The Saboteur
The Saboteur | |
---|---|
Platforms | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows |
Genre | Nazi stomping sandbox adventure |
MtAMinutes to Action | 8 |
Keep Playing? | Yes |
Buy from Amazon |
A few months ago I reviewed the first hour of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.
I enjoyed it, but had issues with the controls which really hampered my
experience. Fast forward to... now, and I'm about to tackle Pandemic
Studio's final game, The Saboteur.
It's disappointing when a studio is closed down, and definitely scary
considering EA bought them out at the same time as they did BioWare
(can you imagine EA shutting them down?). While I never really
played any of Pandemic's games, the Mercenaries and Destroy All Humans
series were always popular, sad to see them go.
Anyways, the
game! You came here for some World War II open world action set in
Paris, right? Well, this is what you're going to get. The Saboteur
was released late last year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and
Windows, and has you killing lots and lots of Nazis. Everyone hates
Nazis, and The Saboteur features a ton of different ways to execute
that hate into physical violence.
There's more to this game than
just beating up baddies, but a city to save by raising their morale and
will to fight. If you're looking for a World War II game that isn't a
derivative first person shooter, well this might be it. Let's get into
the first hour of The Saboteur.
Minute by Minute
(minutes are in bold)
00 - I
select New Game and the first hour of The Saboteur begins. The game
immediately prompts me that the Midnight Show DLC was not detected and
I can enter its code now. The Midnight Show includes nudity, a VIP
room, and new hiding spots. What an odd way to start a game. Well,
since I'm borrowing the game I'm assuming the code has already been
used (and abused) so I'll skip it. Loading... The opening credits
begin to roll as a burlesque dancer appears and does her thing. She's
quite naked except for a small bikini bottom and some things that cover
her nipples.
01 - I suppose if I had the Midnight Show I could
toggle those off! Some Nazi soldiers are enjoying the show while our
main man is handing in a corner. A man approaches looking for a
drinking partner.
02 - The man has been keeping an eye on me and
knows I hate the Nazis (he hates the Nazis like he hates Duke
basketball). Sean says that France isn't his country and won't fight,
but Luc passionately argues that he fight. He asks me to meet him in a
nearby courtyard.
04 - The prologue begins and get I get
control. A woman is singing on stage and the soldiers are getting a
real kick out of it, I feel quite immeresed, I will admit. I head
outside to meet Luc.
05 - A black and white world appears in
front of me, as well as Luc. He asks me to blow up a full depot full
of oil. Sean seems more than ready now to start the fire. I jump in
Luc's vehicle and drive around, following the car's WWII era GPS.
07 - The world is a bit creepy, all black and white with just some yellow windows and red armbands. Effective though.
08 - We arrive at the supply cache, but before we go inside, we get in a
fight with some evil Nazis. I have a hard time reading the directions
though and it takes me a while to realize you have to hold the L
trigger to stay in brawl mode.
10 - Luc explains restricted
areas, just don't get caught in them. First I need to take out the
lookout hanging out on the top of the nearby building.
12 - I
toss him off the roof, and then jump off myself to take out the other
guards Luc is scuffling with. Time to take out that fuel depot!
13 - I almost hit some Nazis while driving and my provoke meter goes up, gotta keep and eye on that.
14 - Luc explains the plan: he'll blow up a vehicle to distract them and
I'll zipline into the depot under cover, then plant some dynamite on
the main tank.
17 - Haha, things go as planned as the place goes
up in a fiery explosion. But now I'm surrounded by Nazis and need to
escape! I think I was supposed to drive the car out of there, but
instead I just run away.
18 - Well, I've escaped the evil red
Nazi circle, but now I've got to go back and get the car! Oh wait! The
world is in color now!
19 - I'm supposed to pick up Luc but I
can't find him! What?! I failed the mission because I abandoned him?
Now I gotta retry it all? This is lame.
23 - It's happening again! Where's Luc?! Where's the Frenchman?!
24 - Oh, finally, there he is. I ended up running him over but he lived.
The world is color again, and it's back to the bar for me. Sean has
got some secret hideout in the back.
26 - Three months
earlier... Sean is shown working on some blue racecar when his friend
Jules approaches. Sean is a drive now, not a mechanic. Veronique
takes Sean and Jules' picture that Sean was handling in the first few
minutes. I'm guessing Jules is dead.
