It’s a melancholy day for fans of the dearly departed Pandemic Studios. Closed down recently by EA (save for a few key developers), the studio’s final release, Saboteur hits store shelves today. I’m not really a fan of the World War 2 shooter genre, but I love what The Saboteur offers. Rather than the rote Nazi shooting that has been done ad infinitum, The Saboteur takes a much more interesting and story-driven approach.
Drawing inspiration from a true story, The Saboteur places you in the shoes of Sean Devlin, working behind enemy lines to liberate France from Nazi occupation through acts of sabotage, brawling, racing and climbing through an open world Paris.
Initially, the game starts with as a highly stylized black and white adventure, which is where the most interesting aspect of the game’s design kicks in. As Sean commits acts of sabotage and hinders the German war machine, the French populace’s “Will to Fight” increases, and they begin to fight back. As this happens, more and more colour is introduced back into the world, literally and symbolically bringing new life to the City of Lights.
As the game launches, there’s also day one DLC, which continues EA trend of incentivizing new purchases over used purchases with an included one-time-use code that expires December 31, 2010. And its a potential whopper, as aside from adding a few new features to the game, it also allows you to introduce nudity into the game.
The Midnight Show DLC unlocks a VIP room at the game’s cabaret, with a new minigame, five hiding spots in Paris, new cinematics, and the ability to unlock nudity in the game. I highly doubt that any of this will have a significant impact on the game’s play or story, but as a way of encourage buyers to choose the new copy over the $5 cheaper used game at Gamestop, that’s the best application of pixelated nudity that I’ve seen yet.
“The Saboteur is unlike any other WWII action game. It paints a picture of Nazi-occupied Paris that is corrupt, riddled with danger and more than a little sexy. ‘The Midnight Show’ DLC takes all of this edginess to the next level, but in an authentic, organic way,” said Nick Earl, Senior Vice President and Group General Manager at Electronic Arts. “This feels like the Director’s Cut of the game. We’re very proud to have the opportunity to deliver this alternate experience with a DLC pack that is so polished and robust.”
And of course, that sexiness is not appropriate for younger eyes.
I’m looking forward to the opportunity for some hands-on time with The Saboteur, to see if the Will to Fight lives up the appeal, and to see if this this the game that makes World War 2 fun again, he says, dripping with irony.
