NEWS:
The Saboteur is looking like a Triple A title indeed and one of the elements that makes games Triple A besides gameplay it self is the actual story line. The Saboteur is actually based on a true story and the gameplay along with this story seems to be on the track of being Epic. There’s no game this generation at the moment that has reached such slick level design and/or capture such a deep black and white stylish feel to tell a story. EA once again is trying to reclaim the top publisher spot and with games like this they just might.
Here’s the full interview right below courtesy of EA
I’ve heard that the story for Saboteur is loosely based around a real life story that was found on Wikipedia. How did your team find the story and what types of changes had to be made to make it work in a video game?
The Saboteur is inspired by the true story of William Grover-Williams rather than being based on his actual life events. Andrew Goldman, one of the founders of Pandemic Studios, learned about three race-car drivers that were recruited by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and ultimately reinserted back into France to assist the French Resistance. Williams was a half-English, half-French Grand Prix Champion who drove for the French Bugatti racing team that fled to England when the Nazis occupied France. His experience as a race-car driver and inherent daredevil nature made him a prime candidate for the SOE to recruit him as a saboteur. We fell in love with this idea of a real “larger-than-life hero” and from there began crafting our hero, Sean Devlin, with this as our source of inspiration. We wanted to take our own spin on a story in this world, push the game outside of the typical World War II genre, make the story more personal and go a bit more over the top. So it made sense to go in our own direction rather than basing it directly off of Williams.
The disguise aspect was shown at E3. How does it work exactly? It seemed like when the character started shooting any enemy the disguise goes away? Is it something you have in your item list to change into?
Sean can’t just change into a disguise at anytime like Superman. In The Saboteur, Sean can commandeer disguises off of the bodies of most dead Nazis as long as you don’t bloody the uniform (i.e., the player takes them out with a stealth kill or melee attack). Taking a disguise allows Sean to move more freely around Nazi bases, but, like our general world suspicion system, you still have to blend into your environment. This means climbing buildings, getting into fights and especially firing a weapon will bring attention and shed your disguise.
We saw one type of car in the demo at E3. Are there other motorcycles or cars that Devlin will be able to use in the game? Can he get into any car?
The car you saw in the demo was called the Aurora. It’s one of the many different types of race cars we have in the game. We have lots of different types of vehicles Sean will be able to take and drive around in the game; various civilian cars, trucks, tanks, motorcycles and armored vehicles will be accessible by the player. Our rule is that we allow the player to drive anything that they can get access to.
The time period is set and the location setting is Paris. What type of music will the game have as a soundtrack?
Our music comes in two flavors: soundtrack and score. The soundtrack is more used to add flavor – it’s a mix of classics and even some modern songs that feel like they fit into the period and setting. It’s been interesting to strike that right balance and find music that keeps us all entertained. The score is there to help bring some drama into the scenes or enhance the action of a mission. We have a lot of big music fans on this project (myself included) so we had a lot of talks early to try to find the right tone for the game.
How smart will the AI be? Will you be able to talk to AI to get clues about what to do next?
Our AI is separated into enemy, allied, and civilian AI, and all of them have combat and non-combat behaviors (e.g. people milling about the world, talking to each other, going about their daily lives, etc.). Because of the variety of tools we give the player to approach any situation (disguise, melee, vehicles, explosives, firearms, sneaking, high and low Will-to-Fight, etc.), all the different types of AI have a lot to react to. On top of that, it has to handle any of these situations anywhere in our huge sandbox. It’s a crazy web to build in this type of game, but it’s also necessary to keep the player involved in the world.
While Pandemic has some strong titles, the buzz about Saboteur is HUGE. How do you feel about the reception so far, and do you plan on supporting Saboteur with DLC or a sequel if it’s popular enough?
We’re really proud of The Saboteur, and the team is pouring its heart and soul, blood and tears into the game to make it as cool as we can. It’s been great to finally sit down with lots of people and show them the game running. The reaction has been extremely positive when we do, and people really seem to be latching onto the various aspects that just make it different from other games set in the WWII era. We’ve created a very rich world, and it’s great to see people getting really into it. Regarding DLC, we have not announced any plans at this point.
As The Saboteur, how will players learn of missions?
Sean will make contacts with various Resistance members throughout his story. When Sean escapes to Paris, he spends a lot of time during the early part of the Paris occupation drinking at a cabaret/brothel we call The Belle du Nuit. It’s a really sexy location in the game, not only because, well, the type of business they conduct there, but it is also a place where the Nazis act like they are in control while around them is a sense of inspiration from the resistance forming in that location. There, Sean meets someone who becomes quite important in the Resistance. The two of them share a common hatred for the Nazis, and Sean sees it as a way to begin getting back at those that hurt him. From there, the Resistance really forms and spreads across Paris into hidden underground HQs and other unsuspecting locals. Sean will meet up with these contacts through the other Resistance characters, or he’ll get passed a secret note while walking down the street. What’s interesting about the world we’ve created is that all of our characters have their own motivations going on behind the scenes, and Sean can chose to help who he wants or continue seeking following his own motivation of vengeance.
As The Saboteur, what will you have access to that will allow the player to complete missions?
The missions in The Saboteur are designed around a concept we call “Quiet In/Loud Out”. The idea behind this is that the missions allow and encourage the player to approach the situation quietly: snapping necks, taking uniforms and working their way into the heart of Nazi bases. The bases are generally crawling with Nazi soldiers, armaments, and mounted weapons to stop Sean’s approach. This doesn’t mean the player has to go this route, however. We encourage players to be whatever type of saboteur they want – so if shooting is your fancy, go for it! Want to pack explosives on a car and blow your way through the front gate? Sure, you can go for it! It may be harder to get Sean to where he needs to go, but that’s up to you. Eventually, the mission will reach a critical point where Sean has to crank things up and go completely “Loud Out.” Nazis will begin closing in, bullets will fly and reinforcements will arrive. The player will need to use cover and/or one of the many different types of weapons, ranging from pistols, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, grenades, etc., etc., etc., to stay alive. Out of ammo? Not a problem. Sean’s a brawler by nature, so pounce on a nearby Nazi and beat a weapon out of his hands. These moments can get pretty intense, and the best option at this point is to escape by running, climbing or grabbing the nearest vehicle and just getting the hell out of there. Now the choice is run or hide. Running is often not the easiest solution because Sean is fighting in an occupied country, so he’s likely to get spotted. But he has other options, and there are several different types of hiding spots scattered around the world where Sean can hide out and let things cool down before going back to his business.
Paris looks like a fun playground for this variety, can you explain how you decided on this environment?
The spark for building Paris really came from the inspiration behind the true story of William Grover-Williams. Building Paris was a huge undertaking but extremely exciting as well. As we looked at a lot of reference material and finally took a research trip to the city itself, we were blown away by the beauty of the gorgeous monuments, historic architecture and twisting streets. And not only is Paris very rich and interesting from the ground level, but – looking out across the rooftops – it was apparent to us why Paris is the birthplace of parkour. The whole world of rooftops looked like they would be awesome to run around on and explore. We opted to not build the city to a one-to-one scale because we didn’t want the environment to be overwhelming to explore; rather, we wanted players to find the unique content we have on literally every block in the game. We put a lot of attention and technology behind capturing the spirit of Paris, and this not only allowed us to build a city packed with detail from the dirty streets to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but it also supports racing through the winding streets in high-powered race cars all the way up the coast of France, through the countryside, into Germany and back seamlessly.
