The Saboteur (PS3)

This is a game which somehow slipped completely past me unnoticed. Which is an awful shame because it is, quite frankly, my sort of game.

Over the years since Grand Theft Auto first emerged on the PC and later more popularly on console, there have been a lot of imitators, many of which were bloody awful quite frankly. The Saboteur is one of those rare gems that gets it right.
The explosive sandbox

The premise is quite simple, you are an Irishman in Nazi-occupied Paris and you're a little bit miffed by the whole Nazi invasion thing simply for the fact that they tortured and killed your friend. As a result, you spend a great deal of the game blowing stuff up - as the title implies. This is a recipe for brilliance as it combines the elements of gaming that we all love. The Saboteur has the 3rd person, free-roaming, sandbox style of play we're all familiar with from GTA, but instead of being a criminal, you're a hero. After all - killing Nazis - what could be more fun? Well, tearing it up in a city full of them apparently.

The sandbox nature of the game is done very very well. Which is where a lot of the GTA imitators get it wrong. The virtual world is truly massive, with Paris being wonderfully recreated. Outside Paris you can soon find yourself muddling about in the countryside, running over cows or running through fields. Where ever you go there are things to do. Mostly involving blowing up Nazi equipment, fuel dumps, guard towers and artillery, but it's all nicely varied and fun.
A fruitful distraction

There is a danger of course of getting a little bit side-tracked. If you're a bit 0CD like me, you will probably get distracted a lot. I spent hours just sneaking up to enemy installations, planting dynamite then running away before they noticed. The game is worth the money for this element alone, as there are literally hundreds of things to destroy. The more you blow up, the more money you get for unlocks, weapons and perks which you can purchase from local black market dealers and resistance fighters. There are also things to unlock along the way - blow up 5 enemy vehicles within 300 seconds and you get some RDX to play with.
Nifty features

There are some other nifty features which The Saboteur does right. Simple little things, adding to the great whole.

For example, The Saboteur combines the GTA style of play with the Hitman-esque sneak-em-up as you stealth kill an enemy sentry then wander around in his uniform to avoid suspicion. There's even a "walk like a nazi" button, which I'm disappointed to say doesn't make your character goose-step his way around the Parisian streets. Instead it reduces the curiostiy levels of patrolling guards as you pass by. Of course you can't just kill zee Germans with gunfire - blood splatter on their clothes would be a dead giveaway. A stealth kill from behind is required with a snapped neck or a swift series of brutal punches to the back of the head. More stealth kills unlock further unarmed combat techniques.
Stealthy sabotage

Of course having a German uniform won't protect you entirely, you still need to be stealthy. This is where the game steals/borrows from Assassins Creed. If you're seen doing anything a bit suspect like climbing buildings, planting explosives or snapping Nazi necks then you'll soon be in trouble. Run yourself out of it by escaping the circular suspicion zone and getting to safety. If you're lucky you might find a nice hiding spot where you can laylow until the enemy give up the hunt ala Assassins Creed haybales and cubby holes.
The zone of suspicion

Kill zee Germans or blow something up and you'll cause a "zone of suspicion" - a green area on the map where the Germans will investigate. So make yourself scarce. If you're caught standing over a dead body or the smouldering wreck of a German tank then once again you'll be in a spot of hot water.
Running and gunning

The Saboteur is a fast paced run-and-gun, stealth strategy, free running, action packed fest of fun. There's boobs, swearing, guns, explosions and fast cars (despite the time it's set in). What more could you want really?

The thing that really makes this game is the little touches. There are some hidden gems that I have never seen in other games. You can toss a grenade over your shoulder while you're running, which is something quite new. Your guns are automatically reloaded by your character when you stop firing and aiming or if there's a lull in the battle. This is another nice feature which is done very nicely and doesn't get you into trouble with reloading at the wrong moment or worse.
The missing elements

I'm a history buff, so I couldn't help picking the game apart for certain elements. Everyone knows the Irish were on the side of the Germans during the war, so an Irish main character is an unusual choice. Yet the back story makes it work. I can't help but think a female French character would have been better. After all, men of the right age were all shipped off to German work camps from occupied territories. Still it's a minor point. The game is also missing silenced sten guns and bren guns - common weapons dropped to the Resistance during the war. But you certainly get to use a good cache of German guns and artillery to make up for it. The 88 cannons featured around Paris are usable and can be put to good use blowing up enemy towers and emplacements for maximum points.

At the end of the day, it's a brilliant game with solid elements, stolen, borrowed and improved on from other games. With that knowledge, its a shame to think that the creators have since been disbanded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpXwyja0u​BI