The Saboteur

Even if you rush through the main storyline there is still a ton of Nazi clearing to do, as well as additional perks, achievement and trophies to unlock.

The Saboteur is not just one of 2009's biggest surprises -- it's THE big surprise of 2009. Despite its humble promotion, the lament that it was sent out to die, and the death of developer Pandemic, The Saboteur is a terrific experience deserving of more accolades and attention that it will ever receive. It looks terrific, it has a fun story with a wonderful main character, and addictive gameplay that allows you to explode Nazis again and again and again.

Silly slapstick mechanics and shenanigans aside, The Saboteur is a capable contender for this year’s fourth quarter brawl. Pandemic's last will be a sleeper hit, but hopefully enough will wake up and take notice of an impressive swan song.

Pandemic delivers one of their best efforts, offering an experience that innovates both the sandbox and WWII genres. It’s not without its flaws, but its slick action, cinematic style, and colorful characters rise above its shortcomings.

A rip roaring tale of urban warfare in Paris in the 40s against the Nazi war machine owes as much to cinematic storytelling as it does the variety of gaming styles utilised. Despite the complexities of weaving so many styles into a cohesive whole, this is a game that has surprised greatly, and on that basis, it’s worth investing in.

At its root, The Saboteur is a classic revenge tale with some tasks to perform to distract you from the main story. The fact that the side tasks have little to no effect on that main story is a bit of a shame, as these open-style games tend to really shine when some act you committed causes unforeseen consequences. All in all, it can be said that Pandemic’s last offering is a worthwhile one, especially for the gorgeous visuals and nail-biting gameplay that comes from trying to undermine a Nazi occupation one building at a time. Do yourself a favor and find yourself a copy… perhaps the one Ugarte gave to Rick to hide under the lid of the piano.

What The Saboteur lacks in innovation it makes up for with solid design and implementation.

The Saboteur is one of those games that gains points due to its atmosphere and setting, making up for any shortcomings that might pop up due to the fact that the game is yet another open-world sandbox game, or if you want to be more cynical, Mercenaries 2 in a World War II skin (which it admittedly is, just way more polished).

In all, The Saboteur is a very enjoyable game; for me. Some may be disappointed but given the chance you'll find the game play features (of which I've only touched on in this review) are comfortable, if not revolutionary.

Saboteur makes it definitely not easy to rate it. The open-world of Paris is amazing as long as it keeps its film-noir elements. Once in Technicolor it loses some of its charm. Despite minor drawbacks and if you like open-world games, you surely will like this one.

While it’s a little rough around the edges we enjoyed this game more than we thought we would. It’s far from perfect, but it’s great to see Pandemic going out with a bang.

The story was well told, the acting believable, the action enjoyable, and the new ideas implemented will inspire future games, but when all is said and done, the game just feels unfinished in too many areas to feel like a AAA title.

Ultimately, The Saboteur is a refreshing change from the usual WWII hodgepodge because it finally brings open-ended sandbox gameplay to such a historic era.

The Saboteur may lack the polish of the contemporaries it boldly mimics, but protagonist Sean Devlin’s quest for revenge and an alluring 1940s Paris make this a World War II memory worth making.

As addictive as the perk goals are, it's the bread-and-butter sabotage that proves to be the real distraction.

From planting explosives beneath enemy sniper nests to speeding over the lush Parisian countryside, there's so much to do and see in Saboteur that it's incredibly easy to lose sight of the game's minor quirks and frustrations. It may not be the most original title under the sun, but it is an absolute blast while it lasts, and an innovative and welcome addition to the overwhelming selection of World War II games.

Pandemic's last bang is a skillful composite of equal parts third person shooter, sandbox, tactical espionage and a platformer with a beautiful occupied Paris as backdrop. Nothing revolutionary or perfect but lots of nazi-killing fun, sneaky tactics and destruction.

It's a shame that Pandemic Studios isn't around to work on a sequel for The Saboteur, because this is clearly one of its best games. The difficulty could've been tougher and the dialogue needed more work, but overall, this is a splendid action/adventure.

