| The Saboteur | |
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| Developer(s) | Pandemic Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Engine | Odin, Havok |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Release date(s) | EU December 4, 2009[1] |
| Genre(s) | Action/adventure, Third-person shooter, Stealth, Sandbox |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | BBFC: 15[2] ESRB: M |
| Media | DVD-DL, Blu-ray Disc |
| System requirements | CPU: Core 2 Dual Core 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent
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| Input methods | Keyboard & Mouse, Gamepad |
The Saboteur is a third person action-adventure video game set during World War II and developed by Pandemic Studios.
Contents |
Plot
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This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (December 2009) |
The game's protagonist, (based on war hero William Grover-Williams), is an Irish man named Sean Devlin,[4] a regular among the racing groups of Paris. During a race in the Saarbrucken against Kurt Dierker, a prominent Nazi,[5] Kurt shoots out Sean's tires when it becomes apparent that Sean will win. Sean and his best friend named Jules follow Kurt and steal his car before driving it off a cliff. Unfortunately for the pair Dierker is a Nazi secret agent and the two are swiftly captured and interrogated by Dierker. Dierker is convinced they are involved with British Military Intelligence and executes Jules when he and Sean deny this.
Sean manages to escape from Saarbrucken and returns back to Vittore's farm, only to find the place swarming with German soldiers. After rescuing Vittore and Jules' sister Veronique the three escape to Paris and hide out in the Cabaret hall belonging to Veronique and the late Jules; the Belle De Nuit.
Sean tries to drown his sorrows with alcohol, but is rebuked and recruited by Luc Gaudin, a French Resistance fighter and famous author. During his escapades, Sean is contacted by Skylar, a femme fatale British racer and Sean's old flame. Skylar proceeds to seduce and drug Sean before presenting him to Bishop, who reveals that Skylar is a British Intelligence officer and recruits Sean, in exchange he promises to aid Sean in hunting down and killing Dierker. Sean agrees and following Bishop's orders sneaks into a mausoleum and hijacks a mysterious chest which the Nazis had been investigating.
After returning the chest to Bishop and his associate Wilcox, Bishop tells Sean that Dierker will be leaving for Berlin in a Zeppelin currently docked at Le Havre where Sean is to deliver the chest too. At Le Havre Skylar arranges a German medical truck and a disguise for Sean which allows him to infiltrate the German base. Sean eventually manages to enter the Zeppelin, where he encounters Dierker alone. In a fierce struggle between the two men a stray gunshot from Dierker's pistol ignites the hydrogen gas cells of the Zeppelin. Sean pursues Dierker through the burning hull of the airship only to see him escape using a parachute. Sean having no other choice jumps from the zeppelin before it explodes, narrowly escaping with his life.
Sean returns to Veronique, who tries to tell him something, but is interrupted by Luc who tells Sean to contact another Resistance cell in another zone of Paris and give him the name of a contact who can provide the papers needed to bypass the German checkpoints. Sean meets up with the contact, a man named Santos, who supplies Sean with the necessary transit papers.
In Zone 2 Sean meets up with Margot, the leader of the French Resistance in the area. She requests that Sean to rescue Yosef Bryman, her best spy from the Germans who have captured him. After rescuing Yosef Sean returns to Luc, to learn that Luc has planned a meeting with the cell leaders in Paris Zone 3. Sean acquires another set of transit papers from Santos and escorts Luc to the meeting.
However the meeting is ambushed by the Germans and the leaders and Sean are forced to flee. Having escaped the Nazis, the Resistance set up a new HQ in the catacombs below Paris there Luc reveals his plan to stage an operation at the Paris Grand Prix, an event that all of Europe will be observing with interest. Many high ranking Nazi officials and German military officers will be attending the event and the winner’s trophy, an Iron Cross will be presented by the German Military Governor, General Eckhardt
Sean, because of his pre war experience is forced by Luc to be the race car driver, but he was doubts that he can win the race without a competitive racing car. However Vittore then tells him the good news; Sean's pre-war racing car the Aurora has been found in the possession of none other than General Eckhardt. Sean infiltrates General Eckhardt's private villa and then proceeds to blow up the garage, steal the Aurora and escapes in it back to the Belle de Nuit. Vittore meets him there and is pleased to see the Aurora again, but tells Sean he has a lot of work still to do.
