The Saboteur™

91%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,481 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
The Saboteur™ Game Cover
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"The Saboteur™" is an open-world action thriller set in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris, where you play as tough Irish racecar mechanic Sean Devlin seeking revenge against Colonel Kurt Dierker. Fight using stealth and disguise to sabotage German forces, liberating neighborhoods and bringing color back to the city. Scale iconic landmarks, navigate diverse terrain, and command various vehicles in your mission to undermine the Nazi occupation.

  • PC
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

91%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,481 reviews
story102 positive mentions
stability49 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique black-and-white aesthetic that transforms to color as players liberate areas, creating a visually striking experience.
  • Gameplay combines elements of stealth, parkour, and open-world exploration, reminiscent of titles like GTA and Assassin's Creed, providing a fun and engaging experience.
  • The story, while not groundbreaking, is entertaining and features a charismatic protagonist, Sean Devlin, whose humorous dialogue adds charm to the game.
  • The game suffers from technical issues, including crashes, poor AI behavior, and clunky controls, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • Many players find the mission structure repetitive and the side activities lack depth, leading to a feeling of monotony over time.
  • The PC port has limitations, such as a 60 FPS cap and resolution issues, requiring manual adjustments to settings for optimal performance.
  • story410 mentions

    The story of *The Saboteur* is generally well-received, featuring a revenge-driven plot set in WWII-era Paris that combines elements of action, stealth, and open-world exploration. While some players find the narrative engaging and the characters memorable, others criticize it for being somewhat predictable and repetitive, often feeling like a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a fully developed storyline. Overall, the game is appreciated for its unique setting and entertaining missions, despite some technical flaws and a lack of depth in the plot.

    • “The story, atmosphere, world, missions, and gameplay—everything about this game is fantastic, in my opinion.”
    • “The saboteur is a real hidden gem of a game with a highly original story and stylish presentation.”
    • “The story was well told, the acting believable, the action enjoyable, and the new ideas implemented will inspire future games, but when all is said and done, the game just feels unfinished in some areas.”
    • “The actual story of The Saboteur is alright, but it is mainly a revenge plot; they go to the sorts of places you would imagine from the period and try to portray the war while also getting a publisher.”
    • “This culminates in the major issue with The Saboteur: you can replace its nazis with basically any other occupying force and the story would not change.”
    • “The story seems a bit shallow and more of a revenge tale when it could have been a larger picture contributing to the war cause.”
  • gameplay234 mentions

    The gameplay in "The Saboteur" is a blend of open-world mechanics reminiscent of titles like GTA and Assassin's Creed, featuring parkour, shooting, and sabotage elements that provide a fun and dynamic experience, despite some dated and clunky mechanics. While the driving and climbing can be mediocre and the mission design repetitive, the overall gameplay loop remains engaging, especially for fans of action-adventure games set in a WWII context. The game's unique visual style and atmosphere, combined with its entertaining character and story, help to elevate the gameplay experience, making it a worthwhile play for those who appreciate its nostalgic charm.

    • “Saboteur has two main things going for it: fun, entertaining gameplay and great visual style.”
    • “The gameplay loop is an utter treat; the weapons all feel good to use, and each type caters to specific styles of engaging the sandbox.”
    • “The story, atmosphere, world, missions, and gameplay—everything about this game is fantastic, in my opinion.”
    • “It's glitchy, 'old' in a bad way, AI is weak, chaotic, mechanics are clearly visible and predictable, repetitive, and so on.”
    • “Every mechanic is undercooked and half-thought.”
    • “The save mechanic also sucks; it is practically impossible to make progress on free play objectives because nothing is saved when you die, and quickloading spawns you at a safehouse which is usually halfway across the map from where you died.”
  • graphics174 mentions

    The graphics of "The Saboteur" are generally considered dated, reflecting its 2009 release, with many players noting that they fall short compared to contemporary titles like GTA IV and Mafia II. While some appreciate the unique art style and the effective use of black-and-white visuals to enhance the narrative, others criticize the technical limitations, including graphical glitches and a low default resolution. Overall, the visuals evoke nostalgia but require adjustments to settings for an optimal experience.

    • “Awesome graphics for its age.”
    • “Let us talk about something less heavy, I like The Saboteur's visuals, the black-and-white colors, as well as the themes of intrigue and conspiracy evoke film noir, and make for some very cool scenes as explosions and muzzle flashes strike through monochrome.”
    • “The art style is absolutely on point.”
    • “The graphics are underwhelming (even for 2009) and honestly the entire game should have just been in black and white to hide the lackluster visuals.”
    • “The graphics are pretty outdated and worse than other games in this time period like GTA 4, Mafia 2, or Just Cause 2.”
    • “Graphical glitches and stuttering sabotaged my experience.”
  • music77 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to create an immersive atmosphere, blending period-appropriate jazz and blues with original compositions that enhance the World War II setting. While some users note the inclusion of modern tracks, they generally agree that the soundtrack fits the game's vibe perfectly, contributing to a nostalgic and engaging experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered one of the standout features, elevating the gameplay and enhancing the emotional impact of the story.

