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The Saboteur Preview - Xbox 360

• By Andy Burt
• April 30, 2009 17:43 PM PST
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Black and white and red all over: The Saboteur blends stylized action and dramatic WWII set pieces to impressive effect.

Before you ask, The Saboteur isn't just another WWII game. Inspired by real-life racecar driver and English special agent William Grover-Williams, who assisted the French Resistance during World War II, the game puts players in the role of Sean Devlin, a crass Irishman with a penchant for fast cars. Sean races for the fictional Morini racing team in France, during which time the Nazis move to begin French occupation. Through his ties with the Morini racing team, Sean becomes inadvertently thrown into World War II.

Pandemic's Odin engine helps give The Saboteur its cinematic flair.

Near the start of the game, we take control of Sean and narrowly escape being caught up in a massive firefight between the Nazis and the French Resistance as he fights his way out of the Doppelseig factory (who manufactures the rival German racing team's cars), driving frantically from the border of Germany and France into Paris by the skin of his teeth with his vehicle in ruins. The whole sequence feels like it was torn straight out of a WWII action flick, and as we drove through the skirmishes the whole experience felt very cinematic. During this segment, the only colors you'll see are grayscale and the blood-red swastikas of the German army (which looks akin to MadWorld's style but with a huge amount of depth to the blacks and grays). As we played on, and became more involved with the French Resistance, the "Will To Fight" mechanic comes into play. Huge open areas of France and Germany (all of which are open to the player at the start of the game) utilize this feature: if the Germans have overbearing control in an area, the colors will be muted and dark, and the citizens will appear defeated and helpless, hanging their heads as they walk through a dark, dark France. As you fight more and more for the resistance, areas you've cleared of German soldiers will become flooded with color, and the public will gain back a little hope. Areas where German soldiers may be frequenting but don't have control over, such as the swanky Belle de Nuit brothel, will still appear in full color (because, as lead designer Tom French told me, the ladies are using them).

Sean enjoys a smoke in an area where the "Will To Fight" is non-existent.

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