The Saboteur Review

By Christian Donlan Published 3 December, 2009

Resistance is futile.

Version tested:

Apologies for mangling a quote I can only half remember, but I'm pretty sure someone clever once said the true appeal of fascism is largely aesthetic. That's a fairly depressing notion: the 'philosophy' that reduced so much of Europe to a crumbling cinder was, at least in part, born from Hitler being crazy enough to have an idea about how the world should actually look.

It's also a theme that gives The Saboteur its one big idea. Pandemic's final game stages the fight for the soul of occupied Paris primarily as a battle between different fashion houses, pitting the nasty militaristic chic of the National Socialists against Sean Devlin - a man clad in rustic hues who appears to have been kitted out by the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

At the start of the game Paris is beautiful, swathed in stylish black and white and shot through with the blood red flags and banners of the Nazi party. By the end the city of light is just a big brown blur: far, far uglier, yet presumably now free of the deadly elegance of the Jackboot.

The game lurking under this war of art designs is slightly wonky - if charmingly so, by and large. While it certainly isn't perfect, you can at least applaud the fact that it's a World War II title which doesn't force you to plod through the Normandy Landings yet again. Instead this is conflict drawn in urban espionage and deadly tricks: a close-up battle set in an open world, paid out slowly in missions from various anti-fascist factions.

'The Saboteur' Screenshot 1

Period music is pitched somewhere between raised-eyebrow jazz and the kind of sultry sax that might play in the background if you were being fellated by a young Vera Lynn.

Whatever Saboteur's strong points, the story isn't one of them. There are smart moments, such as the restaging of the outbreak of fighting in Europe as a higgledly-piggledy car chase through the burning fields of France, but they're fairly thin on the ground. EA casts you as Sean Devlin, a swarthy Irish biffer cutting a swathe through occupied Paris in order to avenge the death of his idiotic French chum Jules, who got his head tortured off following an ill-considered frat prank in which they drove a high-ranking SS officer's fancy motor off a cliff. Amazingly, I am not making this up.

In order to get to his target, Devlin ends up, you know, freeing most of Paris from the yoke of oppression. While the history books may not remember that the battle for the West was largely fought by a drunken auto mechanic who entered most shootouts yelling, "Top o' the mornin' to ya!" it's something players will struggle to forget.

Pandemic was presumably aiming for a kind of rough-and-ready Gerard Butler-style charm with its protagonist. The big problem is that Devlin is actually kind of a tool, and that means if you want to play Saboteur you're going to have to be kind of a tool as well. Despite the fact that he closely resembles DJ Mark Radcliffe he's hard to warm to initially, a smirking presence in a flat cap who spouts cartoon Irishisms at you unless you press the B button in time during cut-scenes, and who otherwise stumbles through a script so bad you start to suspect Pandemic littered it with all those F-bombs so sarcastic reviewers couldn't quote much of it to you.

Lots of games have had lead characters as muddled as Devlin, of course - even if the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience. Saboteur's jarring non-sequiturs, glaring anachronisms (at one point Devlin makes a joke about groupies, which would have been perfect if the Second World War was fought in Haight Ashbury in 1967) and rambling cut-scenes are hardly firsts in an open-world game, but they serve to highlight the fact that Saboteur really can't decide what it wants to be.

'The Saboteur' Screenshot 2

Sean's allegedly a bit of a drunk, which helpfully explains his stiff animation and the strange things he days when he jumps out of cars.

Naturally it's got trademark Pandemic quirks like resistance leaders who jog backwards into cut-scenes, mission kick-offs that arrive once the skirmish is already over, and the completely surreal moment when a courier caught me at the bottom of a ditch moments after I'd driven off a railway bridge, just to give me a message about street-racing from a sexy lady. It's still not as broken as the hovering-crate paradise that is Mercenaries 2, but it's not as incidentally witty and personable either.

After a few hours of bland "Go here, blow this up" missions, you suddenly find yourself in an elaborate homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's possible, at this point, that you're getting a fleeting glimpse of what Pandemic really wanted to do with this game - create a knockabout blue-collar matinee adventure - while simultaneously receiving an insight into how short of the mark the team fell.

So what do you get? You get Grand Theft Auto III crossed with 'Allo 'Allo: an open-world mission-based game based in a cobbled muddle of Parisian streets, in which you can accept objectives from a handful of different factions, stealth-kill Nazis and don their disguises, race cars about, driving through German checkpoint barriers and generally work to take back the city, winning crucial battles in the game's various Fightback Zones while unlocking a range of perks to help you on your way.

While most of the missions are fairly uninspiring, that often goes with open-world territory, and some of the larger events Pandemic has thought up are actually pretty entertaining: fighting through a castle and up onto a burning Zeppelin was always going to be fun, even if the game's guns are a little toothless. A prolonged sequence near the middle in which you wire up a railway bridge to explode before shooting your way through a train may be an exercise in videogame clichés, but it's still quite a nice exercise.

On top of that, the game's cars feel really good to race through the streets of Paris - even if Paris itself is, landmarks aside, rather forgettable - and there are plenty of side quests, car collecting, and other little objectives to do if you tire of the main storyline. Plus there's just loads of backtracking to enjoy.

Borrowed ideas are also everywhere to be seen, from the escape radius of GTAIV to the parkour of Assassin's Creed and the visibility radar from titles like Prototype (this is a little circle on the bottom of your mini-map that tells you that you're being watched, and that it's probably not too long before Jerry turns up to give you a shoeing).

Creative theft is hardly a rarity either these days but Pandemic doesn't always seem to understand the mechanics it's pillaging: the game's stealth is even more artificial than it is in a lot of other titles, with Nazis forgetting all about you the minute you hide in a shed in most cases. Almost any suspicion aroused by weird behaviour can be cancelled out if you simply walk rather slowly for a few seconds - even if you've just planted a bomb with a fizzing fuse in plain view of everybody.

'The Saboteur' Screenshot 3

Saboteur has a nice visual style, but the gimmick works in reverse as you take a moody moonlit Paris that looks wonderful, and turn it into a day-glo mess of over-bright textures.

Elsewhere the options to clamber up the walls and guttering of Paris is graceless and fiddly in implementation, making you feel less like Assassin's Creed's nimble athlete and more like the unfortunate star of a government anti-binge-drinking ad - which, granted, may have been what the team was going for.

