phantom_leo said:Played the first half-hour of The Saboteur. I made the error of putting in the Midnight Show code because it promised Games of Chance and Rewards for your Risks... and boobies.
All I've seen so far is boobies...
I love the extreme charactatures of the Irishman and the French resistance guys.
When in black and white with the occasional splash of color here and there, the game looks good. When you free an area from the Nazis altogether, the color becomes downright vibrant! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the contrast effect! It's like Madworld with more than just the blood in color. The things that need to stand out REALLY stand out! I wish more games used this effect, it's just that cool!
It's like Assassin's Creed lite with the building climbing elements, but the burly Irishman storming like a bull through the streets of Paris to the sounds of 1940's music in the background... it gives it a feel all it's own and I like it. It's not GREAT so far, but I see a LOT of potential here if the game gets any sales at all (other than me)!
No regrets buying it here!
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That's 2 of 3 games picked up today previewed for you guys. I'll get to Spirit Tracks eventually, but Bugsie did an excellent preview of it already today, so I don't feel it's quite as necessary to do it at the moment.
Destructoid
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.
Read Full Review >IGN AU
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.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
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.
Read Full Review >VideoGamer
As addictive as the perk goals are, it's the bread-and-butter sabotage that proves to be the real distraction.
Read Full Review >GamePro
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.
Read Full Review >Gameplayer Sweden
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.
Read Full Review >GameDaily
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.
Read Full Review >Games Radar (in-house)
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.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
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.
Read Full Review >GameTrailers
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.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
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.
Read Full Review >IGN
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.
Read Full Review >3DJuegos
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.
Read Full Review >Vandal Online
This vision of nazi-occupied France is an interesting proposal but has some flaws in its conception.
Read Full Review >TeamXbox
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.
Read Full Review >Meristation
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.
Read Full Review >SpazioGames
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.
Read Full Review >1UP
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.
Read Full Review >Everyeye.it
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.
Read Full Review >IGN UK
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.
Read Full Review >Wired
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.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer
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."
Read Full Review >GameSpy
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.
Read Full Review >Giant Bomb
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.
Read Full Review >Total Video Games
It's hard to imagine why anyone would opt for The Saboteur when they've got Assassin's Creed II as an alternative. Beyond its Parisian setting, The Saboteur fails to add any new ideas to the sandbox genre other than breasts.
Read Full Review >
You just gotta laugh.
The game literally opens with an extreme close-up of a tit, bumpy nipple and all!
! ! !
...Hello...?
...Hello...?
**entire population of VG Press runs out to buy The Sabotuer**
phantom_leo said:You just gotta laugh.
The game literally opens with an extreme close-up of a tit, bumpy nipple and all!
...Hello...?
...Hello...?
**entire population of VG Press runs out to buy The Sabotuer**
I think you are confusing nipples with wangs. If it were a wang we'd all be there.
phantom_leo said:TRUST ME, I could N-E-V-E-R confuse a nipple and a wang!
I SO want to post a picture of freakishly long nipples right now.
phantom_leo said:You just gotta laugh.
The game literally opens with an extreme close-up of a tit, bumpy nipple and all!
...Hello...?
...Hello...?
**entire population of VG Press runs out to buy The Sabotuer**
Hai guys, whats....
*runs to BB*
*finds no Saboteur*
;_;
...and it's NOT because I find myself constantly surrounded by boobies...
The game is a vividly-depicted, open-world game set in 1940's Nazi-occupied, Paris, France.
The characters are much more detailed than any other open world game of this type.
You can steal cars and obtain a collection of them in a garage to be recalled at any time.
There are various Nazi Propaganda Speakers, Sniper Points, Fuel Depots and Radar Stations you can take out for Contraband (the game's currency) scattered around the huge, open map. There's the obligatory "Sweet Jumps" you can land in your vehicles for money also.
There are many colorful characters to provide many story missions to progress the plot stationed at many different spots throughout the city (My favorite being the Priest that meets you in a strip club to inform you of a Parisian who is selling info to the Nazis, who instructs you to "blow his fucking head off." You then have to wait on a sniper point during one of his sermons for his signal to kill the traitor.)
