The Saboteur – Review – Xbox 360

From the now Defunct studio, Pandemic, comes the last game ever made by them, the Saboteur.

Story
You play as an Irish vehicle mechanic by the name of Sean Devlin. The story starts out with you being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and end up meeting a loud mouthed Parisian, who gets into trouble at a bar. You are quickly thrust into combat with a few Germans. They are easily dispatched, and the male offers you a chance to aid the resistance in the city. You agree. Soon you get the chance to run a car race through the city, and you meet the main enemy of the game.

Gameplay
The game is a 3rd person Sandbox shooter. But unlike most shooters in the genre, such as GTA, Crackdown, and Saints Row, you can change between first and third person view while driving in a car. The setup kind of reminds me of the Grand Theft Auto/Saint’s Row games. where your lines were drawn on the map and you have to win back territory to beat the game. Like most sandbox games, this one allows you to be in free roam and choose when you want to start missions. there are TONS of items to find and cars to steal. You also can get perks for doing special things. Some of them include blowing up a tank and a zeppelin in the same alarm, escaping a level 5 alarm, and blowing 10 people up at once with dynamite or RDX. there are 1338 “ambient freeplays” that you can also do. They involve you taking out an armored vehicle AA Gun, finding scenic spot or postcard, hitting a vehicle jump, and blowing up statues of your enemy.

Graphics
At the start of the game most of the areas are filled with black and white areas, which are overrun with Nazis. As you progress through it, the colors become more vibrant. As you get hit by gunfire or fists your screen starts splattering with blood, too much blood, you die. The landmarks of Paris are quite stunning. Standing on the top of the Eiffel Tower and looking over the skyline really puts the majestic nature of the City of Lights. Each of the landmarks are pretty accurate compared to their real life counterpart. The graphics are quite touchy here and there. I have found that sometimes the game will sort of allow you to walk on thin air. The ragdoll nature of the kills seems to be exaggerated a little too much. As you blow things up, they go flying. To put it in a better way, I am standing maybe 1/2 block away. and still die from a flying tank that has blown up. In other games, it seems like they implode.

Overall
I think people love this game. I do and most people I have spoke to have to. If you love GTA you will probably love this game also.

Pros

* cheap! it started at $49.99
* good storyline
* easy achievements

Cons

* questionable graphics
* glitchy
* gets boring after awhile if you finish the story

Score: 7.5/10

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