Games review: The Saboteur

The Saboteur

(49.99, PC/PS3/Xbox 360)

The Saboteur is the swansong of Pandemic Studios, the team behind Mercenaries. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, the game focuses on Sean Devlin, an Irish race car driver bent on revenge after his closest friend is killed at the hands of the Axis war machine.

The campaign begins with a stylish black and white representation of Paris, set against a cool jazz soundtrack. After joining an underground resistance movement and completing objectives, colour starts to return to your surroundings and the French locals begin to repel the German influence. It's a neat system, but only when the colour returns to the world do you see how ropey the graphics can be at times.

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Devlin isn't the most likeable of characters but his story has its high points, taking you through missions that could be at home in any Second World War action movie.

An early escape from a German research compound makes for a great sequence, but things fall flat once the game returns to Paris and you run around the streets looking for things to do.

The setting and story of The Saboteur should make for an epic spectacle, but it is let down by poor visuals and hammy acting. Still, if you just want lots of things to blow up and guns to shoot, it will keep you occupied.

• This article first appeared in the Scotsman on Saturday 2 January, 2010

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