You have a perk system in this game where as you use more skills, the better they become. Set more dynamite charges to become quicker at doing so, for example... Or better yet, the more Nazis you Stealth Kill, the more Stealth moves you get, like the "Sucker Punch" where you hit a soldier in the face, taking him by surprise, then snapping his neck.
The stealth system is competent and works absolutely fine. Basically, if you kill a Nazi Soldier discreetly (without getting blood all over his uniform), you can steal his clothes and walk around the Nazi occupied areas undetected...
...Which leads to one of the selling points of the game. The art-style is such that the Nazi occupied areas are depicted in Black and White. The only things that are in color are Nazi Armbands on soldiers so you can pick them out in a crowd. Nazi insignias on various targets you can take out for money. Cover areas are depicted in Bright yellow so you can duck behind them if the action gets too intense. The resistance members typically have some shade of bright-blue on them so you can tell who they are too. The contrast of the bright colors versus the black and white looks REALLY, REALLY nice! Even better, when you clear the Nazis from an area, you see the color return in front of your eyes, kinda like what happens in Pleasantville, and its awesome each and every time you see it!
Did I mention the Parkour elements where you can scale buildings and major landmarks so you can take in the view of the "City of Lights?"
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You're probably thinking by now: "What makes you angry about this? This sounds like a pretty typical sandbox game. It actually has quite a few unique things in it that make it stand out from a lot of the sandbox games out this year."
...and that's exactly IT. This IS a typical sandbox game. Not much better, but certainly not worse than inFamous, Prototype, Red Faction and all the others that came out this year. What makes me angry is this: REVIEWERS ARE LAZY, LYING, PAMPERED PRICKS that won't give a good score unless they are MOTIVATED to do so. This game came out during the holiday season, surrounded by dozens of other, higher-profile titles, so I am SURE it didn't get the attention it deserved. It was almost an afterthought by EA, made by a studio that was on its way out, so I am SURE it didn't get the marketing BUDGET other games of this type would have normally received...
...and so it will be ignored and forgotten and Pandemic will go out with a whimper, rather than the "bang" most of their games are so well known by.
Thanks Reviewers! That's responsible journalism!
Why am I so sure about this? Just one or two examples should suffice. One review that I read said the Stealth elements didn't work, that being in a Nazi uniform actually attracts MORE attention. This is blatantly WRONG. The reviewer obviously DID NOT learn how to play the game correctly! There is a circle of influence around Sean (the main character) when he is in disguise. It will grow when he does things that are "un-nazi" like, like climbing a building or running around wildly. It will shrink if you hold the "L2" button. Sean will then walk like a Nazi soldier, and other soldiers will walk right by him, if he stays in character and keeps a safe distance. How did this reviewer miss this? This is a MAJOR gameplay element!!! He was either rushed, didn't care, or didn't receive enough "motivation$" to pay close enough attention!
It may have been the same review or a different one, claiming the cover system was "broken" and that Sean wouldn't always hide or would hide when he shouldn't. In the opening stages of the game you are taught that by pressing "L2" you will take cover by walls or break cover if you need to run! There's that pesky "L2" button again! Why bother to learn to play a relatively unpopular game like The Saboteur... when Ubisoft gave you a free night in a Las Vegas hotel to play AssAssin's Creed 2? Better scores go to a similar game when there are more perks behind the review!
Grrr... It's maddening!
Anyway... I am thoroughly enjoying this game, and highly recommend at least a rental! It's like all the other games of its type out there currently but has enough unique elements to justify looking at it more closely...
Yes, you can try it for the boobies... but you can love it for what it IS too! Give it a chance... Piss on those fecking reviews, as Sean would probably say!
The character moves a little too stiffly. I guess they have forgotten the robotic run of a certain Mr. Bellic.
The cars don't steer so well. When have they EVER in this type of game? If you want vehicles that drive well, play Need for Speed. If you want a 1940's box on wheels that will get you from one side of Paris to another, play The Saboteur!
