The 7th generation of consoles (PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii) gave us some of the best open-world games ever made. A quick trip to Google will give you a list of games so popular that they are still played today, with many of them getting modern remasters, such as GTA V, Skyrim and Dark Souls. If anyone were asked to name their favourite open-world games of all time, it is almost guaranteed the majority of that list would be comprised of games originally launched on the 7th gen. What if I were to tell you that one of the best open-world games from the 7th generation not only didn’t get a remaster, but the only way to play it (at least on console, it is readily available on PC) is by firing up a PS3 or Xbox 360? A game that will feature on some “hidden gem” lists but is largely left forgotten. Well, dear readers, I am here to (loudly) sing the praises of this game. The game in question? Pandemic Studio’s pièce de résistance: The Saboteur.
Development and History
Released back in December 2009, The Saboteur was developed by Pandemic Studios (famous for such titles as Star Wars: Battlefront, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, and Destroy All Humans!) and published by EA. The Saboteur was first conceived as an idea for a game when one of the co-founders of Pandemic, Andrew Goldman, read about the exploits of British race car driver-turned Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent William Grover-Williams. He fled France (where he raced for Bugatti) during the Nazi invasion of the country, but due to his ability to speak both English and French fluently, he was recruited to the SOE and dropped back into occupied France. In a 2009 interview with Pandemic’s Tom French, he remarked:
So, it was really the story itself that inspired the game and not the other way around. We just fell in love with this almost ridiculous idea of a race car driver-turned saboteur in Nazi-occupied France and took it from there.
During development, members of the Pandemic team spent time in Paris to make sure the Paris they would go on to create would be a faithful representation. The Saboteur may be inspired by William Grover-Williams, but the exploits of main character Sean Devlin are not an accurate account, as Tom French explained:
Our mantra was always “More Indiana Jones and less Saving Private Ryan.
The black and white palette (which is likely what most remember about the game) in The Saboteur was used for both a story and development needs. When the idea was first pitched, there were a fair few eyes rolling at the mention of a World War II game. The team knew they had to do something different to stand out amongst the huge number of WWII titles. With the black and white palette, as well as the unique protagonist and gameplay, they felt they had enough to stand out from the rest.
Story
In The Saboteur, you will play as Irish racing driver Sean Devlin. He and his racing team travel from France (where he emigrated to) to Germany to take part in the Saarbrucken GP. During the race, Sean is looking like he will win and finally beat German driver Kurt Dierker, but after some Wacky Races-inspired cheating, Dierker wins. To get revenge, Sean and his best friend, Jules, steal Dierker’s car and drive it off a cliff. That sweet moment of revenge is short-lived as Dierker arrives with Nazi soldiers and captures the pair, believing they are British spies.
Sean manages to escape and rescues Jules’ sister, Veronique, and his mentor, Vittore, and they all escape Germany and head back to the safety of France, but this is also short-lived as the Nazi invasion of France is right around the corner. Whilst in Paris, Sean is recruited into the French Resistance by Luc Gaudin, a local writer.
Gameplay
The Saboteur is an open-world action game taking place in 1940s Paris whilst it was under occupation by the Nazis. You’ll be able to do what you’d expect from an open-world game (especially of this era), and you’ll be driving a variety of vehicles, undertaking missions, and going around the map outside of the main missions either doing side missions/extra activities and finding collectibles. Paris in The Saboteur feels alive, with numerous NPCs going about their day, as well as a good number of other cars on the road. The occupying Nazi force also add to the living feel of the city as they will hassle pedestrians, divert drivers with checkpoints, and guard important military assets.
A unique feature in The Saboteur is the use of colour. Areas of Paris that are heavily controlled by the occupying Nazis are in black and white. Sean will have to “inspire” the residents of these areas by weakening the Nazis’ control. This is mostly done during story missions, but Sean can still destroy Nazi equipment around Paris to inspire those residents. Once an area is liberated, it will return to full colour as the citizens have regained hope. Once an area is returned to full colour, the Nazis are not expelled from the area, but their numbers are severely reduced. This will allow Sean to go about his activities with less chance of getting caught. You may also find the odd citizen will help Sean when he gets into a brawl.