Then there are design botches that are just inexplicable. It's a tiny detail, certainly, but given Devlin's Spider-Man skills, someone obviously figured that getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower would make a lovely Crackdown-styled challenge, even rewarding you with an Achievement. That's a great idea but the concept is undermined by the fact that the game provides you with, like, a couple of elevators to get you up there. Why not just cart everyone from start screen to end credits in a bath chair with a tartan rug over their legs?

On top of all that, with the moody black-and-white filters off, Saboteur is a rather unattractive game, with boxy environments and grim textures. Character animation is jerky and puppet-like and the numerous sheeny-skinned strippers hanging around at one of Devlin's favourite haunts look like they've been dipped in superglue. Teenage boys will like it, certainly, but then they've probably had a thing for glue for quite some time.

When you realise that a few years ago the studio that made this was capable of creating games like Full Spectrum Warrior - smart and vivid titles that genuinely broke new ground - Saboteur, which struggles to measure up to the likes of the Assassin's Creed and the GTA crowd, can seem a little bleak.

'The Saboteur' Screenshot 4

I backed over quite a lot of long-suffering citizens of Paris and stole a lot of their cars. All told, they were probably better off with the Germans.

But just because the game isn't always that good, doesn't mean it's always that bad, either. Pandemic rarely wins in terms of the detailing but the city is a large playground filled with secrets, and the generous ranks of missions themselves rarely waste your time with unnecessary faffing, even if they are a bit dull in their conception.

On top of that, some of the game's visual tricks - windows and searchlights highlighted in rich yellow tints, Nazi armbands burning out of the screen in blood red - are quite eye-catching, even if the game struggles from a meteorological standpoint once you start liberating parts of the city and the transitions from film noir monochromes awash with rain to bucolic midday blue skies become a little jarring. In truth, I even found myself warming to Devlin by the end of the adventure, although perhaps this was merely the onset of Stockholm Syndrome.

The Saboteur, then: not half as bad as the limp first few hours suggest. It's perhaps not the greatest company epitaph in the world but, as Devlin might say, while throwing himself out of a speeding car, knocking back a slug o' the good stuff and mashing a Nazi's head in with one punch: "It coulda been a lot worse."

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Christian.

About Christian Donlan

Chris Donlan writes about games for Eurogamer and some magazines. His heroes include Eugene Jarvis, Errol Morris, and Linus Van Pelt.

Read more articles from Christian by visiting the Christian Donlan archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (110) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • zisssou #1 2 years ago

    I'd like to rent this as it looks pretty interesting.

  • uglygamer #2 2 years ago

    Meh. Definitely not getting this at full price.
    Edited by 2 at 03/12/09 @ 17:07

  • danathjo #3 2 years ago

    Hmmmm...kind of glad this got a 6 as there's too much to play now anyway
    maybe get it on the cheap next year during the dry season

  • Skurmedel #4 2 years ago

    "Period music is pitched somewhere between raised-eyebrow jazz and the kind of sultry sax that might play in the background if you were being fellated by a young Vera Lynn."
    Should I be amused, or shocked?

  • lennon #5 2 years ago

    my copy will be at home so may as well give it a go now. Interested to see what the climbing is like as I dont think its that good in AC2 myself. Better now I have learnt the extra jump move but still a bit wooden.

  • DUFFMAN5 #6 2 years ago

    Not unexpected, still doesn't dampen my anticipation of playing it, tomorrow hopefully.

  • BillyBrush #7 2 years ago

    @Notmyrealname

    Erm, Braben's game is called the outsider

    and no, he can't make a sequel to Elite 2 because he's too busy moaning about second hand games and the damage that they do to our world.

    ...Re Pandemic..you make bad games, you shut down....it's very very positive because those people will find new jobs, at better companies, and make better games than this and Mercs 2.

    The description of the story reminded me of Mercenaries 'someone shot you in the ass, there's your plot' storyline (if you could call it that)...shudder

  • ShinMegami08 #8 2 years ago

    Ahhh... there's nothing like kicking Nazis in the Ass!
    For me it's a day one purchase.

  • morriss #9 2 years ago

    "Sean's allegedly a bit of a drunk, which helpfully explains his stiff animation and the strange things he days when he jumps out of cars."

    days should be says, innit :)

  • NewbieZilla #10 2 years ago

    I'll get this as a one week rental, then.

  • OnlyMe #11 2 years ago

    Braben can't make a sequel to Elite 2, 'cause he already did one many many years ago. And it's called Elite 3: First Encounters (or something).

    He could perhaps work on a sequel to that though, so we can get an Elite 4.

  • coomber #12 2 years ago

    "That's a great idea but the concept is undermined by the fact that the game provides you with, like, a couple of elevators to get you up there."

    This review is, like, undermined by the fact that it, like, seems to have been written by Paris Hilton, you know?

  • Rushy #13 2 years ago

    I played the first hour, and put it down. Nothing to compelled me to invest any more time in it. Very lacklustre :(

  • jonny8 #14 2 years ago

    It's enjoyable in a sub-Assassin's Creed 2 way. There's a definite lack of polish though but not surprising given Pandemic's demise.
    Killing Nazis is satisfying, even if they are dumb cannon fodder Nazis. Mind you, they're not as pathetic as the last Wolfenstein ones.
    I'd have given it a 7, maybe an 8 if I was feeling really really generous and had drunk a bottle of Jamiesons first.
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/09 @ 18:12

  • LlamaFarmer #15 2 years ago

    "So what do you get? You get Grand Theft Auto III crossed with 'Allo 'Allo"

    Sold!

  • milko #16 2 years ago

    Would it not have been worth actually looking up the intro quote?

    Also: Fellated by Vera Lynn. Righto.

  • Xarius302 #17 2 years ago

    was looking forward to this and yet again Pandemic f**k up another game. Pandemic, you wont be missed!!!!

  • zoidberg #18 2 years ago

    Worst review ever. It's worth an 8. Despite its pitfalls, The Saboteur has charisma. It'll be REplayed years later and given WAY better re-reviews. It reeks of the Mafia review, this. May come back to haunt you Eurogamer. I really enjoyed the game.

