The Saboteur (Xbox 360)
Reviewed by: Classikmetal
Reviewed on: 20-Apr-2010
- Summary
- "We're gonna be doin' one thang and one thang only... killin' Nazis"
- Ratings
- Overall: B+
- Gameplay: A
- Graphics: B+
- Learning Curve: B
- Replay Value: B
- Sound: B+
- Pros
- Killin' Nazis anyone? Heck yes
- Color scheme is a nice change
- Loads of authentic WWII era vehicles and weapons
- Cons
- Not that realistic
- Too many noticable glitches
- Some acheivements are too time consuming
- Links
- The Saboteur @ IGN
- Images
Description
Story - 7/10
The story is about an Irishman, Sean Devlin, who is a racer that basically just gets up in the Nazi's business in France. Sounds quite Hollywood to me. For some reason, it works out for a game like this. It's loosely based on someone who actually did this sort of thing during World War II, which is interesting. The story is very intriguing at the beginning of the game, but tends to fade out halfway through. It gets boring since it's the same ol' blueprint of every sandbox style game, which is running around to errands for countless other people. The ending of the game is decent as well...quite expected, but good enough.
Gameplay - 9/10
The gameplay elements of The Saboteur are much like every other sandbox game. One of the notable things you will notice playing the game will be how much it is like Assassin's Creed. Building climbing, viewpoints, hiding spots, and sneak attacks...all major aspects that made Assassin's Creed what it is are in this game as well. Only bad thing is, those aspects come very bland in The Saboteur. The driving and shooting of the game is spot on, in my opinion. Of course, i've never really minded it since I've been too busy running over and shooting Nazis. There are plenty of things to do around Paris. You are able to climb many of Paris' famed landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame, and many others. There are thousands (literally) of Nazi objects around occupied France. Guess what your job is to do? Blow them up, of course! There are plenty of cars and weapons to keep you busy as well. One of the bad things in the game is that Sean can run and jump like a Kenyan. It's ridiculous how fast he runs without getting out of breath. You could probably run from Lorraine to the Eiffel Tower in a matter of 10 minutes. Another thing that's annoying is the amount of bullets Sean can take and his ability to self-replenish his health. I suppose these flaws fit into this kind of gameplay, though. Those are basically the only major flaws in the gameplay, other than that, it's extremely fun.
Graphics - 7/10
Graphics in the game are pretty amazing to look at. It's great to run around and look at Paris' beautiful cityscape or the surrounding French countryside. The black-and-white color scheme added in the game is an interesting choice, but it fits in well. It really sets the mood of the time that Paris was in. For example, the parts of the city dimmed in grayscale sets a very gloomy atmosphere, and when the color comes back in those areas, it just brings the life back in the game. Glitches in the game are all over the place. I usually don't care for glitches, but they show up way to often to just ignore. Some of the graphics just look unfinished and hurried up. Other than that, the graphics are quite swell.
Sound - 8/10
The soundtrack in the game is great. I love driving around and listening to the classic French tunes that really set the mood of the game. They could have put a lot more songs in the game since the small amount gets repetitive. The voice acting is pretty decent. The accents are spot on, other than Sean. Sean's Irish accent seems very exaggerated and his cliché phrases are very annoying. The voices of the characters don't really match up when talking at the beginning, but it smooths out in the end.
Achievements - 7/10
The achievements are not hard at all, yet still challenging. There are some achievements that make no sense, such as the one where you practically have to stand around and smoke cigarettes 100 times. It's quite time consuming and boring. Another one that is time consuming is the group of ambient freeplay targets that you have to unlock for all areas of France. There's around a thousand of these to do and takes way too long to fulfill them all for a measly 15 gamescore. Those are just about the only time consuming ones and you could probably 100% this game in about 30+ hours.
Verdict - 8/10
It's a very fun game to play if you're up for a WWII thrill ride. The story isn't so hot, but the amount of extra things in the game will keep you playing it for hours and hours. The graphics quite slick, yet they do seem a bit dated here and there. The sound of the game makes you feel like you're in 1940's France with the excellent soundtrack and great voicework. Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone who is a history fanatic.
Au revoir á tout le monde!
The story is about an Irishman, Sean Devlin, who is a racer that basically just gets up in the Nazi's business in France. Sounds quite Hollywood to me. For some reason, it works out for a game like this. It's loosely based on someone who actually did this sort of thing during World War II, which is interesting. The story is very intriguing at the beginning of the game, but tends to fade out halfway through. It gets boring since it's the same ol' blueprint of every sandbox style game, which is running around to errands for countless other people. The ending of the game is decent as well...quite expected, but good enough.
Gameplay - 9/10
The gameplay elements of The Saboteur are much like every other sandbox game. One of the notable things you will notice playing the game will be how much it is like Assassin's Creed. Building climbing, viewpoints, hiding spots, and sneak attacks...all major aspects that made Assassin's Creed what it is are in this game as well. Only bad thing is, those aspects come very bland in The Saboteur. The driving and shooting of the game is spot on, in my opinion. Of course, i've never really minded it since I've been too busy running over and shooting Nazis. There are plenty of things to do around Paris. You are able to climb many of Paris' famed landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame, and many others. There are thousands (literally) of Nazi objects around occupied France. Guess what your job is to do? Blow them up, of course! There are plenty of cars and weapons to keep you busy as well. One of the bad things in the game is that Sean can run and jump like a Kenyan. It's ridiculous how fast he runs without getting out of breath. You could probably run from Lorraine to the Eiffel Tower in a matter of 10 minutes. Another thing that's annoying is the amount of bullets Sean can take and his ability to self-replenish his health. I suppose these flaws fit into this kind of gameplay, though. Those are basically the only major flaws in the gameplay, other than that, it's extremely fun.
Graphics - 7/10
Graphics in the game are pretty amazing to look at. It's great to run around and look at Paris' beautiful cityscape or the surrounding French countryside. The black-and-white color scheme added in the game is an interesting choice, but it fits in well. It really sets the mood of the time that Paris was in. For example, the parts of the city dimmed in grayscale sets a very gloomy atmosphere, and when the color comes back in those areas, it just brings the life back in the game. Glitches in the game are all over the place. I usually don't care for glitches, but they show up way to often to just ignore. Some of the graphics just look unfinished and hurried up. Other than that, the graphics are quite swell.
Sound - 8/10
The soundtrack in the game is great. I love driving around and listening to the classic French tunes that really set the mood of the game. They could have put a lot more songs in the game since the small amount gets repetitive. The voice acting is pretty decent. The accents are spot on, other than Sean. Sean's Irish accent seems very exaggerated and his cliché phrases are very annoying. The voices of the characters don't really match up when talking at the beginning, but it smooths out in the end.
Achievements - 7/10
The achievements are not hard at all, yet still challenging. There are some achievements that make no sense, such as the one where you practically have to stand around and smoke cigarettes 100 times. It's quite time consuming and boring. Another one that is time consuming is the group of ambient freeplay targets that you have to unlock for all areas of France. There's around a thousand of these to do and takes way too long to fulfill them all for a measly 15 gamescore. Those are just about the only time consuming ones and you could probably 100% this game in about 30+ hours.
Verdict - 8/10
It's a very fun game to play if you're up for a WWII thrill ride. The story isn't so hot, but the amount of extra things in the game will keep you playing it for hours and hours. The graphics quite slick, yet they do seem a bit dated here and there. The sound of the game makes you feel like you're in 1940's France with the excellent soundtrack and great voicework. Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone who is a history fanatic.
Au revoir á tout le monde!