    • “The soundtrack is incredible.”
    • “It created such an ambiance: period music from the car radios, Parisian cabarets, period weapons, everything you could ask for to support immersion in a 2009 title.”
    • “Re-experiencing the best times being carefree, driving around in the open world, completing missions, listening to the awesome soundtracks, all while being completely immersed in the story.”
    • “Because here are more important issues than musical historicity, sound effects, and guns sound too weak and ineffective so they never seem as powerful as they should, and cars generally go utterly quiet after a few miles on a road, that is bad, and gets tiresome.”
    • “Music is nothing to write home about but it gets the job done.”
    • “I do not mind the lack of authentic music; the songs are good and fit the vibe, and that is enough.”
  • stability63 mentions

    The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes, particularly when exiting to Windows, which often leads to system freezes. While some players find it runs well on platforms like the Steam Deck, the overall experience is marred by technical issues that detract from enjoyment, making it difficult to recommend without significant patches. Despite its fun gameplay and story, the persistent instability overshadows its potential.

    • “Great game, runs great on Steam Deck 9/10.”
    • “The Saboteur still holds up and runs great on the Steam Deck (60fps at max settings with no fps dip, quiet fan, and good battery life).”
    • “Runs great in 4K, doesn’t require Origin or anything like that, and is still super fun to kill Nazis and blow stuff up in a stylized (Sin City-ish) French setting.”
    • “Fun story, gameplay, etc. but if my PC crashes multiple times during play and if I try to 'exit to Windows' and my entire PC freezes, it's not even worth revisiting.”
    • “The worst one is when I exit to Windows and the game freezes so bad that sound ticks and the Ctrl+Alt+Del menu won't even get you out; I couldn't access anything and had to restart the whole rig!”
    • “They re-released it on Steam in 2024, but didn't bother to fix a simple freeze on exit issue.”
  • humor29 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by its crude banter, hilarious accents, and witty writing, particularly through the character of Sean, a comically chaotic Irishman. Players appreciate the blend of serious themes with laugh-out-loud moments, especially during explosive gameplay and clever escape methods. Overall, the humor is a standout feature, making the experience both entertaining and memorable.

    • “The writing is really humorous at times, and Sean is a great character to play.”
    • “His one-liners as he slaughters yet another truck full of SS are hilarious, and it's good to see that modern attitudes haven't resulted in some of the more choice comments being removed.”
    • “A basic heat game mechanic, but the methods for escape are hilarious: run away, hide in a shed...or brothel, kiss a girl, go to a bar & order a drink, or use a public urinal, so long as no one is looking.”
  • atmosphere28 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its unique black and white visual style, evocative setting in a rainy Paris during World War II, and an authentic French soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Many reviewers note that this atmospheric presentation surpasses that of many modern open-world games, creating a compelling and immersive environment that feels reminiscent of classic films. While the gameplay receives mixed feedback, the atmospheric elements are consistently highlighted as outstanding and integral to the game's appeal.

    • “Presentation is actually amazing despite the dated textures; the black and white theme together with a rainy Paris, occupying Nazis, authentic French soundtrack, etc. makes for one hell of an atmosphere; better than many modern open world games by a long shot.”
    • “The game's atmosphere and concept are outstanding. I love the style and vibe of this game, the music is very fitting, and the black and white setting is very well made.”
    • “The awesome atmosphere of the game is built from the visual design with black and white stylization of levels, streets of Paris, retro cars, the era of World War II, and cult music, including classic jazz and blues, along with original compositions for the game.”
  • optimization23 mentions

    The game's optimization is highly inconsistent, with some players reporting flawless performance and the ability to run it in 4K at full FPS, while others experience significant issues such as sluggish performance, graphical glitches, and stuttering. Many users noted that the game is poorly optimized for modern PCs, with inadequate controller support and targeting issues when using a mouse. Overall, the optimization appears to vary greatly depending on the system and configuration used.

    • “Thankfully now that they have put it on Steam, it is nicely optimized and I can run it in 4K full FPS with no issue.”
    • “Just as fun as I remember and the performance has been great.”
    • “Edit: the prologue and everything around it ran absolutely fine, with no issues to performance or anything like that on the deck so far!”
    • “Performance is bad, it also is quite stuttery, does not display properly, controls are pretty bad, controller support restricted to Xbox (despite a release on PlayStation), targeting using a mouse is way off.”
    • “Not optimized for modern PCs.”
    • “Graphical glitches and stuttering sabotaged my experience.”
  • grinding12 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often requiring excessive travel across the map for missions. While hijacking cars and exploring the environment can be enjoyable, the clunky controls and slow menu navigation detract from the overall experience, making it feel like a completionist's nightmare.

    • “Some are errand missions that require you to travel half of the map, but those are not tedious when you can hijack cars and enjoy the views of landscapes in rural areas.”
    • “A bit grindy and repetitive and a completionist's nightmare.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Riding around Paris and stealing cars is also amusing, although I got very lost trying to get back to base with one I especially wanted to keep - having to escape out and bring up the map is a bit slow and tedious.”
  • replayability8 mentions

    Overall, players find the game to have significant replayability, with many enjoying the experience multiple times. However, some feel that the initial playthrough offers the most enjoyment, suggesting that while replaying can be fun, it may not capture the same magic as the first experience.

    • “Tons of fun and replay value.”
    • “Both are two classics with a ton of replay value.”
    • “There's minor replayability, but in my personal experience, the first time is best.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    Reviews indicate a strong sentiment that current monetization practices in games are perceived as exploitative, with many players feeling that they are being charged excessively for content that should be included in the base price. This has led to a nostalgic longing for the days when games offered more value for their cost.

    • “Back when games used to be good and not just a $60 cash grab.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

10hMedian play time
7hAverage play time
2-12hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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