A charming mess. Yes, the unpolished gameplay can be frustrating and, yes, the storytelling can be silly. But as soon as we drove through the gorgeously stylized Paris – then jumped out of our nitro-fueled racecar to snap a unsuspecting Nazi’s neck – we didn’t care anymore. For us, the good overwhelmed the bad.

While the lifelessness of a black-and-white tone sucks the life out of Paris, it doesn’t strip The Saboteur of its personality. It’s a beautiful and unique world that’s well-constructed and believable, whether you’re snapping soldiers’ necks at the Eiffel Tower, rescuing POWs, or cruising the countryside in a stolen sports car. Très bien.

The whole title is actually engaging and fun to play. I genuinely enjoyed playing it despite it's shortcomings, and I find myself going back to it when I have free time. Players who want to cavort about a highly stylised Paris with a shell of a character will definitely enjoy The Saboteur - those who want substance in their period games might be better off considering 15th century Italy.

The game isn't a straight up shooter, which is a good thing, and if you've got the patience to test the stealth mechanics properly, you'll find some rewarding moments.

Though it is another sand box game, it is so much fun running around and blowing up Nazis. Sad that this is Pandemics final game but its a good one to go out on.

Overall it’s a solid game which will appeal to fans of Mercenaries 2, but sadly serves as a demonstration of lost talent with Pandemic paying the ultimate price during these difficult times.

When it comes to The Saboteur, come for the art style, stay for the gameplay and leave the script behind.

Despite a few issues with reluctant AI and somewhat clunky platforming, The Saboteur stylishly proves that the genre of open world action-adventure is considerably bigger than GTA.

Minor flaws prevent this game from reaching a higher score. Still, Saboteur is an atmospheric shooter with some innovative notions.

The Saboteur may not be a top title, but it’s got all the elements you would expect from an action game, including stealth elements and driving sessions. And it is also quite enjoyable! And if you like dark atmospheres and WWII backgrounds, then we definitely recommend it.

There’s no doubting that The Saboteur is a barrel of fun and a pretty addictive game that will keep you wanting to do just one more mission, but the simple fact is, it lacks that extra layer of polish and a few ideas are missing to make it a great title.

All in all The Saboteur is an awesome game with hours of fun, entertaining game-play with fantastic and authentic sound.

However much its color scheme may protest to the contrary, The Saboteur is not a classic. It gets the basics right, though, and it's peppered with a lot of exciting, memorable moments.

A compelling if uninventive experience. Working in concert, this game's tired, uninspired mechanics still manage to get the job done; the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

On paper, The Saboteur is a winner. The plot is intriguing and the conversation is snappy. And if you tire of following the particulars of "La Resistance" there are always some nicely rendered nude women to ogle. But boil it down to the gameplay and you're left with a good chunk of clumsy third-person shooting with bits of awkward driving.

It's a lot of fun to paint the town red in this black and white open-world game, but the weak stealth elements limit your options.

I cannot help but find enjoyment in the creative setting, excellent visual style and intriguing story. Even with all of its problems The Saboteur is one enjoyable trip down the overplayed setting of World War II.

The Saboteur contains several good ideas with a nice mix of several gameplay styles, but due to a lacking technical realization stays in the group of half-succeeded games.

The Saboteur causes mixed feelings. Paris is very living and the use of the black-white contrast is superb. On the other hand the game is rather glitchy and isn't polished up at all. The fun that you get out of sabotaging Nazi's makes up for most of it though.

The Saboteur is worth a look for any sandbox game fan, as well as anybody else after a bit of a silly romp around Paris.

Saboteur's gameplay isn't brilliant, but the presentation is just well done. We've seen it many times before, a game about the Second World War, but it's good to see that The Saboteur is original in a kind of way.

The Saboteur could have been one of the year’s most impressive games. Sadly, Pandemic tries to do too much, and players are left with a game that never becomes more than the sum of its parts.

A new example of a great concept poorly executed. The Saboteur could be a surprisingly good sandbox if Pandemic just finished it. This game has neat ideas and the potential for being funny, but its gameplay suffers because of its weak development.

This vision of nazi-occupied France is an interesting proposal but has some flaws in its conception.