  • tossetaz #19 2 years ago

    @zoidberg : you enjoyed the game.. as in you completed it already? how?

  • a8a #20 2 years ago

    Kind of unrelated, but the ads for this game, on the review of this game, are what finally persuaded me to block flash objects on this site. I dont know if it was an accidental rollover or automatic animation, but the unskippable guy swinging on the rope over the text, blocking any ability to navigate the page, is the most intolerable advert ive seen in a long time.

  • offside5 #21 2 years ago

    Can't wait to get this

  • Rodchenko #22 2 years ago

    Don't know if that's the quote you referred to, but these are the last three sentences in Walter Benjamin's seminal 'Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' essay with which scores of art students are confronted to this day: human self-alienation under fascism, so Benjamin, 'has reached such a degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order. This is the situation of politics which Fascism is rendering aesthetic. Communism responds by politcizing art.'

    Well, maybe that wasn't it... great review, however.

  • MrWonderstuff #23 2 years ago

    Yea the flash advert has nailed my desire not to play this...maybe when its dirt cheap.

    Oh and the bell-end who whinges it should be an 8 cos he thinks it should should sod off. Every fucking time a review is put up now with an average score people whinge bitch moan, whinge, bitch moan...god I hate my fellow gamers sometimes.

  • Diabeu #24 2 years ago

    ohhhhh Rene!!!!!!!

    6 looks a little bit harsh, but EG gave 9 to Earth Defense Force, so....it will be safer to rent this one

  • Lunatic4ever #25 2 years ago

    i actually think the design is really cool. these dark and gloomy nazi occupied areas somehow remind me of the same forsakeness that sin city embodied so well.YET making it all too visible that you eliminated the nazis is something im not cmfrotable with as it makes iit look like a game for children...like saying:"this is EVIl and THIS...look THIS ...IS GOOD" - Im not a fucking child anymore,i can take gloomy settings and dont need to be rewarded with f'ing Teletubby colors :D
    Edited by 2 at 03/12/09 @ 19:24

  • p00ntang #26 2 years ago

    Hilarious review hahah

  • p00ntang #27 2 years ago

    +1 to Rodchenko for quoting Benjamin

  • mkreku #28 2 years ago

    A six, but I can't shake the feeling that this game would suit me perfectly. GTA-style + Paris + nazis + racing + openworld + climbing + perks = fun. At least I think so.

  • JEPC123 #29 2 years ago

    @p00ntang

    Indeed, although I'd argue beyond Benjamin and a purely artistic understanding of the issue - not that I'm saying that Benjamin's work should ever be understood on just one level - and argue that fascism (itself a malleable and slippery concept) and Nazism focused more on aesthetics because they were (and are) representative of the sacralisation of politics whilst at the same time comprising a rather shallow, ecclectic mix of policies. As ideologies go, other than being morally repugnant, they're also pretty crappy and messy, and inevitably required grandiose displays of participatory politics including aesthetically attractive iconography etc, in order to both win over populations and mask their inherent flaws. So, fascism/Nazism = rubbish, Benjamin = not rubbish, The Saboteur = a bit rubbish.

  • Eraysor #30 2 years ago

    I presumed it would be a bit meh ever since EA closed them down.

  • Crembo #31 2 years ago

    I disagree with the 6/10 in this review.

  • zoidberg #32 2 years ago

    @tossetaz
    I got a review copy 4 days ago. Yes, I loved it so much I completed it. It's a melding of GTA, Mafia-style storytelling and a good 'ol bit of No One Lives Forever for good measure... all happening during WW2.

    I stand by my claim that this review is WAY too harsh to a game that has CHARM and PERSONALITY... it has not been crafted by business men looking to churn out another profit. It has a good bit of character and you can see the designers loving their work. 6/10 is pathetic. Exactly like the Mafia review. You can nail it for the faults, but 5 years from now, it'll be re-reviewed in the "Classics" section, while other will stand forgotten.

  • makeamazing #33 2 years ago

    Game is a 7, and certainly has some funny game moments from what ive played so far (but the first hour was hard work, after that much fun ensued). Im not buying it until its cheaper, which should be in about 2 weeks time :D/.... but i think its the kind of game that you can easily while a few hours away and have fun... so i wouldnt dismiss it if your a gamer who likes to try lots of games...

  • PanStre #34 2 years ago

    Braben needs to get The Outsider finished up...seriously, where is that game?

  • DrR0b3rts #35 2 years ago

    I'm holding out for Gears of War crossed with Hi-de-Hi.

  • smelly #36 2 years ago

    why is it.. that even after reading the review.. i still want this more than assasins creed 2?

    hmmm.

  • mcmothercruncher #37 2 years ago

    Bugger, was hoping for more from this one.

  • nedgip #38 2 years ago

    Wasn't this once a rockstar game or being released by take two? I could have sworn when i first heard of this it was being made by rockstar and was a ps3 exclusive or is that another game entirely?

  • Oh-Bollox #39 2 years ago

    "even if the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience"

    Between Minkley, Keiron Gillen,and now Christian Donlan, the Eurogamer staff are starting to look like a rogues gallery of obnoxious pricks. The incredible myopia of the above quote is compounded by the authors surname: Donlan. No doubt this twat's Irish ancestors are turning in their graves knowing that their years of work/suffering/oppression/migration were so that that their own soft-dicked relative could conflate them with terrorists. Fuck you

    The only reason the protagonist is Irish is because the Yanks can't stomach us Brits having anything to do with WWII.

    As for the Irish, they bottled it in WWII (excepting the brave few in regiments in the British Army), then spent the next few decades blowing each other (and themselves) up. Great stuff. Perhaps they would have been better off fighting in a war that meant something, rather than a vicious internecine squabble that dragged on and on and on because they chucked their toys out of the pram?

  • sarcasmoidosis #40 2 years ago

    I played 3-4 hours of it and it's good. Not great by any means. But once you go past the crappy textures (for PC standards anyway) it's quite an interesting combo of GTA and Creed with the shooting looking like it's borrowed from Uncharted. My copy cost me 20 pounds, so it seemed like a good deal at the time.

