Editor’s note: This review was written by Wayne Denier, a student at Full Sail University. Wayne is a software developer with eight years of experience creating Web applications. He is also an avid classic game collector, XNA framework developer and DM.

There is something satisfying about cruising past the Arc de Triomphe in a Willys lookalike, listening to Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” working its magic through the car radio. The 1940s Paris setting complete with period motor vehicles, citizens and music is pulled off well in The Saboteur. Although lacking a bit on atmospheric effects, the characters, buildings, cars and Parisian landmarks are presented in high detail. The Saboteur surrounds you with the feeling that you are involved in World War II in a new way. No more Normandy — you are involved in spy games and dirty street fighting to end Nazi occupation of Paris. Sean Devlin is after one man in particular, Commandant Kurt Dierker, a competitive racecar rival and sadistic agent of torture for the Third Reich.

The Saboteur has many features, including hand-to-hand combat, gunplay with cover, driving, stealth and platforming in an open world. The problem with this is that everything on this list has been done, and it’s been done better. After some time, I felt comfortable with the controls, but it felt more like I was trying to trick them into doing what I wanted. The movement is satisfying when in open environments, but in any enclosed space or close quarters, the speed and sensitivity feel extremely clunky. This becomes a nightmare during stealth sections. The stealth kill range is so precise that I found myself mashing the stealth kill button over and over hoping that chance sided with me before the enemy turned around.

Once you get the hang of The Saboteur’s quirks, you’ll be gleefully hopping from one sabotage to the next. Although your character might be too cool to turn around and look at the explosion as he runs away, I found myself swinging the camera around to witness my handy-work time and again. EA has painted a rich portrait of Paris, and the environments and characters are very nice to look at (nudity aside). They’re so good that the in-game cutscenes don’t miss a beat between the limited pre-rendered sequences. My only problem with the character animations lied with climbing and platforming on rooftops. It feels robotic and seemed less like watching a skilled climber and more like playing with a G.I. Joe.

However, the protagonist is not a G.I. Joe; Sean Devlin is a stereotypical loudmouth with a shady past and a wise-ass sense of humor. Admittedly, the limited amount of Sean’s depth and charm comes from his Irish heritage and sly remarks. Nonetheless, Sean is a protagonist you can get behind. He is a man with a simple life outside of causing a little ruckus here and there, and you are a witness to the piecemeal destruction of his life. Through consecutive sequences, you see his life disassembled at the hands of Nazi officer, Kurt Dierker. He is a man that is easy to hate. Within the first two hours of watching this madman commit terrible acts, I was ready to start laying waste to anyone and anything that stood between Sean and his target. Sean is already a dog waiting to be let off the leash, and I was very much happy to oblige.

Dierker isn’t an overly complex villain, but he has two things that make him an enjoyable villain. He is a dark mirror for Sean, and his actions are outright reprehensible. He is introduced as a rival in sport (racecar driving) and is easily dislikable &mdash just a sort of a jerk. It turns out he is much worse. Dierker cheats, murders and revels in the suffering of others, and it is not long before Sean unwittingly becomes the victim of his narcissistic rampage.

There is a small cast of other supporting characters that are mostly cut for some standard spy movie cast list. You meet up with a charismatic English woman named Skylar. It’s established quickly that her and Sean have a history, and their banter is laced with fun but predictable flirtations. Skylar reveals to Sean’s surprise that she is a British spy in a scene where she captures him with drugged wine. She takes him to meet her boss Bishop, a calculating high-level British agent. These scenes are entertaining and are evocative of old spy films. From Sean’s acts of sedition for the resistance to the involvement of British secret operatives, The Saboteur is packed with espionage flavor.

The infiltration and disguise mechanics are nice but break down quickly after one false move. This is extremely disappointing considering how clunky the movement can be at times. Those false moves are all too common. Even if I was able to perfectly bluff my way past the opposition, many missions set off the alarm once my objective was reached, regardless of my performance. Lots of carefully planned stealth missions were reduced to smashing my way out, leaving me to wonder why I even tried. While allowing for covert operations, sometimes you have to fight the game mechanics just to pull it off. Otherwise, be happy with the grueling firefight that ensues. Many missions seem like they are designed to be an out and out gunfight regardless, which can be a letdown if you are playing for the spy action.

The Saboteur is full of flavor with a sprawling recreation of 1940s Paris. The game is reminiscent of classic spy films, and it shows in the characters and missions. The mechanics are nothing new and clunky at times, but there is some fun to be had in the game if you can get past them. At full price, this game would be a disappointment, but with the recent price drop, it’s worth giving it a go.