The Saboteur, if you’ve all been following (if not, feel free to start now!), is set in the World War II era. Stop right there. If you have any plans to spout the time old derailing troll story that there are “Too many World War II games…!” Well that is part of my aim in this preview, to displayThe Saboteur’s entrance into the ring to show the genre who’s boss. And I thank God for that, because I sure do love killing me some Natzees.

Developer Pandemic Studios puts you in the role of Irish race car driver Sean Devlin during the Nazi’s regime, starting you off in Le Paris, France. Both Sean and his good friend are taken prisoner by the Nazis and your buddy is done a little less than justice. Let’s just say it’s unforgivable. You take it upon yourself to avenge your friend by hunting down that heartless Nazi officer.

So… Now we play an Irish chap and we can climb Ol’ Eiffel this time around. What’s so different still, you say?

Being immersed in the world for the first time will be a monochrome experience, everything is black and white at first. The only hint of color is the reddish glow of Swastikas emanating off of the Nazi uniform sleeves of passing soldiers. Now I am not one to tug the strings of the ‘games as an artform’ hot button topic, but it is simply stunning to see such a bleak, horribly-fated Paris, devoid of color, with only the Swastikas glowing so red with power. It’s a very dark and exciting scene to be a part of.

The first mission I was offered to play was a bit of a tutorial mission, to learn the ropes. The controls are easy to get into if you regularly play shooters or sandbox-style bad boy GTA-esque games. If not, you’ll be looking to the right trigger to unload some lead, the right bumper to toss a grenade, the control sticks will be your camera view and your feet. Oh and of course jacking vehicles, you’ll have your triangle (PS3) button doing the dirty work for you there. You get the picture.

What I really enjoy about The Saboteur is that it is indeed a proceed with caution stealth-type game, but it doesn’t have to be. Make of it what you will. Feeling a little Rambo tonight? Do it big! Spray and pray if that’s your jam. A pack of soldiers guarding a base? Sounds like a sticky situation for you, eh? Pull a couple of silent kills. Snipe ‘em out. Grab them from behind and choke them out. Or you know what, get creative with things! We’ve been shooting and choking out Nazis for years now, how about we just, you know, steal a Nazi vehicle, pack a wad of dynamite on it and hit the deck! Feels pretty satisfying.

As you play through the game, complete missions and liberate certain areas from Nazi rule, color will slowly be restored. Also, there will be combat rewards to completing certain actions in combat that will be able to be applied as perks.

Now, when moving about in the town or city-like areas, it is like I stated earlier, the sandbox open world style. Unlike games in Grand Theft Auto, the Nazis are NOT a replacement for the police. Mowing down random citizens and deeming their lives unworthy is not of their concern. They’re bad guys too, after all. They wake up and kill babies for breakfast. You do have an alert meter though that when raised too high, well have the soldiers chase after you and try to take you out pretty fast. What they’re not too fond of is trespassing on highlighted Nazi turf. Also disguising yourself as a Nazi and running suspiciously away from them when they just want to check something ordinary, suspicion will rise again.

You can high-tail it out of there and look for a hiding spot when arousing too much suspicion to have Nazi soldiers come after you, and these spots will be marked on your screen with a highlight around the hiding spot that will conceal you. BUT! Nazis are professionals with hiding spots. It’s their area of expertise, so one of the better tips for hiding is to grab a lovely mademoiselle parading down the street and steal that lipstick right off her bright red lips. Holding her in a kissing position will make them lose you after a short while, and she will terribly hate your guts as well when you release her. But if you’re a GTA player at heart… You’ll probably end up mowing her down anyway.

I am very much looking forward to the final version of The Saboteur when it launches in time for the holidays, touting a December 8, 2009 release date for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC users.

My final parting words of wisdom: YOU CAN NOT COOK YOUR GRENADES IN THE SABOTEUR! Do not try this at home!

Tags: EA, Pandemic Studios, The Saboteur, World War II

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Featured, PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.