EA’s latest release; The Saboteur revolves around the main character Irishman Sean Devlin who goes from mechanic to racing driver to freedom fighter in Paris. You control Sean in a third person environment which is a mixture between The Godfather and Grand Theft Auto (which isn’t a bad thing!).
Essentially, EA have taken the shell of their previous Godfather releases and updated them with a few nifty features, a little more bad language and the possibility of nudity (again – not a bad thing!).
The game starts in a brothel where we see Nazi soldiers ogling a semi naked dancer before our character Sean is approached by a French resistance fighter, cue the expected tutorials introducing you to the controls before beginning the story. One of the nicer touches was actually competing in a race on a proper circuit in a proper racing car!
The characters are all quite easy to get used to which I personally found a bit of a problem in the Godfather series where most mafia characters all looked similar. I’m pleased to say that this is definitely not a problem in the Saboteur; each character is quite individual in their attitude and looks.
The gameplay itself is quite easy, you can still jump in and steal almost any vehicle you come across except rather than police setting off chasing you, you will now have to evade Nazi soldiers. Sean can also scale high buildings by shimmying up drainpipes or hanging from ledges albeit quite unrealistically. Missions take on a familiar feel which usually involve killing someone in a particular way or driving to a particular location in a time limit – there’s nothing groundbreaking in this game which hasn’t been done before but at the same time it’s quite a fun and interesting game which should keep any fan of this genre happy while we are waiting for the long overdue announcement of the next GTA.
I must warn you now, this game is certainly not for children – the language used in this game is easily some of the most offensive I’ve heard in a computer game, added on to the fact that EA have offered a download code to unlock an extra brothel hiding place and the opportunity to have the dancers topless, this is definitely an adult aimed game!
The voice work in the game is excellent – although at times Sean’s accent seems to cross into American bordering Irish, but that’s just me being picky. One of the minor little treats which shows the attention to detail was a certain point where two characters are talking in a car and as you drive through a tunnel their voices have an echo effect. Touches like this just show that little bit of extra care from the developers! You can also move the camera while characters are talking in a cut-scene which is another nice addition.
Being a little picky again, the time it took for the game to install was quite long – I don’t mind it taking a long time to install if it eliminates most of the loading times during the game but unfortunately it doesn’t! There are still quite a few loading screens which don’t vanish all that quickly.
The game plays very smoothly and has enough of a storyline to hold most gamers interest for a long time. It doesn’t measure up to the level of GTA but there aren’t many games that do. Missions can get a little tricky further along the way but that’s expected.
Overall, this game is a blend of two excellent games and is a massive improvement on the Godfather series. It’s not a release that many parents would be happy to let their children play but for the older audience it’s nice to have a release that isn’t so children focused. The timing of the games release also coincides with the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds which is also a story of Nazi Germany – coincidence? This game is well worth a look if you’re a fan of the genre as it offers an experience that is new to gamers.
VideogameUK verdict: 7.5/10