  • kraenk12 #41 2 years ago

    I played the game for 8 hours now, and I must say it's one of the year's better games. To me it's the underdog, the game which managed to surprise me actually. I'm having a lot of fun with it. The story is good, gameplay is rich of variation and the graphics are good as well. I would call it a mix between GTA, Assassin's Creed, Hitman with a little bit of Mafia feel!

    I admit I play it on PC, but this score is nowhere near reality. I would give it an 8.0 since I enjoy it alot dispite a few flaws.

  • makeamazing #42 2 years ago

    The only reason the protagonist is Irish is because the Yanks can't stomach us Brits having anything to do with WWII.

    Well actually its because an american or british character wouldnt have lasted long under cover in France, unless they were the Allo Allo Pissman... (need funny accent to make that work).

    Hey, Oh-Bollox, at least Ireland's *elected* government doesn't send its army off to invade Middle Eastern countries on false pretences.

    Ah lets not go down the route of politics, some ways i wish governments would go into more countries and sort out the dodgy regimes, but actually the mess theyve made after they went in..probably not :)

  • davisorle #43 2 years ago

    Wow I find this review unfair. Ofc im in no possition for a full perspective since ive only been a few hours deep in the game but not only its so feeling as if I was playing Mafia when it was first released on the PC, but also I loved the way the story was developing. Yeah the gameplay felt stiff when jumping etc it was all the bad of the game right there but I didnt find it bad so far.. I think a lot of gamers that like the genre shouldnt count so much from this review in oredr to buy the game or not. Its no great game I guess ( like i said.. I cant know much yet but its been fun so far :S )but its ccertainly good game. Can it be that bad from where I left of? I hope not.. And the adjustable nudity? Thats a plus isnt it? :p

    I really felt bad with this review. Either cause its no justifying the game or cause it will be so dissapointing form now on? I mean its not like I read it so far. Not that bad :S its been an average 8/10 game so far.

  • makeamazing #44 2 years ago

    I agree the comments he made were inappropriate, but I'm not sure what anyone can do about it. Ive had a crappy day at work, and dont feel like trying to hold Eurogamer account, but by all means please go ahead :)

  • FenderMaster #45 2 years ago

    "even if the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience"

    Between Minkley, Keiron Gillen,and now Christian Donlan, the Eurogamer staff are starting to look like a rogues gallery of obnoxious pricks. The incredible myopia of the above quote is compounded by the authors surname: Donlan. No doubt this twat's Irish ancestors are turning in their graves knowing that their years of work/suffering/oppression/migration were so that that their own soft-dicked relative could conflate them with terrorists. Fuck you

    It was just said in passing, but yeah, it was a pretty damn stupid and insensitive statement... centuries of opression resulted in exponentially more Irish deaths than terrosists (as terrible as their actions were) have in England. England is to the Irish, what Germany is to England, historically, and evil and opressive imperial power

    /rant

  • gammonbanter #46 2 years ago

    Why are we talking about Politics!?

    I bet this game is around a 6/10. I for one am grateful to EG for saving me from another dull 3rd Person shooter. Although I will probably pick this up when it's £8 next Christmas!

  • assache #47 2 years ago

    For some reason, I fancy chips for dinner!

  • persus-9 #48 2 years ago

    Can someone point out to be exactly where in the following sentance a political statement is made over and above the stating of a simple social fact: -

    "the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience"

    Where exactly? I claim nowhere. I think that's simply true. If he'd said: -

    "the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience because in the recent past the Irish made a habit of blowing up innocent british civilians for no good reason."

    or

    "the idea of an Irishman who expresses his heroism by sticking explosives to things was always going to have an extra challenge to overcome for a British audience since the British have trouble coming to terms with the Irish backlash against centries of British oppression."

    then you'd have good reason to complain that Christian was being unduely political but a statement to the effect that a significant portion of the British public are uncomfortable with the idea of Irish freedom fighters is just a statement of social fact.

  • makeamazing #49 2 years ago

    but British blindness to the consequences of colonisation really annoys me.

    Well lets not taint all current British people with what happened along time ago, i mean the governments of zimbabwe, Iran and a number of others still waffle on about the British Empire, to most of us that was worlds apart... but its like people cant move on.

  • kraenk12 #50 2 years ago

    the funny thing is eurogamer and ign UK!!! gave it a 6 and 6.2 whilst IGN Australia gave it an 8.2!

    see where this is leading?!

  • jambo74 #51 2 years ago

    Wish I could see the 'Day One' web buyers faces.....

  • Spekingur #52 2 years ago

    You know, Devlin almost looks exactly as an Irish type of character I made for Saints Row 2. I wonder if Pandemic did install secret spycams in my house now :-o

  • JEPC123 #53 2 years ago

    @boneparteofballybay

    I agree with most of what you say, apart from the bit about the Potato Famine - or more specifically, apart from the insinuation that the British government actively sought or promoted a famine. It IS true that its causes and its effects can be linked to the appalling British policies, that a ridiculous number of lives were lost due to a slow, half-hearted response to it, and that it was a tragic and morally repugnant event; but I don't think it was necessarily the seemingly-planned event a lot of people view it as.

    @ansim

    I actually think there's actually a massive guilt culture amongst most right-minded Britons about most of British history. I'm surprised the British, and in particular the English, are so well-liked in the world... I think Hugh Grant in romcoms and James Bond have clouded some people's memories of, ooh, hundreds of years of colonisation! It is true, though, that many Britons are ignorant of history in general, more specifically British history, and even more specifically the role of the British in Ireland (note that I don't write 'our role' as it had nothing to do with me, and I don't really identify with a country in that way!).

    I speak as an Englishman who's studied Irish history and whose grandparents are Irish - my great-grandad fought for the Republicans in the Civil War, plus I'm named after an Easter 1916 revolutionary (clue: my surname's Connolly). I hold no great allegiance to 'my' country, and as a historian I try even harder to be neutral, so I hope you'll find some truth in my opinion!

    As for the review itself, yes, I agree that the comment was insensitive, misjudged, and probably unrepresentative of British opinion.