Destruction is a big part of The Saboteur, as the name suggests. You will be getting into shootouts, brawls, and high-speed getaways, which all function well, but it is the blowing up of stuff that really stands out. Sean also has an amazing ability to climb pretty much anything, which he hilariously attributed to “creeping out of bedroom windows at 3AM”. Climbing allows Sean to get to hidden away Nazi equipment or to avoid a heavily guarded entrance. Sean can upgrade his abilities and collection of weapons throughout the game. The ability upgrades are simple ones, such as the ability to hold more ammo for a weapon type or increase the health of followers, which Sean can get as he progresses through the game.
Perks are earned when certain activities and/or actions are done, and there is no need to choose which ones to use XP on as these are automatically unlocked. These will range from unlocking a Haymaker punch, making it even more fun to punch Nazis in the face, to being able to buy explosives at a cheaper rate.
The Good
Open-world games can be one of the most difficult genres to get right. They need to make sure to have both fun gameplay and an interesting world to explore. Mess up on one, you’ll go from the “next GTA” to just another Dynasty Warriors 9. Pandemic Studios made sure to focus on both these aspects, and the result (as you could probably tell from my gushing opening) was that they created not just a good open-world game but a fantastic one.
Let’s talk about Paris. For a title that was released in 2009, the map is extremely impressive in terms of scale (it will take between 20-25 minutes to run across the map; for a comparison it takes between 25-30 minutes to do the same in Liberty City in GTA IV), not to mention how much of Paris Pandemic managed to condense down into the map. All the famous landmarks from the city are here, such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and The Louvre. The detail of Paris can be attributed to staff from Pandemic spending time in Paris:
Aside from the major monuments and landmarks, we also visited tons of locations where real resistance events took place and locations where we were going to have missions. We brought back suitcases full of reference books, notepads filled with scribbling, and more than 2,500 photographs of everything we saw.
It’s not just the size of the map and the locations that make Paris great to explore. There are over 1,000 “free play targets” spread throughout Paris. These are activities that entail blowing up Nazi propaganda speakers, killing Nazi officers, finding contraband crates, racing, and just generally causing mayhem for the occupying force. To find the free play locations, you’ll need to buy maps from the black market vendors, which is where you’ll also buy new weapons and ammo, as well as ability upgrades.
Driving in The Saboteur can be a bit hit or miss. Me personally? I enjoy it. With the game taking place in the 1940s, you won’t be doing any drifting around corners as the cars handle much like I imagine they would during the time: heavily. Also, your alarm level (The Saboteur’s version of a wanted system) will affect how easy or difficult it will be to escape the Nazis who are pursuing you.
When the time comes to ditch the car and get down to the fighting, the combat in The Saboteur is on the fun and functional side. Complicated? Absolutely not. Serviceable? Absolutely. If you don’t fancy the action hero option, stealth is also an option. Much like the combat, it is more functional than anything amazing, but it works well (most of the time), especially when you disguise yourself as a Nazi. Once wearing a disguise, you’ll be able to walk freely around the restricted areas (even being allowed to carry a weapon), but you can’t get too close to anyone as they’ll see right through your disguise.
The Bad
To be honest, there isn’t anything truly terrible in The Saboteur. Yes, it can be a bit janky at times, and it does have that typical 7th generation tint of brown, but there isn’t anything too bad or frustrating to stop you from playing. The climbing can be hit or miss as you’ll be hanging on the edge of a building with only a foot or so to go, but Sean, for some reason, won’t climb up to the top.
The enemy AI isn’t the most challenging, but then again, they are Nazis, so perhaps that is just a bit of artistic licence. I can see why someone wouldn’t like the driving as the cars are heavy to handle, and if you go straight from something like a Just Cause game to The Saboteur, it will take a fair while to get used to the handling. The only part of The Saboteur I got frustrated with was when the good citizens of Paris were not clever enough to not walk out into the road when they see me (followed by four or five Nazi jeeps in pursuit) driving at full speed. It rather breaks the immersion of being a beacon of hope for the city when I keep running everyone over.
Worth the Modern Price?
You can pick The Saboteur up for between £8-£12 on eBay and CEX. The £8-£12 bracket seemed to be a common price that I kept seeing Easter eggs being sold for, so is The Saboteur worth buying over an Easter egg? Absolutely. I would argue that it would still be worth picking up at £40 like it was when it first released. It is such a fun game to play and definitely one that you will play to the point where you suddenly realise it is as dark outside as it is in those non-liberated areas of Paris. If you have your PS3, Xbox, or a PC/laptop (The Saboteur is available on Steam), it is a must-purchase for both new and returning players. Vive La Resistance!
