In the dark and gloomy era of 1940s Paris, its up to one man to put some colour back into the dreary atmosphere of Nazi occupation. Prepare to re-live some of the darkest days of World War II in this Grand Theft Auto style adventure.

The game’s Irish protagonist, Sean Devlin, has had his fair share of treatment from the Nazi occupation in Paris. He bore witness to the murder of his best friend and had victory stolen from him in a big motorcar race after his car was sabotaged by the very same person who shot his friend. Its now time for Sean to put his sorrowful past behind him and take some offensive action against Nazi control. Joining the French Resistance in an attempt to liberate Paris and avenging his friend’s death seem like the best ways forwards.

Its important to grasp the fact that the game is based more on fiction rather than facts. The World War II setting plays its part well but is merely a backdrop so that the common enemy, being the Germans, and blowing tons of stuff up, can cover up the rather hazy storyline. The actual city of Paris itself looks superb and exactly how you would expect it to be back in the 1940s. Features such as Classic cars, cabaret posters, air-raid sirens and the abundance of Anti-Aircraft guns and German Airships (just to name a few) add great authenticity to the environment. The lighting creates a brilliant contrast to the city’s nocturnal activity and captures the image of the Nazis being the bad guys very effectively. When passing through the various districts of Paris, your screen will change color depending on the concentration of Nazi SS forces in that area. The darker the screen gets, the more Nazis there are in the vicinity. The consequences of your actions will have serious impact in certain places so its good to be on your best behaviour when passing a Nazi patrol so that you don’t attract lots of attention because it will take something a bit more solid than the ”Luck of the Irish” to make you incognito.

There is a good variety of missions and, although the story structure is fairly linear, there are plenty of side-missions to complete and a few other extras to do after you have completed the game. Nazi assets such as AA guns and watchtowers are all expendable structures so if you decide to destroy them this can be beneficial for 2 good reasons. Firstly it means that when you are actually playing through certain quests the German defences will be slightly weaker and you won’t encounter asmuch resistance. The second advantage is making money. For each Nazi asset you destroy/disable, you will earn contraband with which you can buy new weapons and ammunition. There is also a perk system which adapts itself to how you play. If you like blowing things up or sniping then your performance with these skills will increase.

Getting around is clearly an important feature in the game but the methods of doing this could be polished up. Although there are a lot of cars in the game which you can commandeer, their handling and maneuverability is hard to get to grips with at first and it takes a lot of practice to become good at steering. The climbing mechanic is also a useful innovation which is based partly on the format in Assassin’s Creed, only Sean is much less nimble and takes longer to scale a wall. In terms of vehicles, there is a large assortment of cars for you to use and collect and it won’t take long for you to acquire a large collection of antique cars in your garage.

Combat on the whole is on par with most action RPGs and you will be doing a pretty equal amount of gun-play, stealth attacks and melee moves. It can be a little clunky in a few areas and sometimes awkward to shoot large numbers of enemies due to the camera angles but it is solid enough to maintain a high level of intensity. There is also an “alert system” which basically acts as wanted level tool. You have to get out of the red search zone for the heat to die down. If you gain lots of suspicion then you will reach Alert 1 where Nazi officers will try and apprehend you and shoot you on site. Alert 4 is where things get quite a bit tougher. Armed Gestapo cars will pursue you through the streets and enemies will come in larger numbers and you may even have airships targeting you. In this scenario, your best option is to head on to the roof tops and locate a hiding spot until the the Alert phase is over.

The game is a bit rough around the edges with its visuals and in most instances they can’t hold up well to close scrutiny. Cut-scene animations can look a bit rigid and movement is not as fluid as in other games. Dialogue is not the best either but the game makes up for it by delivering it in great Anglo/Irish/French/German accents.

If you can put up with the game’s minor flaws then there is definitely enjoyment to be had here. Killing Nazis in any form is great fun, be it zombies or men in black uniforms. The haven’t been many sand-box games released this year other than Infamous and Prototype so if you eager for another explosive free-roaming adventure then The Saboteur won’t let you down.

+ Paris looks excellent with good 1940s style.

+ Colour contrasting creates a great atmosphere for the theme.

+ Loads of weapons.

+ Lots of side missions and gameplay extras.

- Stealth play needs perfecting.

- Combat and vehicle controls are a bit clunky.

- Climbing buildings is more of a chore.

- Dialogue sequences could be improved.

7.5/10

By Ian Ratledge Posted Sunday, December 13th, 2009 10:26 pm