    Oh, and a note to long-word lovers: studying Irish history allows you to legitimately use the word 'antidisestablishmentarianists'...
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 00:34

  • persus-9 #54 2 years ago

    @ boneparteofballybay: Okay that is a fair point, I can see that the statement could be read as insulting to the British but I still have a couple of objections. First off I'm not sure where your getting the 'all' form. I can accept Christian's the statement without taking it to imply that all British people will have a problem with it. The statement just implies that some proportion of the population significant enough to make the prejudice represent an "extra challenge" and while I guess maybe I just have a lower view of my fellow Brits than you have I take that to be the case and so I agree with Christian's statement.

    However even if hold that Christian's statement is false and consider the suggestion that it is true to be insulting to the British public then that just makes the statement anti-british rather than anti-irish. I took it you were objecting to it as an anti-Irish statement when you said earlier "No doubt this twat's Irish ancestors are turning in their graves knowing that their years of work/suffering/oppression/migration were so that that their own soft-dicked relative could conflate them with terrorists."
    Edited by 2 at 04/12/09 @ 00:41

  • jimmytherat #55 2 years ago

    Hmm. Strange topic here but then I imagine that the character in the game might be full of stereotypes too (?). I agree with what bonaparteofballybay has said about the whole thing.
    It reminds of that weird scene in Sin City where a bunch of Irish bomb-specialists appear, played by real Irish actors, but then actors will do anything for cash, look at Hollywood with the stupid buddy movies and obligatory black person (Token).

    I think it is a bit stupid of the author to assume "it would be difficult for a British audience" like many others here, but it is no biggy, just a bit stupid.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 10:26

  • Silvervein #56 2 years ago

    World would be so much nicer place if people could laugh at silly things more, instead of grabbing guns followed by shooting at the people who make silly things, including comments.
    This is euroGAMER site...lets keep the politics outside the door, shall we? :)

    PS. Seeing pandemic games, I don't think that the irish guy in this game came out all that bad. Compare that to the lunatic, money grabbing english girl character from mercenaries 2. But even she is a welcome change in a genre populated by faceless, grunting clones of american army soldiers (clad in space suits or not).

  • Crembo #57 2 years ago

    Well, my main reason of getting this game was the setting.
    WW2 - awesome. Paris - awesome. GTA-style-open-world - awesome. Some AC elements - awesome. Stealth or rambo path - awesome. Funny main character, how can a Irishman not be awesome?

    C'mon, the game has it problems (atleast on the PC version), but it really doesn't deserve a 6. In my opinion it's a solid 7 if not an 8.

  • spookyzombie #58 2 years ago

    After playing this for a few hours on Wednesday (360 version), I agree with the EG's score. It's not terrible and is indeed perfectly playable. I just found that it's core components were a bit average. The driving, fighting, shooting and climbing weren't much fun. I think this is one of the games that's destined for a price cut just before Christmas.

  • Stompy #59 2 years ago

    History, please prove all these whiners and wieners wrong, and make sure this game is speedily forgotten.

  • Stompy #60 2 years ago

    "This is euroGAMER site...lets keep the politics outside the door, shall we? :)"

    The history of Ireland as an occupied country that answers this crime by terrorism is not politics. It is, instead, a tragedy.

    Tragedies are a-political, although faction fanboys never seem to think so (cf. strong libertarian capitalists who deny anything untoward happened in Bhopal).

  • muscleblade #61 2 years ago

    "so i wouldnt dismiss it if your a gamer who likes to try lots of games... "

    My thouths exactly. If you only buy 5-10 games each year this one is skippable. If you buy more than 20 like i do its probably worth it if you like the genre.

  • Dural666 #62 2 years ago

    I just do not stand WWII full of Nazis in which all svastikas are replaced by imperial crosses. It is just palin stupid and totally destroys any possiblity of immersion for me. Apart from Germany in which it is illegal, the version for the other countries should have definetily included them. It's history, you can not delete it by just applying a different texture after all..

  • metalangel #63 2 years ago

    1. Fellated by ze fallen Vera Lynn wiz ze beeg boobies? 2. Who the hell in occupied France could run a car? The Germans took most of the fuel for themselves! 3. If only it had been further suggested that our mad Irish bomber was made such to appeal to Americans, who ALL love, support and fund the IRA (just as true as all Brits thinking all Irish are terrorists, apparently) 4. So it's not so much In Bruge as In Paris? Fuckin' Paris!

  • jools #64 2 years ago

    Fancy a brew!?

  • newt #65 2 years ago

    Damn you, limey bastards. This swan song deserves all the praise it can muster for being much more clever than it looks in the first hour or so. The pulp story is actually what kept me interested, main characters ooze charisma (Dierker being one of the most memorable gaming villians in years) and the writing behind Sean & Skylar's relationship is a thing of beauty. Throw in efficient gameplay that is better than the sum of its parts and voila, you've got an underdog classic. Sure, the strip dancers look shite / stupid. Sure, the physics are rather wacky. But in the grand scheme of all things Saboteur, those are very minor quibbles.

    I usually sigh at people who complain about scores but no way this is a six. No way.

  • TheJuriel #66 2 years ago

    Shame this didn't turn out better.

  • Zebula77 #67 2 years ago

    Second review of this I've read that references 'allo 'allo. :p

    I like the idea of a game in B/W with only red and yellow (kinda like Sin City, no?). Shame this wasn't better. I was hoping for a great stealth title, but then I've already got ACII.

  • Zephro #68 2 years ago

    To be fair the game seems more racist towards the Irish than anything else. It just seems to contain every single Irish stereotype you get from the US, there'll probably be some coquettish French waitresses or.... oh no there are can-can girls.

    How people can get upset over a line in the review suggesting that the British public may possibly be more sensitive than other nations over an Irish character planting bombs I'll never understand when compared to the genuine shocker of the game characters. Seriously that review wasn't even vaguely racist, some people need to chill the hell out.

  • Lunatic4ever #69 2 years ago

    jeeez this seems to have turned into a political debate.can't we just focus on the damn game and say" yeah it actually deserves a better score BUT HEY fuck it! Those who know ibetter will buy it anyway,"

    dont get confused by this score.IT IS a well-done game,with a nice setting and its fun to play for like two hours or so every day to get your dose of explosions and Nazi-Ass-Kickin ;) Sometimes you should ignore scores if there is something in your heart that's telling you "damn boy...go get it."