In the meantime the spy Yosef has located Maria Kessler, the daughter of Dr Kessler and contacts Sean to tell him that she is being held at the Hotel de Ville. Yosef also warns Sean of a elite Nazi 'Terror Squad' which made its name on the Eastern Front and which has now been sent to Paris and seconded under the command of his old enemy Colonel Dierker. Sean manages to rescue Maria Kessler and return her safely to the La Villete HQ only to find the HQ under attack by the Nazis. After escaping the HQ with Skylar and the Kessler’s Sean drives Kessler’s the Catacombs HQ only to find that Veronique has become separated from them and captured in the chaos. Sean then quits the Resistance, vowing to work alone in the future.
Yosef convinces Sean to bug the Gestapo phone line during a storm. After successfully doing this, Yosef meets Sean in the sewers and tell him that that Veronique is being held in the Palace of Justice close to Notre Dame. As access from ground level is impossible due to tight security Sean takes to the rooftops once more and kills Veronique's executioner with one shot. Sean meets up with Veronique and the two escape with the help of Yosef.
Sean and Veronique return to the Catacombs HQ, since Sean quit the resistance Vittore had volunteered to drive the Aurora, now renamed the Red Phoenix in the Paris Grand Prix. However Sean proceeds to knock Vittore to the ground and takes his place in the race, even though the Red Phoenix has been wired with explosives to serve as car bomb. Before he leaves Sean asks Yosef to move the Kessler’s to the Belle De Nuit before the race. Under the alias Rolf Becker, Sean enters the Grand Prix. During the middle of the race, Yosef warns Sean that the Belle de Nuit is under attack by the Nazis, before he is shot and killed by them. Sean wins the race and then drive the Red Phoenix to the Winners Circle presided over by General Eckhardt and his friends. Sean then triggers the explosives before diving from the car. The General and his inner circle are killed in the ensuing explosion.
Sean returns to the Belle to find it has been ransacked by the Nazis, he finds Vittore mortally wounded who warns him that Santos is a traitor and that the Nazis know about the Resistance HQ in the catacombs and are planning an attack. Sean returns to the catacombs and fights the Nazis, he finds Luc but a Nazi Terror Squad blows a hole through a wall behind Luc and he is caught in the collapsing rubble. Sean is ordered to execute him, but Sean refuses to, so Veronique is forced to do so. Skylar contacts Sean requesting a meeting at the airport where she informs him that the Kessler’s are being brought to the Doppelsieg factory, where Dierker racing car was built. Sean and Skylar are joined by Veronique and the three head back to the Saarbrucken.
Sean and Veronique go into the factory and fight through the German guards until they reach the room where Sean and Jules were held, Sean has a couple of flashbacks of the interrogation and Jules' death, but shakes them off and breaks down the door to the room only to find Maria Kessler and a dead Nazi soldier. Sean still sees the blood on the chair where Jules was executed. Sean asks Veronique to go with Maria, before blowing up the room and continuing on to find Dr Kessler.
Dr Kessler explains that the factory is serving as cover for a concealed cyclotron which he has been forced to design and assist in the construction of. He begs Sean to destroy it first by destroying the cooling towers and then the cyclotron itself. Sean manages to inflict critical damage and the facility begins to explode. Sean and Dr Kessler escaped the factory in the nick of time and meet up with Skylar.
Skylar returns Veronique and Sean in Paris, where the whole city has risen in revolt against the German occupation. Sean and Veronique drive to the Eiffel tower where Dierker has established a temporary command post and Sean plans to kill Dierker who made a temporary command post in there. The Resistance is openly fighting the Nazis in the streets, but Sean observes that they are weak without a leader and urges Veronique to take up the mantle. Before he leaves to find Dierker Sean shares a passionate kiss with Veronique.
Inside the Eiffel Tower Sean finds a dying German soldier who warns him that Dierker has gone crazy and is shooting anyone who disobeys his orders or questions his leadership Sean finds a drunken Dierker on the observation deck in the act of executing a German officer. Dierker and Sean exchange a few brief words, Dierker noting that is fitting that Sean is the one to kill him as he was the only one to survive and that the world will never truly know the burden that he, Dierker was forced to bear.
