A team would be hard-pressed to offer open-world gameplay in this day and age and not have it somehow relate back to GTA. And indeed, Saboteur will essentially boil down to having players thwart an assortment of Third Reich operations (“everything from stopping the Nazi weapons train to assassinating a Nazi leader at a rally to a fist-fight at the top of the Eiffel Tower,” Watkins says) within Paris, all in a tried-and-true mission-based format. It’s sure to draw comparisons to Pandemic’s other sandbox-style poster child, but in terms of approaching a mission head-on, there’s a fine distinction between the two. Hong explains:

“I think the best way to characterize it would be, whereas in [Mercenaries] there would be a Nazi headquarters that you just pull up to with a tank or an RV and you blow up the front and go in and guns ablaze…. In Saboteur, you would approach that situation where you would identify a weakness in the patrols, find a (line) or back door entrance into it, set off an alarm, stealth kill a Nazi sentry and once you’re in and softened up the target a little bit, you can then pull out the MP40 and start going guns ablaze.”

What’s perhaps most interesting is how Sean’s liberating tactics will impact the game visually. In what the team is calling the “Will to Fight,” a look that pays great homage to the stylistic Sin City, players will actually be given a visual indication of Nazi occupation in specifics parts of the city. Areas that are under siege will be seen in dreary black and white noir style (Low Will to Fight), where its equally bleak citizens will be very much reluctant to resist the oppression. Pull off a few successful sabotages, though, and you’ll see these portions restored to their naturally vibrant and colorful states (yep -- High Will to Fight), inspiring even those once-timid inhabitants to start joining in the fight. Watkins described a scenario where players could be standing in a lush High Will area, yet peer down two blocks to see another portion of the city still reduced to black and white. Aside from just plain looking cool, the Will to Fight will act as a quick reference tool of finding where the next objective lies.

As rugged a guy as he may be, Sean won’t be terribly successfully in liberating the city from Nazi rule by solely relying on his fists. And thankfully, he won’t have to. Saboteur plans to fit players with a wide arsenal of authentic weapons and, when in a pinch, stealth-kill abilities. As for vehicles, “if you can see it, you can get in it,” as Watkins summates, opening up a selection of cars, tanks, airplanes, boats, motorcycles, bicycles for players to seize and control at will. Practically any visible costume or item can be interacted with and manipulated, which opens up some truly devious options when it comes to sneaking by the enemy unnoticed.

We’ve touched on the game’s graphical accomplishments (all of which will embrace a cinematic feel), but what about aurally? Having an Irishman roaming through Paris amongst German occupation could potentially make for an audio offering rich with multi-lingual chatter, though the team nor on-hand PR rep Ryan Jones was prepared to comment. A trip to the Saboteur website yields a running sound clip (presumably in-game), which is rife with French dialogue and accompanying city sounds. In terms of soundtrack, producer Hong’s love for jazz managed to work its way into the game, as players can expect a mélange of bebop, swing and big bang tunes performed by contemporary acts, in a unique marriage of traditional meets modern.

With Saboteur still at least a year off from release, it’ll be interesting to see how the game pieces together as we learn more about it over the next several months. Given Pandemic’s track record and early impressions of the game, though, we’d be shocked to see it turn out as anything less than a hit. The company is currently shopping around for publishers, so we’ll be sure to report back once follow-up details emerge.