    ;)

  • Zephro #70 2 years ago

    All my heart was telling me before the review was that it would be another fine example of gaming remaining in the adolescent knob gag phase. I'd quite like an "adult" video game which doesn't just mean blood, tits and swearing.

  • barnettbeans #71 2 years ago

    The artistic style of this game means Ill defo be playing it, but more likely than not in February when there isnt much to play.

    As for a RE-REVIEW - Shit happens get over it.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 10:13

  • Skorms-Boss #72 2 years ago

    this has 10 quid preowned writen all over it

  • dudefella #73 2 years ago

    Too bad the game isn't what I hoped it'd be, but that was a cracking review, very entertaining! A++ Chris Donlan!

  • zoidberg #74 2 years ago

    I feel that 50% of the people in this comment thread only read part of the review, saw the score, then posted "how dissapointed" they were with the game... For once, I feel bad for the developers... This really is a soon-to-become-classic game and instead of getting the recognition they deserve, it's getting squandered on people taking the EG reivew as the letter of the Bible. And, since they are Bible-following-Christians, they will inevitably NOT buy the game unless it's semi-free.

    Oh well... doesn't matter anyway, but a 6/10 is preposterous.

    P.S. I made my opinion about the actual gameplay known in some of the first comments, so I won't go over it again, but I have to state that I played the PC version. So... no idea how the Xbox 360 one pans out.

  • penhalion #75 2 years ago

    I'll be off to buy this asap as my mates tell me it's actually very good.

  • SuperNashwan #76 2 years ago

    Can you wear a balaclava and punch a dog whilst standing on a jetty in this game?

    if not, EPIC FAIL

  • beckyh #77 2 years ago

    Been playing this since yesterday. Its an okay game, quite fun and I am loving the black and white look splashed with colour, i only wish they had that look for the whole game as it looks fantastic.

    I think a 6/10 score is pretty harsh and undeserving and the reality is whilst the game is undoubtedly a little rough around the edges, it is certainly at least a 7 score although I would not go as far as giving it more than an 8.5.

    I think too many reviewers lately not just here but on other sites aswell, look too much into the tiny detail which is lacking and not looking at the overall picture.

    Oh and I am not sure why the reviewer cites an elevator on the Paris tower as a problem, the tower does have elevators for real anyway and at least they are giving gamers the choice to ride up or climb it. Picky picky picky

  • Skurmedel #78 2 years ago

    "Eurogamer review sparks new violence between the two neighbours."

  • muscleblade #79 2 years ago

    @retrend

    Its easy to tell your opinion without being hostile you know.

  • gallow #80 2 years ago

    If you want to read about true life account of an SOE agent then you should read The Next Moon.

  • eddiep #81 2 years ago

    @beckyh: read the TeamXbox review for a LOT of messed-up details that I wouldn't call "tiny" (like inconsistent game rules, laughable story, poorly implemented stealth, etc)

    A quote from that review:
    "There is a distinct lack of polish that has marked previous Pandemic titles. There were frequent occasions during my playthrough that it felt as if the game’s engine could barely hold the world together. Guards stood lookout atop phantom towers that I had destroyed hours before. Music often awkwardly looped in jarring ways. Cars literally fell from the sky if I was driving faster than the world generator could populate the streets; I frequently saw vehicles still bouncing heavily on their axles as I approached. This is to say nothing of the frame rate and resolution, both of which are often disappointing."
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 12:54

  • makeamazing #82 2 years ago

    Ive not seen any of those major issues (there was some tearing in the first night time missions, but that either disappeared or i didnt notice it anymore)... yes there are some polish issues, controls a bit wonkey, matter of personal taste if you like the character or story (I didnt like the first hour of the game that much)... but its fun.. and i look forward to playing it some more in the future, which is one of the key factors of a game, unlike Avatar, which I really do not want to play again.

  • VicViper #83 2 years ago

    Wow, even for eurogamer these comments degenerated quickly.

  • Cherub007 #84 2 years ago

    As far as I can see, the reviewer has backed up with solid examples the reasons he doesn't rate the game. The charisma and 'feel' of a game are very personal things, and can have as much to do with the person playing the game as the game itself, so I'm at a loss to understand why people are throwing their toys so far out of the pram. And re the politics, chill out you bunch of dicks. It was clearly a throwaway line with tongue clearly in cheek and could just as easily have been made by an Irishman as a Brit, the only requirement to appreciate it being a sense of humour.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #85 2 years ago

    I wonder how GTA4 with its ex-military Serb psychotic mass murderer went down in the rest of the Balkans.

  • ChampionAdam #86 2 years ago

    6/10 is pretty far off the mark IMO - I'm having a genuine blast (HA!) with this game. It's moody, cheesily funny ("you'll develop a taste for bratwurst...ahaha!";) and the story is gripping.

    It's very much in the spirit of cheap WWII and post WWII era war movies.

    As has been said, if you liked Mafia, this would be very much up your street.

    7 or 7.5 out of 10 so far.

  • muscleblade #87 2 years ago

    "read the TeamXbox review for a LOT of messed-up details that I wouldn't call "tiny"

    And yet they gave it a pretty solid score 7/10

  • Fleeby #88 2 years ago

    Shame about the game but to be honest, am more perturbed by the highly intrusive and exceedingly fucking tedious ad on the front page which is screwing up my viewing experience of Eurogamer. Judged on the ad's annoyance factor alone, I hope the game fails.

  • Grayvern #89 2 years ago

    It was kind of a dumb statement by the reviwer which misses the a far more interesting point over the stereotypical prtrayal of an Irish person by an american studio.

    Most importantly it's bloody stupid to accociate the actions of institutions based on national boundries and ruled by tyrants or political aristos with the beliefs and actions of every single member of its population.

  • kraenk12 #90 2 years ago

    In germany the game got as well a 6 and a 8.5 and 8.7 ratings from major gaming sites.

    It's a strange thing with this game, either you love it or hate it. I love it and would rate it a solid 8 if not 8.5.

    Most people who already played it seem to like it a lot. Sometimes I think game-testers forgot to look for the fun and focus too much on nit-picking
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 22:17

  • Gearskin #91 2 years ago

    I've clocked around 3 hours, climbed the Eiffel tower, killed some Nazis... better than a 6. Yep.