Sean shoots Dierker with a pistol, Dierker falls from the observation deck down to the ground and dies. Veronique comes up and asks if it is all over, but Sean replies that he's just getting started.
Gameplay
The player will be able to explore an open world Nazi-occupied Paris and some of the countryside and parts of Germany.[1] Color is a key element in the gameplay, and players will experience an Ōkami-esque style when entering certain parts of the city.[4] In order to make that district colored ("inspired") again, players must weaken the German forces occupying the area. In doing so, that district's citizens regain their hope, characterized by the "Will to Fight" (WtF) factor, a measure of public morale.[4] In areas with low WtF, the area is dark, with color being various shades of grey (with the exception of several German flags, bright red and complete with swastika), whereas in areas with high WtF, the area is vibrant and with full color.
WtF also affects gameplay, as in areas with low WtF, the area is filled with German soldiers who patrol in most places of the map in large numbers.
In areas with high WtF, the Germans will not be completely evicted, but they will no longer be everywhere at once, and will primarily be centered around military bases, barracks, police stations, HQs, and other strategically important areas. In addition, the French people will play an active role in the struggle for areas with high WtF. For example, if Sean, the main character, gets in a fight with German patrols, allies like the French Resistance, Maquis, and even French passersby will intervene against the occupiers.
Throughout the game, players will upgrade their character in the form of "Perks". These will improve accuracy, ammo counts, damage and more. Perks are gained through actions, such as evading high alarm levels, sniping targets or demolishing a set number of Nazi positions.
Extra content
A code for extra downloadable content will be made available for people who purchase a new copy of the console version of the game. Purchasers of a used copy may also pay for this downloadable content on Xbox Live Marketplace or on the Playstation Network. PC users, however, will not need to download anything, as the extra content will already be included on the DVD.[6]
The extra content will provide the protagonist with extra brothels and hiding spots. It will also unlock a minigame which lets the player earn more in-game items such as a special car. Finally, the extra content will unlock the option of toplessness for the brothels' girls.[6].
Development
The game has been called the developer's swan song, since Pandemic Studios was liquidated after its completion.[7]
After the game was released, customers reported that the game was unplayable with an ATI graphics card.[8] Some game retailers, including Direct2Drive, placed warnings on their web sites declaring problems with the game's compatibility.[9] A workaround requires the user to disable multi-core processing entirely, which would significantly decrease their computer's performance.[10] Pandemic employees have acknowledged the issue and released a beta patch on December 18 2009.[11]
Reception
IGN rated The Saboteur a 7.5/10, praising its sound, black and white visuals, and "cheap thrills", while criticizing its unpolished gameplay and somewhat silly animation.
Gametrailers gave the game 7.6/10, calling the game yet another open-world destruction game of 2009. The game was praised for being fun, although the site criticized the choppy voice acting, unpolished end product, and emphasis on vertical platforming.
X-Play rated the game 3 out of 5, praising its unique look and setting, and the large variety of gameplay, but criticized its poorly-executed story, enemy AI, and various glitches.[12]
References
- ^ a b c "The Saboteur Release Date". http://www.gamestracker.com/saboteur-release-date.htm.
- ^ "The Saboteur rated 15 by the BBFC". British Board of Film Classification. September 17, 2009. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/e8ea0df3a881175480256d58003cb570/04f3a403086a981280257634003ea7d2?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "The Saboteur System Reqs Revealed". NewGameNetwork. http://www.newgamenetwork.com/news/430/saboteur-pc-reqs-revealed/. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ a b c Torres, Ricardo (April 7, 2007). "Saboteur First Look". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/saboteur/news.html?sid=6168758&tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ "Saboteur Interview". GameSpot. April 6, 2007. http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/saboteur/video/6168752. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
- ^ a b Jim Reilly (December 3, 2009). "Nude Pack Gives Gamers Choice in The Saboteur". IGN. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/105/1052152p1.html. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- ^ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2009/12/the-saboteur-pandemics-swan-song-hits-most-of-the-right-notes.ars"
- ^ http://kotaku.com/5422990/saboteur-pc-not-working-with-ati-graphics-cards
- ^ http://www.direct2drive.com/8775/product/Buy-The-Saboteur-Download
- ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/pc-saboteur-sabotaged-by-ati-cards
- ^ http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/353631.page
- ^ http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/45188/The-Saboteur/review/
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