There’s an abundance of things to see and do, and some great moments are present; however, they’re too few and the sense of missed opportunity too strong to make a convincing recommendation.

The Saboteur delivers some good fun with the atmosphere of its beautiful setting. On the other hand, gameplay could disappoint demanding players, used to higher quality productions. If you like free roaming and Paris, you should at least give it a try.

The Saboteur is another victim of the hype fever that nowadays some titles in development use to suffer. The historical context is very appealing, aesthetics and artistic production are well worked and it's a hooking story. It's even an attractive proposal to mix different genres to create a personal style, but fails to make a fully enjoyable adventure.

The Saboteur had potential, but is let down by a weak combat mechanic and some terrible stealth/AI issues.

It could have been much better, but also much worse. You won't regret giving this game an opportunity.

A solid swansong for a struggling developer. It vastly improves over Mercenaries 2 with a lot of enjoyable, explosive combat and a fantastic visual style. The characters and story leave a lot to be desired but it’s a fun ride and a cool take on the World War II genre.

Pandemic's effort is commendable, but The Saboteur feels like it had a saboteur of its own lurking in the code. No matter how many times I came back to The Saboteur, or how badly I wanted to love the game, the unrefined gameplay became less, and less tolerable.

A highly enjoyable game in its own right and it succeeds at being pure, rollicking entertainment. Players who are prepared to look past its derivative gameplay, will find its silly characters, ridiculous plot and even some of its technical flaws may just be part of the reason they continue playing it long after the first couple of hours have passed by.

Great visuals, unique WWII-era storytelling, and explode-and-run fun made me love the game, but the shooting, driving, climbing, and stealth gameplay made me want to choke myself. The game improves with time and is enjoyable, overall.

If the setting, style and attitude win you over, the gammy mechanics are that much easier to bear. [Issue#54, p.78]

As soon as you hit the city, the game's pace drops off, and the sub-par graphics and poor controls steadily bog down an otherwise terrific idea.

The limited variety of each type of weapon, the fact that Nazis can see through disguises too easily, the lack of auto-targeting for melee combat, and destroying Nazi property with dynamite over and over again does make boredom set in faster than it should.

The Saboteur, despite technical and gameplay issues, is a funny game that will carry the player in a wonderful version of occupied Paris, in the shoes of a rude Irishman in search of brutal revenge.

The Saboteur can be both addictive and engaging, but also rather stale, all at the same time.

A decent idea that falls short for a variety of eminently fixable reasons. [Feb 2010, p.80]

Unfortunately the reality is something that harks back to the darker days of open world games, its individual elements uninspiring and its story a poor patchwork of clichés sewn together with juvenile smut and swearing - and it's a melancholy swansong for the once brilliant Pandemic.

Not half as bad as the limp first few hours suggest. It's perhaps not the greatest company epitaph in the world but, as Devlin might say, while throwing himself out of a speeding car, knocking back a slug o' the good stuff and mashing a Nazi's head in with one punch: "It coulda been a lot worse."

But it’s a big game best taken in small doses: An hour or two of clamber up the side of a building, snipe some guys, drive like hell, lather, rinse, repeat was plenty. Any more than that and I started to think maybe the Nazis could just have France, if they wanted it so bad.

Great script but a mediocre game.

But while the combat and destruction portions of playing as the Saboteur are fun, the story and effect you have on the world are disappointingly underdeveloped.

But The Saboteur's gameplay systems never let you forget that you are playing a game, and the nakedness of the underlying machinery is one of the game's greatest shortcomings.

The Saboteur could have been excellent. It has presentation, usually solid mechanics, characters that you are at least interested in if not actually engaged by, and things look pretty when they explode. However, the simply unforgivable control and climbing mechanic is justtoo hard to get past - constantly interfering with your game to the point of swearing and projectile gamepads.

A beautiful but flawed farewell. [Issue#91, p.112]

The Saboteur had a lot of potential thanks to the unique setting, but this hasn’t resulted in a good game. The story never gets really interesting and the gameplay is too bare-bones to really make an impression. Not a great farewell for Pandemic Studios.

As it is, nothing really separates it and makes it unique. Despite the cool setting, this is by the numbers game design that you’ve played a million times before.