Repetitive side missions? What open world game doesn't have that? Cole climb this building and take out the security cameras! Cole climb that building and take out those security cameras! Cole...! See that building over there? Climb it and take out ITS security cameras! ARRRRGGGHHH ! ! ! What's more fun: Climbing a generic building and zapping cameras with electricity --OR-- killing Nazis?
The cover system is broken. You know what other game's cover system isn't 100% flawless. It's the GOTY 2009 and it rhymes with Retarded 2: Well Hung Plebes.
...why do all the other games referred to here get good scores and The Saboteur does not? It's all in the marketing (budget) and (lack of) hype. If this game was published by Sony, the scores would have easily been 10 points higher!
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Sean Devlin is a jerk. He's the hard-drinking, hard-swearing Irish-stereotype you get to play as during The Saboteur, and in many ways he ruins the experience.
When Sean stops making crap jokes about drinking and liberates a sector of Paris, you see colour bleed back into the area making it really stand out against the grey. This gives occupied zones more of a sense of oppression, and liberated areas a feeling of safety and frivolity.
However, the problem is, being Sean Devlin isn't a whole lot of fun. Shooting isn't as solid as Uncharted 2, the missions aren't as varied as GTA IV, the climbing is nowhere near as fluid as Assassin's Creed 2, stealth is poor next to MGS4, and the driving... well the driving is just crap.
Oddly, the destruction in Saboteur is also underwhelming. Pandemic were pioneers at causing mayhem in an open world (Mercenaries) but now it seems they've forgotten the crowd-pleasing art of blowing shit up.
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*Funny, from the vocabulary used in this "professional" review of The Saboteur you would think Sean and the reviewer have A LOT in common! You would think it would make him like the main character more... Hypocrite much...?
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Luc, the bitter French resistance fighter, is nothing but a collage of hate-filled phrases, and Steiner - your German nemesis - is every cruel, blonde Nazi from every film / game / book ever.
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*Ummm... the main villian's name is Dierker, not Steiner. Seriously... What game are these reviewers playing?
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In one session:
- I completed a Perk for stealing cars and was awarded with the Altair race car.
- I used Altair to drive Veronique to a German General's Home Base to deliver an "explosive" surprise.
- I dropped Veronique off at my home base and bought a silenced pistol.
- I took Altair out and headed towards the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
- I noticed a ramp, did a 180 turn to drive away from the ramp, did another 180 and headed towards the ramp, completing a "Sweet Jump" in one smooth motion without a single hitch.
- Once headed towards the tower again, I discovered a Nazi Tank guarded by two soldiers. I took one out with the silenced pistol, snapped the neck of the other and stole his uniform, then proceeded to blow up the Tank.
- I strolled out into the middle of the road, disguised, as more Nazi soldiers arrived on the scene to inspect the explosion area. With my back to them, just out of my circle of influence, I watched and waited til they left the scene and proceeded to blow up a Nazi Propaganda speaker and Sniper point also in the immediate area.
- I started heading towards the Tower once again, but was stopped by a Resistance member who delivered a message to me from an old flame, Skylar, a British, bomber-jacket wearing blonde who said she wanted a shag.
- I drove across the rolling, lush (but black and white) French countryside in search of her, caught up with her in a small country inn --BUT-- was drugged by her and brought before Bishop, a British agent stationed in France, who promised to deliver Dierker to me on a platter, if I were to discover the contents of a box retrieved from a grave by a Nazi General a few days ealier.
Just to note: The development team behind this game OBVIOUSLY loves their sandbox games. Yeah, I know they made Mercenaries too --BUT-- besides the name Altair being used for one of the race cars, there was also a Story mission entitled: "Grand Theft Limo" as well. I am starting to feel bad for the guys at Pandemic. The atmosphere of the game suggests a team that enjoyed playing and making games and paying homage to the great ones they admired. I am starting to believe a good bunch of guys were shafted by EA, and THAT sucks!
Otherwise it seems like fun.
If it has breasts, GG will buy it.