Pandemic unveils Saboteur, a 'different' WWII shooter
by Ross Miller 
{ Mar 19th 2007 at 7:29PM }
The April issue of Game Informer is bringing word of the latest project from Pandemic Studios (Destroy All Humans, Mercenaries). It turns out it will be a World War II shooter entitled Saboteur.Another World War II shooter, eh? Before you join us in a collective sigh, Pandemic asserts that this is different than other shooters out there. How so? There will be action, stealth, an open-ended world, and -- here's the differentiator -- a black-and-white color scheme to indicate which areas are controlled by Nazis.
It certainly is artistic, but we can't stop thinking about the film Pleasantville. We like the concept, but we'll reserve judgment until we see, in video, how well they pull off the effect. No word on which "secret project" -- B, Q, X, Y or Z -- this was, but they are all good choices in Scrabble. There's a 2008 release date mentioned but no console specified. Given the developer's history, they might end up playing coy for a good while.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
miles foreman @ Mar 19th 2007 7:34PM
Sigh... another WW2 game? They can't pick ANY other conflict but WW2? It has to be WW2 to work properly? Seriously?
Gavin @ Mar 19th 2007 7:46PM
Yeah, the largest conflict in mankind's history and the most important event of the 20th century...how dare they make games about it. Sorry whiners, but WWII games have been a staple in the PC market for decades now just like SciFi games have been.
Don't like the genre? Don't buy the game. It's that easy.
On the actual topic of the game, is there going to be something along the lines of Operation Chastise? The bombing mission that inspired the film The Dam Busters, which later went on to inspire the Death Star sequence from Star Wars?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise
I certainly hope so!!!
RedCrake @ Mar 19th 2007 9:56PM
Yeah...where's my Vietnam game. I wanna brush water rats off with the Nunchuk while I'm trapped in a cage. I wanna play Russian Roulette with the WiiMote. I wanna turn a firehose on hippies who don't support the war effort back home.
The sequel, "Iran Contra" oughta be great. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A will give extra secret arms deals.
Andrew @ Mar 19th 2007 8:08PM
I am getting so tired of the "don't like it. don't buy it" shutdown. Not being in the market for a specific game or genre, does not dissolve you from the right to participate in any discussion regarding it.
miles foreman @ Mar 19th 2007 8:09PM
Yup, I'm a "whiner" because I like a bit of variety in my games. I haven't bought or played a WW2 game since CoD because they're practically identical. You have the same 5 weapons, the same 5 locations and the same enemy EVERY TIME. They all have a little "stealth" thrown in there too, heh. Don't let me stop you from forking over that 60 dollars, though.
However, I'm sure this latest WW2 shooter will be completely different. Just like the 500 other WW2 shooters that have been released in the last five years or so.
CaptBeefheart @ Mar 19th 2007 8:24PM
I dig the Brotherhood in Arms series. Never bothered with CoD or MoH so I'm not too burnt out on WW2. Looking forward to it because it's Pandemic and they always add an interesting wrinkle to things.
steve17 @ Mar 19th 2007 8:57PM
im always down to kill some germans(of the nazi kind).
but i agree. the genre of ww2 is pretty saturated. a good one like CoD or this once in a while is welcome.
here are some good FPS games based on wars i would like to see.
1)korea
2)a GOOD vietnam game
3)a GOOD ww2 shooter in the pacific
4)ww1(maby)
CaptBeefheart @ Mar 19th 2007 9:47PM
a good stealth guerilla warfare game set in the civil war would be pretty sweet. I actually played that history channel offering. It was awful. :(
colin @ Mar 19th 2007 11:20PM
"Get the Panzer-shrek!"
"Take out that half-track!"
"NG-forty-two!"
-repeat ad nauseam
TSD @ Mar 19th 2007 10:21PM
Andrew, nobody can force you out of a discussion, but when you come into a topic with the sole point to bitch about it, people are going to label you a bitch, and rightfully so.
It's not like making WWII fps' somehow diminishes your ability to play other games. The market is big enough to hold several genres.
miles foreman, did you even read the article. It sounds like you saw "WWII" in the title and immidiately decided it was crap. Nothing you said about WWII games applies to this one.
This is not in the same vien as COD or MOH, its a sandbox game like Crackdown that *gasp* happens to be set in WWII. Wow, who knew developers could deviate from the run-and-gan fps style and still set the game in WWII.
miles foreman @ Mar 19th 2007 10:33PM
"miles foreman, did you even read the article. It sounds like you saw "WWII" in the title and immidiately decided it was crap. Nothing you said about WWII games applies to this one."
The same 5 weapons, France... again... and the same enemy. What part did I say that didn't apply? What's funny is no, I didn't read the article but I still guessed France correctly.
"This is not in the same vien as COD or MOH, its a sandbox game like Crackdown that *gasp* happens to be set in WWII. Wow, who knew developers could deviate from the run-and-gan fps style and still set the game in WWII."
You never played Mercenaries, huh?
TSD @ Mar 19th 2007 10:57PM
miles
Yes I have, and thank you for proving my point. Mercenaries is a free-roaming shooter that allowed you run around an open world to complete objectives with several weapons, not just move down 1 path from point A to point B with the staple machine-gun, rifle, pistol combo. Name one other WWII game like that.
Mercenaries and Saboteur are hardly comprable to the glut of WWII shooters you described earlier.
Just because this game is set in WWII does not mean it is the same as the shovelware WWII FPS's flooding the market.
Andrew @ Mar 20th 2007 1:04AM
TSD I am labeling you a bitch, and "rightfully so"
michael black jr @ Mar 20th 2007 5:13AM
ENOUGH WITH F@#$^&* WORLD WAR 2 VIDEO GAMES!
Nephus @ Mar 20th 2007 8:31AM
Well, as to the glut of WW2 games, there is a very good reason, and it's name is Mother. (for the most part anyway) Parents don't want their kids going around shooting people in games. With all the skewed statistics saying that games make people violent, there's a serious backlash against realistic games where you fight against other humans. Germany even goes so far as to replace humans with zombies in many of their imports (Carmageddon 2 comes to mind) to keep that situation from occurring.
I personally know several parents who only let their children play shooters like Halo, because they're fighting aliens instead of people. What does this have to do with WW2? Well, history has dehumanized Nazis to the extent that they're pretty close to being aliens. It's socially acceptable to mow down Nazis on sight, but not so much to attack random prostitutes and pedestrians. When's the last time you heard complaints about killing Nazi's, aliens, or zombies in games? I honestly can't think of a single time.
Until game publishers are willing to take a risk and publish games with more creative storylines, get ready for more Nazis for years to come. The sad fact is, games cost a lot of money to create, and publishers often tell their game designers to just make another shooter because it will sell.
So really, it's our fault for buying the games. If you don't want any more WW2 shooters, or flight sims, or (and I hope this never happens) dating sims.... boycot. Start a serious movement to let the industry know that we're all fed up with their offerings. Hitting them in the pocketbook is the only way they'll listen.
miles foreman @ Mar 20th 2007 3:56PM
Well said, Nephus.