3.5/5 ★ – botrazzle's review of The Saboteur.

The Saboteur is a game that has a lot to like, but isn't quite polished enough to be special. Set in World War Two, players take control of an Irish malcontent and race car driver who ends up working with the French Resistance and British S.O.E. to take on the Nazis. The story is loosely based on the real world William Grover-Williams, and English race-car driver who worked as an S.O.E. agent until his capture and execution by the Nazis in 1945. Players are given an open-world Paris to explore, and the game borrows a lot from the Assassin's Creed Series, including a heavy emphasis on Stealth, with stealth kills and enemy alertness mechanics that are very similar to those in Ubisoft's franchise. The game isn't bad looking for a game of the time and hardware, and the contrasting use of black-and-white and color to delineate the strength of the occupying army's presence in an area deserves particular praise. While the setting, story, and AC inspired gameplay are welcome, there are still plenty of issues. There is no fast travel, and the in game map and waypoint system is rather poorly implemented. On PS3, the combat is rather poor, as the game tries to function as a twin stick shooter at times, but with aim sensitivity that is atrocious. This presumably wouldn't be an issue with a mouse and keyboard, but the game does not feel well optimized for controllers. There really is a lot to enjoy about this game, but the lack of polish does detract somewhat from the overall enjoyment. Pandemic Studios and Electronic Arts came close in their attempt to capitalize on Assassins Creed's popularity, but the lack of polish causes the game to fall just short, and is somewhat surprising coming from a studio that is most known for the excellent original Star Wars Battlefront Games. Fans of Historical Fiction and Assassin's Creed absolutely should give this game a go, as should those who enjoy games set in WWII and want something different from the First Person Shooters that tend to dominate games in that setting.