The Saboteur

Sabotage comes from the French root word ‘sabot’, a name for a wooden shoe. During labour disputes, the French would put their sabots into machinery to disrupt production; a fitting theme for a game where your job is to put your boot up the Nazi occupation of Paris. Join Sean Devlin, an Irish race car mechanic as he singlehandedly ruins Germany’s plans of world domination in The Saboteur by Pandemic Studios.

Gameplay

Maybe I’m a little bias but this game ROCKED! There is so much to love about it so let me get started. Seans abilities are wide and that provides a great deal of gameplay options, as he can climb, shoot, sneak, drive and survive some crazy stunts. Climbing up the side of a building and running across the Parisian rooftops while gunning down Nazi’s and blowing up vehicles and anti-air weaponry was some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game.

Many would consider this game a rip off of Grand Theft Auto IV; they are both open-world 3rd person shoot ‘em ups with driving elements but the truth is far more nuanced. I would probably consider it to be a beautiful mashup of Assassins Creed and Wolfenstein but it had its own sexy charm that is rarely met by other games. Even by today’s standard.

The world is set in a stylised noir black and white with the only colour being blood, iris’ and banners. You objective is to weaken the Germans grasp on sections of Paris and then overtake the occupation by inspiring locals to fight back, once the Germans are removed the colour returns to the area, signifying hope returning to France. I found this stylistic choice to be very clever and a genuine pleasure to see.

Story and Characters

This story follows Sean Devlin, an Irish drunk and race car mechanic and driver, after his friend is killed by an SS officer right before the German invasion of France begins, Sean joins the resistance group and systematically dismantles the Nazi forces and liberates the country. Sean develops a directly antagonistic relationship with the SS officer who killed his friend. This acts a strong driving force for why he does what he does and why you feel it’s okay to butcher all of the Germans you see. Sean is not a man to be taken lightly and that comes through in everything he does. You feel his anger and it really helps you not feel bad for how many things or people you blow up.

For all intents and purposes, the game is cheesy and a little silly but in all honesty, it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. With gratuitous sexual themes and outrageous action, the game is more of a sexy love letter to the stories told about freedom fighters than a realistic and hard hitting historical piece.

The Setting

Set in Paris, France in the 1940s, this game has some real sex appeal. There are burlesque dancers and there’s a DLC that makes them all topless. Exploring Paris in the monochromatic setting really lends itself to the noir style.

Paris is a sprawling city with so much to see and there is also the surrounding farmlands and rolling fields to explore. The map is huge and thanks to the density of the buildings, running across rooftops is just as much fun as blasting through the streets in a high powered vehicle.

Pros

• Diverse gameplay
• Amazing visual style

Cons

• Needed refinement
• Had some very silly elements