  • FromTheLandUnknown #92 2 years ago

    @Mentalist(air)
    I can answer that at least partially, because I live in Slovenia, one of the states, which were once Yugoslavia. My EG nick derives from the fact, that nobody knows for certain where or what Slovenia is. We get mixed up with Slovakia (state) and Slavonia (region in Croatia), even sometimes when we speak with Austrians, Italians or Hungarian with which all we share a common border.

    GTA 4 did sell good in our country, that is the fact. I think, that was due to three main reasons: 1.) GTA franchise had a good established tradition, and the game was marketed (hyped ) before release. 2.) nobody knew the story setting (this was so very true for me personally) 3.) we have a strong enough minority of exactly the same ex-military psychotic Serb mass murderer wannabes due to historic facts, that we were always a most developed northern part of Yugoslavia (democratic processes started in our country) and the conflict in our country was negligible in comparison to others (our armed conflict lasted not full two weeks, then it was over and went in diplomatic one). As a result of that, many Serbs and others found work here, and still do, now more than ever, as we are the sole country from former Yugoslavia in the moment, that entered in EU 2005.

    But the fact remains, that nobody i know, did ever bother to finish GTA 4. I wonder if it is due to game and mission design that was discussed enough already as one of the main game flaws, or some other reason. I personally stopped to play it very fast, because an idea to play as a socially maladapted foreigner, which seems genetically predisposed against learning languages, and is even proud about it (one known Serbian phrase says: talk Serbian, so the world can understand you), which seeks economic and mind escape due to the frustration that their conquering plans backfired (in this moment even serbian northern province Vojvodina wants independence, because this domineering, conquering momentum, that was stopped to the outside now turns to the inside) and is as a result prone to crime activities of all sorts because it feels that we in fact owe them something (one statistic survey revealed that 90% of serious organized crime in our country is of non-slovenian origin) and does not adapt at all to new environment, does not attract me at all.

    I liked a little more GTA San Andreas because there at least, I was black and beautiful! :)

    But I guess, that at least a part of that same sentiment is present in all of GTA franchise so they are not a favourite in my book,
    maybe also because I am in my mature years and not feeling so rebellious any more.
    But GTA 4 I hate with my every fibre.It gets 5 from me due to production value and complexity, but then full stop because of story, even if I read that later it gets some moral twist or something, I don't bother to know any more, because I see enough such misfits everyday in my real life.

  • spookyzombie #93 2 years ago

    'I'm holding out for Gears of War crossed with Hi-de-Hi.' (quote)

    Presumably titled: Horde-de-hi.

    Su Pollard gold apron code included inside box.
    Edited by 1 at 06/12/09 @ 18:59

  • Simplex #94 2 years ago

    "There are smart moments, such as the restaging of the outbreak of fighting in Europe as a higgledly-piggledy car chase through the burning fields of France,"

    Really smart, considering that the ACTUAL outbreak of fighting in Europe took place a few months earlier in a relatively small and obscure country called Poland... you can check that in Wikipedia, but looks like you forgot to, just like Pandemic. I could expect that kind of ignorance from Americans, but it's disappointing to see that some Europeans are equally ignorant as far as not-so-distant history is concerned.

    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_W ar_II_%281939%29
    ]http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of...[/link]

  • Zephro #95 2 years ago

    I'm guessing he meant fighting on the Western front, some people are far too anal about a game's review aren't they.

  • actionfitz #96 2 years ago

    "a smirking presence in a flat cap who spouts cartoon Irishisms at you"

    oh lovely, so pretty much like every American show with an 'irish' character in it?... yes im looking at you Heroes and Sons of Anarchy...
    really wish these morons would 'irish-proof' their stuff - give someone actually from Ireland a chance to edit their scripts and veto thier casting choices. From bad voice acting and script writing in games to half-assed accent butchering american 'my granny's dog once shat something the color of guinness' so i have a perfect irish accent eejits.

  • actionfitz #97 2 years ago

    @JEPC123
    04/12/09 @ 00:29

    Before you go offering opinions on the cause and effects of the 'Irish Famine' - A total Misnomer by the way... There was NO Famine in Ireland. Your heard me right. Read on if you can be bothered.

    [link url=http://www.merriam-webster.com:
    ]http://www.merriam-webster.com:
    [/link]
    Main Entry: fam·ine
    Pronunciation: \ˈfa-mən\
    Function: noun
    Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from feim, faim hunger, from Latin fames
    Date: 14th century
    1 : an extreme scarcity of food
    2 archaic : starvation
    3 archaic : a ravenous appetite
    4 : a great shortage

    The paragraph below is lifted from Wikipedia:

    Cecil Woodham-Smith, an authority on the Irish Famine, wrote in The Great Hunger; Ireland 1845–1849 that no issue has provoked so much anger and embittered relations between England and Ireland as "the indisputable fact that huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England throughout the period when the people of Ireland were dying of starvation." Ireland remained a net exporter of food throughout most of the five-year famine.
    ---
    There was no scarcity of food in Ireland. Irish Catholics were not allowed to own land. All of the major crops on the fertile land was the property of the Aristocracy. The Irish workers sustained themselves with small crops of potatoes - that could be grown on less fertile land. There was a 'Potato Blight' in Ireland this lead to what we call 'an Gorta Mór' meaning "the great hunger", only the British refer to it as 'The Famine'.

  • jonsaan #98 2 years ago

    Period music is pitched somewhere between raised-eyebrow jazz and the kind of sultry sax that might play in the background if you were being fellated by a young Vera Lynn.

    Massvely disrespectful to the Dame EG!? :D

  • NBAoz #99 2 years ago

    IMO one of the best action adventure games of the year for me and highly underated. I am really enjoying the story, cheesy humor, setting and characters. Sure it is a little rough around the edges, but it has so much atmosphere, character and charm. Gameplay wise it is like Assassins Creed crossed with GTA set in WWII era Paris fighting the Nazis! Oh and I almost forgot about all the eye candy. Those who have played it will know what I mean ;)

    8/10
    Edited by 1 at 08/12/09 @ 04:07

  • SheffieldSteel #100 2 years ago

    The great tragedy of Irish history is, I think, the "never forgive, never forget" attitude to past injustices that is seen on both sides of the religious / political divide.
    I don't think this review should be criticised for suggesting that some British people, when seeing an Irishman planting explosives in a video game, might remember real explosives planted by Irishmen. Arguing that those were freedom fighters (not terrorists) only makes their connection with this character all the more obvious.
    On topic: I think I'm going to buy this game even though I can't see it providing lasting value. Maybe it will pleasantly surprise me.

