mpcgamers blog

Here’s our first ever Community Feature, and this is a review of the game Saboteur, by our very own ag

As many of us at MPCGamers are aware, developer Pandemic Studios has shut down. Our fellow members of MPCGamers most commonly recognizes Pandemic as the developer for Star Wars Battlefront I and II, both of which we still play and create custom content for today. Pandemic was a company that truly had potential to go bigger. Due to unforeseen consequences, all that we have left is their final game to play, The Saboteur.

In this game, you play as, Sean Devlin, a rough, trash-talking mechanic who resides in Nazi-Occupied France during the 1940s. You are to avenge your friend, Jules, whom you have witnessed being held hostage, tortured and killed because both of you jacked up some Nazi’s car (literally). It becomes your excuse to join the resistance and kill all of Nazis that are patrolling Paris. For the most part, that’s the story and it is as ridiculous as it sounds. Your objective is to plant Dynamite on all the Nazi equipment you can find and to blow them up.There are a few things that changes to keep things fresh but there’s nothing that really gives you the “whoa” moment. Despite the poor story, the game itself is a different matter and for the most part, I found it quite enjoyable.

This game borrows a good amount of elements from the Grand Theft Auto series. You can explore the wonderful world of Paris. For the most part, the world feels very realistic and there has been much emphasis on its presentation. Everything was taken into consideration here to make Paris to look, sound, and feel believable and it works. The game also uses Black and White visuals in certain parts of Paris. Certain parts (most notably lights, Nazi swastikas and blood) are still colored in these black and white settings. It’s a unique style of presentation and it’s very nicely done.

Throughout the game, you’ll be busy talking to people to activate missions in where you need to kill certain people, steal certain items, or just piss of some Nazis for quick cash. You can choose to use Stealth, allowing you to take out enemies quietly and disguising yourself as one to get into places, or you can use my preferred method, go Rambo and just rush your way through the Nazis. You’ll take in A LOT of bullets and your health regenerates quickly so there really isn’t any sense of realism in this game. Gunplay could have been improved and so could have been the driving sequences. The AI is  also quite dumb, and it’s somewhat a tradition in Pandemic games. These are the only notable drawbacks of the game.

Missions are varied so for the most part it doesn’t get repetitive. While the main storyline is fairly short, the side missions will take most of your time (maybe even doubling your time to finish the game).The Saboteur comes with the standard features for Sandbox games. You can unlock perks, upgrade vehicles, buy new weaponry, etc. Not all of these features are necessary however it’s there when you need it. For the most part, they did these mechanics well. Other critics may think differently however I gave it deep consideration and l believe they’ve done a good job.

This game’s graphics are a tad outdated. There are some 2D textures that make parts of the environment look unrealistic, weak animations on player models (it plagues the conversations with people), and other minor problems that you’ll probably oversee. Brawling with enemies look a bit weak and they don’t seem to take cover very well. It’s passable by any means; however there are games that do look and play better. Sound on the other hand was one thing they’ve done very well, perhaps the strongest part of this game. Weapon sounds were engineered very nicely and they’ve done a decent job on the voice acting. The music in this game was also fantastic. It really immerses you into the world and it always fits the setting. When you’re taking a cruise around the city you’ll hear some nice soothing music that are circa 1940s. If you are in an intense action scene fighting Nazis, the orchestra plays something more intense. In total, the music always fits the setting and it was a very pleasing aspect of the game.

For the most part the game was done very well. It’s a shame to see Pandemic go and from this game, we realized how much work was put into it. While some parts weren’t executed properly, it still is a very fun Sandbox-style game and I’d recommend you to at least try it out.

Score:

Story: 6

Gameplay: 8

Graphics & Sound: 7

Overall: 7.5 (Not Bad)