28 - More prologue as I
regain control in the past. I'm driving the truck carrying the Aurora,
the blue racecar he was tooling on earlier.
30 - Evidently, this is before the war broke out as Jules and Sean are just looking to becoming famous and meet some women.
31 - We make it to the border and the truck is quickly searched and then we're allowed into Germany.
33 - We arrive at our destination and finally, the game tells me how to
run (click the left stick). Jules was telling me about his sister on
the way here, she was raised in that cabaret bar. We're meeting with
Jules and Veronique's dad in the local pub. He's the racing boss of
our crew.
35 - The evil German racer appears and taunts the boss
and Veronique. Jules, being a bit of a hot head starts a fight, which
of course, draws me back into the game.
37 - I take out the six baddies, but the Police are on their way! A hot blonde named Skylar shows up in a red hotrod and let's us get in. There seems to be a history between him and Skylar.
40 - We escape the clutches of
the Nazis, and Sean and Skylar are off to their night cap. The game
cuts to the hotel room with them sharing a drink, definitely a history
between the two.
41 - Achievement unlocked: Pint and a Shag.
42 - Morning now, and we're off to the track minus the dame. I jack a
Nazi truck to quicken the pace, and after a bit of a chase, we arrive
in time for the race.
44 - Sean moves to the starting blocks... and we're off!
47 - After the first of three laps, I'm in fifth place of 16!
48 - No idea where the leaders are though, they're really far ahead. I fly off a ramp and pick up a First Blood achievement.
51 - Haha! Second place and closing in on that Nazi bastard in first. This is a long race!
52 - I take the lead and a cutscene takes over! The German shoots my tire
out and Sean swears really loudly! The race is over and the boss has
to hold me back from beating him down.
53 - The team is
discussing ways to sabotage the winner's car, the boys are ready to
cause some trouble when Veronique and Skylar begin arguing, and then
turn it on Sean. They warn him that the German is dangerous, but the
guys don't buy it.
55 - The Paranoia meter appears signifying we're tailing him. What are we up to?
57 - We all arrive at some German motorworks headquarters, but it's up to
us to break in. We scale a wall and find the winner's car just sitting
there all alone... Sean is going to send it over the cliff! Awesome!
58 - Haha! I bail out too late and roll off the cliff with the car. The
game informs me I failed to "only launch Dierker's car off the cliff."
59 - Wow, that time I rolled right to the edge, that was epic. This isn't
good, Sean and Jules have gotten themselves captured by the Nazis!
We're in some kind of creepy place, starring the Nazi driver. Jules is
really beat up and Dierker thinks I'm a British agent.
60 - Sean
vehemently denies it and Dierker kills Jules with a flurry of bullets
to the brain, and the world goes black and white. That's the end of
the first hour of Saboteur.
First Hour Summary
Minutes to Action: 8
What I
loved: This is an extremely fun and varied first hour, Saboteur manages
to cover a lot of ground introducing major gameplay mechanics while
creating the structure for an intriguing story. The main character is
likable too as a foul-mouthed Irish race car driver, and I love the
black and white to color effect the game uses as you free more Paris
territories.
I really felt immersed in the game while playing
too, The Saboteur has a ton of atmosphere and delivered it in the right
doses during its first hour.
What I didn't like: It seems that every open world game uses slightly different control schemes to do everything. Much like Grand Theft Auto IV,
The Saboteur makes some weird decisions that leave me wondering "WTF"
at intense moments when muscle memory becomes most important. I'm
really afraid the control scheme is going to inhibit a lot of potential
fun The Saboteur has to offer.
Gameplay: Seems to be plagued
with the typical open-world issues, but I'm sure I'll get used to the
controls after a bit (and then have to adjust with the next open world
game...).
Fun Factor: This is a riotous first hour with huge
explosions, lots of women, and fast cars; I don't think I've ever
played anything like it before! It also ends very well and leaves me
hanging, perfect timing!
Graphics and Sound: The game looks great but the artistic style behind the black and white to color conversion is just too cool
Story:
Honestly, I'm hooked. When you first start playing, it's difficult to
understand why Sean would be so eager to blow stuff up, but after the
flashback, it all starts to make sense.
Would I keep playing?
Yes, I want to see where The Saboteur is going. Finally, a World War II
game that actually has a unique and interesting plot.