutorial of things to expect from the game before cleverly switching back to the prelude which takes place three months before the main game and shows just how Devlin became involved. There is a danger that this could lead to confusion, however I have to say that this is very cleverly done and just highlights what effort has been put into the very engrossing storyline which moves along at a very good pace backed up by some well put together missions.

 

 

As previously stated the storyline is certainly engrossing and does involve some excellent characters particularly in the numerous (although slightly cheesy) cut scenes which shows that a lot has been put into making the game as realistic as possible.

 

The lead character Devlin is also one that the player relates too pretty well however the character design is certainly not without it’s faults. The main one is the voice acting, particularly of Devlin who’s Irish accent seems to come and go at will and although this can be overlooked it is a shame that the developers could not have got this nailed to perfection and proves there are faults with this surprisingly good game.

 

I have to say that the all round presentation of The Saboteur is nothing short of stunning with the city of Paris animated superbly well with a dark and atmospheric look as you would expect from the city and surrounding countryside during the World War 2 era. To add to the brilliance of the presentation the game often switches from colour to monochrome and although not everyone may appreciate this I for one thought it works amazingly well.

 

 

In addition is the musical score which consists of several French sounding and Jazz tracks which sets the scene perfectly and to be honest is absolutely stunning and never once feels out of place either during the slower placed missions or those which are more tense and exciting.

 

It would be fair to say that The Saboteur is definitely an adults only game due to the amount of bad language, nudity and violence on offer. I am not saying that this is a bad thing as it almost always fits in well with the flow of the game. It has to be said however that the language is sometimes constant and this did leave me somewhat surprised that the game is only a 15 certificate as it certainly is not any milder than can be found in many 18 certificate games.