Preview: The Saboteur

Categories: 360, E3 2009, Games, Microsoft, PC, PS3, Sony | no responses

The Saboteur just hit my radar right around the end of March, beginning of April when I began following the development team at Pandemic on Twitter (I’m a fan of Mercenaries & the Battlefront series). Throughout the weeks leading up to E3 I caught screenshots & trailers & the plot synopsis. The game definitely had my attention now, so at E3 I wandered up to their private meeting room to get a look at the game first hand.

First, let me give you a little back ground: The story is a personal revenge tale set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Our protagonist, Sean Devlin (who is based on a real life person: William Grover-Williams, is a successful Grand Prix racer. He best friend is killed by the Nazis. This leads Sean on his quest for revenge & along the way he inspires the citizens of France to resist the Nazi occupation.

The first thing you’ll notice about the game is the visuals. The game has two distinct color palates, black & white or vibrant color. The black & white represents the areas oppressed by the Nazis. The vibrant colors represent the areas Sean Devlin (you) have inspired the resistance. It’s very effective, especially when you are traveling through the cities & move from an inspired area to an oppressed area. Think clouds moving in front of the sun. It just fades dark like that.

Visuals are great & all, but if the gameplay isn’t up to par, the game is just a pretty paperweight. From what I saw at E3, I don’t think this will be an issue. The motto from the developers stand point is ‘quiet in & loud out’. Basically saying sneak in & make some big booms as you leave. This was very well demonstrated in one of the levels I was showed. Our hero had to eliminate a Nazi fuel depot. Sure, he probably could have gone in guns blazing, but it would be much easier to sneak in. So he climbed on a rooftop (of which you can do on just about every building you can see) & then slide down a phone/power line into the depot. He knocked out a German guard, stole his uniform, & then planted the bomb. See, quiet in, loud out.

Pandemic really wanted the player to have a lot of freedom, so even though there are quests to push the story (all missions are handled by the story elements), the player con go anywhere he can see. I was shown Paris so my first question was if I could go to the Eifel Tower. The answer: YES! In fact, they really want you to explore their settings, especially the rooftops. To help motivate the player to go up rather than head on, the disguises Mr Devlin can acquire throughout the game are time sensitive. The enemy knows something is different about you. They just don’t quite know what it is yet. As your disguise timer runs out, their suspicion grows. Eventually, they aren’t fooled anymore & will attack you. With this mechanic, walking around the streets of Paris is a no-no.

Since Sean is a Grand Prix racer, it would make sense to have him race in the game. Well, Pandemic knows this & not only will you get to race (I saw a cool looking race through the streets of Paris), but our hero can hijack pretty much any vehicle in order to make his escape. Damage to the vehicle will play a factor too. You could wreck out & have to start the mission over again.

Some of the other features that I just got a small taste of are the dynamic cover system, many different period weapons, multiple stealth kills (which look really cool by the way) & several different ways to accomplish your goals. Yes, The Saboteur is shaping up nicely & looks to be the sleeper hit that sabotages my holiday gaming season. Look for it to hit the Xbox 360, PS3, & PC before the end of the year!