The Saboteur

An Irishman running around blowing up buildings and killing Nazis? What else do you need in a game?

Story

The story begins with the main character, Sean, a champion race car driver, in Paris recounting a series of events that has lead him to this little pub, being hunted by one of the countries most powerful Nazi commanders. While having a drink, a mysterious man approaches Sean, offering his help to rid Paris of the Nazis once and for all, but the dangers involved could risk the lives of everyone Sean holds dear.

Graphics

The games graphics are grainy, on purpose, to give the feeling of dread and doom (which is understandable, it IS Nazi infested Paris). While in Nazi territory, the environment loses all color, becoming black and white, the citizens are downtrodden and fearful.

As Sean takes down key points held by the Nazis, color slowly returns to the area, allowing him more freedom to explore and climb various buildings without being attacked by Nazis.

Controls

Controls are easy and simple to learn. Driving, which is notorious in games for being poorly made, is also simplified so that anyone can master it in a few minutes. Certain areas of buildings (rails, doors, windows, alcoves, etc) are highlighted by a small shimmer that allows the player to climb them to access the rooftops of buildings (ala Assassins Creed), however if caught by Nazis, they will open fire, knocking Sean down.

Sean can equip a numerous number of guns, ranging from pistols, shotguns and even rocket/grenade launchers (these will give your position away faster, but are a lot of fun). Gunplay uses a more over the shoulder style (similar to The Mercenaries), but you can also stealth kill if you wish to be more elusive.

Voice/Music/Sound

Voice work is done well, Sean (who again, is Irish sounds like an Irishman), citizens have a French accent and the Nazis sound German. What stands out is the music, which changes depending on the situation (in dangerous territory, it's somewhat depressing), when in friendly territory, is more friendly. If Sean does something suspicious/illegal, Nazis soldiers will come after him and the music takes a more dangerous turn.

Other

There are many, many, MANY objects to destroy (in fact, if you're an achievement whore, this may be a painful grind, as there are easily 600 things to destroy), luckily, the map shows the location of where these things are (although not always ground level). 

There is a plethora of hidden areas for Sean to discover, and more vehicles then one can count (which, if you bring them to one of the many garages you eventually unlock, you'll be able to drive them at any point in the game, and this is also an achievement).

Overall

This is a fun game if you like open-ended games and/or collectibles, and blowing shit up. However is can get very tedious for achievement hunters.

8.5/10.0

Pros:

- Destructible environments

- A very large play area

- Very fun exploratory game

Cons

- Can get repetitive

- Numerous amounts of weapons, cars and destructible objects for achievement hunters

- Straightforward game

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

The remake of the most popular versions of Pokemon, will this new installment make fans cry from joy or heartbreak?

Story

Pokemon has had the same story from the get go, this doesn't really change in this remake. You are a young trainer who has just acquired their very first Pokemon, and are tasked with retrieving a very important egg from a friend of Prof. Elm name Mr. Pokemon. Upon receiving the egg, you find out that someone has broken into Elm's lab and stolen one of the starter Pokemon (and what a coincidence it's the one that's strong against the one you picked).

You run into the unnamed rival, battle him, and are then told to fill up the Pokedex, beat the Elite Four and just be super awesome. But there's an issue, Team Rocket has returned. After being disbanded 3 years ago after Giovanni lost to a snot nosed brat (who, as we know, is the player from FireRed/LeafGreen/Red/Blue/Yellow) and you must stop them.... again.


Graphics

The graphics haven't received much of an overhaul, but this isn't bad, as Pokemon has looked just fine for several years. I enjoy the simple, yet well made pixel art. Buildings have a slight 3D effect when approaching from the side, and the people, Pokemon and effects are all very well done.


Controls

The controls have remained mostly the same, one this you can do is register two items instead of one (not sure if this was a feature in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum), these items are conveniently placed on the touch screen so you don't have to open your bag to fish them out.


Voice/Music/Sound

This remake has some of the best music of all the Pokemon games. At first, it's nothing special, but when you arrive in Kanto, the music turns into a sorta techno beat, and it's good (I HATE techno so the fact that I like this is amazing). Battle music ranges from Wild encounters, Trainer encounters, Rival encounters, Gym Leader encounters, Elite Four encounters, Champion encounter, Legenadary encounters (and some have their own unique theme) and the encounter with Red (the player from the FireRed/LeafGreen/Red/Blue/Yellow).


Other

Besides the things many of us already know (after defeating the Elite Four, the player can play through Kanto, fighting Brock, Misty and other Kanto Gym Leaders) HG/SS offers a few new changes. The most prominent being that the Pokemon in the top left slot will always be following you, much like Pikachu did in Yellow version.

There is also a Safari Zone in Johto this time around (which was not included due to the Glitch City in Red, Blue and Yellow versions) and the player can manipulate which fields show up in the zone (swamp, grasslands, water, rock, etc) allowing more control over which Pokemon appear.

If you bought the game new, you also received a device called a PokeWalker. This device acts as a pedometer that you can transfer a Pokemon onto and take with you. After a certain amount of steps, you receive a "watt" (or charges), these charges can be used to battle and catch wild (and sometimes rare) Pokemon and find items with the Dowsing Machine, you can also send and receive gifts from others.

If you enjoy friendly completions, you can become a PokeAthlete  in the Pokeathlon Dome. This is a series of events that test your Pokemons' skills (speed, stamina, skill, power and jumping abilities, these can be looked up under each Pokemons' information). There are many events like the Circle Push (sorta like sumo wrestling), Hurdle Dash (like at the Olympics) and several others. Winning (and losing) earns you points which you can spend on items (such as Stones, Apricots, Nuggets and more).


Overall

This is a game that fans of the series should absolutely pick up. It's all the good things about Pokemon and none of the bad. If you have even enjoyed a single episode or game, you MUST get this game. This is one of my most enjoyed games of all time.

10.0/10.0

Pros

- Great music pieces
- Great looking game
- Can enjoy both Kanto and Johto
- Fun having your Pokemon walk with you
- PokeWalker is a nice toy

Cons

- It eventually ends