  • captain-future #101 2 years ago

    Bastardi Senza Gloria! *shakes*fist*

    I LIKE the game a lot.

  • Bluetooth #102 2 years ago

    WW2 again! You can never kill too many Nazis I suppose.

    What a great thread... Irish insults + Serbian dude talking about history and politics.

  • FromTheLandUnknown #103 2 years ago

    @Bluetooth

    It could not be a greater insult for me than somebody calling me "Serbian dude". I'll be watching you... :)

    Seriously, how retarded must you be? Or, to make you a question on which there is no answer: Were you born retarded, or did abuse later in life caused that? Debate would be long and futile.

    My advice: use arrogance only when it is accompanied with knowledge, otherwise it is highly misplaced, and speaks volumes about mental disorders so profound, that they do not leave you any time to look 5 minutes on Wikipedia.

    You don't need to read my posts in future, if they are too complex for you. I was just answering a question.

  • Ledd #104 2 years ago

    I think the score 6/10 is harsh because the hero is an Irish and the reviewers are British!

  • Bluetooth #105 2 years ago

    @Serbian Fairy

    Well, I managed to piss you off rather easily, so not so much of a retard as you think.

  • FromTheLandUnknown #106 2 years ago

    @Bluetooth

    You are right, retards and Serbs do piss me off rather easily, and so does this kind of Serbian mentality, which You have and are not even aware of it.

    But that is my characteristic, based on hard life which we had around here, because people like yourself, primitive and Serbs, which in many many cases goes hand in hand.

    But this objectively, does not make you less of a retard. It's just the fact,that I am so good at recognizing it, which you nicely confirmed with your last post.

    Hope to see more of You, maybe even in person. Than we could discuss the "Fairy" part. I can assure You, this would put some beliefs about Yourself in totally new perspective. And please try to use more creative insults, if You can.

    Otherwise I can be more vulgar than You, even if just to communicate with you on Your level, which I'm sure You will have to see.

  • JEPC123 #107 2 years ago

    @actionfitz

    Well, the British and the Americans and many other people refer to it as the Famine, misnomer or not. Despite my Irish ancestry, I DID study it in Britain, and thus use the terminology which I learnt! Yes, there was food in Ireland and it was indeed apropriated and exported by the aristocracy, but as you hint at, the tenant farming system and the subdivision of farming plots amongst families meant that in general the vast majority of the population was hungry; when the potato blight hit, it thus affected the staple crop of the Catholic peasantry, obviously leading to an increase in the fairly usual problem of hunger, and an even more severe scarcity of food FOR A CERTAIN POPULATION who essentially survived wholly on potatoes. Yes, there was food, but the point is that the Catholic peasantry were hungrier than normal - they experienced extreme hunger and starvation! That, to me, seems like famine conditions which match the definition you quoted, however you think it was created.

    In response to what I take to be your fairly sarcastic phrasing of 'Before you go offering opinions on the cause and effects [...] if you can be bothered,' I have a First Class Honours degree in History, a Masters with Distinction in Modern History, and am a second-year History PhD student - I think I can offer opinions regardless of whether the specific historiographical categorisation I use is semantically watertight or not (which is rarely the case given the generalisations required to impose a false narrative on, and to arrive at an understanding of, the past). Were we debating genocide vs. mass violence or a similarly 'dangerous' subject, and I used one of these words which clearly betrayed a subjective viewpoint and thus suggested a closed mind, I'd say that you'd be right to call into question my opinions based on the use of a single word; in this case, however, I think it's a tad pedantic. Apologies if I've misread your comments or overreacted.

  • TresEnnui #108 2 years ago

    It's already been said numerous times in the previous comments but I have to re-iterate that the reviewers comment about British gamers having a hard time enjoying a game with an Irish protagonist who uses explosives is insensitive at best, offensive to a large portion of your readers at worst, and idiotic either way.

    I'm a fan and regular user of this site and am not an advocate of censorship in any way. However, if you're going to run a site called EUROgamer I think you owe it to your readers to leave biased social commentary out of your reviews. My objection isn't even because of my nationality I'd be just as disappointed if there'd been a silly comment about the French being "surrender monkeys" or something of the sort.

    Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions & biases but please edit this sort of thing out in future. You're better than this.

  • LazyNinjaUk #109 2 years ago

    The game isn't bad, but it isn't great either. I seem to see-saw between liking it, and hoping it will die a painful and lonely death.

    Pandemic really hasn't done much to improve my opinion of them. Thought LoTR: Conquest was shite and Mercenaries 2 was average with LOADS of bugs. This doesn't help any more than that it doesn't quite suck as much, but is just as mediocre.

  • cjs #110 1 year ago

    While the game has its fair share of problems, I found it roughly comparable to Assassin's Creed 2 (albeit with guns added), which rated a 9 here.

    AC2 certainly had better art, but I found the black-and-white to colour transition in The Saboteur to be brilliant, myself. Not only does it almost give you two sets of art for the price of one, but it's a very effective way of showing the state of certain parts of the world. Bringing a neighbourhood from B/W to colour for the first time is a wonderful experience.

    Climbing mechanics seemed about the same in both, and a bit fiddly and annoying. While AC2 certainly had more interesting melee mechanics, I found the broader range of mechanics (ranged weapons, both long and short, and driving) in TS to offer a lot more satisfaction. Both games had their share of open-world things to do that got rather dull and repetitive after a while; the one point where perhaps TC fell down was in the sheer number of them; destroying your hundredth almost-identical outpost full of guards, towers, radars, searchlights and so on is rather tedious. (You don't have to play all of these unless you're going for the platinum trophy, of course.) TC did lock up a few less times than AC2 on my PS3, as well.

    What it really came down to in the end is that TC got a replay a few months later, and AC2 did not. This was in part due to a setting and storyline that interested me more, but probably more due to the wider range of mechanics that kept the game more interesting to me. So if you like AC2-style games, this is certainly worth a try.