The Saboteur: Hands-On Preview 0
The Rebirth of Slick?
 By Jeremy Azevedo |
How does a game roll up the open world concept of Grand Theft Auto in a WWII backdrop without coming off as derivative? |
Or perhaps a better question would be: How does a game with more titties than an adult video convention have more class than nearly any other game on the market? Before getting my hands on The Saboteur last week, my answer to either would have been: “It doesn’t”. But as it turns out, The Saboteur does all this and more.
I have a feeling that this train isn’t gonna make it wherever it was going…
Having interviewed Lead developer Tom French back at E3, I was already relatively familiar with The Saboteur, though I had yet to play it. There was no doubt that the game looked good; Its visuals were clearly inspired by vintage crime noir iconography, and the lead character was a remarkably unique protagonist (based on real life race car driver/saboteur William Grover-Williams). But how would it play?
I began my demo in a small Parisian village, where I visited a church, received my mission and purchased a gun and a handful of dynamite from a local arms dealer. This was a location with a “Will to Fight”, and so it was colorful and quaint, it’s citizens rather friendly (even when I accidentally beat the shit out of a local woman whilst practicing my boxing skills). I picked up a truck, a Nazi uniform and my forged identification papers and I was on my way to the local Nazi headquarters to take down the officer that murdered my best friend.
You know you’re badass when you walk right up to an armed soldier and knock his ass out cold with a single right hook.
The driving is surprisingly smooth, kind of an arcade-y racer feel to it. I didn’t really have any trouble navigating the roads, although I damn near barreled right through the checkpoint, blowing my cover. Luckily I hit the breaks just in time and was let through the gate. Once inside, I started running around, which alerted the guards, who promptly blew me to pieces. Apparently Nazis don’t run around the base like retards, climbing up walls and practicing karate right in front of people for no reason. Duly noted. Read the rest of this entry →
